Guest Post: Black Betrayal

Hey, ya’ll! I’m so excited to share a guest post with you today! Thank you so much for letting me share this, Bethany!

By Bethany Marland

Black walls with odd, multicolored sparkles embedded in it were the first and only thing the team of heroes could see when they woke up. Cuts and bruises marked the skin of the heroes that wasn’t covered by garishly colored costumes. There were three of them, all masked.

One stands, her white cape hanging limply off her shoulders. “Where are we?” Her young, fragile voice shakes.

Another hero puts his arm around her. His gray hair obscures his eyes. “I’m not sure, but it will be fine.”

The other man, standing at the girl’s shoulder, nods firmly, his blonde curls bouncing.

A harsh laugh bounces through the room, and the heroes all startle and look around.

A woman, dressed in all black, and with a hood pulled low over her face, stood apart from them.

The two male heroes jump into fighting positions.

The figure chuckles. “Oh, don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you.”

The gray-haired hero frowns. “You are the villain who locked us up in here.”

“Am I the villain?” She places a hand on her hip and strikes a thinking pose, tapping her pointer finger against her barely visible chin. “Why, you might just be right! After all, I’ve imprisoned the city’s most beloved hero team!” She suddenly points to the girl. “Queen Lily, known also by her civilian name Jessica.”

Queen Lily’s eyes widen with horror. “How do you know my name?!”

The woman laughs. “I know everything about you.” She looks at the blond man. “Golden Cold, known as Leon. Your hero name is absolutely terrible, by the way.”

He bristles.

Finally, she turns to the gray-haired man. “And of course, how could I forget you. The man who led his team so poorly and is completely fine with abandoning young souls to be harmed.”

He blinks, lips pursing into a frown.

“Agent Hawk, otherwise known as Mark. A truly heartless man has never been known.” The woman’s voice has gone truly bitter.

Agent Hawk clenches his gloved hands into fists, making the fabric squeak. “Who are you?” He demands.

The woman stills. “Guess.”

He scowls. “Just get out with it!”

“Cassie.”

He freezes. The other two watch, Queen Lily’s dainty eyebrows scrunched together, and Golden Cold’s mouth pursed. “Hawk?” Jessica questions. “Do… do you know her?”

He runs a shaky hand through his hair. “You… you can’t be Cassie.”

She laughs, then pulls her hood down. Red hair spills down her shoulders, framing a young face marred only by a large scar that goes across her forehead, over the bridge of her nose, and down to the tip of her chin. “But I am.”

“But the villain-!”

“Is now dead, as you thought I was.” She laughs.

He takes a step back.

“Look at me, Hawk. See what has happened?” Her eyes that had been green a moment ago suddenly darkened black. As soon as Agent Hawk makes eye contact with her his eyes darken to the same color. His shoulders slump and he stands still. “That’s right.” She whispers and smirks. She then snaps her fingers, and Agent Hawk straightens.

His hands begin to glow a red, and he launches himself at Golden Cold. The man, caught unawares, lets out a pained yell as Agent Hawk begins to pummel him.

Queen Lily watches, her mouth open wide with shock. “No! Hawk, stop!” She grabs Agent Hawk’s arm and tries to pull him off, but he merely flings her away.

Cassie laughs. “Sorry girly, but he’s not your teammate right now.”

There’s a crunch and a scream, and Agent Hawk steps away from the motionless Golden Cold. He stares at Cassie blankly, eyes still dark.

Queen Lily runs towards Golden Cold, only for Cassie to gesture quickly, and Agent Hawk grabs Queen Lily and throws her down. The wind rushes from her lungs, and she gasps, inhaling painfully.

She stumbles onto her feet only to be shoved right back down and then pinned to the ground. There is silence for a moment as Queen Lily stares up at Agent Hawk in betrayal. Then Cassie begins to slowly walk towards them, the tap of her boots on the floor the only sounds besides the labored heroes’ breathing.

She pauses and looks down at Queen Lily, then smiles. “Poor thing. You don’t know what he’s done to get this far, do you?” She kneels and runs her finger along Queen Lily’s sweat streaked brow. “He’s murdered, cheated, killed, any who stood in his way to become the hero he is today. He betrayed one of his own team members who caught him.” She casually plucks the mask off Agent Hawk’s face.

The man’s face is lined with tension, his eyebrows scrunched together. A developing bruise just below his eye gave testament to the fight Golden Cold had given. Cassie looks back to the pinned hero. “He betrayed *me. *And now I’m going to make him hurt as much as I did.” She stands and steps back, then claps her hands.

Agent Hawk begins to attack Queen Lily. She screams helplessly, but soon she’s in the same condition as Golden Cold. Cassie calls him to stop. She directs him to stand in the middle of the room, where his beaten team members are visible to him, and releases him from her control.

His eyes fade back to a light blue, and he shakes his head, seeming to get his bearings. But then he sees what’s around him. Queen Lily and Golden Cold, motionless on the ground; Cassie, smirking triumphantly. His eyes go wide. He looks down at the blood on his gloved hands. His legs give out and he drops to his knees as sobs rise in his throat.

Cassie watches, a cold smile pulling at her lips. “What’s wrong, Agent Hawk?”

He looks up at her, his eyes filling with fury. He stands and charges at her. With only a few moves she has him on the ground, pinned and helpless. He starts sobbing again. “Just kill me!”

Her head tilts, and she frowns. “Kill you? Oh, Agent Hawk.” Her voice drops to a purr. “I’m not going to kill you. No, you need to atone for what you’ve done. This is all your fault, after all. You’re the one who did this to them, did all this to me. And everyone will know it.” Drawing a rope form a pocket in her cape, she yanks his hands behind his back and tightly tied him up, not bothering to make sure his hands would get circulation. “And I’m going to be the one who brings it to light.” 

She leaves the room through a door, only to come back a minute later and place a sticky note and a disk by Agent Hawk. She pats him on the head. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this.” She whispers, then exits again.

Moments later, police burst into the room, guns drawn and ready. They stare in shock at the sight of the heroes. Agent Hawk, trussed up like a common criminal, and the other two beyond help.

One of the men finds the disk and note. He glances over the note once before doing a double take and rereading it.

Dearest Police, this is your criminal. The disc this note is attached to is a video of Agent Hawk attacking his teammates. You will find all the other evidence of his other illegal activities over the past years on the disc. Thank you, from a concerned citizen.

The police take Agent Hawk down to the station and watch the disk. It showed him beating up Golden Cold and Queen Lily and did indeed hold evidence on some illegal things he had done several years ago.

Agent Hawk was pinned for the murders of the two heroes, and put into a prison for villains. The entire city mourned the loss of their beloved heroes. But when a new villain arose, they began to worry.

Until a black clad hero wearing a hood that always covered their face swooped in and saved them. The city happily accepted this new hero, exalting them and appointing them to be their new savior.

Cassie always laughed hard after every one of her staged villain battles. People were so gullible.

Thanks for Reading!