Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I don't own Henry Danger or anything you can relate to the Nickelodeon verse. I got the inspiration for this story from a dream. There will be some religious aspects if you are in any way offended PM or comment below.

RATED T-M: Swears, torture, past self-harm, murder, school shooting, guns, multiple weapons.

TRIGGER WARNINGS!!! If you are under the age of 13 please leave now!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!

Note: It could just be my phone, but for some reason, some paragraphs are doubled or cut off in the middle when I publish chapters. If you are reading this on your phone be prepared for repeated chapters and sentences cut off in the middle of them. It should be normal on a computer.

I worked really hard on this book.

ENJOY! :)

Chapter Text

Ray, Jasper, Charlotte and I were hanging out in the Man Cave on duty waiting for someone to call in a crime. 'Beep, beep, beep.' We walked over to see the crime cam. Charlotte turned it on and it showed my family, held captive by the Wall Dogs. Veronica was circling them and spraying them with spray paint. "Hello, Kid Danger. I think we have something you want." I growled then snarled,

"Let them go, Veronica. They have nothing to do with this." The leader walked into view.

"Now, now, Kid Danger. I thought you had more sense." He grabbed Piper's face. She tried to bite his hand, but he shoved her head in the opposite direction. "Come to the OMG by eight 'o clock. And we'll work something out." The video feed went black and I popped a bubble. After changing into my outfit I ran to the tubes, but Ray caught my arm.

"Hold on Kid." I turned around and snapped,

"What?" Ray sighed,

"What if they know who you are?" I frowned,

"I can't let my family get hurt. When I joined you, you promised me they wouldn't get hurt!" Ray's eyes shone with tears,

"I know Kid. That's why I'm going with you." I nodded, he blew his bubble then we both went up the tubes.

When we got to the Old Maple Grill I kicked down the door. "Kid Danger!" My family shouted thankfully. Vandel chuckled as I raced to untie my family .

"Look whose Mr. Predictable." Captain Man drew his taser gun, but one of the Wall Dogs grabbed me from behind since I wasn't paying attention and forced me into my own handcuffs.

"Captain Man!" I shouted yelping in pain. Van Dell chuckled then spoke to Captain Man,

"How 'bout a trade?" I watched in horror as Ray's ears perked up, "this civilian," he pointed to my mom, "and her daughter (my dad and mom divorced) for your sidekick?" I gasped,

"Captain Man! No, please! I'll do anything not to be in the-" Veronica punched my gut and I doubled over. I watched in horror as my mom agreed to Vandel's deal. Ray nodded, also agreeing. Veronica smiled and kissed me gently on the lips.

"Welcome back to being bad Kid Danger." Captain Man untied my mom and Piper and looked at me. I was on my knees in front of Veronica, my face black and blue. Then looked at my family, they were terrified to the core. Begging Van Dell for their lives. Once they were free they ran to Captain Man for safety. Captain Man looked at me then said,

"No sidekick of mine would look like you." Then left, when they were gone I fell to the floor in despair, my family and my hero left me.

That was two years ago.

I was looking at my beloved town from the top of a tall building when I heard sirens going off. I jumped down from the roof I was on and into a nearby alley. I threw up my black hood and put on my mask. My new superhero look is kind of similar to the kid danger costume I wore when I was first running with the Wall Dogs, the only difference was I had a black hood added to my costume, and a black backpack to store stuff in.

I got to the spot where the crime was happening and I hid in the shadows on a nearby roof. "What's the emergency?" I heard Captain Man ask the officer. The officer said,

"This jewelry shop was just broken into. However, there was little to no theft." I watched as another kid showed up dressed as Kid Danger and smirked, what a fraud. I wonder how Ray described me to the new kid.

"Captain Man look! The thief messed with the alarms." He pointed to the alarm counsel and Ray nodded,

"Good eye kid." He mumbled something to Schwoz in his com then told the officer, "has there been any other crimes lately?" The officer shook his head,

"No, sir. There's a new hero running around." I frowned, I may save people from time to time but there's no way I would classify myself as a hero. "He's been dealing with the petty crimes and stuff like that." Captain Man scratched his head in confusion,

"Who else would be running around saving the day?" From my vantage point, I could see a few people in a back alley behind the shop. Curious, I inched closer to their conversation.

"Word on the street is there's a new vigilante in town." One of the boys said, the taller one nodded,

"No one knows his story at all. He never talks, just leaves his trademark DH symbol with black spray paint whenever he saves someone." A third guy joined them and said,

"I heard from my connections into the villain league that Kid Danger was kidnapped by the Wall Dogs. Then their leader let him go." They continued on theories about who I am and why I do what I do, but none of them landed close. I went back to the side of the roof where I could watch the crime scene. I slid off my backpack and took out my sketchbook. I wrote down a note that said,

Hey Ray,

I'm baaaack. Do you remember me?

~The Dark Hero

When I was done I silently slipped down a pipe on the side of the building. I managed to place my love letter on the windshield of the Man Van without being seen. When I was done I quietly jumped from the hood of the van to the roof again front flipping.

The crime scene started to get boring so I decided to pay junk 'n stuff a visit. Once I escaped the Wall Dogs I made sure to spray my hair black so no one would recognize me. I opened the door and the dinosaur blew fire at me. (out of costume) "Hello and welcome to junk 'n stuff, how can we help you?" I turned around and saw Charlotte. I immediately felt extremely guilty, she didn't know the real reason why I left. Ray probably said I betrayed him.

"What's this?" I asked, pointing to one of my favorite items while I used to work there.

"Oh that?" She said staring at it, "it's um..."

"A golden retriever skeleton." A new voice said, we both turned around and saw Jasper. He held out his hand and said, "hi, I'm Jasper. What's your name?" I stuttered,

"Hen-Sean. My name's Sean." Jasper nodded then someone came into the shop with a bunch of spray paint cans. I froze,

"Well, well, well," the person said, "what do we have here?" He aimlessly started to spray things in different colors. "Three civilians. And no Captain Man. You see, we know this is where Captain Man's secret hideout is located. We just wanted to stop by and say hi." Captain Man himself barged into the room from the back.

"Hold it right there Wall Dog!" He said, he looked at Jasper like he was signaling something and Jasper nodded then ran off into the bathroom. A few seconds later Kid Danger came out. I couldn't believe

It. My best friend replaced me. I turned to the Wall Dog member and attacked him.

When Captain Man got back to the Man Cave with Jasper he held the note in his hand. He sat down on the circular couch then sighed. "I don't know what this means guys." Charlotte and Jasper sat next to him, passing each other the note. "Who else would know who you are?" Asked Jasper, confused about the entire thing. "I mean, The Dark Hero kills people, there's no way that could be Henry. Schwoz is out of the question since he practically lives here. It's not me or Charlotte." Ray shrugged, then the bell rang signaling a costumer,

"Go see what he wants."

I sighed sitting on the fire escape a few blocks away from Junk 'n stuff. I managed to escape before the cops got there. After a few minutes, I jumped down a few flights of stairs and entered an abandoned apartment. I peeled off my black hoodie to reveal a blood stain where I was nicked by a bullet. I winced as I walked to my bathroom to get gauze wrap and medical tape. I scanned my cabinet for one last thing. Pain killers. I downed two of them then went back to my bedroom to work on the bullet wound. Over the one year I was flying solo I gained lots of scars and burns, I can thank the Wall Dogs for most of them. After I finished stitching up the wound I walked to where my shooting range was set up. I grabbed some bullets I shoplifted and loaded my stolen weapon. I pulled back the gun then fired three times. I repeated that until I was out of bullets. When that happened I grabbed my bow staff (like what Sara used on Arrow) and started training with that. Before I knew it the sun was down and it was time for the Dark Hero to come out and play.

I got dressed in my all black costume, grabbed my guns, bow staff and bag. I started my patrol. I hung out in the more shady side of town where Captain Man doesn't normally go. I heard screaming in an ally I knew a gang used as their hideout. I rushed to see what the problem was. I jumped down into the dark alley and surveyed the situation. A ten-year-old girl was getting raped. This made me mad so I brought out my bow staff and held a fighting position. "Hey! Let her go!" The leader turned around and smirked,

"Or what?" I grabbed one of his comrades and broke his arm with a flick of my wrist. The man screamed and knelt down. I used my voice modulator and said,

"You'll suffer a fate worse than a broken arm." The man looked from me to his partner and gulped. He let the girl go then ran away. I smirked, then looked at the little girl. She looked afraid of me then said,

"Thank you!" She hugged me, I was taken aback at first considering that was the first human contact that wasn't a punch I've had in a year. "You are my hero!" I sighed then said,

"What's your name kid?" She looked me in the eyes then said,

"Piper. Piper Hart. I came down here to look for my older brother. He's been missing for two years, but I know he's still alive. I feel it." I decided to do something that might have been the worst mistake in my life. I took off my mask and brushed the paint out of my hair.

"Pipes. It's me, it's Henry." She looked at me with disbelief.

"Henry? It's really you?" I nodded and she hugged me so tight I thought I was going to faint.

"Come on Pipes, let's get you home." She nodded then said,

"Oh yeah! Mom married Camp Man about a month after you got taken by the Wall Dogs." I frowned, then started to walk towards Junk 'n stuff. When I saw the store I stopped walking and looked at Piper. "What are you doing? Don't you want to see Ray and Mom?" I nodded,

"Yes, I do Pipes. But not the way I am, I'll explain it to you when you're older. Please don't tell anyone who I am?" She nodded then hugged me,

"I missed you, Henry! You'll always be my favorite superhero!" I cringed then said,

"Piper, I'm not a superhero. I've killed people before. I'm more like a vigilante." She looked close to tears, but nodded,

"I understand... If I need you how will I contact you?" I handed her a tracker and said,

"When you're in trouble press this button. I'll be able to track your location from my base." She nodded then hugged me again,

"I missed you, Henry." I sighed then hugged her back,

"I missed you too Pipes. Now go, Ray's probably worried. It's past ten 'o clock." She nodded and crossed the street into the thrift shop. I waited until she flipped the sign to 'closed' before I left. I raced across the rooftops of my city. All of a sudden I heard the sound of helicopter rotors over my head.

"Stop moving!" Jasper shouted, "we are Captain Man and Kid Danger. We will use force!" I smirked but humored him. I waited for them to climb down the elevator before taking out my bow staffs. Ray held up his hands then said,

"I am Captain Man," I smirked,

"No duh! But I know for a fact that's not the real Kid Danger." Jasper flinched then he asked,

"How do you know that?" I frowned,

"Because I watched him die." Ray got pissed then tried to shoot me. I used my hyper-motility to dodge the laser. I used my bow staff to take on Jasper and Ray. I hate to admit it, but I was impressed by how well Jasper was trained. Back when I was Ray's sidekick he barely trained me. I felt a jab in my shoulder and started to slow down. No, they can't find out who I am.

"Captain Man! Stop!" Piper shouted, climbing out of the helicopter. Ray looked at her then said,

"Piper, this man is a criminal." She shook her head,

"He saved my life." Ray looked confused, she hugged me and asked me, "are you sure you don't want them to know?" I nodded, turned on my voice modulator and said,

"It's not really my fault. Besides, most of my new enemies are much more dangerous than people like the Toddler." She nodded then Ray said,

"Who could be more dangerous than the Toddler?" I chuckled darkly,

"You'd be surprised, Captain Man. Not everything is made up of rainbows and unicorns in this part of the city." He looked insulted then I heard gunshots and shoved Piper behind me to protect her. I felt the bullets impact my kevlar and grunted. I quickly turned around and made out six or seven guys in the shadows. I drew my guns then started to count. "One." A body fell in front of me, "two," another body toppled over. I felt something shift behind us and threw my bow staff like a spear behind Ray and it made an impact with a gang member. "Three." A few more gunshots rang out and I jumped into a flip over the bullets. I shot two more guys, "four. Five." I smirked then said, "wow. Vlad may want to replenish his training. I took five of your guys out in less than five minutes." I told the leader,

"Vlad wants you to return," I smirked,

"Well, Vlad can kiss my ass, but there's no way in hell that I'm going back to him." Then I shot both of them twice, "six. Aaaaaand seven." I twirled my guns in my hands then put them back into my holsters. I walked over to my bow staff and took it out of the guy's eye. "Great. Now I have to clean my Bow staff again. It's the third time tonight." Ray looked like an innocent confused puppy,

"Who are you?" I smirked and threw my hood up,

"I'm the Dark Hero." Then I jumped from rooftop to rooftop to my home base. Let's see how long I can play with Ray before he breaks.

Chapter Text

Location: Metroburg (Anti-Hero League base)

Max Thunderman watched the Dark Hero fight the men on the roof from a secret camera. "Colosso!" He called his rabbit, "I need to go to Swellview. Do you think the other Anti-Heros will handle things in Metroburg while I'm gone?" The rabbit nodded,

"If anything horrible happens I'll contact you." Max looked at the Anti-Hero lair around him, he put good money into this place. It was for children of superheroes who don't want to follow directly in their parent's footsteps.

"Max!" One of his friends said, "the twins are fighting again!" Max sighed then blew his ice breath over the fighting twins freezing them in place.

"Alice, I have to go to Swellview, there might be a new recruit there." She frowned,

"Are you talking about that Dark Hero guy?" Max nodded,

"No matter their past, all heroes need redemption." And left for Swellview.

Location: Swellview (Dark Hero's base)

POV-HENRY

I entered my apartment and laid down on my bed sighing. I shrugged off my costume to get a better look at my wounds when I froze. Someone else was in my base. I grabbed my emergency gun from my bedside table and fired it in the direction I heard breathing. I watched as the person held up their hands and stopped the bullets using telekinesis. "Thunder Girl?" I asked, but the person chuckled,

"Nope. Max Thunderman at your service." I groaned then went back to dealing with my wounds. He blew his ice breath over the bullet holes setting the wound.

"Why are you here Max?" I asked, honestly curious.

"After Dark Mayhem crashed my prom I set up this Anti-Hero League thing and it's where outcasts, heroes and villains, come together to fight for a different kind of justice." I frowned,

"And you want me to join?" Max nodded,

"Two conditions. One, you tell me who you are. I promise not to tell anyone you don't want to know. Two. No more killing people." I thought about it then said,

"Where's the League located?" Max chuckled,

"Can't tell you unless you agree to the terms." Hmpf, he's smarter than the last time we met. I held out my hand and shook his,

"Deal." I slowly started to take off my mask. "Remember me? Henry Hart." Max looked shocked but quickly covered it up.

"Henry?! How did this happen?!" I frowned,

"Captain Man traded me for my mom and sister." He bro-hugged me then said,

"We're based out of Metroburg, but you can stay stationed here. The only thing I want is for you to meet the other members." I nodded,

"When do we leave?" He grabbed my arm and said,

"Right now." I felt a tug in my stomach, saw a swirl of colors then we landed in a building I assumed was the AHL. "Hey, guys!" Max yelled, "I got a new recruit!" Five different teenagers ran into the room, well, one teleport-ed and another girl used a portal. Two were girls and three were guys, not counting Max and I. I analyzed them out of habit and realized they were all supes. "Meet the Dark Hero," I smirked,

"Call me Henry." The blonde shook my hand and I almost froze, "Veronica?! What are you doing here?!" She rolled her eyes,

"Calm down 'Kid Danger'" she said the name like it was an insult, "when I was in the Wall Dogs I was undercover for the AHL." Max nodded,

"Thanks to Veronica's sting we were able to flush all of the Wall Dogs out of hiding." I frowned, that didn't make sense. Why would Van Dell want to surrender to superheroes? It must be all a part of a master plan...

"You know, your thoughts are really loud." The boy with short brown hair said, "I'm Eddie." I shook his hand and grimaced, as soon as I made contact with him my mind flashed back to the days I was captured by Vladmar and started to have a panic attack.

"Ed stop! What are you showing him?!" His twin shouted. Eddie panicked and let go of my hand, the visions stopped

"So-sorry. I still need to get a handle on my powers..." I nodded, breathing heavily,

"It's... Fine." His twin shook my hand next and I felt a wave of calmness wash over me.

"My name's Mikey. My brother's power is to be able to read minds and produce visions of someone's worst fear. I can force you to feel anything." I shuddered and Mikey laughed, "dude. Don't worry, you can trust me." I nodded and shakily shook hands with the brown-haired girl.

"And what's your power?" She laughed,

"My name's Alice and I can create space portals and summon shadow creatures."

"Shadow creatures?" I asked confused, Max nodded then she used the shadow from a nearby water bottle to create a rat. I chuckled, "okay. That's kind of bad ass." The final AH was a blue-haired boy who introduced himself as Aidan, with ice powers. Max then said,

"So Dark Hero, ready to join?" I nodded,

"One more thing... What're Veronica's powers, and how can you teleport?!" Max chuckled,

"During my fight with Dark Meyhem, I found out I had a bunch of new powers hidden inside me. And Veronica can fly and teleport."

"Hey!" Someone said, "what about me?!" I looked down and saw a talking bunny. I asked Max,

"What's with the talking bunny?" Max laughed then said,

"That's Dr. Colosso, he's kind of like our annoying mascot." The bunny protested, but Max ignored him and continued to give me a rundown of the place, "the lower floors are for training. Everyone has their own custom made floor fit for their powers, the upper floors are the living spaces. Each floor is owned by one AH again, custom made to fit the AH's needs. You can move from floor to floor using the hyper-vator to get to each floor quicker. So, how do you like it?" I chuckled,

"I'm normally not one for staying in the same spot, but I could get used to this!" Max laughed then said,

"Want to check out your training floor?" I nodded,

"Hell yes!" And sped to the elevator. In the elevator the buttons didn't have numbers, instead, they had each AH's logo on it with a 't' or 'h' to differ from the training level and their home level. I pressed my level button and the elevator zoomed down to my floor. Geez! This elevator was faster than the one in the Man Cave!

When the elevator dinged open I stepped onto a black and white track. There was a timer on the other end. In the center of the track was a boxing ring where I could summon fighting dummies and adjust their difficulty level. This was awesome! I didn't realize how late it got so I left my training floor for my living space. My kitchen was already fully stocked with my favorite snacks and foods. My bedroom was simple, I had a bed, desk, dresser, closet, and lamp. I opened my closet and turned on the light.

It was packed full of fresh made costumes and my dresser had black hoodies and black jeans and black combat boots for when I want to dress as a civilian. My bathroom was basic as well, a sink, toilet and shower box. In the bathroom cabinet, I found cans of black hair dye and smiled, now I won't have to ruin my hair spray painting it black. The bottom drawer of my dresser had an array of knives of all different shapes and sizes. I picked out a pocket Swiss army knife and tucked it into my shoe. I grabbed a twelve inch long silver knife and threw it at my wall. It landed with a satisfying thunk and stuck to the wall. My bed was a super comfortable water bed so I went to bed instantly... I almost wish I hadn't...

I was tied to the wall. My arms and legs were being pulled to opposite sides of the wall I was tied to with chains. Whoever captured me took off my mask and my shirt. There was already blood dripping down my stomach from some kind of whip. "Welcome Kid Danger, are you... comfortable?" Someone said sarcastically. I tried to look around where he was, but I couldn't move my head.

"Who are you you son of a bitch?" The man flipped a switch and the sound of electricity raced down a wire. Oh god, please tell me he isn't going to.

"That one was for my mother. She is not a bitch, at least she didn't trade me for her own safety." I struggled to get out of the chains, but the more I tried the further I would get pulled apart. "Now you know there is no escape. Captain Man doesn't care about you otherwise he would be here!" A bucket full of ice cold water was dropped on top of me due to a pulley contraption he made before I woke up. The ice cubes fell down my back, freezing my face and stomach. The man crackled as he flicked his whip at my stomach. I could just make out the electricity before realizing he was electrocuting me.

"What do you want?!" The man chuckled and stepped forward into the single lit light bulb so I could be face to face with my captor.

"Oh Henry," he picked up a knife and traced my eyelid with it. My own blood dripped down my face. "You should know better than to ask questions." He bent down so I worked up a mouth full of blood and spat it on him. He sputtered a little bit then he growled. He pulled a lever and the chains became tighter around my wrists and ankles. My limbs began to literally tear apart.

"I'm sorry... please..." The man stopped,

"stop what Henry?" I sighed,

"please stop pulling my legs and arms out of their sockets." The pain stopped, then all of the sudden he injected me with some kind of green serum. My head fell forward and my eyes began to close. "What... wh," I tried to say before turning to the land of blissful darkness.

When Max woke up the building was shaking. He jumped out of bed then raised the alarm. He met Alice, Veronica, Mikey, Eddie, and Aidan on the main floor then looked around. "Where's Henry?" He asked, Eddie tried to read Henry's mind, but he was pushed out of it.

"He's still sleeping, and having a nightmare!" Eddie shouted. The six of them ran into the elevator and pressed the 'DH' button. When they got to Henry's room it was shaking like there's no tomorrow. Max had to kick down the door to get into the room. "Henry!" The telepath yelled for his new friend then Alice shouted,

"I found him! He's sleeping in his bedroom! What do we do?" The teens looked to their leader who shook Henry awake saying,

"Henry! Wake up, whatever's happening isn't real! You're tearing down the entire base!" Henry woke up and the shaking around the building stopped, but Henry couldn't stop shaking. Max gave his team a -ill deal with this try to sleep look-. When his team left he turned to Henry and wrapped his arms around the Dark Hero's shoulders. In all his years knowing Henry Hart the boy had never so much has shed a tear, now though he looked ready to break. "Hey Hen?" Henry sniffled then wiped away his tears.

POV-HENRY

"I'm good. I'm gonna go and train, I'll head back to Swellview tonight." I said, not ready to talk about what Vlad did to me yet. Max looked hesitant, but he nodded.

"Now you know you're not alone anymore. Remember, if Captain Man gives you any trouble call us and we'll help you out." I nodded, still slightly shaky from my nightmare and realize my dresser and lamp were knocked over.

"Um... What happened?" Max looked around and said,

"Oh, while you were having your nightmare you caused an earthquake. I guess you have a bonus power too!" I answered with,

"I guess that is cool. I mean, who wouldn't want to be able to cause earthquakes whenever they want." Max looked worried, "what's up?" He sighed,

"I know you don't really trust us yet Henry. I don't know how, well, this happened, but even I can tell it was bad. Just know if you ever need to talk about anything you can trust me." I nodded then stood up,

"I'm going to go train." I walked into the elevator and pressed the DHt button and left to my training floor. When I got there I started to run laps right away. I continued to get flashbacks from when I was held captive by the Wall Dogs and Vlad. I ran as I remembered the whip he used against my back. I stopped running and checked the time on the clock. Four miles per minute, fast. But not fast enough.

Then I stepped into the boxing g ring and holographic walls appeared. Okay, now that's cool. A automated voice said, "select your training level, one through ten." I smiled then said,

"Why don't we start with level four?" Four robots were lowered from the ceiling. I grinned then the robots attacked.

Location: Top Secret

"Vandel!!!!" A voice echoed throughout the halls the Wall Dogs leader came running in fear then said

"Yes Master?" The man on the black throne growled,

"You said you and Vladmar would take care of Hart!" Vandel shuddered in fear.

"My Lord, I thought I did. My Wall Dogs and I out him through the most difficult torture we could think of. Not to mention Vladmar practically tortured the kid!" The man in the chair chuckled,

"I should've known my son would be so... persistent to stay on the 'good' side of this war. After all, he used to be Captain Man's sidekick." Vandel was quiet, afraid to say anything. "However, he proves to be in the way of my master plan. If we can not convince him to join us, then we must wipe him off of the map." Vandel shuddered then said,

"My um... Lord?" The man in the chair waved his hand, signaling him to continue. "It seems your-"the man in shadows cut him off then said,

"He's not my son."

"-of course, it's just. He joined the AHL." The man encased with shadows shouted

"What?! That puny Thunderman has corrupted Henry?! That's it. I'm going to do something. I'm going to send what's left of your Wall Dogs after Henry. Now that I know it's a trigger for him, he will be frozen in fear so he won't be able to fight back!" Vandel chuckled,

"Sounds perfect my Lord."

POV-HENRY

Location: Swellview park

I was dressed in my civilian clothes (my costume was in my backpack along with my weapons) then the Wall Dogs attacked me.

I was sitting on a bench, thinking about how now I wasn't alone. Then, all of a sudden, I heard the familiar sound of spray paint and froze. I was back in the Wall Dog's base, chained to that cement wall. I could feel the coldness of my chains on my wrists again. I heard Kid Danger's faint voice in the distance, "hey. Hey Sean. Are you okay?" Then Captain Man said,

"He's having a panic attack!" The Wall Dogs scampered away and Ray knelt down next to me. He started to speak in a calming voice, "look, kid you need to calm down. Wherever you are doesn't exist." I started to hyperventilate. "Come on Sean! Work with me!" I started to feel faint, the last thing I remember is Max's voice asking me if I was okay.

I groaned as I woke up. When I was able to focus I realized I wasn't in by base, or at the AHL hq. I was in the man cave. "Calm down Sean it's alright, your safe." I listened to the voice then saw Max.

"Max..." I said in a small voice, then I remembered Piper lived in the Man Cave now. "My sister. I need my sister." I felt small arms wrap around me and heard Piper say,

"It's okay Henry. You're safe, I'm safe. Shhh." I chuckled,

"I'm supposed to be the older sibling. How did I miss you growing up?" She smiled,

"When your the daughter of a superhero it works." I nodded then I heard Jasper dressed as Kid Danger ask,

"How come you had a panic attack when the Wall Dogs attacked you Sean? And why didn't you fight back?" Then Captain Man came down the tubes. Alice appeared and created a dragon with her shadow creatures power.

"Ah! Monster!" Captain Man yelled, I laughed,

"Don't worry Alice, I forgave him a year ago." Her dragon growled, but it disappeared into the shadows. She turned to Max,

"Max. The Master has shown movement." Max nodded then thought about something and turned to me.

"You know we need their help right?" I nodded,

"Pipes? Can you leave for a second? I need to talk to Ray, Jasper, and Charlotte alone." She nodded then left the room.

"Sean, what's going on?" Jasper asked me and I sighed,

"My name's not Sean. It's Henry, Henry Hart." They gasped when I took out the dye.

"Henry?" Ray asked in disbelief, "I thought you betrayed me." Both Max and Alice growled, but I shot them a I'll-handle this- look and they backed off. I stomped on the ground and caused the floor to crack. Then I used my super speed and beat Ran and Jasper up.

" I would never have betrayed you Ray." Max grabbed my arm,

"Henry, this won't solve anything!" I stopped beating them up then said,

"It'll solve my anger issues." Alice stared pointedly at me and I sighed, "fine. I'll stop beating them up." I paused, "for now." Ray flinched then I called Piper back into the room.

"Let me guess," she said, "anger issues?" I laughed then nodded,

"Now. If Captain Man doesn't mind, we kinda need to go and save the world right now. See you later.

POV-CHARLOTTE

LOCATION: MAN CAVE(After Henry, Max, and Alice leave.)

I watched as Henry beat up Ray and his best friend. I wanted to stop him, but when he said Ray betrayed him I hesitated. When Ray got back that night, he told us Henry joined the Wall Dogs willingly again, then he shot at Ray. Now, I'm not so sure. I mean, Henry was my best friend! There's no way he would've betrayed Ray. Ray was like his second father! When his parents divorced Henry blamed himself for not being a good enough son. Then Ray goes and hands him over to the Wall Dogs? And not to mention, didn't wait at all to replace Henry with Jasper. I sighed, I don't know what to think...

Chapter Text

Location: Swellview Middle School

POV-PIPER(Weren't excepting that now were you!?)

I was hanging out with my friend Stephanie during lunch when we heard a quick popping sound. "What was that?!" My friend asked me, I realized they were gunshots and pressed the tracker Henry gave me. I could only hope he would get here in time...

Location: Dark Hero's base; Swellview

POV-HENRY

Max, Alice and I just finished putting the finishing touches on my base when the call came in on the radio. "Attention all units. Report to Swellview Middle immediately! We have a Code Red in progress Code Red in progress!" I froze. Code Red=school shooting. Piper was in school. Piper's tracker started to go off, she must've pressed the button. I immediately triangulated her signal and saw she was stuck in the cafeteria with her friends.

"Guys!" I shouted, "I have to go!" I threw on my costume then Max said,

"You must be stupid if you think we're letting you go alone!" They pulled on their costumes and I grabbed his hand. We teleported to the school, I could only hope we would make it on time.

Location: Man Cave;Swellview

POV-SIREN(Mrs. Hart)

I was just waking up when the news broadcast came on the TV in the Man Cave. "This just in! Swellview Middle School is undergoing a school shooting! All parents, keep in mind the authorities are doing the best they can to keep the situation under control." Oh. My. God! Piper's at school right now!!

"Ray!" I called my husband, "get out of your sprocket and get your ass in here!" My husband came running into the room,

"Honey! What's wrong?!" He shouted, I pointed to the screen,

"My baby's school! You have to do something!" Captain Man nodded and blew a bubble,

"Don't worry Siren. I'll keep Piper safe," I nodded, still shaking in fear then he called Jasper,

"Ray? What's going on? I'm at school!" My husband rolled his eyes then said,

"There's a school shooting going on at Swellview Middle. We got to go and check it out." Jasper nodded,

"I'll meet you there." He blew a bubble then cut the video feed. Ray kissed me then said,

"Don't worry Siren. I'll keep our daughter safe." I nodded then he shouted, "up the tube!" And left me alone. All I could do was turn up the news and hope he could get their in time.

Location: Swellview Middle School

POV-PIPER

I dove under the table to hide from the shooter. My friend was terrified, "Piper! What if we die today? I don't want to die!" Suddenly the popping stopped and I could make out someone's shadow under the door. I hushed her quiet then the door was slowly pushed open.

I could see the man's shoes. He wore black dirty dress shoes and black dress pants. The man said, "I know you're in here... Come out, come out wherever you are... Piper Hart! " My friend looked at me confused then Captain Man showed up. He said,

"Hey you! Criminal!" The man with black shoes stopped walking then he grabbed a little kid with glasses and put the gun to his head.

"Don't make any moves Captain Man! Or else I'll blow his brains out!" I heard a woosh of wind then three new voices entered the room.

"Hey you!" The Dark Hero said, "why don't you pick on someone your own size?!" The man laughed then shot three warning shots just above Jasper's head. Henry froze.

"All I want is Piper Hart." Henry growled then said,

"You won't touch her." The man chuckled darkly,

"You see dark hero I know for a fact Piper has a hero complex. Just like her older brother." I froze, he knew Henry? "So if I move my hand a little bit... Whoops!" He shot a random kid in the leg. "Then I'll draw her out." I started to stand up, but Ray shouted,

"Piper! Stay where you are! We can handle this guy!" Then the man shot someone else in the arm. I had enough so I stood up on the table and shouted,

"Stop!" The man turned around. He had on a tux shirt and a ski mask.

"Ah... Piper Hart, just the girl I wanted to see." I saw Henry twitch, but I shook my head a little. You see, I recently started to gain these... Powers. I can make things float if I want them to. This was the perfect opportunity to test out my new powers.

"Why are you here?" The man smirked,

"Because Piper, I was hired by someone to kidnap you. Or kill you, really, my employer couldn't care less what I do with you. He moved closer to me seductively. Henry tried to interfere, but the man held a gun to someone's head. Henry stopped moving, but all I could think was I couldn't let this guy kill anyone else. The gun started shaking in his hands, "what the?!" He exclaimed when the gun exploded. All of the Heros and AH's in the room looked confused, but I stood up straight and stepped forward.

"I don't know who you are. But you made a wrong move trying to kidnap me ." I threw my hand out to him and a wave of energy exited my body. The man was pushed against the wall on the other side of the room. When he hit the wall it fell on top of him. None of the Heros said something so I broke the silence,

"So... Um yeah, about that. I have super powers. Don't know how that happened. Bye!" And I ran out of the cafeteria in full sprint. Leaving my brother and his new friends alone.

Location: Top Secret

The man in the shadow chair chuckled as he watched the scene unfold. "It seems both of my children have my gift." Vandel nodded,

"They are children of the earth shaker." The Master agreed then said,

"If I can not corrupt my son. Then I shall corrupt my daughter, before I'd it's too late!

Location: Man Cave; Swellview

Time: just after Piper is out of school.

POV-HENRY

I paced around the Man Cave waiting for Piper. I want to take Piper back to Blackguard with me so we can train her properly, but Ray wants her to stay with him. In the end, we decided to ask her what she wanted to do.

Location:Man Cave; Swellview

POV-PIPER

After I said bye to my friends I entered Junk 'n stuff and went down the elevator to the man cave. When the elevator door opened I saw Schwoz trying to capture a lost pig. But what really worried me was the expression on Henry and my Dad's face. "What's up?" I asked after a solid five minutes of silence. Henry wasted no time and started explaining my choices. I could go back to Blackguard with him and train, or I could stay here with my dad and train. "Wait, so you're making me choose?" Henry fidgeted with his bow staff,

"Piper... It's not that we're making You chose so to speak, we're just giving you two options on how to train with your superpowers. I personally think you should wait a few more years, you're much too young to be fighting crime." I rolled my eyes,

"Hen. You started when you were 13!" He shrugged,

"But at the time I didn't even have super speed. I got it when I had to fight Captain Man's old sidekick, Drex. Even then, I was a teenager. You're ten years old Piper! I can't have you getting hurt because one of your superhero enemies broke your leg or something." I sighed, he's right. Then Dad started to talk,

"However, if you don't get a handle on your powers, you might hurt one of your friends." Henry groaned,

"Ray! I'm not saying she shouldn't learn to control her powers, I just don't want Piper out fighting crime at ten years old!" Jasper smirked,

"Why not? Robin did it when he was a year younger," my brother started to get mad,

"Because Kid Danger his entire family died and he wanted revenge. Piper has no reason to go out every night dressed up in spandex fighting street crimes!" Jasper shrugged, but I shouted,

"Enough!" A light bulb on the ceiling burst and they looked at me, "you're all talking about what I should do without even asking me what I want to do. Henry, you want me to learn how to control my powers, but not start fighting crime yet, right?" He nodded then I said, "dad," Henry flinched when I called Ray dad, "you want me to train here and become another one of your sidekicks?" He nodded, "okay. Now that we have that settled out of the way, I need to think about this."

Then the girl who made the dragon appeared and told Henry something. He looked alarmed but played it off well. "Okay, so I have to go do some Blackguard stuff, I'll be back by Friday that's... In a week. Pipes," he looked at me, "no matter what you choose I'll still love you." Then we hugged and I sighed,

"I love you to Henry." I said, "I need some time to think about it. I'll tell you when you get back okay?" He nodded then grabbed Max's shoulder.

"Let's go Max." Max nodded and they disappeared in a blur of colors.

"So, yeah. Bye!" I said awkwardly then I ran to the elevator. I have a week to choose between the two of them, Henry, or my dad?

Chapter Text

Location: Blackguard

POV-HENRY

I paced around our main lair floor, we just got word that the Master was trying to make a move in on Swellview, and since it's my city, I could call the shots. I didn't want my family(Piper and my mom) in any danger, but now that Piper had her earthquake vibration power it makes her a prime target. Especially since Vlad-I shuddered at the thought of his name- knows who I am. Not to mention, Piper has to choose between Ray and I by Friday. "Woah dude, calm your thoughts down!" Eddie exclaimed.

Max looked at him then put his hand on my shoulder, "Eddie. What did we say about reading our thoughts?" Eddie shrugged,

"Sorry Max, it's just, I can't help it sometimes. Besides, half the time Henry's thoughts are so loud I don't need my power to hear them." I nodded,

"It's fine Max. It's mostly my fault anyways." I sat down in a black swivel chair then logged onto the Blackguard database.

"What are you doing?" Max asked me, leaning over my shoulder. I pulled up every file we had on the Master and scanned through all of them. "Hen!" I jumped then asked,

"When was the Master first a 'thing'?" Max sighed then said,

"I think... A few years ago, it was before my sister betrayed me. The hero League didn't do anything because he wasn't really a 'superhero.'" He smirked, "I guess he proved Super President Kickbutt wrong."

Then all of a sudden, we were in the middle of the Hero League headquarters. I glanced at Max, he looked uncomfortable.

"Hello, Max."

Location: Hero League headquarters

POV-MAX

I stared in the eyes of my sister. Luckily we were all in costume, I felt Alice create a shadow creature, but I waved her off, "not right now Sleeping Darkness, we don't need the attention." She looked disappointed but made her shadow creature disappear.

Super President Kickbutt stood up and approached me, "we need your help." I smirked,

"Please. When did the HL ever help me?!" My sister snapped,

"-Max!" And I rolled my eyes. I noticed her new Z-Force uniform and said,

"I'm glad you reached your dream Thunder Girl!" Henry put his hand on my shoulder,

"Hey, don't start a fight now Max. At least wait until we are all back at our base." I nodded shakily,

"Fine.  I just..." Wish I could speak to Phoebe like she's my sister, not an enemy. I thought, as soon as he realized where we were he made a 'mind link' where we can communicate through our thoughts.

You don't have to do anything you don't want to. "I assume you're communicating by thought?" Super President Kickbutt asked, I shrugged,

"What? It's not like we can use coms in here, you would block the signal." She sighed,

"Where did we go wrong with you Max?" I sighed sarcastically then said,

"Hmm should I start before I felt like nothing if my twin was in the room, or after my twin betrayed me on a whim that I night take her powers?" Phoebe protested,

"Okay. First of all, you wrote it in your diary and I read your diary and found out about it." Henry clenched his wrists then she turned to him and asked him, "you look familiar... Have we met before?" Henry shook his head,

"No, but I don't like the way you're treating my friend." Phoebe rolled her eyes and I shook my head,

"Don't, Dark Hero. She's not worth it.", Henry growled darkly,

"Please Max. She threw you out like trash and you're just going to forgive and forget?!" I rolled my eyes and smirked,

"And what exactly happened with the person who betrayed you?" Henry froze,

"That's different," I shook my head then turned to Phoebe. Just as I was about to speak the rest of my family came into the room.

"There she is! Our favorite superhero!" I smirked,

"Hey there Hank. Nice to see you again." My dad froze,

"Max?! Where have you been?! We've been worried sick about you!" I chuckled darkly,

"Like you actually cared. I mean, you all stopped looking for me after the first week I went missing!" Nora's eyes glowed red and fired lasers at me. I tried to teleport out of the way, but the lasers entered my teleport or something because when I appeared behind my friends my shoulder was burnt. "Ah!" I cried, I grabbed my shoulder and Aidan came by me. He waved his hand and place a thin layer of snow and ice over the burnt part.

Alice summoned a dragon shadow creature, it roared in triumph. The twins stood behind the group as back up, but they could hold their own in a fight if need be. Henry and Veronica both grabbed their weapons and got into a fighting position. I guess we must've looked scary because Super President Kickbutt started to look worried. "Nora! Why did you do that?!" She smiled,

"Because, Max was going to take Phoebe's powers." My mom raised her hand,

"Can I say something?" My team stayed in a fight ready position, but let her talk. "One, I missed you Max. Two, how in the world can you teleport if Phoebe can't?!" I smirked, the wrong choice of words mom.

"Max is nothing like Phoebe!" Aidan shouted,

"He's ten times the person she could ever hope to be!" Veronica added. My family started to back up. Alice used her dragon as a distraction, then summoned a space portal for us to escape through, leaving my family behind.

We fell on top of each other on the main floor of our base. The pain in my shoulder became to much. I don't understand how Billy was able to play 'laser tag' back in Hiddenvile if this is what getting hit by one felt like. The rest of my team stood up and untangled each other. I groaned in pain and Henry knelt by my side. "Max! Where did she hit you? What's happening?!" My eyelids fluttered.

"I don't- I don't know. She wasn't this strong before... Somehow she got even more power-powerful." He placed my head in his hands. My eyes started to close as the pain from Nora's laser started to spread to the rest of my body.

"Come on Maxie. Stay with us," Henry said. The rest of my team helped him lift me up into the elevator. Someone pressed the red cross button and the elevator shot to the hospital floor. I went in and out of consciousness. When I woke up I was in a hospital bed, my shoulder was wrapped with gauze. An IV was stuck in my arm and I started picking at it.

"Hey Max." Veronica said, "how are you feeling?" I grimaced,

"In pain. Where's Henry?" She shrugged,

"After you were situated he said something about having to see his sister and Captain Man?" She looked at me then I said,

"Have we heard anything about the Master or the Hero League?" She shook her head,"

"It's been quiet all week. Too quiet, we think the Hero League is deciding rather or not we're a threat. I mean, Alice did use a dragon the first time she met Super President Kickbutt. They're also probably trying to see what powers we all have." I froze,

"I've been out for a week?! How is that even possible?! Nora's laser eyes never hurt someone that much before!" Colosso hopped up on my chest then said,

"Theoretically, when you teleported to avoid getting hit you enhanced the strength of the laser. Therefore, you got hit with ten times the normal force of the laser." I frowned,

"That doesn't make sense though. At least, not logically." Colosso laughed,

"I know kid. Now, I got to go poop in your shoes. Later!"

Location: Man Cave; Swellview

POV-HENRY

I paced around the Man cave anxiously waiting for Piper to get back from school. Today she was going to choose between me and Ray. "Hey Kid. What's gotten your panties in a twist?" Ray asked me. I shrugged,

"Nothing." Ray chuckled,

"Oh come on kid! You worked for me for three years before... Besides the point, I know when something's bugging you." I stopped pacing then sat on the circular couch.

"It's nothing Ray." I'm just super worried about Max. "I just think the Hero League is going to try and take Blackguard over." He sat down next to me, but I moved down the couch so I wasn't next to him anymore.

"Why would you think that?" He asked, ignoring my departure. I shrugged,

"I don't know man. The Hero League kidnapped all of the Blackguard members without even telling us why. Then our leader met the person who betrayed him their and got laser eyes shot at him. Not to mention, there's a villain out their that no one knows about." The elevator doors opened and Piper came out with Charlotte and Jasper.

"Henry!" She shouted happily. She ran to give me a hug and I obliged.

"Hey Pipes!" I said, true, I was excited about seeing her again, but I'm still super afraid for Max.

"What's wrong?" I laughed her question off,

"Nothing. Look, you don't have to worry about him-it." She looked at me like she didn't believe me, but dropped the subject.

"Hey Hen!" Jasper said, I glared at him, then Charlotte said,

"You know Henry. I'm still actually confused about why you would betrayed Ray in the first place." I growled, but calmed down before my powers went haywire.

"I didn't betrayed him. HE betrayed ME!" Jasper looked between me and Ray then said,

"Why would Ray do that?! You were like his son!" I laughed,

"You could've fooled me!" Ray glared daggers at me. I mean, if looks could kill then I would've died! "What? You thought I would come back from the Wall Dogs the same kid you knew? Did you even care? Did you even look for me after you left? Oh, and don't say you did cause I know you didn't." I took a breath, "they tortured me Ray. I kept thinking, 'Captain Man will come. Ray will save me,' but you never did. After a month with the Dogs they gave me up to another villain who was worse than the Wall Dogs. You think I got out of that unscathed? Think again!" I pulled up my sleeves and my ex-friends gasped. Charlotte grabbed my right arm and she traced my Wall Dogs burn. She ran her fingers over long knife scars. "Do you want to know something that's really sad Ray?" He didn't say anything so I continued, "I gave my self half of these scars to punish myself."

"Why?" Jasper asked in a small voice I answered,

"For believing in Captain Man." Ray flinched then hugged me.

"I'm sorry Hen..." I pushed him away then said,

"Only my friends call me that." He flinched again then Piper said,

"I made my choice!" We turned to look at her. She was standing on top of a stool. "I want to fight in the streets as a superhero," Ray punched his fist in the air, "but! I want to finish middle school first. I'm sorry Dad, I'm choosing Henry." I smiled then pulled her from the stool.

"So, ready to learn how to control your powers?" She nodded,

"I am Henry." She jumped on my back and I looked at Ray,

"No hard feelings, right?" He nodded then I turned and used my super speed to get back to Metroburg.

When we got there the rest of the Blackguards minus Max were waiting to welcome Piper. Veronica smiled and said, "hello Piper. Welcome to Blackguard."