A piece of Dead Virus blasted out of Lucifer’s fingertips as the man cocked his hand like a gun, eating through the wooden spikes as it chased after Nier. The teen managed to duck down just in time, the orb of darkness chewing away at the house that was behind him. The stone on the building began to turn gray before it cracked, breaking into dust. “Let’s see how you deal with this.” Lucifer opened his book and placed his palm over it. He ripped out one of the pages, throwing it on the ground.
A disgusting glowing glob of black darkness grew out of the page, which began to make a loud ringing sound. The ring started to distort and morph, disturbingly beginning to sound like a baby crying. The darkness took shape, and paper began to appear into a pair of arms and legs that grew out of the mass. When it finished, a large red ogre appeared. It roared and charged at Nier, swinging a piece of a house it used as a makeshift club.
Nier blocked the strike and rammed his fist into the monster’s stomach. It ignored the damage and grunted as it raised its weapon, smashing its weapon into the side of Nier’s head. The boy groaned as he was flung back, the spot where he’d been hit igniting with a burst of fire. He rolled across the ground, trying to put the fire out. "Lucky!" Nier called out.
The ogre managed to take another step, but in an instant its head was torn clean off by the wooden dragon that had wrapped around the town. The jaws of the beast had locked in around the neck of the ogre and easily ripped it off. The red undead creature crashed to the floor. For a moment it seemed like it was actually dead, but then suddenly it sprung back up. Black paper exploded from its neck wound, and a new head grew back.
The ogre laughed and swung its club into the eye of the dragon, causing the creature to howl. The wooden dragon smashed its full weight into the zombie and sent it flying through the village. It began chasing after the zombie roaring and spewing out an intense wave of green fire.
Lucifer stood at the town’s other side, watching the fight with a bored look. Slowly, the man turned to look at the many people that hadn’t yet made it out of the village. The faintest hint of a smile came to his lips as he raised his hand towards them and blasted out his Virus, though not at Nier. Instead, they all stabbed into the backs of the fleeing civilians. “No!” Nier yelled. He slammed his hand into the ground hard enough to shake the entire village. Rows of plants formed barriers around some of the people, sadly though many weren't saved in time, their bodies crumbling and breaking away to dust.
Pages flew through the air towards Lucifer, and that darkness came back, morphing over the paper. Suddenly, the crumbling people around Nier rose up, reformed through Lucifer’s power, and all charged at the hero with mad cackles. They were just regular humans, though, and their attacks bounced off of the teen, their limbs breaking and twisting. They didn't stop though, even as their arms were torn off of their bodies just from the Super walking into them.
“Stop this now!” Nier screamed out. Lucifer stared at the Lord, his face remaining blank. “Lucifer!”
Hope watched the fight, her eyes darting back and forth as the two men fired attacks at each other. “You know for the Lord of the Land that Nier guy isn’t really using any animals or anything. He seems to be limiting himself by only using plants. Poseidon can create water and also mess with gravity, so I'm sure a Lord of freaking Life could do more than make plants move in cool ways, right?"
“There is more to a Lord’s power than just their control over an element.” Max Lighting stated. “Nier right now is a young kid much like you. The spark and desire to be a hero aren’t there yet. So instead he inverts his power, much like Lucifer is doing.”
“Inverts?”
“It means to flip something or put it the other way around.” Her mother explained. “Though I’m not sure what it has to do with powers.”
“A lot of things.” Max Lightning explained. “You’ve seen it before. Ocean Empress and Poseidon both do it. Even I am doing it at this moment. See, powers that exist within us are brought out and used by our will. Some people have been able to take this energy source that seeps out and reverse it. They give in to their power. Instead of our will directing the power, the power directs our will. This causes inverting. Ocean Empress has a water-based power, but by using inverting, she can flip the switch, so to speak, and change it to an ice-based power. Going from a flowing liquid to a solid object. Not all Supers can do this, but the big ones can. Even lesser heroes like BB.”
“BB?” Instantly, the image of the young wind-based hero came to her mind. BB could shrink and control wind. Now that she thought about it, though, the girl had also grown in size during the fight with Zoo. She had just assumed it was something BB could do, but from the way Max Lightning explained it, that was simply an inversion of the girl’s ability to shrink. “I think I get what you’re saying.” She nodded.
“Lucifer was cursed with a sinister power. One that can only kill. He inverted it though, allowing him to bring back those he killed. This is why he gave himself the title of Ruler of Death and Rebirth.” Max Lightning clenched his hand into a fist. “A monster, through and through. Nier is using Inversion as well. Instead of creating new life, he controls that which already exists. And as I said earlier, I am also inverting my own power. My second ability is what allows me to see the Paths of this world, getting a memory of the future or past. By inverting that, I’ve allowed us to stand in this moment of history and watch it together.”
“Would I be able to use water powers or something if I inverted my power?” She giggled. Armin would be so jealous of her.
“Who knows. I wouldn’t try it though. Your will is what directs your power, but Inverting is where your power directs your will. If you’re not careful, you may find your power doesn’t like you and decides to get rid of you.”
She felt her mother’s hand grip down on her shoulder. She looked up at the woman. She patted her mom’s hand and got back to watching the battle between the Lord of Life and the Ruler of Death. “Beat him, Nier!” She cheered.
The teen, of course, was unable to hear her. Nier practically soared across the ground, skating across it with his feet. He wove in and out of the grasps of the zombies, any damage he dealt to them simply reverting instantly, even total destruction. As long as Lucifer continued to use his Virus, it would be impossible to stop his undead army, so Nier aimed directly for the head of the snake.
He used his power to heal any wounds he might have had and then got ready to strike. Vines grew out of his skin, twisting and flowing down his arm like water, pulling him towards the villain. He was in front of Lucifer in a heartbeat, throwing out a powerful punch. The villain narrowly blocked the strike with the arm that held the book. The force of the attack caused the book to fall from his grasp, and instantly, all the undead creations broke away, their pages flying out in all directions. Lucifer didn’t seem bothered by it, smashing the hand that was coated in the Dead Virus toward Nier’s face.
Nier curved his head, the palm flying past him, missing by only a few centimeters. The crackling energy smashed into the ground, causing it to begin to crack and decay. Before he could get his bearings, Lucifer smashed his knee into the Lord’s gut, and his other hand pounded into Nier’s face as hard as he could.
Nier smashed into the ground, groaning. Lucifer didn’t follow up with an attack, though. Instead, the man slowly reached down to grab his book. He opened it, and all the scattered pages flew back towards him. Nier jumped back to his feet and threw his arms out, firing a massive blast of spiked vines. Lucifer didn’t even bother to dodge the Dead Virus crawling up his left arm, and he casually slapped the power away, shattering it and ending the attack, a massive wave of dust kicking up.
“The Dead Virus kills all. Life, energy, and even the gods themselves. It is the purest form of the End.” Lucifer’s voice never held any emotion, even as he talked down to his foe. “You can’t win, and soon you will join me. Soon, the whole world will join me. A world without Life will—”
Vines flew out of the dust cloud that had formed around Nier. They wrapped tightly around Lucifer’s body, binding the man. Nier sprinted out of the cloud, dragging the vines with him and forcing Lucifer to follow. Nier ran towards a building as fast as he could. Before he hit the building, he came to a sudden stop and swung his body. Lucifer was lifted off of his feet and slammed directly into the building. He broke through the walls, crashing into the house, while the vines unwrapped and reformed around the home on the outside.
Nier ran the other way and literally ripped the building from the ground, dragging it with him. He reached the edge of the village and stopped once more, swinging the massive building around, the vines growing in length. It was like some sort of wild wrecking ball, smashing into other buildings and leveling the entire town in only a few swings. As more and more of the building broke away, the vines grew tighter and stronger until they eventually shattered the house and rewrapped around Lucifer inside once more.
“He’s strong,” Hope said with wide eyes. “He’s literally throwing buildings around. I don’t think even Myth can do that.”
“Supers from this era were strong. Most are on the level of the Enforcers of today.” Max Lightning shrugged. “But keep watching. You haven’t seen anything yet.”
Nier finished the combo off by swinging his arms up as high as he could and then bringing them down as fast as he could. Lucifer was swung up and then came rocketing down onto the rubble Nier had created. Any standard Super would have had all their bones shattered from the force. Even a powerful Super would have found themselves impaled on all the jagged wood and rocks that had been formed.
Lucifer slowly stood up and dusted himself off, not even harmed. “Now, now, you don’t want to cause civilian casualties, do you?” Lucifer didn’t speak mockingly; his voice had remained the same as it always had, yet it was clear he wasn’t taking Nier seriously at all. “I watched you grow up. I raised you alongside Sini. I know all your tricks. Besides, you’re not strong enough to hurt me. Sini should have never brought kids onto the battlefield-”
Nier appeared in front of Lucifer and threw out a powerful right hook. The force of it sent a shock wave through the air and shattered any window that was left standing. The ground cracked from it, and Lucifer’s neck cocked back slightly as he stared down at the boy he had practically raised. “Shut up! I won’t let you look down on me! Besides, everyone is gone now. I don’t need to hold back!”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Noted.” The villain stated coldly.
Lucifer grabbed the Lord by the arm. His Dead Virus didn’t turn on, though. It wasn’t that it couldn’t; rather, he simply didn’t need it. With a straightforward squeeze, Nier screamed out in pain as his wrist shattered. Lucifer then raised his other arm up, the one that held the book, and brought it down on the child’s face, breaking the boy’s nose. As soon as Nier hit the ground, Lucifer kicked him in the gut, sending him flying back and crashing into the walls of the destroyed village.
“Stay down.” Lucifer turned his back, opening his book. The nun from before appeared, her dress coming undone, forming into hundreds of small chains that began to wrap around Nier’s body. As that happened, Lucifer turned and held his hand out, blasting the Dead Virus towards the ground. It came out as a stream of hellish screams, the earth breaking apart, a massive crater beginning to form into the ground. It expanded, and the entire village began to shake, the ground crumbling into the sinkhole that Lucifer was creating. “How many people do you think are hiding in the last of these buildings? How many villagers are stuck waiting for death to consume them?” Lucifer’s power grew, and the hole began to grow, the edge of the village breaking apart. “I’m going to bring it all down. Watch, little boy. Watch as you fail to save even a single person.”
Then she saw it. Hidden beneath the ground under layers of stone and dirt. The reason Lucifer had come to this village in the first place. It hummed and glowed with a familiar blue light. Deep beneath the ground, a metal pod finally saw the first signs of sunlight as the Virus ate around it.
“That’s-“ Nier’s eyes were wide and filled with shock as he stared at the metal pod.
“There it is.” Lucifer showed the smallest hint of emotion as he gazed down at the metal ball. The Virus cackled down his hand, and he took a step down into the crater. “I wonder what would happen if I were to infect it with my Virus.”
“No! You can’t!”
“I can.”
“Don’t do it!” Nier yelled. He tried to thrash around, but the nun kept him held in place with her metal, slowly forming it into a ball around him and binding him in place, with only his head sticking out. “Stop it!”
Lucifer ignored the boy and was about to finish it. About to wipe everything out. He was only a few meters away from the pod, holding his hand out and letting the Virus crackle around it. Then it happened.
“I won’t let you!” Nier roared out, and instantly the ground around him exploded as jagged spikes snapped the chains around him, and an aura of power seeped out, blowing the nun to bits. “I will stop you.” Nier changed. His eyes were a fiery red, and his hair had become snow white. She was instantly reminded of how her hair would apparently sometimes change as well as Poseidon’s. The transformation didn’t stop there, though. Bones jutted out of Nier’s flesh, wrapping around him and forming jagged armor. A pair of large, demonic-looking horns stabbed out of the top of his head, and his back split open, sending out tendrils of red liquid. Blood. They moved like tails swaying back and forth, and all the power that was eating away at the village instantly halted as Life devoured the Dead and grew over it.
The nun’s body reformed, but she didn’t even have a chance to react, as a massive scythe-like blade, forged out of bones and muscle, ripped out of the ground, slicing her in two. Lucifer narrowly dodged the attack, part of his shoulder being torn clean off, and he groaned for the first time since the fight started.
Hundreds of massive pale hands ripped their way from the ground, each bigger than a castle. They blotted out the sky, casting darkness down on the land. One of the hands grasped the pod, lifting it and holding it in its palm protectively.
“I made a mistake.” Nier’s tone was a lot darker now as he glared at Lucifer. “I fought you as a Super when, in reality, I should have treated you like the monster you are and used my full power. Get ready. This is the power of a Lord!”
Lucifer’s Dead Virus ignited and grew out of his hand, almost like a blade. He sliced it up, and the thing grew longer and longer, reaching over one hundred meters in length and easily splitting through hundreds of the fleshy arms that began to rapidly crash to the ground. One of the hands managed to wrap around him, and the others followed, holding the man down for only a single second. That was all Nier needed. The teen kicked the ground, and it rose up like a wave. It was as if the land itself had come to life. It grew jagged blades of wood and bone, slicing through Lucifer’s back. Lucifer growled and flexed, shattering all the arms around him.
He tried to open his book, but a small chain of flesh wrapped around it, binding it to his hand. He would be unable to call for backup. Dozens of blades started to stab through the ground, piercing the man’s feet and severing some of his toes.
Lucifer finally showed some emotion, letting out a roar of frustration. He blasted out a glob of the Dead Virus from his mouth, but Nier lazily slapped at the air and shattered the attack. Life was beating Death.
Nier walked forward slowly, holding his hand out and forming a scythe of bones that grew out of his arm. Then, with a simple yet strong swing, he split the land in two and sliced Lucifer clean in half in one attack.
Lucifer’s eyes grew dull, and a line appeared down his body as he fell apart, finally dead. She stepped back in shock, having watched all of this. “I thought you said it was a draw. Nier just destroyed Lucifer-”
“Why do you think his group is called the Immortals?” Max Lightning said bluntly.
Nier jumped back just in time as a black aura began to seep out of Lucifer’s corpse. Shadows seemed to rise up and twist around the boy, merging it back together and healing all the damage it had taken. In death, Lucifer was being reborn. Then a voice seemed to seep out of the darkness that cloaked around Lucifer’s form.
“Did you really think I would let you die so easily? I didn’t say you could die yet. Rise, my Ruler. My Death. My Rebirth. Wake up, my warrior.”
The shadows dropped away, and Lucifer’s golden eyes peered into the anger-filled ones of Nier. The man was fully healed. Even his costume had been fixed. Lucifer picked his tome back up and looked back at Nier, who began to create more blades of bone and flesh.
Lucifer seemed to weigh his options for a moment before the man tutted. “If we fight any longer, the rest of your team will arrive. I’ve already paid the price for being reborn once today and would rather not do it again. Don’t think that this is over.” The pale man turned away, still holding no emotion. In fact, they seemed even colder than they had been moments ago. “Every day, my power grows just a bit stronger. It won’t be long before I break through my limits. I surpassed all Supers, and soon I will surpass the Lords. I will be a Ruler, one who stands at the side of the Shadow.” His back tore open even more, and long, angel-like wings forced their way out. They were almost pretty in a strange way, made up of pitch-black feathers.
Nier swung his weapon so hard he tore the air apart and sent it out as a long blade. Lucifer dodged it by flying high into the air. She watched him leave with a frown. Nier’s arms tried to grab at the monster, but he was too fast and just kept getting higher and higher until he was just a small dot in the air, too far out of reach.
“Damn it. If only I was actually in the past. I could have changed history.” She sighed and kicked her foot down, stomping out of frustration. Her mom rubbed her shoulder, and it helped her ease down a bit.
Max Lightning folded his arms while watching Lucifer vanish. “Did you see it?”
“See what? A lot of stuff happened.”
“Do you remember what I first told you when you were on the beach?”
“Yeah. You said you knew of a way to save my dad from the Dead Virus.” She questioned. “That was why I bothered to listen to you. Now that I think about it, you never told me how.”
Max Lightning snorted. “I thought it would be better to just show you, but it seems you’re a little slow.”
“Did you just call my daughter stupid?” Jane asked, stepping forward. “She might be an idiot, and she might be rash and not smart and fail a lot, but she isn’t that stupid.”
“…Thanks mom…”
“In the fight with Lucifer, you watched Nier bat away his Dead Virus.” Max Lightning stated. “The Lord of Life, when they reach their full power, has the ability to conquer even death. You saw him transform, and you’ve even gone through a similar change yourself. Lords are as strong as normal Supers typically. They might be a bit stronger, but for the most part, the power you have now is one a majority of Super’s could reach. However, when a Lord’s power evolves and reaches its peak, they transform, changing their body in some way. Usually their eye and hair color change, and they now possess a portion of the power the first four Lord’s have, greatly enhancing them. This power trumps almost all other Supers. If you want to save your father, you’ll need to find the current Lord of Life that came about after Nier’s death and convince them to save your dad’s life with their full power.”
For the first time in a long time, she felt a bit of hope. It was ironic considering who she was. Supers seem to have a way of coming together. Maybe it was fate or something else, but they tend to draw one another in. She bet it was the same way for the Lords. In a short amount of time of having her powers, she had already met two out of the other three Lords. Saving her father didn’t seem like it was some impossible goal anymore.
“It’s actually possible.” Her mother whispered. “We can actually save Alexander’s life. He might not die?”
“That’s right.” Max Lightning gave a faint smile. “Don’t lose hope. Not yet.”
“So... I don’t suppose you know who the Lord of Life is in the present?” She asked sheepishly.
“Not really, but I have a good idea.” Max Lightning hummed. "Currently, I believe it to be the leader of the Wandering Coin. Capable of manufacturing drugs that can grant a normal human pseudo-Super abilities. Always recovering, no matter how many of their bases get raided. It would also explain why all the villains were interested in them.”
“Okay, then. It’s settled.” She punched her hand into her palm. “All I have to do is find the leader of the Wandering Coin, and I save my dad. Let’s go.”
“Wait.” Max Lightning shook his head. “We should see this first.”
“See what?” She asked, frowning.
Max Lightning ignored her and pointed towards Nier. The boy walked directly toward them before passing through her body, not even noticing her. The armor broke away, and his horns sunk back into his head. His hair and eyes shifted back to their normal color, and the arms began to break apart, but not before they placed something gently on the ground in front of him. “It’s really here. It’s the-“ He was cut off suddenly when he was knocked over by his dragon. The creature dropped the now-dead corpse of the red ogre, which broke apart and began a small page. "Yes, yes, I'm very proud of you, Lucky, you-" He grabbed at his stomach wound and gasped, nearly collapsing again as the pain coursed through him. His dragon whined and used their body to support him. "I'm fine. I'll heal myself up and be as good as new." He had taken a beating.
There was something more important though at the moment.
His look grew serious, and the young boy turned to look down at the small metal pod that had been placed before him. It still hummed and glowed with a pulsating blue light. He placed his hand on it, and a light clicking sound echoed around them. She heard her mother’s breath hitch as the woman stared at the scene, unable to look away. Jane had seen a scene like this place out before, after all.
Slowly, the metal twisted and pulled back part of the pod, opening up. She didn’t need her enhanced hearing to realize that the cries of a baby had filled the air. She stepped forward, moving out of her mother’s arms, and stood next to Nier, looking down into the machine along with the Lord of Life.
A baby, wrapped in a light yellow blanket. Its hair was the color of the sun, a deep golden that had sparks of flame flickering off of it. She felt her heart twitch as the child's fiery red eyes locked onto her. Unknown to even herself, her body mimicked him, her hair rapidly switching to a pretty gold, and her eyes shifting to a red. It was only for a single heartbeat, and the color returned to normal, but it was more than enough for her. “That’s him, isn’t it?”
Nier walked forward steadily and picked the baby up, holding it in his arms. “On this day, Nier finds a young baby. Seemingly by pure chance, he ran into the latest form of the Lord of the Sun and Cosmos.” Max Lightning stood behind her and stared at the child. “He names the child Jackson. The baby later goes on to become Full Monarch. The future number one hero. The one who will one day create the Enforcers, Superheroes as a whole, and defeat both Lucifer and the Emperor.”
On this day, a new Lord was born.
On this day, Earth received a true hero.