Terra lobbed one of the security slabs as the team scrambled back. The door struck Lucian’s shield a meter away from his face. The impact pushed him down the hall. He landed on his feet and the makeshift weapon fell to the floor, bent and twisted.

Taking advantage of his brother’s momentary lapse in concentration, Gabriel activated his Hard Lasers and shot at the Telepath’s legs. The blasts scored a direct hit on the left, searing through with a hiss. Lucian shrieked.

Helios followed up Gabriel’s attack by peeking out from behind Terra and sending off a burst of flame. It went wide.

Long-Arm chose that moment to rush in on stretching legs. His first swing was dodged, as was his second. Lucian didn’t lack any physical skill in a brawl.

After dodging the punches Lucian rose again in the air, distorting the space around him and releasing a blast of telekinetic force. Long-Arm went flying down the hall, bouncing like a toy off the walls, floor, and ceiling.

Gabriel narrowly dodged Longarm’s body and fired again, this time on a higher setting, but Lucian’s shield dispersed the beams.

Helios attempted to turn the tide of the battle in one attack. He spent all of his fire on a raging fireball. He threw it past Gabriel and it exploded, only in front of Terra instead of Lucian. The team leader yelped in surprise and bumped against a doorframe.

Lucian took advantage of the team’s pause and flung the crumpled door telekinetically back at Terra. Luckily the super had recovered in time and managed to block it with the door in her hands. This time both doors were mangled, but Terra kept a firm grip on hers.

Gabriel fired his lasers one more time but watched helplessly as Lucian managed to use his mind to bend the lasers around him without using his shield.

Helios fired his twin streams of fire and managed a hit, but by then Lucian had already put his shield back up. The flames cascaded around the almost translucent wall.

Terra threw her second door, in a gesture of defiance rather than hoping to hurt Lucian. The door didn’t just crumple this time when it hit the telekinetic barrier, it rebounded right at Terra!

Lucian had thrown it back the moment it touched his shield. The Super had no time to get out of the way and the metal door struck her head-on, crushing her legs into chunks.

The giant went down hard, not letting out a sound where most would be screaming. Helios backed away from the toppling behemoth, only to catch a psionic fist to the jaw as Lucian jetted forward. Helios was flung into the wall, indenting into it and sticking there, unconscious.

Lucian turned towards Gabriel, slowly floating towards him. Terra tried to claw her way towards them to help, but Lucian blasted her back down the hallway. Gabriel readied himself for a last-ditch assault when his brother spoke. “Why would you hurt me, Gabriel? Do you not love your brother as I love you?”

Gabriel stared at Lucian in shock. “What do you mean Lucian, you’re slaughtering these innocent people! Why wouldn’t I stop you, even if you are my brother!?”

Lucian tilted his head and laughed. “Innocent? Is that what you believe? Each one of the workers here is part of a criminal empire endangering the human race. Selling weapons to terrorists and warlords, developing biotic weapons that only affect humans, you name it. They deserve this.”

Lucian’s face darkened, a mask of hatred taking hold. “But that isn’t the only reason they aren’t innocent. You see Gabriel, most humans aren’t truly innocent.

All the greed, all the rage, the lust, and jealousy. All the thoughts of causing harm for personal benefit. It’s disgusting. No more! I won’t feel it all anymore!

They will end. All of those feelings, and the only way to do it is to eliminate all the evil on earth. The HUMANS! But you Gabriel, my brother, you, and many others are more than just primates. You are above those base instincts and capable of caring about the world around you. You and your kind I will let live, but the rest? They will burn in the fires of hell.”

“Lucian you can’t be serious! How can you believe you are doing good? How is that any different from what you hate about humanity? You are just perpetuating the violence! Imagine all the children left orphaned by you who will grow up to want you dead? You’re going to create more hatred, a world of revenge!”

"I knew you were my brother. I thought of that. I can’t leave behind vengeful souls, so I will release them from life as a kindness. There won’t be any orphans left. I will end every single human genetically capable of acting like a savage.”

Gabriel shook his head. “Until you’re the only savage left? You are demented if you believe I’ll stand by while you do that. Every human is worth it. Even the ones who make mistakes, people can always change. Even you. Lucian if you insist on doing this, every Hero on earth - myself included - will make it their mission to end you and your twisted creed. Don’t make me do that.”

Lucian’s friendly smile melted away slowly, he chuckled. “You? A Hero? Gabriel, you’ve been the brain behind this company for years. Their aspirations rose to new heights because of you. Granted, you were tricked, but to call yourself a Hero? You can’t be serious.”

Gabriel’s expression didn’t falter.

Hatred overtook the brotherly gleam Lucian’s eyes had shown. He looked at his remaining hand, then at his stump of an arm. Finally, he looked at his twin, a cold look set on his face. “You leave me no choice. I promise to be merciful.” He said slowly.

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Lucian raised his arm, and the metal door floated towards them like a feather.

It seemed Gabriel was to be crushed. Quickly, he activated his anti-gravity generator and aimed his hand at the door. Time to try a new trick, he thought to himself, praying it would work.

Thankfully it did. The gravity waves projected through his gauntlet and the door hit the ground with an accelerated thud - leaving a two or three-inch dent in the floor. Lucian’s eyebrows rose, and the door rose again.

Gabriel’s generator whined and he knew he had no chance of affecting the gravity of the door while Lucian held it this tightly. He disengaged the gravity field.

Gabriel powered up his AM Cannon, firing a ball of energy at the door. The door was de-atomized completely. Lucian smiled and concentrated to stop the blast, but was left dumbfounded when he was forced to jump out of its way.

Gabriel hoped he was safe for now, Lucian might have been intimidated. He was wrong, Lucian seized him in his telekinetic grip and slammed him into the wall. The wounds he’d patched up earlier throbbed back to life.

“HOW DID YOU DO THAT? WHAT WAS THAT ENERGY!? WHY COULDN’T I CONTROL IT?” Lucian raged right in Gabriel’s face, spittle and all.

“I made that, it’s antimatter Lucian. Why? Are you scared?” Gabriel said calmly.

His twin looked horrified that something had been out of his ability to manipulate. It gave him ideas, however, Lucian was having none of that. Gabriel’s arms and legs were squeezed tighter. He could hear his suit creaking.

Luckily his wings were still mobile. He curled them inwards and shielded his body, leaving him in claustrophobic darkness. Now his brother would have to go through his wings before getting to him. He hoped they would hold.

Lucian didn’t respond to Gabriel’s taunt. Instead, he set to work crushing his defenses. Gabriel felt and heard as his wings creaked in, bowing to the invisible pressure being placed on them. The neural feedback was mildly painful, but he could feel that a blunt pressure was slowly changing to a sharp one on the surface of his wing.

Lucian pierced the first wing shortly after and set about getting through the second. It seemed he had decided to stab his brother to death instead of just crushing him.

Gabriel felt his death coming, and in that dark crevasse, he spoke to the Universe. “Please don’t let me die in the dark.”

“Hey! What’s so bad about the dark?” Said a jovial voice that sounded like it came from all around. “I mean I saved you today right?”

Saved? What did he mean by that? Gabriel suddenly realized that the pressure he felt against his wing was gone! How was that possible? What could have taken Lucian’s attention?

Gabriel opened his eyes, only to see that he was still in the dark. He felt himself float out of the indentation in the wall as if carried in Lucian’s power.

He panicked and began to writhe when the same voice said, “Quit it, kid. I’m just gonna set you down here.” He felt the floor under his feet and stood, the energy holding him loosened and let him go. It expanded outwards, leaving him inside a pitch-black sphere with a very regular-looking person.

The man in question had short light brown hair, light brown eyes, and a sporty build. He was in shape, but not like most Supers. His musculature looked almost Class 1. He also wore normal clothes; brown loafers, khakis, and a white button-down shirt opened to reveal a slim silver chain around his neck. Nothing about him screamed Hero. He could have been going to work.

“My name is Dante Ramirez, but my pals call me Zero. Nice to meet you, Gabe. Long-Arm told me about you when he ran to get me outside.” The man said merrily, as if unaware that Lucian was on a rampage… somewhere obviously not here?

“Where are we?” Gabriel asked forcefully.

Zero seemed taken aback. “What? Most people who find out what I look like are more concerned with that than my awesome powers.”

We’re in the same spot you just were. I just extended my shadows to include you while we talked for a moment. I need to ask you to stick around once I’m done here. Long-Arm implied that Iodine has been up to no good for a while. I need you to testify, alright?” Gabriel nodded numbly. “Great, thanks. I’ll only be a second.”

The legendary Hero retracted his power, the shadow orb around them entered his body and coated his skin. He grew taller and broader, becoming closer to Terra in size with each passing instant - surpassing her bulk swiftly. The horns, wings, and tail so characteristic of his fighting form grew from his shadow body, thin black and red lines crossed his now dark grey “flesh” in a sort of tiger pattern.

Zero glared at Lucian. The Telepath had continued to pound uselessly against the thinning shadow barrier. Lucian looked up a moment later, eyes widening as he registered the beast.

He flew back immediately, ripping doors from the labs as he streaked by. Zero didn’t move, his tail twitched and he cocked his head to the side. “Come back here little pig. You can’t go far.” His now utterly demonic voice said softly.

Gabriel shivered. Even at low decibels, Zero’s voice made a sound more like a grinding stone than a voice.

Zero launched after Lucian, denting the floor as he flung himself forward. The thick coat of shadows around him seemed to reach out and stick to the walls; Moving him like a spider at an incredible speed.

As the nightmare gained on the murderer, and Lucian turned around to fire four of the ten doors he had collected. Zero broke through them all in succession, his shadows spiking them and tearing them to shreds before the metal could touch him.

Lucian stopped in the air and let the doors drop to the floor. He raised his arms and Zero was crushed towards the floor at many times the force of gravity. Gabriel was amazed to see the Hero still standing, his legs stuck in the ground up to his knees by the weight pressing on him.

Zero relaxed, letting out a yawn and stretching his arms. Then he encased his mass in shadows and - with an oomph - kicked his left leg from the floor - leaving a jagged tear in the ground. He moved his right leg a moment later and was freed to continue chasing Lucian, pushing against the tons of pressure.

Lucian gestured with his left hand and two of the doors flew out, striking him in the chest. Zero roared, “HEY! THAT HURT, YOU LITTLE TWERP! I’M GONNA GET YOU!”

The dark giant reached out with his clawed hand and sent shadows to envelop Lucian, wrapping him up like a goth Christmas present. The creature howled in satisfaction, slamming Lucian against the wall. “You are coming with me, boy.”

Lucian tried to curl himself into a ball. Nothing happened at first, but within a second the shadows holding him were being pushed away. It seemed he couldn’t control the shadow tendrils, but he could affect them with his shield.

The orb of protection expanded around Lucian slowly, then he let out a grunt and it expanded. Zero was forced back and his hold on the Super loosened.

Lucian shot away from the Hero as quickly as he could, flinging doors as he went.

The grey monster flew through the doors, or more adequately they flew through him, as he used his ability to turn into shadow. The incorporeal blob of shadow engulfed the hall around Lucian, leaving him nowhere to run. A disembodied voice could be heard chuckling.

“I’m going to eat you.”

Lucian threw his arms out to his sides in a rush, visibly shaking the air around him. His shield gained a smoky tint. When the shadows started to bleed into his shield, Lucian redoubled his efforts. His shield began to make the air look more like solid diamond than a gas. It began to flicker.

Zero kept bleeding into the shield, closer and closer to his quarry.

All at once, it seemed the defensive field collapsed in a burst of red-white light, letting Zero’s shadows engulf the space. However, when the shadows moved away, there was no Lucian.

Zero looked at his hands in wonder. “Huh. Who woulda thunk?” He turned back to Gabriel. “Alright, problem solved, your brother just teleported himself into another dimension. Apparently on pure instinct. His powers will probably keep him alive, but he won’t be able to bother us - for a while, at least.”

“What!? How can you be so sure of that from just seeing him disappear?”

The Hero laughed, walking towards him and shrinking down to his human shape, though he remained covered head to toe in shadows. “Dr. Atomic works with dimensional portals. I’ve been around a few times for his projects.”

Gabriel’s inner fan rejoiced at the mention of yet another world-famous Super. He suddenly realized how incredible he felt getting to meet Zero, circumstances aside.

Zero went on. “Anyway, same light, same tingle in the shadows when I get close to the spot. I mean he isn’t here is he? His power set doesn’t include conventional teleportation right?” Gabriel shook his head. “Well, there ya go. Problem solved. Now let’s go get you debriefed.”

With that, he extended his shadows and dislodged a moaning Helios from the wall while floating Terra and her unattached legs along.

“Wait! How do we know when he’ll be back?” Gabriel asked.

Zero shrugged, “Well, dimensional travel is pretty tricky, from what I’ve gathered hanging around Dr. Atomic. He could be lost in dimensions for years, or he could find his way back tomorrow. Either way, we’ll be ready for him. We monitor every possible channel day and night to keep everyone safe.”

Pacified by his answer, Gabriel followed behind one of the greatest Heroes to ever live - to yet another debrief - in a daze.