Chibiyu: So Nick, what did you think about that last line? By the way, yes Joe and Kevin could take the pendant off Nick, but there was a key line in last chapter that alluded to that not being so easy.

Nick: *banging head against the wall*

Chibiyu: I bet none of you liked that last line…so here it is again!

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A horrified looked crossed both brother's faces. "But Nick, that means…"

"I know." Nick lifted his head as they neared the small, inconspicuous brown brick building. "You'll have to kill me."

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The three had nothing say as they stopped with the door to the Council just feet from them. Nick had stated the truth and his brothers knew it. They wanted to argue, to tell their brother that they could never, would never, but no words were able to escape from their shell shocked lips. And Nick hadn't expected any to.

The youngest pushed open the door, hating the feeling of the pendant around his neck. He noticed it more often than not; it getting heavier as he entered the small room, it pulsing as if daring him to try anything stupid, stabbing inside his already throbbing head to remind him who exactly was in power. It took all of his willpower to not clench it in his hand and beg for it to stop, for it to leave him be. But he couldn't break down. Not in front of his brothers who only recently admitted that he wasn't weak. Not in front of the Council who would instantly take the pendant and doom themselves. And not in front of the Four who would see it as a sign of weakness and take it as an opportunity to strike.

He said he wouldn't use it. It never said that it wouldn't use him.

"Hello, Loraine," Kevin managed to choke out as they approached the only desk in the room.

The girl looked up, moving her waist length brown hair from her face. "Hi guys," she greeted, her tone happy though her face grave as she all but glared at Nick. "Your mom called ahead," she explained, melting back into the seat. "It would be suggested that your brother is handcuffed."

Joe started at this, moving towards the girl rage in his eyes. Nick only sighed and gripped his older brother's shirt, making him start when he noticed the tug.

"It's a natural reaction," Nick said to no one, voice detached. "I hold the thing that could destroy everything the Heroes have built. It's only natural they see me as a threat."

"But you're not," Joe interjected, glaring at the girl who was currently hovering between visible and not.

"Then why did it choose him?"

Nick closed his eyes, not wanting to answer this question more than he had to. "It didn't."

The girl laughed, eyeing the man she used to like with cold distrust. "You are carrying it. It chose you."

"Can we see the Council?" Kevin cut in; noticing the way Nick was pinching the bridge of his nose. "We just want to get this taken care of and then go home."

Loraine held out the pair of cuffs, her face unmoving. "Orders from below. He goes in with them on."

"He's not at fault!"

"Joe," came Nick's tired voice. Joe backed down, wincing when he watched the cold metal close tightly around his brother's wrists. Loraine nodded, leaning back and pointing over to the corner of the small, dusty room. "Let's just get this over with."

The brothers could only nod as Nick led them over, trying his best not to shudder at the cold bite the cuffs delivered to his wrists. He felt Joe grab his hand and squeeze it in a reassuring way, but since the digits were behind his back, he could do little to return the gesture.

They stopped, watching the floor as it sunk down slowly. Nick only spoke when the floor, now the ceiling, closed above their heads.

"They're going to lock me up until you tell them the full story. After that, who knows?" Joe and Kevin protested instantly, but stopped when they felt Nick lean back against them and sigh. "It's ok, I need the quiet."

They were silent for a few more moments, not liking the idea of the next few hours. It was Kevin who broke the mold and spoke. "They will probably want to see it, Nick."

Nick shrugged; the brother's feeling the action instead of seeing. The enclosed elevator had no lighting. "I can't make it take off its concealment."

"They won't like that."

"Better it thinking for itself than it thinking for me."

The elevator stopped its descendent. Nick straightened up and cleared his face the best he could. The only thing he had done wrong was save the city from an idiot. He would be locked away for trying to help. All because…

"I hope they think a Normal is strong enough to carry it without falling victim," Joe whispered, watching the door slide open in front of them.

All because of that. Because he was a Normal. He was weak to them; worthless and easily used. He contributed nothing to society other than increasing the violence rate between those that already hated each other. He wanted them to think different, desired a change. And with this action, of him holding the pendant and not being corrupted, he intended to change their minds.

As soon as he stepped out of the small room, hands grabbed him and pushed him roughly down the hall. He heard Joe and Kevin yell in disagreement, trying to defend him but to no avail. He didn't struggle when the hands of someone he knew well shoved him into the containment room. He just turned and looked straight into the eyes of his father.

"I'm not a Villain, dad."

Tom Lucas looked down at his son and nodded once, sympathy and self-hatred in his eyes. He closed the door and turned down the hall, aware he had left his son in pitch darkness.

Nick sighed, sitting against the wall, his toes brushing against the door of the cramped room. He closed his eyes and did the only thing he could do: wait.

Joe stared down the hall that his dad had taken Nick, anger on his face when Tom returned.

"He'll be fine, Joe. No one will go in there." Tom tried to defuse the bomb before it blew and was thankful when Joe's shoulders relaxed a touch. "Some quiet will do him well."

Joe nodded, letting their dad lead them the other way, away from Nick. "Mom called and told us what she knew, but she missed the beginning," the parent explained as he opened the door to a room that oddly resembled an interrogation room. It had a table, two chairs on one side and one of the other. The only difference was that the one-way mirror was behind the two chairs instead of facing them.

Joe and Kevin sat down. They waited for their father to do the same before speaking.

"We were just walking and helping with the wreckage when it happened," Joe started, looking to Kevin for a nod of confirmation. "Nick was behind us the entire time, safe and alone." The Hero didn't even feel an ounce of guilt as lies spilled from his mouth. There was no way he was going to tell his dad that Nick slipped away, that Paragon had been with him, and that he came back with Lilith. Not, at least, when they were in the Hero's Council and every move they made was being recorded.

Kevin took over as soon as Joe paused for a breath, wanting to get this over so they could just get home and forget these past two days ever happened. "Then he showed up. He gave off this aura that none of us had ever felt before. It was dark and heavy and nearly sent us into a panic. The Villain, Necrophere as Nick called him, stood on a bent beam and attacked."

As Kevin spoke quickly of the battle, Joe glanced behind him, knowing that something was watching him, but not sure what it was. It didn't feel human – the hairs on the back of his neck remained flat and no chill ran down his spine – and the air would have been filled with static if it was electronic. He nudged Kevin, receiving a nod to know that he felt it too. Joe turned around again, facing their dad. He listened to Kevin's description of Nick taking the pendant, of the Villain's fall and death, and of what Nick told us.

"Nick didn't tell us where he found out this stuff, but it was clear that it wasn't new to him. Meaning that he knew it before he got the Pendant," Joe added, seeing the suspicion in their dad's eyes. Kevin's eyes were narrow too, but his gaze was directed at Tom, not at someone locked away.

"Do you think Nick betrayed us?" Kevin asked; a challenge in his tone. He was clearly picking up an emotion from their father that he did not like.

Tom started, looking over to Kevin. "Of course not! Nick would never, no matter how angry he may be." There was an awkward pause as Kevin forced himself to remain in his chair and as Tom scratched the back of his head apologetically. "Tell me about the Guardian. You mentioned it, but didn't go into detail."

So again Kevin launched into explanation, saying how it spoke to Nick telepathically and agreed to let him carry it, but not use it.

"Interesting," the father muttered, tapping his chin in thought. "Why would it agree to that?"

Joe shook his head, having been wondering the same thing since it dropped around Nick's neck. "We don't know. We don't think Nick does either."

"Can we destroy it?" Kevin asked, not letting there be a silence between his brother's statement and this. And he knew that it could be, but he didn't know what the Heroes alluded to whenever they spoke of 'evil's bane.'

Tom stood, pointing to the glass behind them. "We can, but it's tricky."

The brother's turned, watching the glass behind them become translucent. They both squinted, unsure as to what the big deal was. The room seemed to vacant, minus the small marble pedestal and the necklace that hung above it.

"It's a dove," Joe stated, eyeing the depthless pendant and crystal. "Wait, is that…?"

"Boys, this is Kumori's Bane. The Four's exact opposite. It has one purpose: to destroy the most villainous being; the Four."

Kevin looked back over to their father, not understanding the complexity of the simple white dove stuck in mid-flight with a misty crystal held within its claws. "So why is it tricky?"

Tom sighed and moved towards the door, hand landing on the knob. "Because like the Four, it chooses its master. Only a person of pure heart can touch it and only one with its blessing can use it. It was made for good, but it is powerful and all power corrupts. We have yet to find anyone who matches this description."

"You've known about the Four for a long time, haven't you?" Joe asked, facing his dad and trying not to accuse.

Tom Lucas hung his head and opened the door. "I have. We all have. We just hoped this time would never come."

"Thank God that Nick has it then," Kevin stated, smiling proudly.

Tom, however, did not seem happy about this. "It's only a matter of time before the Four gets bored of being a piece of jewelry."

They stepped outside, just in time to cringe. The hall flashed red, alarms blaring at a deafening volume. The three looked at each other, one name passing their lips: Nick.

They ran down the hall, skidding to a stop when all of them felt the heavy feeling of eyes – the same weight Joe had earlier experienced. They all watched, horrified as a camera or what had once been a camera rounded the corner. Wires sparked as the mechanism moved – its tripod had mutated into two legs. Its lens stared at them, zooming out and focusing.

Tom pushed his son's behind him, the electrical shock that was sent their way was stopped between them, hissing against the unseen barrier. The two didn't even have time to flinch in their panic to get to their brother. They needed to get to him. Even more so now than before.

"I can contain it and rid of it, get to Nick!" he shouted, bending his force field so his oldest sons could shimmy around the camera. They felt the air tingle across their skins, but no harm came to them.

Joe and Kevin rounded the corner, stopping instantly.

"Oh no…"

Vines littered the hall. They had torn through the walls, the ceiling and the floor, leaving gaping holes and dirt stains. The greenery lay dormant at the moment, seemingly innocent. Joe tapped Kevin and pointed, both gasping out at the sight of the mangled door to the containment room.

"Nick?" Kevin called, fearing the worst when no answer was received.

Joe growled, his heart constricting painfully with both rage and fear. He stepped over the first vine and charged, not even caring how nothing attacked him as he trampled Florice's precious plants. His vision flashed red when he saw the gaping hole in the ceiling of the empty room and his scream seemed endless. Kevin joined his side, carefully stepping over every leaf.

"She took him," Joe managed to spit out before angrily attempting to wipe the burn from his eyes. "He's gone, Kevin." Joe was unable to not think: and probably dead. The burn in his eyes beat his hand and the tears began rolling down his cheeks. He could barely get enough air into his lungs as his ribs ached from the pounding of his deflating heart.

"He's got the Four," Kevin whispered, pulling Joe to his side. "It protected him before."

Joe nodded, feeling numb as he lied to himself. "We have to tell dad."

The two walked out of the room. They noticed one vine swinging towards them, slapping them without force. Joe easily bunted it away, trying to care through his heart ache.

"We were right – Cascadea managed to weaken her a lot."

"But she still got him."

The earth shuddered, each vine retracting slightly. The brothers fell, their footing lost. They slapped their hands over their ears as the alarms gave their final wail before covered by an explosion. Heat bit at the brothers exposed skin, causing them both to wince and shout out. The walls shuddered, paint chips falling on top of them as rocks and dirt rained from the ceiling.

Joe uncurled himself, feeling the smoke burn his eyes further, but he didn't care. He stood, pulling Kevin up with him. They ran around the corner, Kevin able to sense that their dad had taken care of the camera fairly easily and was now concentrating hard on containing the flames. Smoke had colored the white brick black and the floor behind them was littering with their footprints. In front of them, they watched sweat roll off of their father's brow, the flames threatening to rear up and consume his face.

"Go!" He yelled at them, but the two didn't hear his voice. Their ears rang painfully from the explosion, but the urgency on Tom's face was enough to get the message across. Kevin turned, pulling Joe with him as numerous Heroes jumped through the flame and pushed passed them. Joe looked through the cherry destruction, eyes widening.

He was pulled around the corner and up the emergency staircase before he could even think to scream two simple words: It's gone.

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Chibiyu: This chapter has been buzzing around my head since day one of this story. Until Next Update!

Written on 1/2/12