"Oak Tree, Willow Tree, Birch Tree, and Magnolia Tree. These are the four main cities that exist out in the known world." Cora explained. "Each city has a leader and is in charge of several villages. Oak Tree rules Pine Tree and Apple Tree, which we just came from. Down there is Magnolia Tree. It's one of the biggest and most developed cities in the world. It also seems like it's where the celebration is going to be held this year."

Hope nodded her head, listening along. She had crash-landed about a mile away from the large city on a hill and had placed Phoenix's box down. Phoenix had turned his power off, freeing them from the stasis lock they had been in, so now they were able to look at where the final battle would hopefully take place.

Pine Tree had been built into a mountain and was sort of on a slope. Apple Tree had been a cozy-looking forest village. Magnolia Tree, on the other hand, was an actual city. Or at least it looked like one. It reminded her of Daisy. The city had large white marble buildings that looked like they were carved into the shape of skyscrapers. As in modern skyscrapers, like the kind in Oleander or Lillian, though they were forged out of solid stone, lacking any metal, nor did they have windows. The city itself also appeared to be massive, likely having many different districts within. Also built around the entire city was a fifty-meter wall, which made it impossible for them to see anything besides a few of the tall towers that jutted out. It was like the future and past had collided and created a modern city out of the technology of this world, which was still practically in the stone ages.

A long winding road connected to several entrances around the wall, and wooden gates the size of buses had been carved into the stone, which were open. There was a massive line of people entering and exiting the city, all normal folks dressed in the same way as Nikos or Cora were. Some had carriages or other goods they were taking with them, likely looking to sell some things while they were here. Several guards stood in front of the gates, checking each person that entered. Most wore simple iron armor and carried spears or shields, but a few were much taller and forged out of solid stone, being the same sort of golems she had fought the other day.

Nikos had mentioned that Magnolia City was the place that had been creating the golems for war, so she wasn't too shocked to see any. It did make her a bit worried that they'd instantly show up and attack her and the others, but luckily, it seemed they were far enough away that the golems didn't notice.

"Since the celebration is being held in Magnolia Tree, all other city leaders will go into a cease-fire," Cora stated. "This is because they'll actually be coming to Magnolia Tree, along with several other hundreds of people from nearby villages or cities that want to join in. This means the city is going to be pretty crowded."

"That won't be an issue." Phoenix shook his head. "Pied and I have a plan for that. I do have to ask, though: are the two of you okay with all of this? I mean, you're from the world, yet you seem fine with helping us despite it going against your traditions."

Nikos and Cora shared a look. "To be honest, I have been thinking about that quite a bit," Nikos said after a few moments of silence. "I mean, it's pretty clear you guys are going to start trouble down there. Despite that, though, I think I'm okay with it. You have all gone out of your way to help my sister and me, as well as the other people of this world. Who knows what would have happened to Apple Tree without you all?" Pied shuffled a bit and awkwardly looked away from Nikos, who continued. "None of you seem like you'd hurt innocent people, and my worldview has already shifted a bit after seeing Ms. Hope in action, so I'm putting my trust in you all."

"You can count on us." Claymore grinned. "We're the good guys, after all."

"We're not going to hurt anyone from this world." Alexander agreed. "The people that are in our way are very bad and very much from our own place. My daughter is going to put a stop to them. I have faith in her."

Hope looked at her father and gave a small nod when he placed a hand on her shoulder. "That's right. I'm just here to beat up the bad people!"

"That's all good and all, but what exactly is the plan?" Irene asked, pushing her glasses up. "Surely we're not just going to barge in there?"

Evan just chuckled and folded his arms. "Honestly, with this group, you can never be sure."

"I think it'd be best to sneak in," Kevin grunted. "Though that'll be hard for me since I look like this. Ideally, we should avoid combat as much as possible until it's time. We don't want to put any of the people here in danger, and we don't know how many villains are behind that wall."

"Shift is right." Hope nodded. "We should sneak in first and figure out what's going on. Cora, do you know when the celebrations are fully starting?"

"They should be happening sometime tomorrow." Cora nodded. "Once it's announced what city the Queen is coming to, everyone will try to flock to that city to celebrate. Those that can't make it will instead hold the celebrations within their own village. Usually, the celebration happens late at night, so it'll be sometime tomorrow night. It's done this way so the people have time to set everything up, and merchants can arrive and trade amongst themselves. As I mentioned earlier as well, the leaders of the other cities will also be arriving."

"What happens during these celebrations exactly?" Phoenix asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not really sure," Cora admitted sheepishly. "It's never taken place near us, so I've never actually been to one."

"Dad has," Nikos said. "He told me about it once. It was when I was real young and before Cora had been born. He managed to make it in time and celebrate in the city the Queen was visiting. He told me it was pretty standard at first. Lots of songs and food were brought out, and people were getting wasted off of ale or wine. It wasn't until the moon fully rose above the city that the Queen actually arrived. Dad told me she gave some speech and then selected someone."

"Selected someone?" Hope felt her stomach flop a bit. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know." Nikos shrugged. "I guess every year, a person in the crowd is selected. Dad told me it was a young girl who had been picked, and some sort of holy light carried her up to the Queen. I guess it's some blessing or something."

"Are these people ever seen again?" Claymore questioned. "Cause not to be that guy, but this totally sounds like a ritualistic sacrifice, right?"

Nikos just shrugged again. "Dad left in the morning. That's all I really know. Sorry."

"It's fine." Phoenix folded his arms and hummed. He looked back down at the city in the distance. It had four main entrances along the wall: one North, one South, one West, and one East. "Nikos, do you have more of those robes you and your sister are wearing?"

Nikos nodded and reached for a fur pouch he had on his back. "Yeah. While I was in Apple Tree, I swiped—I mean, borrowed—a bunch in case you all needed them. I have one for everyone but Mr. Shift since he'd stand out even with one on." Nikos pulled out several of the white tunics and robes out of his pouch and handed them to everyone.

Phoenix took his and reached up, pulling his mask off. He was a handsome man with messy bluish hair that had clearly been dyed and bright green eyes. "Okay. Here's what we're going to do." The hero explained as he casually began to strip out of his costume in front of them. "We don't want to make it look too suspicious, so we're going to split up into three teams. Team one will enter through the North. Team two will enter through the East. Team three will remain up here and camp out where it's safe. Shift, due to how you look, it'd likely be impossible to sneak you in, so you'll remain here. Is that okay with you?"

Kevin nodded and took a seat cross-legged. "Yeah. It's fine."

"The civilians should also stay here." Phoenix slipped on the robes and covered his hair with a fur hat, hiding the fact that it was blue. "I would have suggested leaving them behind in Apple Tree, but with all the villains still running around the realm, that seemed like it'd be a bad idea, so we'll leave them in your care, Shift. We have until tomorrow night to get ready, so we'll use this time to explore the city and do our best to map it out. We should lay low and not draw attention to ourselves. Pretend to just be normal civilians of this world. Ideally, the moment the Queen pops out, we'll be able to grab her and force her to bust us out of here, but I doubt that'll happen, so we should be ready to fight."

"You'll need some help walking around the city," Cora stated. The girl wrapped her arms around Hope's and nodded her head. "I'll go with Ms. Hope."

"If you're going, then I'm going as well!" Nikos jumped in.

Hope awkwardly stood there as both siblings grabbed onto her. "Please help."

Phoenix hummed and rubbed his chin. "There is a chance something could happen that'll blow our cover if we don't have a native of this place with us. Nikos, you'll come with me. Cora, you can stick with Cinder."

"Yay!" Cora poked her tongue out at her brother, who awkwardly made his way over to Phoenix's side.

"So I'm guessing that means you and I are on different teams?" Hope asked, looking at the other flame-based hero.

Phoenix nodded. "That's right. I'll have Claymore on my side, and you take Pied. As mentioned, he's going to be important to the plan, so we need him in the city."

Pied rubbed his neck awkwardly and made his way over to Hope's side. "I'll do my best to help. It's the least I can do for what I did when I worked for Glacious. I'm not that strong, though, so expect me to run away if any of you screw anything up."

"That's fair." Hope grinned and ruffled the boy's hair, causing his eye to twitch a bit. She turned to look at her father and the others. "Well, we shouldn't waste any more time, right? I think it's time we get this over with. Besides, I really want to see what the city looks like!"

They set off shortly after that. Cora, herself, and Pied headed down for the north entrance to the city, walking the paved path, while Phoenix, Claymore, and Nikos made their way down the hill heading for the other road in the distance. Alexander stood on the hill watching his daughter walk off. His smile faded slightly, and he felt some of his worry grow. It was moments like this that made him hate the fact that he was just a normal human. He wasn't able to be near her side. He could do nothing for her. He just had to watch as she marched off into a battle.

"Sit down." Alexander jumped a bit as he heard the voice. Kevin was cross-legged, sitting on the ground and staring at the city in the distance. "There's no reason for any of us to worry for them."

Evan chuckled and collapsed down next to the red monster. "I have my full faith in Phoenix."

Irene nodded her head and opened a book she had with her, reading it while still casually talking. "Of course, I know Claymore will succeed at this. He's my knight, after all."

"If you don't mind me asking, is Claymore a Mental-based Super?" Evan asked, shooting the little girl a look. "I mean, no offense, but he's not all that strong. So, is creating tech what he specializes in?"

Irene shook her head. "No. He's actually quite useless."

"What!"

"Still. He's brave." The little girl smiled. "Braver than any other hero."

Alexander finally turned away from where his daughter was walking and took a seat in front of Kevin. "You'll rush in to save them when the time is right?"

"Of course." Kevin sighed. "That's what I do. God, when did I become a freaking superhero?" The monster slumped down a bit and grumbled. "Till then, though, you're all going to sit down here with me and stay safe. I'm not letting any of you get hurt."

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Do your best." Irene patted the monster on the back, though the little girl didn't bother to look up from her book, which she held in her other hand. "We'll also need to eat, so go find us food later, okay?"

"You little brat." Kevin's eye twitched.

"We don't have much time left, do we?" Evan collapsed down onto the grass and stared up at the sky. "I mean, technically, when you think about it, the real Murder Games haven't even actually started yet. All of this has been like a prologue or something. It's only a matter of time before Lucifer comes hunting us down. We're going to be cutting it close getting out of here."

"We won't fail," Alexander said it confidently, though he shook a bit. The truth was, he couldn't get that damn dream he had earlier out of his head. "I know that somehow they'll win. After all, the good guys always win." He looked back down the hill and clenched his hand into a fist. "Please... Just stay safe."

Meanwhile, nearing the gate, Hope awkwardly rubbed at her face. "Is it really okay for me to just be walking around like this?" She muttered quietly. Cora and Pied stood on either side of her, walking along with her. The three of them stood behind a large carriage that was filled to the brim with various goods. Behind them, more robed people walked, leaving them totally boxed in on the path.

"What do you mean?" Pied asked, holding tightly to her hand.

"I mean, I look like Queen Cinder." Hope spat the name out. "That's not going to do me any favors, is it?"

"It'll be fine." Pied shrugged.

"It will?"

"Sure. Think about how many heroes don't wear masks yet somehow keep their identities secret. Your hair is shorter than the Queen's, and also she has golden hair and red eyes, while you have black hair and blue eyes. Not to mention the scar you have; as long as you lay low, people shouldn't put together who you look like."

"Cora figured it out just by looking at me, though." Hope pointed out.

"That's because you were dressed oddly and clearly a mage," Cora spoke up on the other side of Hope, getting her arms tightly around one of Hope's limbs. "Seeing that you were clearly not human made me take more interest in you, and I guess I put it together easier. The same would be true for the people of Apple Tree. Our people like to look at mages and notice every detail about them, so as long as you don't blow your cover and pretend to be normal, most won't stare at you for long enough for it to register."

"I guess we're about to find out." Hope prayed as they got closer to the gate. "Please don't notice me, please don't notice me, please don't-"

On either side of the large gate were two of the city's soldiers. Both looked extremely bored and tired, and their eyes roamed through the crowd. One looked directly at her, but his eyes left just as quickly as they landed on her and moved on to the person behind her. It wasn't them that she was worried about, though. Next to either soldier was a golem, each one standing above ten feet tall. The golems didn't budge an inch and just remained in place. She had been afraid they'd act up once she got near, but they didn't, and soon enough, she stepped past the gate with Pied and Cora. Once she was past the soldiers and the golems, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Finally. Something goes my way."

"And you jinxed us," Pied said flatly.

"My bad." By now, Phoenix, Claymore, and Nikos would likely be entering somewhere else in the city. They'd all stay separated and would use this time to look around the place. They'd also all need to find a place to stay, which shouldn't be too hard since the celebration was here. There were bound to be a few dozen inns that were open. As she looked around, though, she found herself frowning a bit. "You know, this place is kind of familiar to look at." She muttered.

"What do you mean?" Cora questioned, cocking her head to the side.

It really wasn't like a village at all. Not only did it have the massive skyscrapers that were forged out of the white marble, but Magnolia also had roads. Not like dirt paths, but actual roadways, the kind cars would drive on, complete with the line down the middle. Instead of cars, though, it was various carriages or wagons. There was also a series of sidewalks connected to each of the roads and various alleyways. Scattered around the many towers were large manors. Just like the skyscrapers, they looked strangely modern. There was no tech or anything like that, and everything was forged out of stone or wood, but it was a clear imitation. Why though? Not only that, but the way it was set up was oddly familiar.

"Cinder?" Pied looked up at her, but she ignored the boy and began to walk down a familiar path.

Hope looked around at the many different buildings and alleyways. At certain parts of the road were manhole covers that would likely lead down to an old sewer system. There were also a few stairs that, in a modern city, would lead to a subway station, though she was unsure where they'd go in this place. The city itself seemed to be broken up into three sections, which she noticed immediately. The first section was the one they stood in. It was filled with dozens of towers and rich-looking homes and seemed to be the most popular area. Several sections of roads had been blocked off, and massive stands were being set up, most likely in preparation for the festival tomorrow. In the distance was a massive stadium, similar to the kind where a football game would be held or a Pretty Face concert... It had the most guards near it, as well as more of those golems, so it was most likely going to be the center point of where the festival would be held and most likely where Queen Cinder would make herself known.

The next section was still nice, though not as grand. It was in the middle of the city and looked to be where all the markets and inns were. There was a store at the end of every block, and large crowds of tourists were going back and forth. It had several smaller towers scattered around it, and the various inns looked more like apartment complexes or motels. Where there would normally be electric poles or other signs of technology in a modern city were instead weird, jagged white trees that poked out of the ground and seemed to serve no purpose other than to take up space. She also spotted what looked like a school and a hospital, as well as a mall, once again, all made out of the same white marble material.

The final section of the city was packed and closed together. It had almost no towers and was instead made up of dozens of inns and apartments, all on top of one another. It looked run down somehow, with large cracks scattered across the stone buildings. Also in the district was a series of large storage lockers that had wooden fences in place and an area of the city that opened up into a junkyard, though it didn't have that much trash in it compared to the real deal. There was also no bridge, nor was there a beach or an ocean. Despite that, though, it was quite clear to her what this place was.

Each section of the city was wide, going on forever, and there were enough alleyways for people to wander around in constantly. Each section also held some sort of hierarchy, one being for the rich, the other for the middle, and the final for the poor. It was all just a little bit wrong, made the wrong way, but without a doubt in her mind, she was sure that she was in Oleander City.

Magnolia Tree was almost a shot-for-shot replica of Oleander City.

Hope stood at the edge of Spider Street, looking back and forth between all the warehouses and lockers, as well as dozens of alleyways. There were so many people walking around; the entire city was crowded, likely because of the celebration, but she was willing to bet that if someone didn't have a house and was forced to live in Magnolia Tree, they'd head straight here and stay the night.

"Cinder?" Pied asked again and tugged on her arm. "Is something wrong? You haven't said anything and have just been staring off into space."

"It's Oleander City," Hope said, stunned.

"What?"

"It's my city." She said again. "I saw my school, the hospital my dad used to stay at; this is Spider Street; there was the junkyard and the three big sections; all of it is the exact same. The buildings look like the towers from my city, and the alleyways are all the same, but it's just slightly different. It—It doesn't make sense, but I'm sure of it. This is Oleander City. This is my city?"

"Are you saying you've been here before?" Cora asked in shock.

She shook her head. "Not here, but the city this place was based off of." She shot a dirty look at a statue. In Oleander, there were plenty of statues of Old Dog scattered about, but here in Magnolia, they were all of Queen Cinder. "She didn't just steal my looks. She stole my city as well. Now, it makes me wonder what the other cities of this realm look like. Are they also made in the image of other places?"

Pied looked around, a little confused. "I've never been to Oleander, but I do have to admit this does look odd. It's almost as if you were to take a modern city and turn all of it into a white marble outline of what it looks like. This place feels strangely hollow despite the people."

The people were all going about their day, all talking about the upcoming celebration, the Queen, new laws, or even just the weather. None of them seemed to realize how truly fake the world they were in was and how much of a ripoff it was compared to the real deal. She knew the truth, though. It made her a little sick to see a place like this exist since the real Oleander was destroyed in ruins. This place was thriving and seemed better than ever.

Hope gripped onto Pied and Cora and walked forward, dragging the two with her. She entered Spider Street and ignored the various crowds of people. She made her way to a narrow alleyway and entered it, going through a few twists and turns before she finally stopped in front of a large warehouse that stood before her. It imposed itself above her and looked similar to how it once did, though it was, of course, forged out of white stone.

"It's here." She breathed out and touched one of the walls of the building.

"What is it?" Cora asked.

"Pantheon's base." Her voice cracked a bit. "This is our old base."

The base that had been destroyed by the Beast, the base that Pantheon had spent most of their time at, the base where they celebrated wins, mourned losses, and trained, was long gone, but this was as close as she'd get to seeing it again. Snowdawn was gone. Myth, Battery, and Whisper had all vastly changed. The old life she had grown to love was altered and forever changed. Yet, standing here, before this building, she felt strangely emotional. Like a piece of her which had been lost had finally gotten to return, she was just about to push open the secret entrance to it and enter to see how faithful of a recreation it was but stopped when her ears twitched a bit.

Someone stood near the entrance to the alleyway. Someone who was staring directly at her. "Cinder." A low voice spoke. Instantly, Pied and Cora both spun around. She followed their lead and turned around slowly.

Then she gasped at who she saw. "It's you! What are you doing here?"

Standing at the end of the alleyway was a very familiar face. Rowan, also known as Metal Ronin, managed a grin. "Looks like my luck is turning around." The boy cheered. "I found Cinder!"

***

Meanwhile, far, far away from the realm that the Murder Games was taking place, within the bottom of an ocean, Boy Genius stared up at the roof with a blank look. The lights to his room were off, and all the doors were locked. He was totally stuck inside of Nightshade. Ironically, the prison he had built to contain villains was now containing him.

He was also alone.

Or at least, he had been. Now, though, after days of sitting in the dark, unable to escape his office room, something was about to change.

"Boy Genius."

"Beta!" Boy Genius sat up when he heard the voice of his old friend. "Beta! You bastard! Restore power to my prison and turn the gravity pads back on!"

"Not yet."

"Not yet? What do you mean!" Boy Genius growled and stood up. Food and water had kept being sent his way; the same went for every other person stuck in this blasted cube, and they all had access to bathrooms, but none of them had been able to leave any of the rooms they had been in, nor see anything, since Beta had shut most of the power down, leaving just the realm, the real Nightshade, as the only thing working. "Seriously! This isn't funny! Let me out!"

"I've been thinking." Beta hummed. "It's a little weird, isn't it?" The machine stated in a blank tone.

Boy Genius scowled and made a face. "What are you saying?"

"You're supposed to be smart. One of the smartest people in the world, in fact." The machine responded. Beta's voice came out of the walls and shook the room, the robot watching the young boy's every move. "You're a genius after all. Creator of this grand place. Which is why I find it odd how you fell into this trap."

"Beta..."

"Ever since Battery came back to life, your normal way of acting has been a little different." The machine went on. "You've been a little too hasty. You even sent me to go blow myself up and take out Battery despite knowing that he'd likely survive. After all, even if he couldn't come back to life, you're well aware of the fact he can make portals, so nothing would have stopped him from simply getting out of the danger zone, which is why it's so odd that you sent just me to deal with him. I also find it odd how you didn't act until you were ordered to by the Branch. He has been collecting villains and not sending them to you or the Branch, yet it wasn't until he declared total war on the Hero Branch, and the Hero Branch ordered you to deal with him, that you came up with a plan, and your plan was in my opinion quite half-baked."

"What are you suggesting?"

"I'm not suggesting anything. I'm stating a fact. It was stupid. Yet, that doesn't make sense. You are not stupid. So why would you do something stupid? Furthermore, why would you let yourself fall into a stupid trap such as this?" The machine let out another series of hums. "I mean, I have to ask, why haven't you taken control of your prison back? I'm good, but I'm not good enough to hack you. I shouldn't have even been able to do it in the first place, yet you gave me control? You put your trust in me? In other words, you sent me to blow up, despite the fact that the guy I was going after had numerous ways to escape, and right when you did that, you gave access of your prison controls fully to me and haven't bothered to try and take control back. You put yourself in this web, and it makes me wonder why."

Boy Genius didn't say anything and didn't bother to look up at any of the cameras. "What do you want?" He asked after some time.

"What side are you on?" Beta questioned. "Because it seems like you're not actually against Battery. If you are, you've done a poor job of dealing with him-"

"What do you want, Beta?" Boy Genius huffed this time and folded his arms. "You wouldn't just start talking to me out of the blue like this. Your new master, Battery, asked you to get something out of me, right?"

"The new master who you sent me after knowing I would join him-"

"Just tell me already, you useless sack of nuts and bolts!" Boy Genius kicked out at the wall and had his question soon answered when his table lit up. A hologram appeared across it, which took on the shape of a large series of numbers and materials. It was the blueprint for something. There were two things, actually, as upon further inspection, he had been sent two blueprints for two suits. "Ah. So that's what this is about."

"Do you think you can make it?" Beta asked.

"Is giving me access to my stuff really such a good idea? After all, I could use it to escape." Boy Genius finally looked back at the camera.

"Yes... If the Branch found out you had a chance to escape, they'd likely expect you to take it. Yet they won't find out, so I somehow doubt you're going to. You only truly went after Battery when they called for it, after all... Is that why you put yourself in this situation? So you could have an excuse for why you couldn't stop what's about to come? You're clever after all, so you likely can guess what'll happen next-"

"So you just need me to build these two costumes, right?" Boy Genius casually cracked his knuckles and nodded his head. "Alright then. Yeah. I can do that."

"Good. In that case, I'll let Battery know."

"Yeah. You do that. Just remember, I'm staying down here."