Intake spat up a dangerous amount of black blood as he finally crash-landed somewhere on the other side of the city. His body had practically become sludge, stone and metal dripping from his flesh, and his arms had come twisted off.
The world spun, and the villain found himself trapped under layers of rubble from the building he had been rammed through. It was some skyscraper that had shattered on impact and was now collapsing on top of him. Despite having been hit so hard that he basically exploded, that was nothing compared to the burning within him.
That spot the girl had touched was still ignited in fire, the flames eating away at his flesh and crawling up his body. The man felt more of his blood pour out of him as what was left of one of his right arms began to bubble up. “I- I’ll kill that bitch!” It hadn’t been personal before, but now it was. He wasn’t going to just kill her because she was a hero. Now he was going to kill her, everyone that girl cared for, her family, and all of her friends, in the most brutal way he could think of. “She’s dead!”
From the bubbling palm, something began to tear its way out of Intake’s body. Something the villain had been holding onto. There was one good thing about this team-up with Zoo that Intake liked. Being merged with the villain group meant he got to use some of their stuff.
Green Wolf had once attacked a Wandering Coin base and brought back a sample of the new drug going around the block. Intake himself had been given a sample of this new drug by Ears. He had even taken loads of it before the mission today as a way to bulk up, yet that girl had bested him toward the end. What came out of his palm wasn’t the same drug flowing through his veins.
That sample Green Wolf had collected had been given to the second smartest man in the world. Harrison Avalon. It hadn’t taken Avalon long to make a few… Improvements to it. Everyone else had been too scared to take it due to fear of ‘side effects’. They were all cowards. A vial of the liquid dropped out of the center of Intake’s palm and fell into the villain’s awaiting mouth!
Intake swallowed the entire vial, glass and all, crunching down on it and swallowing the contents within. Instantly he felt the effect, and he began to laugh as his destroyed body started to expand and mutate even further.
The slaughter had only just begun.
Meanwhile…
“Are you okay?”
Hope made several awkward gurgle sounds as she stared up at the golden woman that held onto her. She was in the arms of the Victorian. The number one hero was here in Oleander and holding her! She was practically a drooling mess.
The Victorian frowned. “Oh dear. Did you hit your head?”
“N- No!” She squeaked out. “I’m just a little… Wow. Dreams do come true.”
“Huh?” The woman tilted her head to the side.
She held Destiny close to her as she stared up at the number one hero. The Victorian was flawless. This was her second time seeing the hero in person, but it was her first time actually being so close to her. They weren’t in the hospital anymore. They were actually above it, with the woman carrying her in bridal style.
The Victorian slowly began to float down toward what was left of the hospital’s roof and set her down. “I healed your body, so you should be able to still move.” The golden woman noted casually.
As soon as her feet touched the roof, she noticed the state that she was in. Her outfit was even more of a destroyed mess, she’d seriously have to get Myth to get her a new one, this suit was basically just riddled with holes now. Despite how bad her costume looked though, she felt fine. Her shattered hands had fixed themselves and popped back into place, and all the bruises or cuts she got in her battle were gone. It had been as if Paragon had healed her or something. Even Destiny looked a little better, the bird's body having been healed by the golden light that gushed out of the Victorian.
She picked the little bird up and tucked him into the front of her costume to keep him safe. His head poked out of the top of her shirt, looking around with tired eyes.
“With my enhanced senses, I heard the sounds of battle.” She jumped a bit when the Victorian began to speak up once more. The woman was floating a bit off of the ground and turned to look out at the city. “Ocean Empress is also here, so I figure she can handle most of this mess without me. Still, I thought I should lend a hand. I came this way when I sensed a strong power source. Any idea who it could have been?”
Her entire body shook, and she tried to muster up any sort of courage to speak but instead just let out a few squeaks. She had talked to some of her other favorite heroes before, like Myth or Ocean Empress, but this woman was practically a goddess. One of the strongest humans that roamed this planet. This was the hero of her generation, the one all kids looked up to. And right now that amazing person was looking right at her.
“I- L- Look out.” She finally managed to squeak out.
“Look out?” The Victorian cocked her head to the side. “What does that mean-”
From above them, a massive shadow suddenly appeared. She had caught it with her enhanced ears but had been a little too focused on her idol to notice it until this very moment. Something massive came down hard and rammed into what was left of the hospital, tearing most of the building down. A familiar mad laughter filled the air as the dust settled and the body of Intake became visible.
“Don’t think we’re done, brat!” Intake roared so loudly that the entire block shook. The man had changed. He wasn’t the same villain he had been moments ago. His body had grown massive. So big, in fact, he now dwarfed the hospital, and half his body poked out of the collapsing building after he had just dropped from the sky and landed in it. Jagged stone wings came from his back, and he now had a set of twisting horns. He looked almost like one of the gargoyle statues you would see on the side of some buildings, but way bigger and with a twisted snarl. “You’re dead!”
Intake stared up at her. She was in the air again, her face a scarlet color as she rested in the arms of the Victorian, who held her once again. The golden woman had simply picked her up and flew them out of the way of Intake’s crash landing the moment the villain showed up.
“He seems quite angry with you.” The Victorian noted, with a hint of amusement on the woman’s face.
They weren’t the only two heroes that were here, though. One more person watched the scene play out.
The hospital shook, rubble blasting down and crushing dozens of cars. Now that White Lamb was gone, the roaring of Intake was louder than any blast. The villain’s upper body was poking out of the roof of the building, while his lower half remained buried. He hadn’t even stood up fully and yet was already causing this much destruction.
Battery stared up at the sky with dull eyes as rocks barely missed him, all crashing into the floor next to him. His entire body ached. More than it usually did. His heart felt like it was going to explode.
He had only used the power for less than a second. Nick had been right. It was still so unstable.
Not to mention he could tell ‘she’ was here. The Victorian. The stabbing in his chest grew worse with every set of breath he took. He sighed, staring down at the pack of cigarettes he had swiped off of Green Wolf in the middle of their battle.
“This brand sucks. Still, I haven’t had a good smoke in days thanks to Whisper, so beggars can’t be choosers.” He plopped it in between his lips, and with a snap of his fingers, a golden spark fired out, lighting the cigarette up. He didn’t even get a single puff in before a glob of water smashed into the cigarette, putting it out. “Someone’s gonna die for that.”
Water splashed down onto his face, and he spat it out. He narrowed his eyes when she saw who stood above him. Her dress flowed around her form, and she had her hands on her hips. “Why the hell are you just sitting here?” Ocean Empress asked. Battery slowly lifted his left leg up, and half of it nearly slid off his body, only a few bits of bone, skin, and muscles keeping it attached. “Oh.”
Battery sat up with a grunt. “I got covered in holes in my fight with the Wolf, but it was my last attack that did this. I guess my body couldn’t handle it because my leg nearly snapped off just from stepping forward. In a way. I’m lucky he teleported away when he did. Pretty sure my arm would have exploded the moment I punched him.”
Ocean Empress nodded her head. “I came as soon as I finished dealing with everything downtown. The Bad Timers goon, Ghost, was running around, causing chaos. Not just him, but dozens of other solo villains as well. Still, I felt this was more important when I saw the state of the hospital. What happened to everyone inside?”
“Likely teleported away by White Spider. It seems Zoo and Bad Timers formed some sort of team-up. If it is White Spider, then none of the people should be hurt. She can’t control where they end up. They would just appear randomly away from this spot in a five-mile radius, so they could be anywhere in the city. A good thing, too, because this place doesn’t look like it’s going to hold up for much longer.”
Ocean Empress placed her arm under the man’s shoulder and gently eased him up. “Who was here with you?”
“Cinder and your daughter Paragon, though I haven’t seen either of them-”
“Mr. Larison!”
“Never mind, I see Cinder.”
Golden light seemed to shine down. The air shimmered, and any rock that got too close to the flying woman shattered apart. Victorian was just as amazing to see every other time he saw her. If not for the stabbing pain in his chest, he would likely be as giddy as Hope was.
The girl was in the arms of the number one hero, her eyes practically filled with stars. Victorian came to a soft landing. “You’re here, too?” She raised her eyebrows as she looked at Battery’s beat-up form. Slowly, the woman set Cinder down.
“Mr. Larison- Battery, that one stone guy we fought became super big, and he took the drug, and the bad guys are after Paragon for some reason—Oh God, Paragon is still in the hospital!” Cinder panicked.
“Yeah, I’m fine, by the way. Thanks for asking, Cinder.” Battery stated in a blunt tone. The Victorian held her hand out, the golden light washing over the red hero and causing him to grunt as his leg was snapped back into place, mending. It was like his own healing, but a hundred times faster. “Thanks for that.” He felt mostly better now, still sore, and his heart was currently being impaled, but otherwise fine.
“You said Paragon was still in the hospital?” Ocean Empress frowned. “I told Poseidon not to leave her side.”
“It was my idea.” Cinder winced. “And don’t worry, I’ll go get her right away!”
“I’ll give you a chance to get into the building.” The Victorian floated into the air and caught a massive boulder that Intake had chucked at her. “I’ll take care of this guy up here. Think you can manage to stop the building from falling apart, Ocean?”
“Already on it.” Ocean Empress raised her hands, and cracks all along the building began to freeze over, massive pillars of ice forming beneath floors as she created new support and replaced destroyed ones. “Cinder, make sure Paragon is okay.”
“I’m faster.” Battery stepped forward, placing his hand on Cinder’s shoulder. “I’m mostly back in good condition. I’ll get her out of here. I think Cinder is more useful out here, where she can help. At the very least, it’ll do her some good to observe the high-ranking heroes in action.”
She really liked Mr. Larison. He was cool. “Wait.” She unzipped the front of her outfit and gently pulled the injured bird out. “Take this to Paragon.”
“Right.” Battery made sure his gloves were still on and carefully picked the bird up, trying not to let it touch him. “I’ll hurry back quickly. Stay safe, Cinder.”
“You got it!”
She watched him vanish into the hospital, leaving her alone with Ocean Empress. The woman was silent; every now and then, the hero would twitch her fingers, and her dress would shift as she controlled the ice and water she was using to keep the building held together. As for the Victorian, the golden woman was practically flawless. The Victorian floated through the air, not bothering to dodge anything Intake threw at her.
“You’re a pretty low-ranking villain,” Victorian said with a low hum. The hero floated in front of Intake’s face, folding her arms. “I think you can tell you’re outmatched. I’m rather in a hurry; there are about three volcanoes that are about to destroy a few towns, so why don’t you just tell me why you did all of this, and I’ll knock you out swiftly and be on my way.”
“You think you can bargain with me!” Intake pulled his massive fist back and smashed it into the number one hero. The entire limb shattered into a hail of debris as the Victorian remained put. Intake growled and began to pull himself out of the destroyed building. “You talk tough, but we both know you’re only considered the best because the real legends are long since dead.”
“I guess we’ll get answers out of you later.” The golden woman reasoned and floated towards Intake and gently poked the villain’s stomach, causing his upper body to be torn off of his legs. His massive form was sent flying, but before it could slam into any buildings, golden chains erupted from the Victorian’s back and chained the stone beast up. The hero held the chain, dangling Intake above the streets. “I got him, Ocean. Go ahead and call Boy Genius or someone else that can handle this guy. Tell them to get over here quickly.”
“Just like that, it’s over.” On the sidelines, she stood with wide eyes watching the exchange. “That was fast!”
“Just like that.” Ocean sighed, shrugging. “Tori is used to fighting way worse things. She regularly takes on mad monsters, whose DNA has been twisted so much they’re as far away from being humans as possible, plus she deals with the Organization on a daily basis.”
“The Organization?”
Ocean Empress formed more pillars of ice and finally rested her arms when she was sure the hospital wouldn’t randomly collapse. “You know how Oleander has Zoo and the Bad Timers? Well, every city has its own group, and most make Oleander or Lillian’s gangs look like total jokes. Rose City has the strongest hero in the world guarding it, and if it needs guarding at all, that means it has the highest threat. The Organization was a terrorist group that was created by the Emperor when he tried to invade Earth. Made of the worst of monsters and the worst of humans, they were his army. Four main members stood out. His four soldiers, Golden God, Princess of Life, Hell Hound, and Fairy Queen. The Organization no longer has any of those four leading it and is a ghost of its former self, made up of only a few villains left, but still. Every single one of those people that reside in Rose, each villain there, could likely take out all of Zoo or the Bad Timers on their own. They’re the guys that go toe to toe with the Victorian and constantly get away.”
“Good thing they don’t bother Oleander, then.” She winced. It was hard to believe monsters so far above Green Wolf or Polaron existed out there. Even now, Intake had become something she wasn’t sure she could stop anymore.
Up above, the Victorian frowned as she watched Intake’s body slowly start to heal. “Regeneration? Man, what a pain. Hey, do you think you can survive deep space?”
“Why?” Intake asked.
“Cause I think I might just throw you into outer space and let you chill out up there until I can come get you.” The woman began to pull him up by a golden chain, and he hissed and began to squirm. “Come on, don’t fight it; you’ll be fine. Your lungs are stone; I’ll just place you up there where you can’t do anything and come get you when the heroes are ready to hold you.”
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The sound of stone on stone echoed out as the man’s teeth grinded together, shooting sparks out. “There was a reason he sent Bad Timers and Zoo out.” The Victorian looked down at him, raising an eyebrow as he finally began to talk. “If it was just Zoo or the Bad Timers that were causing crimes, we knew you wouldn’t take note of it. Admit it. It was pure dumb luck you showed up right. You were just going city to city and happened to end up here sooner than we expected. Now that you’re here, though, that means we have no reason to hold back. The only reason the boss didn’t send ‘him’ out so soon was because we all knew that if ‘he’ showed up here, you would have no choice but to come. Since you’re here now though... guess we have no reason to keep ‘him’ held back.”
“Who are you talking about?” Her chain twirled around Intake’s neck, and she pulled up, jerking his head and nearly ripping it off his body. “Who could be such a big threat you think I would show up-”
“I think you’ve already figured it out, Ruby.” A mechanical voice rumbled behind the woman.
Victorian froze, her eyes going wide. She tried to turn around, but a massive fist slammed into her from above, and she was sent crashing to the ground, finally moving. “Victorian!” Cinder screamed out in horror. She tried to run towards the woman, but Ocean Empress stopped her.
Within the crater, the Victorian stood up perfectly fine. A barrier of light shimmered around her form, blocking all the damage, and even the dust was unable to cling to her. “That voice caught me off guard. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. After all, you ran away with your tail tucked between your legs and fled our solar system when your master left. Golden God.”
“Up there.” Ocean Empress winced. “You were wondering about the Organization? Well, that’s one of the four members that served directly under the Emperor.”
She felt her eyes go wide when she looked up and saw the monster that had managed to budge the Victorian. He was bigger than Intake and sat cross-legged in the air. He had hundreds of arms coming from his body, his shoulders, and his back, all outstretched, and he didn’t seem to have skin, instead being forged from solid golden metal. It was like someone had tried to make a robot of the Buddha or something. It was almost divine-looking.
“I, myself, am a little shocked, Ruby.” Golden God spoke in a voice that wasn’t human. It was like an AI trying to mimic a person. It never stopped for air, never said anything with any emotion; all of it was perfect and straight, completely flat. “When I returned to this planet, I didn’t expect it to be so much worse.”
The Victorian growled a bit and floated into the air. The light shimmered around her, forming into a massive great sword nearly twice her size. “First of all, stop with the Ruby. Ruby Admiral was my old name. I’m the Victorian now. Secondly, I’m glad to see you. I can finally finish what my father started.” She grinned. “Ocean Empress, make sure that girl next to you is taken to a safe distance. Same thing for that man in the hospital and your daughter. I’m about to stop holding back, so if you could block off this entire block, that would be great.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Ocean Empress grabbed Cinder by the arm and began to drag the girl back. “We need to get out of here, young lady.”
“Shouldn’t we help her though?” She argued.
“No. We’d just get in her way. You take off to a safe distance while I go back for Battery, and-”
The chains around Intake snapped, and the villain roared, his stone wings stretching out as he took flight. Victorian turned about to swing her sword, but before she could, dozens of Golden God’s arms slapped the air, sending sonic booms her way and shoving her back toward the ground. “Mister Intake, I would suggest you run.” Golden God said in his flat tone. “You still have a job to do after all.”
“Way ahead of you, boss!” Intake flew over the city, his tail smashing through every building he flew by.
“Change of plans.” Ocean Empress yelled. She formed her board of ice, a mini-wave of water picking her up. She scooped Cinder onto her board. “We’re stopping that villain! If Golden God needs him for something, then we must not let him get away, no matter what!”
“Right.” She tried to balance on the ice board, holding onto Ocean Empress by the waist. “I’ll back you up then!”
Intake laughed as he soared through the skies, the two heroes hot on his trail. “I might have let all this power go to my head for a second there.” His arm and lower half had already reformed. “I’ll just need to find the leader of the Wandering Coin. Maybe I can convince them to help me kill Golden God and the Victorian.”
“We’re not going to let him do that, right?” She asked.
“Obviously.” Ocean Empress grabbed her by the arm. “Go long, kid! Bring him down!” The woman threw her through the air as hard as the hero could, and she went flying over Intake.
She gritted her teeth and clasped her hands together as she began to fall towards the villain. “Okay. Here goes my best!” She yelled, mustering up all her power and blasting out a truck-sized beam of fire!
Meanwhile, Battery stepped into the hospital, finally getting a nice long drag on a cigarette. “Yeah, that hits the itch.”
“Must you smoke next to my bird?” He cocked his head up when he saw Paragon. The girl’s arms were folded, and she rested next to a wall that had somehow remained standing, seemingly waiting for someone to come and get her. Battery tossed the bird towards her, the thing squawking at him angrily as the girl caught it. “Whoa, don’t throw Destiny!” She whined.
Battery ignored her, blowing out a bit of smoke. “So, you killed Mars King.” Paragon didn’t say anything, staring him down. Or at least the best a blind girl could do. He didn’t seem to mind, though. “I guess he never stood a chance. After all, your daddy was the Emperor.”
“How do you know that?”
“How do you think?” He took another drag of smoke. “I was in that bastard’s army.”
“If that was meant to scare me, then I’m sorry to say it failed.” Paragon snorted. The girl folded her arms. “After all, he had four generals. Golden God, Hell Hound, Princess, and Fairy Queen. Golden God is right outside; I saw him thanks to Destiny. The other three were all women. So that means you can’t be any of the big four. In other words.” She stopped, and her hand balled into a fist. “You’re a Monster.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Battery shrugged his shoulders. “Even I’m not quite sure.”
“So why are you here then? Was this all some big act for you to pretend to be a normal human, and you’ve come to kill me?”
“Not quite.” Battery dropped his cigarette and stomped it out. “And as much as it kills me to say this, I have a favor to ask. A big one.”
***
The Victorian flew through the air, dodging the hundreds of arms that tried to slap her down into the ground. “You’re moving slower than you used to. And I don’t remember your hits being this weak.” She taunted.
Golden God floated after her, allowing her to lead him higher and higher into the sky until soon they were away from the city. She would have to make sure none of his attacks went down. Soon, they would be in space.
“Do not worry about me, Ruby.” Golden God held no emotion in his voice, but it still came off as a taunt. “I know I will get away when the time is right.”
"Oh, and what could be so important that you would come down here yourself?” The golden woman wondered. “Actually.” A bus-sized sword of light appeared above her. “I don’t really care.”
And with that, she slammed the sword down towards Golden God as hard as she could, cutting through space itself and splitting the clouds down below in half! Golden God made what sounded almost like a grunting noise. He had attempted to dodge the strike and managed to get mostly out of the way but lost nearly fifty of his arms, as everything on his right side was cleaved off by the attack.
The villain grunted and tried to grab the severed limbs with his remaining hands, but a blast of lightning sprung forth from the clouds below and blew more of his arms off. Floating up after them, surrounded by a bubble of air, Max Lightning slumped his shoulders. “Looks like I finally caught up.” His voice was almost as dull as Golden God’s.
“Max?” Victorian said with wide eyes.
“Hey, Jill.”
Meanwhile, down below, Cinder gritted her teeth as she drew out every last drop of her power. “Hurry up and lose! I’m missing the coolest thing ever right now!”
When she was a kid, she had always looked up to the Victorian. The woman was strong. One of the strongest on Earth. She couldn’t see the fight, but she knew that the woman was going to beat Golden God.
It was obvious, after all.
She fired down onto Intake with everything she had. The fire erupted from her hands, as big as a bus, and it slammed down into the back of the villain, shaking him. He began to fall towards the ground and roared. Despite that, though, he remained in the air, the stone on him already starting to heal, and with another flap of his wings, he lifted back up. The force of the wind smashed into her, and she was sent tumbling up and away from him. “Uh oh-”
She fell through the air but was quickly caught by Ocean Empress, who continued to surf on the ice board. She landed in the older woman’s arms and gritted her teeth.
“I can’t hurt him with my fire.” She whined.
“My turn, then.” Ocean Empress set her down on the board and brought a hand up. The water began to bend and twist around the woman, forming into what almost looked like a bow. Ice began to grow solid like an arrow, and with a snap, it blasted out like a bullet. It slammed into Intake’s tail, blasting the thing off and causing him to smash into the side of a building.
Intake slammed into the ground, his feet shooting debris out in all directions. Bubbles of water began to flow out, covering any person that was down on the street, as well as cars, keeping them all safe. The water tried to spread over the villain as well, but he sprinted out, his massive feet leaving craters in the road.
“He’s heading to the mall.” Ocean Empress muttered.
“Why’s he going that way?” She asked.
“That’s where the other villains were. They had broken into several teams. I came to the hospital because my daughter called and told me the mall was under control and that I needed to get Paragon.” Ocean Empress threw her hand out, and shards of ice blasted toward the villain. “Let’s stop him while we still can!”
“Right!” She pointed her fingers out and fired beams of fire alongside the woman.
Intake grunted when he felt the icy shards impaling his back and the fire that started to melt him. He came to a sliding stop and sliced out with his hand, ripping a chunk of building out. He turned around and threw the stone block as hard as he could at the two girls who rode the water. “Leave me alone! I’ll deal with you after I find my target!!”
Ocean Empress sliced her hand up, and the water shredded the chunk into small debris before it could reach them. “Think you can perform that big blast you did earlier again?”
“Yeah, but only one more time. I don’t have a ton of energy, sorry.” She blasted shards of rocks that threatened to fall on the people down below.
“Got it.” Ocean Empress frowned. “In that case-”
Intake’s tail grew back, and he cut the woman off by suddenly whipping around and slicing out with the limb. A bubble of water formed around the two just in time, but the force was still strong enough to slam them through a building and destroy the wave that they rode on. She could feel the older hero wrap their arms around her, defending her from the fall. They slammed down into the road, leaving a crater in the ground.
Ocean Empress groaned, her back having taken most of the damage. “Are you okay?” She pulled herself out of the woman’s arms and set up. She felt perfectly fine. The woman had kept her completely safe during the crash.
“I’ve been hit by worse.” Ocean Empress managed to push herself up shakily. The woman wobbled slightly and shook her head, clear of messy thoughts. “I’m not as durable as some other heroes and usually rely on my barriers to tank the hits for me. One more swing, and something in me will break for sure.”
She balled her hand into a fist and nodded. “Okay then, I’ll go on ahead and let him swing at me while you attack him, then!”
“That’s a stupid idea.” Ocean Empress said flatly and hit her over the head. She forgot about the fact she didn’t have her helmet anymore. Her face was still hidden by the bit of black mask she had tied around her eyes, but that was it. “You’re a kid, and besides, we don’t have to beat him. We just need to stall him long enough for another Enforcer member to arrive. They’ll be on their way soon, I’m sure.”
“Actually,” A voice piped up, causing them to jump. They saw a blur, and suddenly, Battery came to a stop in front of them, carrying Paragon on his back. It was Paragon who had spoken, Destiny resting on her shoulder. “I think I have a way to beat him.”
Intake laughed as he jumped over a building. He was so much taller, filled with way more power, and his body healed faster than the heroes could hurt him. The flesh beneath his armored form constantly grew back and recreated the armor he now had. His power allowed him to absorb things and then recreate what he absorbed, which was how he could heal in the first place.
That drug, whatever it had been, he would have to thank Avalon before he killed the scientist. Thanks to his power, he was constantly recreating it. What should have had a time limit had become endless within him. His blood had practically changed into the substance.
He roared as he took to the air again, and his stone face twisted into a smirk when he saw the mall. It was still standing, though it had clearly been torn apart by several fights. Down below, he could see the crowd that had been rushed out. They stared up at him in horror.
He grinned and landed. He had no idea which one was the leader of the Wandering Coin or if they were even still in the crowd, but it didn’t hurt to look. He opened his mouth as wide as he could. He would just devour everyone below him until one of them fought back. It was the only way to be sure.
The crowd screamed, and he towered over them, about to fall face first onto them, when suddenly something rammed into his ear, blowing it off. He clutched at it with a growl. It had been a beam of golden energy.
“Ah! So, I’ve finally found you.” He turned around and, sure enough, the man he wanted to kill as much as Cinder had arrived. The janitor wore a red costume now, but he could tell it was the man.
“Yeah, it’s me.” Battery taunted. Standing next to him were Paragon and Cinder. Ocean Empress was nowhere to be seen. “What are you going to do about it!”
Intake growled and turned away from the hero. He raised his arm up, trying to grab at several of the fleeing people, but a golden chain suddenly wrapped around the limb. Cinder and Battery tried to pull his arm back, both gripping onto the chain. It wasn’t the only one, either. Dozens of more chains began to stab out of Battery’s back and fly through the air, wrapping around the villain’s legs and arms.
“You think this can stop me?” Intake said, letting out a great, booming laugh that shook the parking lot.
“I think you forgot who was at the mall!” Battery yelled.
Intake grunted when he felt a massive amount of weight surrounding him. He was forced to drop to his knees as Poseidon glared down at him from on top of the mall. She wasn’t the only one either. Diamond dust began to surround the golden chains, hardening them and giving them more weight as Money Tree gave a wide grin and tipped his hat.
Myth transformed into his bull form and had already made his way over to Cinder and Battery. He took hold of the chains and began to pull, dragging the villain away with the other two heroes. “Sorry if I don’t have all my power.” Myth winced. “Had to get some sense knocked back into me by Poseidon.”
“I’ll heal you as soon as we’re done here,” Paragon said. “Do you think you can keep him held down for a bit on your own, Myth?”
“I’ll do my best.” The bull man said, nodding.
“I’ll kill you all!” Intake roared. “All you heroes will be my prey to slaughter! I cannot be stopped so easily.” It seemed he spoke the truth, as even now, he was already pulling himself back up to his feet and began to snap the chains off of him.
That was when Ocean Empress struck. The sewer lids exploded as massive amounts of water rose up. It was a mini-tsunami, and it crashed down onto the villain and began to freeze his lower body and bind his arms up. He thrashed around with his head as the Enforcer floated down on a new board she created. She forced more water to hold him down, and when she was sure he couldn’t move, she gave the command.
“Now’s your chance.” Ocean Empress called out.
“You’re sure this will work.” Battery grunted. The chains that came from his back faded, leaving only a single one that had come from his hand, which he let go of, leaving Myth to keep all the weight held down on his own.
“It’s our best bet.” Paragon shrugged. “Now that he’s changed, it could work.”
Battery shook his head and shrugged. “Whatever. Let’s finish this before my heart gives out. You two ready?” Cinder nodded and gently picked Paragon up, holding onto the girl in a bridal carry. Battery then grabbed Cinder by the back of her costume, picking her up off the ground with one hand. “You’re not going to use the ‘you know what’ on him, are you?” He asked Paragon.
Destiny flew off of Paragon’s shoulder and landed on Myth’s, now that the bird was fully healed. The girl snorted and shook her head. “One of these days, I’m going to seriously need you to tell me how you know all of this. Anyways, no, I’m not going to use ‘that power’ on him. I already used it earlier and can use it once every few days only.”
“What power?” She asked.
“Don’t worry about it.” Battery brought his other arm up and jammed something down on her head. It was her helmet. He must have grabbed it before he came here. “Good luck, you two.” And with that, Battery spun his body as fast as he could, a golden light shining out and then switching to a shimmering blue for a single heartbeat. She felt something close around her and realized that a giant hand had formed out of Battery's body. It was the size of a car and forged from crackling blue energy coming out of his wrist and clutching onto her and Paragon as if they were some sort of baseball.
Then the hand let go.
She blasted through the air faster than she had ever moved, fire gushing out of her feet as Battery's blue energy vanished and the giant hand shrank back down. A golden barrier, the last of Battery’s energy, barely clung to her and Paragon to keep them safe. She held the girl close and hoped the barrier would hold strong. As soon as it was gone, any average human would basically die from the sheer speed they were moving at, but the barrier was preventing that.
As she flew through the air, she twisted her body around, her fire getting so hot that for a split second, it turned white and mixed with the gold around them, and she smashed into Intake’s gut feet first. Just like the Victorian had done, the blow was so strong that it ripped the man’s upper body off of his legs, and he went flying, going over the mall and past most of the city, slamming down into the ocean. Her feet were literally embedded in his chest, and when they finally hit the waters, the barrier around them cracked.
The stone skin on Intake shattered around the spot she had rammed into, revealing his human skin. The stone was already starting to creep back up, and he was beginning to heal as he roared and ripped his arms up, about to squish them.
“Now’s your chance, Paragon!” She dropped the girl and raised her hands, catching the palm that tried to crush them. She gritted her teeth, feeling light-headed from all the power she used, but she refused to falter.
Paragon pulled her glove off and then lightly placed it on the man’s skin. “We win.”
“No!” Intake screamed as loud as he could.
The plan had been simple, in theory. Just get some of his armor off for Paragon to touch him. When she fought Intake, she had seen the skin beneath his armor several times, and he would have to form new skin each time it broke. That meant that there was still flesh, which was good, as that meant Paragon could touch it. Intake’s new form was from a drug. Something foreign to the man’s body.
All Paragon had to do was heal the monster. The girl simply cured him of the substance that ran through Intake’s system. It was the same thing Paragon had done to her when she was infected with Red Scorpion’s venom.
“My power! No!” The man shrunk down slowly, his stone skin shattering away fully until he reverted back to his normal height. She collapsed into the ocean and struggled to stay upright. A flaw in their plan had been she never actually learned how to swim all that well, something she quickly regretted as she began to go under the water. When the man was fully cured, Paragon removed her hand and slipped her glove back on.
Intake growled and threw her off of him. He could feel the drugs leave his system and his body, cured of it. “I’ll kill both of you.” He grabbed one of the rocks that had broken away during his body reverting, and his skin began to change. He still had his powers, after all. “You two are-” Ice erupted from the water he swam in, and in an instant, he was frozen in a cube.
She gasped, spitting out water, as she felt a floor of ice lift her up out of the ocean, and she dropped down to it, breathing heavily, as Paragon grunted and pulled herself onto the board as well. Up above, Ocean Empress watched, floating on her own ice platform, a small smile on her lips. “Not too bad.”
“Did we do it?” She winced. She waited for Paragon to answer, but the girl didn’t. “Paragon?” She turned to look at the girl and felt her blood run cold. A stream of red poured down Paragon’s body, all coming from under the girl’s mask. “Oh my God!” She pulled the girl’s mask off and watched in horror as blood was oozing from the girl’s eyes, nose, mouth, ears, everything. Ocean Empress flew towards them with her own eyes wide, but it was too late. Paragon collapsed forward into her arms. “Sky!”