AN: hey everyone! I've had this idea for a while and have finally built up enough will to write it down!
A warning, this whole story is going to be pretty gritty, and I'll post individual trigger warnings for each chapter.
I don't own homestuck!
Tw: gore and mild violence

Prologue- Betrayal
Xander Captor was the Dark Mage. He had been the Dark Mage since he was 11, and from that moment on, that's how most people would address him. The press, the public, and even his colleagues. His job was to rid the city of crime.
He was, of course, a vigilante, and he was definitely one of the main reasons the police started hunting for supers. Unlike the rest of his team, the Dark Mage's powers of psionics could be very destructive, and many of his battles caused millions of dollars in property damage.
But he isn't the Dark Mage anymore. And he never would be again.
His last night as the Mage ended rather suddenly. And, as the Maid would later describe, there was nothing he could do to stop it.
It had been a routine sweep of the city with his colleague (and friend) known as Auganaut, and another colleague (this one more of a rival) known as the Sea Prince.
The area of the city he was checking was peaceful enough, so Xander started to head on back to HQ. That is, he did until he heard the scream.
It was very real, he could tell. A prolonged scream ripped through the night until it was suddenly silenced. Xander's eyes widened when he realized he recognized the scream's owner.
It was Auganaut.
Panicking, the Dark Mage began to run towards where he heard the scream. As he got closer, he started to notice a few things.
After twenty seconds of running, he noticed an unusual silence.
After thirty, he started to feel like he was being watched.
And after forty, he started smelling something he recognized as blood.
After what seemed like an eternity, he turned a corner onto a mostly unused side street.
Under the single working streetlight was Auganaut, lying in a pool of blood.
Xander hurried over to her as quickly as he could, and when he got a closer look at her body, he felt like he was going to vomit.
There was a hole in her stomach. Not a hole like a stab wound, but a clean hole that went all the way through her. Guts, blood, and bits of bone were splattered against the wall behind her, accompanied by a large smudge of soot.
The worst part was her face. It was shocked, and scared. There were trails of mascara on her cheeks. Her body was losing heat quickly, and even before he checked for a pulse, Xander knew she was dead.
Xander heard footsteps approaching him, so he did what he could.
Step.
He took off his cape and hood and used them to cover the hole in Auganaut's stomach.
Step.
He carefully closed her eyes and her mouth. If it wasn't for all the blood smeared on her face and soaked in her hair, it looked like she could've been sleeping.
Step.
Whoever it was was close behind him, so he stood up, put on his best poker face, and faced whoever it was.
"Mage," said the Sea Prince.
Xander felt more sick than he had felt before. As soon as he saw the prince, he knew.
He choked back a sob.
"How dare you." He tried to sound intimidating, but his voice cracked and he was fighting tears. "She was your friend, Eric. Brooke was your friend!" Xander used their real names on purpose, thinking he would get more of a reaction from the prince.
The prince smiled, his glasses gleamed in the light of the streetlight.
"She was in my way." He said.
Shivers went down Xander's spine as Eri- no The Prince, raised his wand and pointed it at Xander.
Xander felt a familiar pressure build up in his temples. Red and blue light filled the street, and two beams of light, one from the prince, one from the Mage, met in the middle of the street.
The prince snickered. "Such a hero you are. You couldn't even save her." He said, gesturing to Augana- no, Brooke's lifeless body.
This made Xander break his concentration, and the psionic beam flickered and weakened.
He's right, he thought, what a hero I am...
Suddenly, he was engulfed in a white light. He felt being hurled against a wall, and everything went black.
And everything stayed black.