A Few Years Ago...

"That's cheating!" Hope whined.

Armin snorted and pressed a button on his controller, causing his character in the video game to dodge Hope's character and hit back with a counter strike. "It isn't cheating. I'm using a basic combo."

"Those are too hard for me to memorize, though." Hope's head dropped a bit. She was over at her best friend's house playing some new fighting game he had bought that had characters based around the Enforcers. Armin was playing as Ocean Empress while she had, of course, selected the Victorian. She was confident the Victorian could win any fight with any other character on the roster list in real life, yet with her at the controls, she had watched her beloved hero lose again and again.

Armin's grin only grew as he entered a series of fast button presses, causing Ocean Empress to spin around and strike out with a fast-moving water whip. "You're just really bad at this game." The boy taunted.

Hope just huffed and folded her arms as her character's health dropped to zero and she lost the match yet again. "Whatever. I'm still way better at Dark Monarch than you are." Dark Monarch was a very challenging game. One in which you played a character who had the ability to come back from the dead over and over, and the goal was to defeat all sorts of bosses and collect their souls to bring the world back to an era of peace. She was proud to say she's done several no-hit runs and almost succeeded at half of them.

Armin just shrugged at her childish response. He slumped down a bit in his chair, and the grip on his controller loosened a bit. "Things have been a bit weird this year, huh."

"Tell me about it." She sighed and fell onto her back, staring up at the roof of his house. "I can't believe the Beast and Lucifer both attacked during the same year." The image of Lucifer caused her stomach to rumble a bit. Part of her was always wishing for power just so she could attempt to stop the monster that ruined her family's life.

"How are you holding up?" Armin asked, nudging her leg.

"I guess I'm managing." She shrugged. "Why are you asking?"

Armin looked a bit guilty for a moment as he stared down at her. "I sort of overheard my dad talking to your mom on the phone. Things haven't been going that well for her..."

Her frown grew, and she folded her arms, still looking up at the roof. "Yeah. I guess money has been a bit tight. I haven't really been able to eat at the house since mom is so busy. I'm glad I can come over here and hang out."

Armin nodded his head, his smile coming back. "That's right. You're free to come over at any time. My dad won't mind." The switched the channels of his TV, turning the game off and putting on some show talking about the life of Pretty Face, who had recently fought the Beast, landing one attack. "Are your grades still good?"

"What are you, my mom?" She rolled her eyes and flipped over onto her stomach, staring at the TV now while Armin sat next to her. "If you really want to know, I've been keeping up a solid B plus grade!" She bragged.

"That's better than me." Armin snorted. "No matter how hard I study, I fail to get my grades up at all."

"Mine are so good because I cheat!" She announced proudly. "I stay up late the night before a test and read my textbook on whatever subject the test is on and memorize it!"

"That's called studying... You just study."

"Calling it cheating sounds cooler though."

"You're a nerd." Armin said flatly.

"Hey, you're the one who looks like the stereotypical nerd."

Armin let out another snort before his look grew serious. "Speaking of nerds, you know that boy Chester? He's sort of that science geek boy."

"Yeah? What about him?" She worked with Chester once or twice on some projects, though she didn't really know anything about the boy and could hardly remember what he even looked like.

"I heard he has a crush on you." Armin smirked. "Want me to pass on a good word to him?"

"Pass." Her face crunched up a bit and she shook her head. "I'm not interested in him."

"What gives?" Armin folded his arms once more and looked away from the TV, staring down at her. "I thought we were at that age where dating would be something we attempted to do. My pull game is trash, and girls keep avoiding me, but I know you've gotten a few boys that pinned after you. How come you're not interested in them?"

She casually flipped her hair and let out a hum as she watched the TV. Her eyes lit up as it stopped showing Pretty Face and instead showed off the number one hero. The one and only Victorian. The woman was heavily bandaged after her back-to-back battle with the Beast and Lucifer but was still somehow standing flawlessly in front of the camera. "You know." She said, slowly staring up at the number one hero. "I think I just prefer girls?"

"Okay? Neat, I guess. I also like girls. Does that mean we have to be rivals?"

"Nah." She giggled softly. "Pretty sure the ladies would prefer me over you."

"Ow..."

Armin's hurt look didn't last long. Soon he was chuckling, which caused her to giggle. Then they were full on laughing. The living room was just filled with the sounds of two fourteen-year-old kids having fun.

She was glad to be here during this moment. After all, Armin was her best friend. More than that. Armin was her brother.

***

Present Day...

"Is she going to be, okay?" Jane Lauren asked quietly.

"I'm not sure." Sky sighed and folded her arms. "It's been over a month since the Beast attack happened for us. We've all had plenty of time to process those we lost and rest. For Hope though, it must have been like only a day passed. From what I know, she's been running around non-stop burning through her energy and only just now got her normal body back. Things are still wrong with it, though." Sky shook her head again. "I'm not shocked that she's tired."

"Hope could use the rest." Alexander nodded softly and squeezed down on his wife's hand. "I'm just glad you're finally up and moving around."

"I'm not." Jane said flatly. "My body is killing me." The raven-haired woman leaned on the shoulder of her husband. Her body was slowly getting used to standing again, her legs shaking a bit as they struggled to keep her up.

"That's what you get for staying in bed for months straight."

The three of them stood outside of the tent Jane had been staying in since the Beast attack. It was in there that Hope Lauren had finally collapsed. It seems the news of Armin had been the last straw for the Lord's tired body. A lot had happened in such a short amount of time, and yet at the same time things had seemingly been stuck in limbo. The underground was still bustling with people going back and forth, and Sky couldn't help but watch her people. She had been the one to save them all, and it was through her power that something like this was even possible. For weeks she had felt suffocated, like the pressure of keeping them all safe would crush her or something. She was glad Hope was back now. Together, she was confident the two of them could do anything.

"I'll give Jane a look over with my power." Sky spoke up, slowly unfolding her arms. "Why don't you check up on Hope and the Pod, Mr. Lauren?"

Alexander nodded and slowly handed his wife off to Sky, who helped the tired woman slowly sit on the ground. "I'll be right back." The man nodded and headed for the tent that Hope slept in.

Jane watched her husband walk off slowly. Sky stood behind the older woman and placed a hand on Jane's neck. Instantly, her Lord of Life powers flared up, and she was able to view Jane's cells and DNA, checking out the state the woman's body was in. "Your muscles have grown a bit weaker due to not moving around enough, and you're still a little malnourished and dehydrated." Sky said softly. "You should start excursing a bit and eat and drink regularly once more."

"I know." Jane bowed her head down. "You and Alexander were both there trying to help me, but my body just..."

"It's okay. Hope's back now. You don't need to go through that anymore."

"I do though." Jane shook her head. "Because she's going to still try and be a hero. You know that, right? It isn't fair. I don't like that the world we live in requires kids like you to do things like this. I don't like you being one either, Sky. You shouldn't have to put all this responsibility on your shoulders."

Sky's lips curled up a bit. "No one is forcing me to do this, just as no one is forcing Hope. I'm pretty sure even if she didn't have powers, she'd be doing something. She was always the type of person who would throw herself into danger without thinking things through. Likewise, I'm the one who decided I wanted to walk down this path myself. Helping all of you out is my choice." For a moment she found herself thinking of Wish, then of the Emperor, and finally the image of Battery came to her mind as well as the words he said to her during the battle with the Beast. "I'm tired of thinking I'm going to end up like any of them. I stayed put and did nothing for too long due to that fear. I won't do that anymore, though. I'm going to be a hero and walk this path to prove to myself that I'm not like any of them. This is my power. My choice."

"You say that, yet you can't turn your Lord form off." Jane sighed.

Sky reached out and took a strand of her white hair, looking at it with a frown. She didn't like how it made her look just like Wish. Wish had copied her body, and the girl had always been in her Lord form, having the fiery red eyes and white hair that proved it. Now she basically looked exactly like the nemesis. It made her skin crawl at times. It didn't help that damn voice wouldn't leave her alone. Always in her ear, whispering softly. It pissed her off.

"I'm in control still." Sky noted. "I'm going to use this power. You don't have to worry about your daughter, Ms. Lauren. I'll protect her and keep her safe. It's the least I can do for the amount of times she's saved me."

"It would be nice, wouldn't it?" Jane smiled softly. "All of us staying here and rebuilding our own little community. Even if Oleander is never rebuilt, we'd be able to make some sort of difference down here. That's the thing though. I don't know if Hope is the kind of person that would truly be satisfied with something this small. Not anymore, at least. She's one greedy hero."

Alexander stepped out of the tent, and instantly Sky felt her stomach flip when she saw the look on the man's face. He hurried over to them and folded his arms. "Hope's gone."

"What!" Jane went to stand, but her legs nearly gave out, causing the woman to stumble into the arms of her father.

Sky stood up and began to head for the exit. "I'll go look for her. She couldn't have gotten far."

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"I'll come with you-"

"No." Sky cut Alexander off and shook her head. "Please. Let me. I failed to bring your daughter back once before. I won't this time. I promise."

"Sky, you know we don't blame you for that. You don't have to hold onto that guilt-"

"I'm not Sky." She turned away and made her way to the exit. "I'm the superhero Paragon."

Paragon made her way back up top. Not a lot of time had passed, so it was still night. The moon hung above the sky, and the Giants kept roaming around. She glared at them but ignored them for the most part. Oleander, even in its destroyed state, was massive. There were hundreds of hiding spots someone like Hope could have gone to. She'd have to be on the lookout to spot the raven-haired girl-

The city rumbled a bit, and a large shattering sound echoed out on the other side of the city near the beach of Oleander. "I'm guessing she's over there." Sky said flatly.

The white-haired girl took off at her top speed. Even before she had become a lord, her body had been getting slightly stronger and faster. It was what allowed her to keep up with Wish even slightly. Now that she was a Lord, she had the inhuman strength and speed she had been lacking. That power was further boosted by her Lord state, which she was no longer able to turn off. The Lord form tended to give a ten times boost to everything, so on top of having an enhanced body, she was being further boosted by her transformation. She went even faster by using her Inverted realm ability. Her world would appear beneath her in a ten-foot radius around her, changing the street into grass. It followed her as she ran and would change more of the city as she blitzed across it, though the city would change back to normal once it left her ten-foot radius.

In her realm, she was far stronger and faster, getting a huge boost. That boost remained the same whenever she summoned a portion of her world and stood on it. So, by using it and her Lord form, she was basically cheating and getting several power-ups that all stacked together. That was how she had been able to keep up with the Beast at all and fight alongside Hope. After all, if she had a strength of two and then entered her Lord form, it would go up to a strength of twenty. Her realm power was a further ten times boost so that twenty would actually be two hundred. And just like all the Lords, she was rapidly growing stronger and better every day, so she definitely wasn't just a simple two anymore.

It was thanks to all these boosts and power-ups that Sky literally zipped across the city, moving like a white blur. She wasn't as fast as someone like Battery or the Victorian, but her speed was still very impressive. She moved quicker than any car, and no one in the city was even able to witness her move as she ran past them. She eventually came to a sliding stop in front of the entrance to a familiar place.

The garbage of Oleander had all piled up on the beach, forming a literal maze of trash. Lily would come here often to train with Armin when the boy had asked to get stronger. It was also where Metal Ronin would get most of his trash and other parts to build his suits. She also knew that it was where Hope would go to train.

Standing in the center of the maze, surrounded by massive holes and falling apart trash heaps, Hope Lauren stood breathing heavily. The girl had cut her long hair at some point, though Sky had no idea when, and it fell just before Hope's shoulders. Hope had also finally gotten a change of clothes that fit her, wearing a simple T-Shirt and sweatpants. On the girl's arm was a large metal shield that seemed to hum and glow. Hope gritted her teeth and stepped forward, slicing out with her arm and easily ripping through a large metal wall with the shield. It was almost like the thing was crazy sharp and could slice through anything. The wall came tumbling down and shattered, once again shaking the city.

Sky frowned softly and stalked forward slowly. "Hope?" The raven-haired girl looked tired. Her eyes were red and bloodshot from where she had been crying earlier, and her hair hadn't been cut all that well.

"We trained here." Hope's shoulders deflated a bit, and the girl sighed. "Armin and me. This place has always left a sour taste in my mouth. It was where I first got my powers and where Kyle took me to try them out. Armin and I would often come here and practice every day when we weren't going on missions with Pantheon. Mr. Larison would also take me here to practice. He taught me how to properly throw a punch and some other moves, and it was thanks to him that I was able to use my Lord form so well. Lois and I would hang out here, too. She would use her power and give me tips on things. I just found out recently she's part of Myth's team. She changed her name and is now the Lord of the Sky. For that to happen, it means Max Lightning isn't there. I wasn't there for her when her father died. I wasn't there for Myth when his team fell apart. I wasn't there for Mr. Larison to keep him on the right path, and now he's gone off the deep end. I wasn't there for you either when you were saving my parents and keeping people safe. And I wasn't there for my best friend when he died. I don't know what his last words were or what he wanted or anything. He's been dead for weeks, and I haven't even once thought of him."

Hope let out a soft growl and swung out with her shield once more, easily ripping a car in two as the metal weapon on her arm cut through it like a hot knife through butter.

"Where'd you get that shield?" Sky asked slowly. The one Battery had made for Cinder had been totally destroyed in the battle with the Beast along with Hope's costume. This shield was a little larger and far sharper on the edge, and it looked like it was made of pure silver.

Hope lazily held her arm out, and the shield began to squirm and bubble up as if it were alive. It sort of reminded her of Oxide's power. It took the shape of a small glowing blue ball and hummed with energy before shifting back into its shield form. "It's my Pod." Hope explained wiping at her eyes. "It followed me when I ran over here. It turned itself into a shield, and I've been using it to get rid of some of the stress I have." She swung out again and tore down another wall of trash, kicking up a massive wave of dust.

"You shouldn't be here." Sky shook her head. "You haven't had time to rest since any of this happened. When's the last time you even had something to eat? Your body has gone through several changes, and I'm sure you're tired."

"I don't have time to rest." Hope growled. "Resting is what caused all of this mess to happen. If I had just been there, then maybe things could have changed and gone differently. But no! Instead, I was just too weak, just like always! Now I don't have my powers!"

"You have some of them." Sky winced. "Like your strength, speed, and durability. Your enhanced senses as well. It's just your fire that hasn't returned."

"And that's why I can't just sit by and do nothing! Everyone is counting on me! I'll just have to make due with what I have until my powers return!"

"I don't know if they will..."

Hope's eyes went wide, and she spun around, staring at Sky in shock. "What do you mean? You said I just needed to consume a fire source or something, right? It could be just like in your realm. I could eat that sun you create or something and get them back, right?"

Sky shook her head. "That wouldn't be enough, Hope."

"I- What are you saying?"

Sky looked back up at Hope sadly. "I can see powers. Ever since I became a Lord of Life, I've been able to see not just DNA but the souls of people as well. That was how I knew Green Wolf was in a cloned body. The clone on a physical level was a perfect match for you, but the soul inside was wrong. When I looked at you during the Beast fight, I saw your soul. Supers have two. It would be your soul and the soul of the Brightest Star. Your soul looks almost like your strongest transformation. A massive, powerful star that took the shape of a person. Now though whenever I look at you, all I see is..."

"What." Hope asked slowly. Her throat suddenly felt dry and hollow.

"It's just darkness." Sky admitted. "I can tell it's you, but it's also like it's not. Like you're not the Hope that fought the Beast. Instead, it's more like you're all that's left. As if the pieces of Hope's soul and the pieces of the Brightest Stars soul were shattered and destroyed and then merged together. Despite being a Super, you have one. A single soul that resides in your body. You mentioned you couldn't hear the Brightest Stars voice anymore. I don't know if it's because he's dead or he's been reduced to such a small extent he might as well be gone. Your soul has one big hole right through it. A black hole that will need to consume more than even a star to reignite. Honestly, if you wanted even a fraction of your Lord power back, you'd need to fill that hole up with something like what the Victorian was willing to give you. You need a lot of power."

Hope's shoulders slumped down a bit, and the girl nearly collapsed due to how exhausted she was, but she forced herself to remain standing. She felt strangely hollow, and now it made sense. Avalon mentioned that the Brightest Star had used their own form to restore and create that small body she had been in. That was all that was left of her. She had died; her body had been blown to bits, and her soul had likely shattered. The Brightest Star's own torn in half soul must have clung to her, and thanks to the Lord's power, a new body was formed, one that housed whatever was left of both of their crumbling souls, which had merged into one. It was hard to say if she was even truly Hope Lauren anymore, or just remnants of what that girl had been and what a Lord should be. She might have had her body back, thanks to borrowing biomass from Green Wolf, but powers came from the soul, and the only soul in this body was a destroyed mess barely clinging to life. In a way, her soul was like Mr. Larison's heart had been. A shriveled-up mess with a large hole through it that had power constantly seeping out.

She shook her head, erasing the bad memories and thoughts. She tightened the shield on her arm and swung out once more. Her weapon easily cleaved straight through a wall of scrap, ripping it apart and causing it to collapse down. She struck out again at an old boat, cutting it down, then she swatted her arm forward and cleaved part of the ocean in two with her strike. Her arms and legs felt tired, and her lungs burned, but she didn't stop.

"I don't care." She finally managed to gasp out. "I don't care whose soul is in this body or what state it is in. I don't care if I have the power of a Lord or not. I'm still Cinder." She felt tears burn her eyes, and she wiped at them. "I'll just become so strong that even without my fire powers, I'll win. I'm not going to let everyone who is counting on me down. I can hear them. Constantly."

Her enhanced senses hadn't turned off. It was like the switch had been flipped on and then broke ever since she got to the beach. Thanks to what the Hero Branch did, the world knew who Cinder was. Constantly all across the city, the country, and the planet itself, people were calling out for her. Cinder was being sun to the heavens. So many people needed her help. More now than ever.

"You need to rest, Hope." Sky said quietly.

"I need to get stronger! So, I can save them all! That's the only way I can face Armin and look him in the eyes when I next see him. I let him die-"

"You didn't."

"I did-"

"If you let him die, then I let you die." Sky's words caused Hope to go silent. "Do you think that I didn't beat myself up about it? I looked your parents in the eyes. I told them, promised them, that I would make sure you would come back. That you would return. I went to the battlefield and disobeyed Ward just to save you and everyone in the city. Not only did I fail to save you, but I also failed to save my mom." Sky's voice broke for a moment, and the girl rubbed her eyes, letting out a soft growl. "I even looked Battery in the eyes and told him I'd save you, and yet I didn't. Now because of me, he's the way that he is. Worse yet, I lost my sister. I haven't seen her in months, and she's been following after him like some sort of lost puppy. You want to blame someone for all of this? Then blame me. It's all my fault. Because I let you die. I'm the reason you're like this and the reason you couldn't save any of them. So, either hate me or drop it. But stop hating yourself. So many other heroes failed. It isn't just you who couldn't hold all that expectation on your back. There is no reason to feel hatred toward something like this."

Hope's arms shook, and she slowly collapsed to her knees. "What do I do then? It feels like I've made no progress. Like I've been shoved so many steps back. I still need to get stronger. I don't want to just do nothing."

Sky walked forward and slowly wrapped her arms around Hope. "You don't have to do nothing. If you want to try and get stronger than do that. Right now, though you need to rest. You can walk down the path of being a hero later. You're still a kid. Even if this is the path we walk, no one should be able to put blame on us for stopping and resting. Our lives are just as important. We're allowed to fail and mess up, because it's through our mistakes that we can keep growing and save other people."

Hope felt her body ease up as she rested in Sky's arms. She felt really tired. The constant fighting and moving around had caught up to her a while ago. It was hard to even keep her eyes open. "I just want to make a difference."

"And you will. You're Cinder. You've already saved so many people. You've saved me countless times now. Just because you're a hero doesn't mean you can't be saved by others. It's your turn to rest. Whatever it is you're planning, you can do it another time. The world isn't going to go anywhere. Not overnight."

"I guess." Her eyes shut, and she breathed out. She could still feel the metal that clung to her arm, and it twisted and changed, forming into a small silver glove just like how her old shield would change into a bracelet. "I still have so much to do. I still have a goal I want to reach. I won't stop chasing after it until I've reached it. I want a happy ending. One for everyone."

"Everyone includes yourself."

"Yeah. You're right." She nodded softly and leaned back into Sky's arms. "I'll worry about it later, then, I guess. I'm still Cinder. I'm still the hero that is going to save Oleander City."

"And I'm the hero, Paragon. The hero who is going to make sure people like you don't push yourselves too far. Battery, the Victorian, and you all need to realize that none of you are Full Monarch. None of you can do everything he was able to do."

"I know that." She argued. "I never wanted to be the next Full Monarch, and I never thought of myself as the next version of him. Since the beginning, I knew that I'd only be able to get as far as I could with the help of the amazing people around me." For a moment, her mind went to her team. Lois, Mr. Larison, Mr. Thaddeus, and finally Armin. "I just want to be a hero they can rely on. I don't need to be the best, and I don't need to be at the very top. I just need to be a hero that can save the people that I want to save."

The image of Battery and Whisper came to her mind once more. She still needed to save both of them. Even if it would be a hard-fought battle, even if she had a hill she would have to climb, she knew that she'd reach them. She had to.

"I'll rest up for now." She finally said. "But don't think I'm throwing the towel in."

Sky smiled. "I look forward to seeing you get back to normal then. I'll help you out as much as I can. You're welcome to stay in my community. I'm going to keep everyone there safe. I'd love to have your help. I just want to keep my people safe."

"How did you build that community anyway?" She questioned. "And how did you find my mom and dad? You were the one that was keeping them safe this entire time, right?"

"Yeah." Sky nodded. "It's sort of a long story."

"I don't mind long stories."

Sky let out a slight giggle. "I see. Well, in that case... It began after the Beast attack."