The sickening crack of Zenith’s neck echoed through the air, cutting through the panicked murmurs of the crowd like a blade. Daisy Carter felt her stomach twist, the sound settling deep in her bones. She froze, her breath caught in her throat, unable to tear her eyes from the stage. From her position near the back of the crowd, she could see it all—Titan Forge, the towering figure of the country’s greatest hero, standing over Zenith’s lifeless body. The young Guardian’s head hung at an unnatural angle, his eyes glazed over, unseeing.

  For a moment, the world seemed to hold its breath.

  And then, chaos erupted.

  Screams rippled through the crowd like a shockwave. People shoved and trampled each other in their desperate attempt to escape, the sheer volume of bodies pressing together in a frenzy. Daisy felt herself being jostled, pulled along by the tide of terrified civilians, but her eyes remained locked on the stage. On Titan Forge. On the body of Zenith, crumpled at his feet.

  This couldn’t be real. Titan Forge, the man whose very name inspired hope, had just killed a fellow hero. And it wasn’t an accident. It was deliberate, cold. Controlled.

  "Do you see now?" The Chancellor’s voice boomed across the square, amplified by the loudspeakers, dripping with a twisted, mocking satisfaction. "Your heroes are nothing without control. And I—" he raised his arms, basking in the horror unfolding around him—"control everything."

  Daisy’s mind raced, trying to make sense of it. She knew the Chancellor was powerful—a Psychic level 5—but this? Controlling the minds of heroes like Stellar, Warden, and Titan Forge? It was unthinkable. She had seen what mind controllers could do, but never on this scale. Never with such precision, such cruelty.

  Her heart hammered in her chest, the weight of the situation pressing down on her like a vice. The city was unraveling. The Guardians, the strongest defenders of peace and order, were reduced to weapons in the hands of a madman.

  And she was powerless to stop it.

  Her hands trembled as she clutched her tablet, the data still flickering uselessly across the screen. She had been monitoring the power grid, trying to prevent the very thing that was now happening. She had seen the spike, had tried to warn the Guardians, but it hadn’t been enough. The city’s power was down, the emergency systems offline, and the crowd was at the mercy of the villains who had descended upon them like vultures.

  A surge of frustration welled up inside her. She was supposed to be smart, capable. She was supposed to be able to fix things. But what was the point of all her knowledge, all her planning, when it came down to this? A level 5 Psychic, the most powerful manipulator she had ever seen, with an army of teleporters and masked villains at his command. She couldn’t outthink him. She couldn’t outfight him.

  But she had to do something.

  Forcing herself to breathe, Daisy tore her eyes away from the stage and looked around, searching for any sign of the other Guardians, for any glimpse of hope. But Warden’s force field trapped them all inside, their powers useless against the shimmering wall of light. She could see them pounding against it, shouting orders, but the Chancellor’s grip was unbreakable.

  Stellar, the leader of the Novas, was no different. His normally bright and confident expression had been replaced with something hollow, his eyes vacant as he held a civilian woman by the throat. His hand glowed faintly, the power of a star contained within his palm, and with one command, he could incinerate her.

  "Watch," the Chancellor hissed, his voice cold and precise. "Watch as your so-called heroes destroy everything you hold dear. This city will fall, and it will fall by their hands."

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  Daisy’s chest tightened with a mix of fear and rage. The Chancellor was playing a twisted game, and he was winning. He wasn’t just attacking the city—he was breaking it, piece by piece, starting with the people who were supposed to protect it. And the worst part? He wasn’t even exerting himself. He was calm, collected, every movement calculated to inflict maximum damage.

  Daisy’s eyes flicked back to Titan Forge. He stood like a statue, the lifeless body of Zenith at his feet. She could see the struggle in his eyes, the faint flicker of resistance as he fought against the Chancellor’s control, but it was no use. The Psychic level 5 had him completely in his grasp, and the strongest hero in the country was nothing more than a puppet on strings.

  Her mind raced. What could she do? The power grid was down, and the Guardians were trapped. Even if she could break through the Chancellor’s control, how? What force in the world could stand against someone who could bend minds with a thought?

  She needed to act. Now.

  Suddenly, a thought struck her. The modulators. The devices stolen from NovaTech during the attack. They were designed to interact with powers, to suppress or enhance abilities. If the Chancellor had one of those modulators—if he had found a way to amplify his control—it would explain how he was able to dominate heroes as powerful as Titan Forge and Stellar. But it also meant there might be a way to disrupt it.

  Her pulse quickened as the pieces fell into place. If she could get close enough, if she could find the modulator the Chancellor was using, maybe—just maybe—she could shut it down. It was a long shot, but it was better than doing nothing.

  Clutching her tablet, Daisy pushed through the panicked crowd, her heart racing as she made her way closer to the stage. The ground shook as Warden’s force field flickered, holding back the terrified civilians while the Chancellor continued his sick display of power. Heroes and villains clashed in the distance, but here, at the heart of the chaos, it felt like the world was collapsing in on itself.

  As she neared the stage, the Chancellor’s eyes scanned the crowd, his gaze cold and calculating. Daisy ducked behind a pillar, her breath coming in short gasps. She was close, too close. If he saw her, if he sensed what she was trying to do, it would be over.

  She glanced at her tablet, frantically searching for any sign of a modulator’s signal. It wasn’t much—just a faint trace of energy, barely distinguishable from the ambient noise—but it was there. The modulator was somewhere on the stage.

  Taking a deep breath, Daisy steeled herself. She had one shot at this. One chance to stop the Chancellor before he tore the city apart. If she could get close enough, if she could disable the modulator, maybe she could free the Guardians. Maybe they could still fight.

  Her hands tightened around the tablet as she edged closer, her heart pounding in her chest. She could feel the Chancellor’s presence, a heavy weight pressing down on her mind, but she forced herself to push through it. She had to be quick, precise. One wrong move, and she was dead.

  She reached the edge of the stage, her fingers trembling as she tapped into the modulator’s signal. It was faint, buried deep beneath layers of interference, but she could feel it. She could shut it down. She just needed a few more seconds.

  But then, the Chancellor’s voice cut through the chaos, low and sinister. "I see you."

  Daisy’s blood ran cold.

  She looked up, her heart hammering in her chest as the Chancellor’s gaze locked onto her, his eyes gleaming with malicious intent. He smiled, a slow, deliberate grin that sent a shiver down her spine.

  "You think you can stop me?" he asked, his voice soft, almost amused. "You think your little toys will save you?"

  Daisy’s fingers froze over the tablet. The modulator. She was so close. But the Chancellor was already moving, his hand outstretched, his mind bearing down on her like a storm. She could feel the pressure, the weight of his control closing in around her, tightening like a vice.

  "No," she whispered, her breath coming in short, panicked gasps. She fought against it, her mind racing, but it was too strong. He was too strong.

  "You will watch," the Chancellor hissed, his voice cold and cruel. "You will watch as your city burns."

  And then, before Daisy could react, the world went dark.

  The last thing she heard was the Chancellor’s voice, echoing in her mind, a twisted promise of what was to come.

  "You will break."