A Few Hours Earlier...

Ralph brought his axe down into the log, splitting it in half with a single powerful strike. He reached up and wiped at the sweat that was pouring down his brow. With a sigh he placed his tool down and stretched, allowing his eyes to wander over Apple Tree village.

It was a nice little town. One surrounded by dozens of trees, making collecting logs very easy. He imagined the village also stocked up on a lot of apples, which was likely the reason it got its name. He honestly didn't really know, though, since this wasn't where he lived, and it wasn't a village he helped build either.

"Dad?" Ralph turned when he heard the voice. A young boy was looking up at him. "What's wrong? You've been out here all day. Why don't you come back inside?"

Ralph managed to give a small smile and tapped at his forehead. "Sorry. Just been trying to get all this guy's memories. I wanted to know if he knew where Magnolia Tree City was. Sadly, he doesn't. That's okay; I'm sure someone from this village knows where I can find the city."

The child frowned and cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean by that? You're not making any sense, Dad."

Ralph went to say something but stopped. His eyes suddenly rolled back into his head, and he collapsed forward, much to his child's horror. The boy screamed out as his father landed on him and knocked them both to the ground in a rough manner. From Ralph's back, a hand suddenly emerged. It didn't rip its way out of him. Instead, it seemed to literally phase through him. It was followed by a second hand, and then a person lifted out of Ralph's back, going all the way through him.

It was a woman. One with long silver hair and eyes that seemed more like a night sky filled with dozens of glimmers. She wore a white silk that clung to her body, and she was completely barefoot, but dirt didn't seem to cling to her.

Phantom sighed and casually flipped her silver hair. "No dice. He didn't have the information we needed." Phantom spoke in a soft, melodic voice that seemed to float in the air. "It'd take too long to keep jumping into people here. Go ahead and use your power, and let's head to our base."

Yelling filled the village as some people heard the crying child. A large man rushed forward and tried to grab at Phantom, but she stepped through him, phasing herself out onto the other side. The man spun around and was about to try again, but before he could, a soft musical noise filled the air. It sounded like someone was playing a flute or some sort of instrument like that. Instantly, the man's eyes turned dull, and the tension in his body faded.

He wasn't the only one, either. Everyone in the village suddenly became dull and almost seemed to lose all the life within them. Ralph stood up off of his son, who was also in a daze, much like his boy, and they both turned and began to march forward, heading to the noise.

Phantom spiked softly and walked after them. "I never get tired of your song, Pied. Your music is so lovely. I'm glad you agreed to join us."

At the edge of the village, a young boy stood, playing on a pipe-like instrument. He was dressed almost like a jester, wearing striped clothes, and his hair was long and filled with bells. He was only about twelve years old, yet clearly talented. At his feet, dozens of rats danced to his song, and all the people stopped in front of him.

Pied gave a soft nod of his head to Phantom. He was unable to say anything to the woman since he was busy playing. He turned and began to walk into the woods, and all the people followed after him, as did the rats.

Phantom watched the people march, and she let out a soft sigh. "Do your thing, Royal."

"Don't tell me what to do." A chuckle broke out in the center of the village. Another Super stalked forward. This time, a young man, who wore a long, dirty red cloak that smelled foul and a paper crown that was around his head with hand-drawn rubies along the paper. In between his hands, he shuffled dozens of old and destroyed cards. "Let's get it going." The cards vanished beneath his sleeve, and he held one between his fingers. "Now then, let's burn this Full House down." The card glowed, and he launched it out as easily as one would throw a knife.

The card spun through the air before finally burying itself deep into the wood of a house. Instantly, the card ignited, and the fire ate it away, and it began to devour the house. The fire didn't stop there, though. It moved on and jumped to another house, and then another, and another, slowly spreading through them all. Soon, the entire village was bathed in fire.

Royal whistled and stalked forward, his grin getting larger. "Pretty, isn't it!" He called out and waved his arms in all directions.

"More like unsightly." Phantom sneered and gently patted Pied on the head. "Don't ever grow up to be as disgusting as Royal is, do you hear me, Pied? I want you to remain cute and young forever!"

Pied's eye twitched as he kept playing his pipe. He shuffled away from Phantom and instantly regretted his choice as he now stood next to Royal. Literal stink lines rose off of the dirty man, who had his hands on his hips and was letting out a deep belly laugh.

"Now, now, don't listen to that pretty bitch! Grow up to be strong and cool, Pied! That's all that matters!"

'I hate you both.' Pied didn't say anything out loud; he never did. He just kept playing his instrument and walked forward, followed by the rats and people.

Phantom walked behind a large man and placed her hand on his head. Slowly, it slid forward, and she stepped into him, phasing through the man's flesh. His dull eyes changed, a glimmer of life rising in them as she felt a rush of memories smack into her. She cleared his throat and folded his arms as she forced his body to stay in line. "When we get back to base, I'll try to sort through all of these people. One of them is bound to know the location." Now that she was in a man's body, her voice was loud and gruff, booming out.

Royal played with some of his cards and shrugged casually. "Why do we need to get to Magnolia Tree again?"

'Because Glacier ordered it, dumbass.' Pied didn't say that out loud but shot Royal a look, which Royal didn't notice.

Phantom shrugged, getting used to the body she was now in. "I don't know. I don't remember why."

'Because of Glacier! How are you two so useless!'

"Aw, are you worried, Pied?" Royal grinned when he noticed Pied's look and reached out to pat the young boy on the head, staining Pied's hair in mud. "Don't worry, I'm sure there's a good reason we're doing this!"

'I. Hate. You. Both.' Pied sighed and closed his eyes, doing his best to steady his thoughts as he played his tune. They'd learn soon enough when they made it back to base. Until then, he'd keep doing his job. At least until the day came when he could escape.

God, he hoped it was soon.

Present Day...

"The Misfits are likely the ones who did this." Claymore set his sword down and took a seat near the campfire.

"Why do you say it so sure?" Kevin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because Phoenix was the one who came up with it." Claymore shrugged.

Kevin frowned and then looked to Phoenix. "Okay. Why are you the one who thinks it's the... Misfits? The hell kind of name is that?"

Phoenix went to answer, but a hand suddenly covered his mouth. Evan winked as he held a finger up to his friend's mouth. "Allow me." Evan cleared his throat. "Phoenix says so, so it's true!"

Cinder giggled a bit and nodded her head. "I see."

Phoenix shook his head and moved away from Evan. "I have other reasons!"

"I'm sure you do."

"I- I do!"

They had left Apple Tree Village and moved to Claymore and Phoenix's hiding spot. The two heroes had found a little cave that went into the ground. Inside the cave, two people were waiting for them. Evan Ros and Irene Milas. Evan was about her age and was quite pretty for a boy. He gave off rich vibes, and his clothing would have been impressive save for the fact it was dirty and stained from the couple of days he had spent inside of the Murder Games. Irene, on the other hand, was extremely young. She was only eight years old, yet despite that, she wore a business suit, complete with pants and a tie. Unlike Evan, her clothes were clean and looked new, and she wore a pair of large glasses and had a book she had been reading.

Irene closed the book, though, and looked up at the new people who had entered the cave. "The Misfits are a relatively weak-tier villain group, though they have been growing stronger in recent times. They're led by Glacier, a villain with ice powers. They call themselves the Misfits because Glacier will allow anyone to join his team, so they don't actually have a theme or anything like that. He also moves around a lot, never staying in any city for long."

Cinder rubbed her chin as she listened to the child speak. Irene spoke in a cold tone and didn't sound like a child. The girl's eyes were dull and seemed to just want to get straight to the point. "Glacier, huh? I don't really like the idea of fighting someone with ice powers."

"Got something against ice power users?" Claymore asked, raising an eyebrow.

She shook her head. "No. It's just that he reminds me of someone I once knew..." She clenched her fist. "I don't like the idea of a villain using that kind of power for evil."

Evan chuckled. "Wow, Phoenix, you brought such a serious hero to us. It looks like we hit the jackpot having the actual Cinder on our side."

Phoenix frowned a bit and nodded. "You really are Cinder, right?"

"You doubting me?" Cinder narrowed her eyes playfully.

"A bit." Phoenix shrugged. "You look different."

"That's because the one you've been seeing is a fake!"

"Huh?"

"Nothing." She sighed again and rolled her eyes. It must be confusing to hear something like that. There wasn't really a point in explaining it to the others.

Nikos cleared his throat and looked at the crowd of gathered Mages. "So, you're saying these Miss-fist guys are the ones who took the people of Apple Tree?"

"Misfits, and yes." Phoenix nodded. "They recently came to the city I protect and got a villain who can sort of control people. Only humans, though. Doesn't work on Supers."

"Reminds me of Boss." Cinder hummed. She felt a little bad thinking about that, though. Boss had been one of the teenage heroes who got killed in the battle with the Beast.

Cora stepped forward and placed her arms on Cinder's shoulder, looking at Cinder with wide eyes. "You're going to save the people of Apple Tree, right!"

"Of course. It's my job!"

Phoenix nodded. "We'll save them all. We have to."

"I hate to ask it because I think I know my daughter's answer, but what's the game plan?" Alexander asked.

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Phoenix folded his arms and let out a hum. "I have a bit of a plan. I think with Cinder's help, we can pull it off. Her strength is stronger than any Super I've ever seen. If she can grab onto one of the villains, I can hit them with my fire. I doubt any of them are strong enough to escape. If that goes wrong, though, I think it's best if I take on Glacier since my flames are the best counter for his ice. There are a few other villains in the Misfits as well. At least three. Phantom has this annoying phasing power, and they have a guy named Royal who can cause cards to blow up. Since Cinder is fireproof, she should battle Royal. His attacks won't hurt her as badly. As for Pied, their new member, I don't think we need to worry about him as much since he's pretty weak physically. Any of us could take him out."

Kevin nodded and rubbed his chin. "I see. So, from the sounds of it, only Phantom is an issue if you can take on Glacier, and Cinder can take on Royal. If there are only four of them, then we also are equal."

"Actually, I'm staying here!" Claymore said casually.

"What! Why!" Kevin demanded, shooting the boy a dirty look.

"Someone should stay back and make sure all these guys are kept safe!" Claymore gestured at the non-Supers. "I'm Irene's bodyguard, you know! I gotta keep her safe! Pied's power works on humans, so it isn't safe to bring them with us! Besides, he's so weak it's basically a three vs three since you don't have to worry about him."

"Are we really fine with that?" Kevin growled and looked at the others.

Irene spoke up once more. "Claymore wouldn't be of much help in this situation. Someone like Pied is his weakness."

"What does that mean-"

"It means we'll be counting on you guys from the sidelines!" Claymore announced cheerfully. "I know you guys can win without me!"

Kevin's eye twitched a bit, but he didn't say anything else. Cinder raised her hand slightly. "It'll be fine. I'm pretty strong, so I can make up for not having Claymore with us. This will be a good test, though."

"Test?" Evan cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, it'll be good to see how I work with Phoenix." She explained. "We're all going to be working together if we want to get out of here, right? The Misfits seem like a good way to test our power. We can come up with combos and stuff during the fight and see if we can help each other out for when we try to escape."

"You really think we can get out of here?" Phoenix asked.

Cinder smiled and nodded. "I do. I have hope." She giggled at the last bit.

Cora frowned softly and looked back at Hope. "Do you really have to... Nevermind. That's silly to think."

"What is it?"

"Nothing." Cora forced a smile and turned away. "The people of Apple Tree need you. You guys should hurry."

Phoenix nodded and stood up. "You said you know where they are, Cinder?"

Cinder nodded and grinned, tapping at her ear. "I'll lead the way."

Cinder, Shift, and Phoenix soon left the little cave they had been stocked up in. Alexander stayed behind, watching his daughter leave. He felt worried. Was this how his wife felt every time she watched Hope leave? Claymore noticed his look and nudged the man.

"Hey. She's freaking Cinder! She'll be fine."

"Right..." Alexander decided to not bring up the fact his daughter had already died once before.

Irene let out a soft hum. "She seems different."

"I know, right!" Evan gave a sheepish smile. "I can't believe she's the hero that went toe to toe with the Beast. I remember I was at the edge of my seat watching all the recordings that were going on. So many different people were live during that fight, and so much crazy stuff happened. The part where she grew those wings was awesome, and that bit where the Victorian claimed she was the next Full Monarch was like something out of a comic! It was so hype! And then the way she unmasked and all that! I don't really know why her hair is black, but I'm so glad we have her here with us! Makes me feel like we actually stand a chance with this year's Murder Games!"

"Murder Games?" Nikos turned to look at Evan and raised an eyebrow. "That's a little grim. What do you mean by that?"

"You're from this world, aren't you?" Claymore gave a sheepish shrug. "You can sort of think of it as something bad. Basically, your world is in trouble."

"Our world!" Cora's eyes went wide with shock. "You mean it could end?"

"Maybe." Claymore folded his arms, and his grin didn't fade. "If we don't save it."

"Y- You will, right?" Cora asked. "Cinder's going to save our world?"

Alexander took a seat closer to the campfire that had been set up within the cave they were in. "I don't know if she's strong enough to save the entire world. She's still just a kid. It's like all these people keep forgetting that. Everyone is putting all this trust in her name, but she wasn't always this strong. I think she's pushing herself too hard for a cause she shouldn't. The world does need heroes, no doubt about that, but they shouldn't rely on a child like this..."

Irene nodded her head. "A child should never have a great responsibility placed on them..."

Claymore reached out and placed a hand on Irene's head, giving the young girl a grin. "Don't worry. Cinder isn't the only hero here. I'm going to keep you safe—all of us safe. I'll get us out of here if it's the last thing I do. After all, I'm your knight, aren't I?"

Irene finally managed to smile and reached up, placing her hand over Claymore's. "That's right. You're my knight. I'll be placing my trust in you. Don't fail me."

Outside of the cave, Cinder, Shift, and Phoenix all moved quickly. She didn't go at her top speed, but she did move fast, running through the forest and weaving in and out of the way of trees. Shift swung from above her, looking like Golden Weaver with the way he used the red threading that his body created. As for Phoenix, the fire-based hero flew above them, carried by large wings that poked out of his back. The three of them were all moving faster than a normal human could follow, and she was leading the way. Behind them, way in the back, Lycaon was struggling to keep up with them. The giant wolf was attempting to sprint after them, but they were leaving him in the dust.

Her hearing was spread as far as it could go, allowing her to hear the loud chatter of what sounded like villains, as well as a strangely beautiful melody that was being played. As they ran, she also noticed the temperature was dropping. Ice began to spread across the ground and clutch the sides of trees. It didn't take very many steps until the entire forest filled with ice and snow poured down.

As they came out of the forest, she came to a sliding stop and found herself on top of a hill. She stared down at the enemy base. "They're in there." She said flatly.

Kevin walked up behind her and gave a small snort. "Not very subtle, are they?"

Phoenix flew above them, his eye twitching a bit as he looked at what he saw. "If I had just flown up a bit higher, I think I would have spotted this myself."

Down the hill, a massive castle forged from solid ice resided. The thing was large, about as big as the Pallet Boy's castle had been, and down below, she spotted several people seemingly patrolling the yard of the castle. They were dressed in winter cloaks and carried axes or swords. Some of them had armor but others didn't. As she looked down at them, she could tell something was wrong.

Thanks to her enhanced eyes, she was able to notice a lot of detail. There were only a dozen or so guards, but the way they moved was slow and robotic. They also had blank faces, having almost no emotion. With her enhanced hearing, she also heard dozens of more footsteps that were within the castle, and that music was now much louder. In fact, she didn't even need her enhanced hearing to hear it.

"Is that music?" Kevin questioned.

"It's Pied." Phoenix landed next to them and folded his arms. "He controls people through his song. Puts them into a charm that allows him to control them like puppets. It only works on normal humans, though, so we should be fine."

"I'm guessing those are the people of Apple Tree, then," Cinder noted, looking down at all the people. "They seem to be under the effect at least. There are a lot of them. I'm glad we brought Lycaon. We can use him to get them back to the village since he's so large." She reached out and placed her hand on the wolf's snout once it caught up to them.

Phoenix nodded. "Those people are under Pied's mind control, so we shouldn't harm them, no matter how hard they attack us. Don't let them hit you either, though. All three of us are durable, so if they attack us, they'll likely hurt themselves before they hurt us. We should get in fast and defeat Pied to free them. After that, we need to take down the other villains."

"Do we kill them or what?" Kevin grunted out. "Not really a prison we can store them in."

"I'll deal with them," Phoenix stated. "My power can put them in a sort of suspended animation once I've trapped them in a bubble of my stuff. They'll be in a soft coma, and their bodies will enter a state where it preserves energy. A person can survive in that state for about a month before they die. For Supers, it'll be even longer. We shouldn't be here for over a month, so they'll be able to be saved and placed into a real prison once we're out of here."

Kevin shot Phoenix a dirty look. "You were going to put me in suspended animation, weren't you?"

Phoenix gave a sheepish and awkward half-shrug. "I actually tried to put Cinder in that state right away, but she busted out. I doubt these guys are that strong, though. She's a total monster. No offense... I know you're actually a monster, Shift."

Shift chuckled and folded his arms. "Where are the villains, Cinder? Think you can figure out where they are so we can skip all the small fries and go straight for them?"

Cinder nodded her head and crouched down. She stared down at the castle before closing her eyes and tried to enhance her ears even more. She filtered through the talking, doing her best to tune into what she wanted. Eventually, she heard a noise.

"Would you like to take a break from your music so you can eat, Pied? I know the liquid food isn't the best." A pretty female voice asked.

Inside the ice castle, in the very center of it, a large dining room stood. Several of the controlled people of Apple Tree village walked around in a daze, carrying plates of food to the massive table that was in the center of it. Four people were seated around it. Royal and Phantom both looked at Pied. The final person who was at the table was Glacier.

Glacier was a tall and large man. He had a big potbelly, as well as a long white beard and bright icy blue eyes. He wore a red coat and had some black belts that were strapped around him. "Hohoho. Leave the poor boy alone." Glacier tapped his finger down on his ice table, and his power spread out a bit, chilling the air. "Pied likes his liquid food. Don't you, boy?"

All of them had food placed on the table in front of them. All accept Pied. The boy kept playing on his instrument, though one of his sleeves had been pulled down, and next to him, Royal was putting an IV into one of his veins. Pied did his best not to wince as he felt the needle stab into his arm. He felt a rush of liquid surge into his body. It was the only way he could eat and play his pipe at the same time.

He hated it.

"You do love it. Right, boy?" Glacier asked once again.

Pied nodded. 'I hope this is the year you have a heart attack, old man.'

"Hohoho! See! The boy likes it." Glacier banged his fist on the table, cracking it a bit and causing a massive turkey leg to jump into the air. He grabbed it and took a bite out of it, ripping the meat off of the bone. "He doesn't like real food like this."

'I would actually kill someone for a single bite; I haven't eaten in months, but sure, pretend to know what I'm thinking, fatass.' Pied twirled his fingers and upped his song's tune.

Phantom ran her fingers through Pied's hair. "He's been playing like that for a while, Sir. He had to play a lot the other night as well. His record is three days, but that nearly killed him. Super or not, he does need air and sleep eventually."

Glacier made a face and grabbed a container of gravy. He dipped it over his face and began to literally drink from it. "I'm the one who took Pied in. I think I know what he wants and what's best for him. He's basically my son."

'You killed my mom and dad, you psycho. I keep putting poison in your food, but your damn stomach just filters it out...' Pied's eye twitched a bit, and he nearly messed up one of his notes.

"We don't have our full team, though." Royal sighed and tapped his finger on the icy table. "Damn that Avalon. We could really use the help of Rat Queen and Mrs. Glacier right about now. It'd make our plan easier. Speaking of which... What's our plan again, sir?"

Glacier finished drinking a barrel of ale and dropped it, one of the mind-controlled villagers scrambling to pick it up. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and let out a heavy burp that shook the room. "Are you just fucking stupid, Royal, or did too many slaps to the back of your head make you lose your memories?" Phantom looked away and decided to not bring up the fact she also didn't know. "That pretty Cinder bitch is going to be in Magnolia Tree City soon." Glacier tapped his finger down and froze the entire table once again, fixing all the cracks he had caused as more hot food was brought to it. "When I get my hands on her, I'll freeze her down to the atoms and shatter her. But not before forcing her to find a way for us to get out of here. I spoke to Druid a bit, and that animal whore said Cinder knew the way out of this hellhole. I want to get out before the time limit."

"Time limit?" Phantom asked before she could stop herself. She flinched under the old man's narrowed eyes.

"I don't know about you, but I'm not sticking around for Lucy to come get me." Glacier spat out. "That fucking freak is likely to attack everyone, and I don't want to get caught in the crossfire. Hohoho. That wouldn't do at all, would it?" Glacier patted his belly. "I wouldn't be able to adopt more of you for my army, would I! Hohoho! Just think of how many young boys and girls are out there who awakened their powers!"

Phantom nodded. "I'll keep going through the minds of these people in that case. I still haven't found any traces of Magnolia Tree, but one of them is bound to know, right?" She hummed.

"Do it fast," Glacier grunted out and grabbed a large slab of steak, biting into it. "Hohoho. We don't have all day."

"What do we do when we're done?" Royal hummed. "Want me to kill them all?"

Glacier swallowed the meat whole and pounded on his chest for a second. "We can sell some of them. Keep the pretty ones for me, but the rest can go or be used as cannon fodder for when we charge Magnolia Tree. It'll be funny watching Pied force all those people to charge to their deaths, won't it? Hohoho!"

'I hope you die, I hope you die, I hope you die-' Pied winced and nearly broke his song as his arm began to burn from the liquid food that was being shoved into it.

Phantom thankfully noticed and reached down, pulling it out. She patted his arms and ran a finger over the wound softly. "You're doing great." She whispered. "Keep going."

Glacier drank another barrel full of ale and let out another disgusting burp. "Hurry up and eat, Phantom. I want you to find that location as soon as possible."

Phantom nodded. "Yes, sir."

Glacier grunted and let out a heavy fart as he ran his dirty fingers through his beard. "I don't want to stay in this damn realm any longer. We need to get out of here before a hero, or something, comes after us."

'God, I hope one shows up.' Pied closed his eyes and did his best to ignore the stench that had suddenly filled the room.

"Hohoho. It wouldn't do for a naughty hero to show up." Glacier gripped down at the edge of his table, cracking it. "If one shows up, though, I'll take them to my 'special place'. Hohoho." The man rubbed his belly and flashed a nasty grin. "Thankfully none have shown up yet-"

Ice rained down as from up above, the entire roof exploded and caved in on itself. All of them looked up as three heroes began to fall into the room.

Pied felt his eyes light up. 'Thank you, God.' He stopped playing his instrument and took a deep breath, dropping his pipe. "HELP ME! THESE BASTARDS KIDNAPPED ME! SAVE ME!"