"You don't have to do this."
"Yes, I do." River looked past the window she stood in front of, her eyes focused on the young child in the other room. "If I don't, then he wins."
"The Emperor doesn't win just because you don't take care of his experiment." Jill scoffed.
"His kid." River corrected.
"His experiment." Jill doubled down.
River just sighed and shook her head. "You just don't get it."
"You're right. And God, do I hope I never do. That man was a monster. It would only be fitting if his spawn vanished off the face of the earth, never to be seen again."
They were in a hospital. It had been less than five years since the Emperor was finally defeated. After raiding some of the final bases he had left behind, the Victorian had uncovered a dark truth about the former Lord of the Land and Life. He had a daughter. The monster that had nearly ended all life on earth and successfully killed Full Monarch had a child with someone—or at least he had made it look like he had a child.
In reality, the girl's DNA was a total mess and filled with dozens of errors. She was basically just a monster that was grown from nothing with bits of the Emperor's cells, as well as the cells of three other people in that bastard's army.
They brought her to a hospital which had been conducting a few tests on the young girl to make sure her cells wouldn't simply give out and combust. Now that they found out she actually had a shot at life and would most certainly go on to awaken her powers, the argument about what to do with her had begun.
"So, your solution when faced with a child is to just kill her?" River asked, clenching her fists a bit and allowing water to swirl around them.
"I never said that." Jill rose off of the ground by a few inches and began to glow with a faint golden aura. "Don't go putting words in my mouth, Ocean Empress."
"Then what's your solution?"
"She's just a kid. Not even I'm cruel enough to suggest we just get rid of her." Jill explained. "I think it would be best if she was kept by the Hero Branch."
"So, they can poke and experiment on her?"
"So, she can be used to help people when she awakens her powers," Jill stated in a blunt tone. "We lost Doctor Blue and Doctor Alma, two of the best healers the Branch had. Her father was a Lord of Life. There's a good chance she'll have similar powers eventually. My father once told me Nier used to use his powers for good before he snapped. If there's a chance that she can be used the same way, then-"
"Then you're forcing a life onto a child and not allowing them to decide," River responded flatly. "If she does awaken healing-based powers and decides to use them to help the heroes and the Branch, then I think that's fine, but what if that isn't what she wants? You can't just force a destiny onto someone."
"So, allow her to decide for herself and just pray that another Emperor isn't born when she inherits her father's wrath?"
River turned and looked her friend in the eye. "My father, Old Dog, sometimes talks about his time during the war. Back in the day, things were much worse than they are now. A constant battle with Lucifer. Supers back then didn't get to decide what they wanted to do with their lives. My father, my grampa, your father, and even the mighty Emperor were all forced into a life of battles where every day they fought and had to use their powers. This lifestyle is what created not only the world's greatest villain in the form of the Emperor but also the world's greatest hero by giving us Full Monarch. I don't think people start off inherently evil just because of their parents and the choices that were made. Otherwise, we'd all be screwed."
"That doesn't answer my question, though. What do you do if that child does turn out to be evil? What if something bad happens to the people she cares for and it causes her to snap just like how her father snapped?"
"Did you become evil when your father died?"
"No? At least, I don't think so."
"Then isn't it obvious?" River turned away from the woman and made her way over to the door that led into the hospital room. "Love."
"What?"
"I think that you just show them so much love that even if they do lose something, even if a parent or a loved one does die, they were given enough love to keep on going."
River entered the room and looked around. It wasn't very big, but it wasn't exactly small either. It had a bed, a drawer, a desk, and a few other things scattered about. There was a one-way mirror that reflected the room, and down on her knees, drawing on a piece of paper, was a young girl with messy red hair. River quietly crouched down in front of the girl and studied her.
The child was only about a year younger than her own daughter. Slowly, the young girl looked up at her.
"Hi," River said with a small smile. “What's your name?" The child studied her face, then looked back at her piece of paper and began to draw once more. River peered at it and saw that it was just blue, covering every inch of the white. "What are you drawing?" She asked softly.
The child still did not answer her and seemed keen on ignoring her. The doctors told them that the girl never bothered them and would mostly ignore them when they checked her over. They still didn't have a name for the girl either. River's eyes quickly glanced in the direction of the one-way mirror. She knew Jill was on the other side, judging her.
River took a deep breath. "Do you know who your father is?" The girl stopped drawing for a moment but still didn't speak. "My name is River Sini. I'm a superhero. That's pretty cool, right? You have heard of heroes, haven't you? I'm the one called Ocean Empress!" She held her finger up and allowed a stream of water to pour out and take the shape of a small bird. "I was told I could take you out of here." She held her hand out calmly. "I don't think you'll be very happy if you stay here for much longer. Would you like to leave? I can take you to see anything you want. I'm sure there is a lot you haven't gotten to see."
The girl's eyes glanced up and stared at her hand in silence. Her hand looked like it was about to reach out, but it flinched and stayed at her side.
"Please. River said softly. “Let me save you."
Finally, the girl's hand gently wrapped around one of her fingers. "Can- Can I really see anything I want?"
"Of course. Just name it."
"Then- I- I- I want to see the sky."
River blinked before letting out a snort. "That's it? Okay then. Let's go outside and see it. It looks very pretty at this time of night."
And that was how River gained another child.
***
Present Day...
Lady Time felt an arm wrap around what was left of her body. She groaned, feeling part of her flesh mend as a golden light washed over her.
"You still alive?"
"Somehow." The hero nodded.
"Then get back up. We're not done yet." The Victorian easily picked up Lady Time and let the woman put an arm around her to keep her standing. "I'm mending your body the best I can."
"I thought you couldn't-" Lady Time's eyes gradually focused, and she realized that the woman was no longer transformed. Her golden energy was back, and she had reverted to her typical mode, allowing her to use the golden healing light once more. "Why are you like this? You turned your transformation off?"
"It was that or let you bleed out." The world's strongest woman said, shrugging.
"What about the Beast?"
"It's distracted, for the time being."
“Who would be strong enough to distract that thing for this long?”
“A friend.”
“You have friends?” Lady Time raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t be mean.”
The Victorian dragged the woman across the destroyed block that they were on and over to where a body rested. Lady Time's eyes went wide when she saw it. Ocean Empress had been placed gently onto the ground. Her water cloak still stood but had stopped flowing, almost as if its time had been paused. Her eyes were closed, and she almost looked like she was sleeping.
"Can you-"
"No." The Victorian placed Lady Time down and shook her head. "Her soul has already passed on. We've lost another Enforcer member. Ocean Empress is gone."
"Damn it!" Lady Time smashed her fist into the ground, feeling the stone break as her teeth ground together. "I thought we would be able to handle it this time! What have we even done! That bastard made us look like total jokes! How can we save the world from the Emperor if the Beast can beat us so easily?!"
The leader of the Enforcers didn't answer her friend. Instead, she folded her arms and took a few moments to rest and gather some of her strength back. It was frustrating fighting in a place so fragile. She couldn't truly go all out like this. She needed something else—some way where she could actually give it her all and not have to worry.
Slowly, her eyes roamed over the destroyed area, looking at the torn-down buildings and mountains of rubble around them. The bridge to Lillian had been torn down fully by now, and several heroes stood on the sidelines. Near the edge leading down to the water, metal rose up as Oxide carried herself up, the body of Whisper thrown over her back.
Victorian found her eyes locking onto Lois. Whisper was unconscious but didn't appear to be damaged. She last saw Max Lightning with the girl, but in the state he was in, she knew that he had likely died. "That's your daughter, right?" Lady Time asked.
"I guess so."
"Go check on her."
The Victorian floated off the ground and made her way over to the edge, where Oxide was to help her up. She never got the chance, though, as someone else beat her to it.
Wasp Nest's body reformed as millions of bugs all compressed together. He grabbed Oxide and pulled her up and out of the air, taking Whisper off of her back. "Lily- I mean, Poseidon was blasted down in the water. Did you see her?" He questioned.
"No," Oxide said, shaking her head. “I'm sorry, but I couldn't find her or Snowdawn." Oxide's dress quickly reformed, and she collapsed to her knees. "How is everyone else?"
"Not good." Wasp Nest winced. He turned, and for a moment, his eyes landed on the Victorian before moving past her and to the center of the street. "I think BB is dead..."
In the very center of the road, still in her large form, BB was on her back. Money Tree had managed to crawl onto her stomach and was attempting to use his one arm to press down into her chest in an attempt to restart her heart. "Someone help!" He shouted.
Victorian raised her hand, and for a moment, some of her golden light flowed out. It twisted around BB's body before fading. Her arm fell back to her side, and she turned away. "Sorry. She's already dead-"
"I don't want to hear a word out of you!" Money Tree screamed, glaring at the world's strongest woman. "You got all of our hopes up! You made us think we actually stood a chance this time! That, for some reason, the battle with the Beast would go differently! Look around you, though! Nothing's changed!"
"That's enough, Money Tree." Laps let out a heavy sigh. She had an arm around Dust Cloud, who was supporting her. "No use yapping about it right now. We should be more focused on what we do next." Several civilians all stood off to the side, still shaking. All of them had been protected by Battery’s energy. “There are still people in danger. We need a plan.”
"You mean we should be more focused on what we do when that Battery guy fails, right?" Dust Cloud asked slowly. "I heard what you said. What did you mean when you said that he-"
"Dust Cloud." A familiar voice caused the young hero to freeze. He turned and felt his eyes go wide. Standing in the alleyway was Purrfect.
"Purrfect!" He practically dropped Laps, who was barely caught by Oxide, and ran over to his team member. "You're alive?"
"I'm hard to kill." Purrfect joked. "You should know that by now." Despite her words, she didn't look too good. She was covered in various cuts and bruises, and one of her legs had been burned so badly it was down to the bone. Purrfect collapsed into the arms of Dust Cloud, who caught her. "Hey... So, what happened to that Cinder girl? Is she dead?"
"I don't think so. Why?" Dust Cloud asked, gently helping the girl down into a sitting position.
"She was a total cutie. I think if we both make it out of this alive, I'll try asking her out. Totally my type."
"Pretty sure we're all going to die at the rate everything is going." Dust Cloud said flatly.
“I don’t know about that.” Purrfect muttered. “That hero in red was… He’s still fighting.”
The Victorian watched all the younger heroes as they began to mingle once again. Wasp Nest and Oxide made their way over to Money Tree and tried to comfort the man as he wrapped his arm around one of BB's fingers. Lady Time stayed seated next to the body of Ocean Empress, and Laps had collapsed onto the ground, clutching at a gut wound she got from a shard of debris. Several civilians stood by also unsure of what to do, and many had their phones out trying to get ahold of help or were watching the live stream of Battery’s fight with the Beast. It had easily become the most-viewed video and was being shared around thanks to Boy Genius’s drones, which were recording the whole thing.
Slowly, the Victorian's eyes landed on a piece of large rubble that buried something. She flicked a finger out, sending a wave of air that shattered it, revealing the body of Metal Ronin. "Metal Ronin!" Wasp Nest felt his face pale when he saw his friend.
The Victorian's golden light spilled out, washing over the downed hero. "He's still alive, but he'll need medical help soon," the woman said. She walked over and grabbed the unconscious hero by the arm. Then, suddenly, without warning, she turned and sent him flying into the air.
"Why did you do that?!" Oxide panicked.
Metal Ronin's body flew into the air, spinning, and from out of nowhere, a shadow fell down onto them as a massive flying monster grabbed the hero from out of the air. Red feathers began to rain onto their part of the battlefield as the creature came to a soft landing, allowing them all to see that it was a massive version of Destiny.
"Am I late?" Paragon quickly climbed off of Destiny's back, flipping some of her hair. She didn't have her mask, but she did have her lab coat. She didn't wait for any of them to respond and made Destiny place Metal Ronin onto the ground, the teen's arm almost entirely regrown. With that done, Destiny took to the skies once more, leaving her behind as more of his feathers rained down below onto the battlefield. "So, who needs some healing?"
She had a sly smirk on her face and was feeling pretty cool at the moment. It was kind of a badass entrance. The kind Hope would pull off. Despite that, though, none of the other heroes said anything to her. They just stared at her with mixed looks.
"Heal me." The Victorian was the first to speak. The woman turned and folded her arms. "Hurry it up."
"R- Right." Paragon walked toward the woman and placed her hand on the world's strongest woman's shoulder. "Is my mom somewhere else in the city?" The Victorian felt her body mend and took off into the air, not bothering to respond to Paragon. "What a bitch."
"Paragon." She turned and found Wasp Nest staring at her. There were so many emotions going through the man's eyes. He took a step toward her and placed his hands on her shoulder. "Listen to me. Your sister was thrown down into the water, and I haven't seen her. Could you help me look for her?"
"Of course, but what about BB-"
"She's dead."
Paragon felt her throat close up. Her eyes went wide. She had noticed BB in the middle of the road and had hoped that the girl was just unconscious. She reached out with a shaking hand and placed it down onto BB's arm. She didn't feel anything. A body didn't instantly die just because a person was dead. Some cells would still be alive even hours after a human died. She didn't feel anything in BB, though. It wasn't that she couldn't fix the girl's body; after all, she could regrow limbs or organs if given enough time. It was more spiritual in nature. The girl's soul, or at least what you could maybe call a soul, had moved on. BB was dead.
Then she really noticed who was all around her.
"Paragon!"
She ignored Wasp Nest's voice as her eyes roamed the area. Money Tree rested next to BB, and Oxide was next to him. Whisper was unconscious on the ground, and Purrfect and Dust Cloud had separated from the group. Laps had managed to crawl over to where Lady Time was, and next to the Enforcer was the body of-
Wasp Nest held his arm out, blocking her sight. She met his eyes, and they were wide and bloodshot, but they were also filled with a pleading look. "Please." The Sub Enforcer member begged her. "Please don't look. Heal Metal Ronin and help me find your sister."
She felt her heartbeat begin to grow faster, and her body shook. "Whose body is it?"
"Paragon-"
"Whose body is it? Who died?!"
"Sky, please!" Wasp Nest wrapped his arms around her and sounded as if he was seconds away from breaking out into a sob. "Don't look. You shouldn't look. Not right now. You shouldn’t see it."
She ignored him. Her eyes had seen it. She was able to peek right past his shoulder and stare down at the corpse of the Enforcer member that was next to Lady Time. Lady Time's eyes cast downward, unable to look Paragon in the face. Ocean Empress looked so peaceful. So different from the ruins that were around them. It looked almost as if she was in a deep slumber. Despite that, Sky knew without a doubt she was staring at the corpse of her mother.
River Sini, the woman who raised her, the woman who took her in, the woman who treated her not like a monster but as a fellow human, was dead.
Her head began to ache, and the world almost seemed to start spinning. Memories went through her mind. She saw herself the first time she met her mom. The way the woman smiled at her and held a hand toward her. Then she saw herself meeting Lily for the first time. The way her mom nudged her forward, and she found out she now had an older sister. She remembered the way her mom would go out of her way to cook food instead of having the robots do it and the way the woman would always make too much and send what was left over to her friend Jill, insisting the woman eat. She recalled the first time she got Destiny and the way her mom asked her thousands of questions, wanting to know where she got the bird from, and she couldn't answer any of them. She remembered the joy she felt when the woman caved and allowed her to keep the bird, and she remembered the first time her powers awakened, and she saved her sister's life.
Her mom—no. Ocean Empress had given her a choice that day. She could keep them hidden or use them. She just wanted to give a little bit back to the woman who took care of her, so she decided to come out as the hero Paragon.
More thoughts raced through her mind. Now, they were thoughts of what she wouldn't be able to do anymore. She wouldn't be able to tell her mom about her first kiss when she eventually got it; she wouldn't be able to tell her about any of her crushes; she wouldn't be able to tell her how much she was struggling to keep up with the other heroes or how some days she just wanted to give up, she wouldn't be able to tell her how she felt like a failure and how sometimes she was in so much pain. Her mom wouldn't be there for her when she got married; her mom wouldn't be there for her when she became an adult and got her first drink or gave her advice on if the person she loved was the right one.
Worse yet, though, she wouldn't be able to tell the woman 'Thank you'. She would never be able to tell River how much it meant to her to be called her daughter. She would never get to say how happy she was having her as her mother.
It settled in all at once.
Her mom was gone.
She was alone once again.
"Sky!" Wasp Nest shook her, but she didn't respond. The world was spinning around her, and she couldn't breathe properly.
"She's having a panic attack!" Purrfect shouted.
"What do I do?"
"Help her lay down; she's going to black out-"
Water erupted out of the ocean. It rained down below, and all of them besides Paragon snapped to attention. Lady Time struggled to stand up and form one of her blades, but in her damaged form, she was way too slow to react. Wasp Nest didn't even know when it happened, but one moment he was holding Sky, and the next, something wrapped around the girl’s waist.
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He felt his eyes go wide with horror as he stared down at the long gray tendril that had squirmed its way around Sky's waist. It looked almost like something you would see on a squid.
"Lily?" He asked quietly.
The tendril pulled, and Sky was ripped off of her feet and dragged into the waters below.
"Sky!" Wasp Nest screamed.
Meanwhile, near what used to be the affluent section of Oleander City, Battery felt his black lightning erupt around him and twist. He lowered himself down and blasted forward at incredible speeds, moving faster than he ever had before. He swung his black blade out, but the Beast was just too fast and easily jumped over his swing. As soon as it was in the middle of the air, his aura crackled, and the giant he created swung its own sword, clipping the Beast in the shoulder and blasting it back.
The Beast came at him again, but he barely dodged its strike, blasting himself into the air. He jumped up, going over one hundred meters, and landed on the head of his created soldier, which smashed its foot down and literally stomped the Beast into the ground.
His Giant stood almost as tall as a skyscraper, and it was forged from energy that almost looked like living darkness. Its blade didn't cut the Beast; the alien was far too formidable for that, but it did ram the monster straight through a building, shattering the entire thing and causing it all to come crashing down.
Battery stood on the head of his creation and wiped some of the blood that was pouring down his face. “Who are you?”
The red hero lazily turned when he heard the voice. A drone floated in front of his face. The sky was filled with dozens of them. They weren’t the Hero Branch ones, though. These ones were decked out with weapons and able to survive the field around the Beast that destroyed the other drones. They were all built by Boy Genius, and the boy had decided to go turn the recording live once he noticed how well Battery was doing.
“The whole world has its eyes on you right now. You’re doing great! Say something to motivate them!”
“Who are you, my PR manager?” Battery tried to lazily swat the drone away, but it dodged his strike. “Get the hell out of here.”
“You’re beating it though-”
“Like hell I am! Look at it! That thing isn’t even injured-” As if on cue, Battery was suddenly rammed into when the Beast came flying out of the cloud of debris it had been smashed into and rammed its fist directly into the man’s face so hard he was sent blasting across the city once more landing somewhere on the other side.
The Beast followed after him, or at least tried to, but the Giant rammed its massive sword down onto the back of the Beast. It curved its strike and sent the alien ramming into another building. Then it took a few thundering steps over to where Battery was.
Battery's Giant rammed its fist into the ground, tearing most of it apart, and scrooped the hero in red. It raised its arm up and then, with all the power it could muster, chucked its master at the skyscraper the Beast had been smashed into. The building was falling apart and coming undone with every passing second, but that didn't stop the two monsters who called it their battleground.
Battery formed a second sword in his other hand as he landed in what looked like a torn-to-bits office. Everything was flying through the air and turning sideways as the building began to fall. White flames erupted out of the roof above him, and he twisted himself out of the way just in time. The Beast came crashing down from the floor above and made a slashing motion with its hand, shooting out a thin wave of energy.
Battery brought both his swords up and blocked most of it, but a majority of the fire clipped him, cutting across his chest and badly burning him. He fought through the pain, forcing himself forward through the attack, and stabbed both of his blades out, but the energy that covered the Beast's flesh was just too much for him still, and his attacks bounced off. The Beast went to sucker punch him once again, but the room around them suddenly exploded as a giant sword cleaved the building they were in straight in two.
The Beast smashed its foot into the ground just in time, falling to a floor lower as the massive black blade tore the upper half of the falling building off. Battery meanwhile jumped and came down, landing on the sweeping blade, which kept going and carried him all the way outside of the building. Blood poured out of his face, but he ignored it and casually wiped away some of the blood dripping from his eyes.
“Still think I’m winning?” He called out to the drone. “Quit watching me and go save the rest of the people in the city, jackass!”
'Your body is put under a massive amount of stress, keeping that giant out. You have to constantly create it and send your energy out, which means you are constantly bearing its full weight upon your body. The old you could handle it, but you're literally falling apart.' He felt the eyes of Full Monarch behind him once more.
"It doesn't matter." Battery stood on the tip of his giant's blade and swung both of his swords out, shooting out a wave of arcing black energy into the lower half of the building that the Beast had escaped to. "I'm close to where I need to be. Just a little bit longer! I just need to stay alive for a bit more time, and then my story can finally be done!"
White fire erupted from beneath his giant, and the entire thing began to shake as the Beast attacked him from beneath the city. Everything exploded around him, and he called his energy off, causing the giant to fade. Battery dropped as a twenty-meter hole opened up in the ground, going well past the sewers. The Beast flew up toward him with incredible speed, but he managed to think fast and created a giant hand, which he used to bounce off of and get out of the way of the monster's attack.
As the Beast flew by, he swung both of his swords up once more and sent his energy blasted out, slicing into the back of the Beast. Or at least he hit its back, but it didn't appear to get past the energy it had. The Beast's butterfly wings allowed it to change midair, and it began to fly at him once more as he fell. He brought his sword up, and the air above the Beast shimmered as the arm of the giant spawned in, wielding its sword, which it smashed down into the back of the Beast and sent it crashing to the ground below.
His massive sword worked on pinning it down as he finally landed as well, both of them having moved out of the way of the hole and to a different past of the city. As his sword pinned the monster down, another giant hand spawned and tore half of a skyscraper out of the ground, which it chucked as hard as it could in the direction of the Beast.
The creature managed to shove the blade off of it and didn't even flinch as the building slammed into it at full force. It walked through the debris and pointed out, firing a massive beam of white energy in Battery's direction. The hero barely had time to create the upper torso of his giant, which spawned in front of him, tanking the attack.
The blast radius of the attack was still so strong it sent him crashing back, and he rolled over the street, stabbing his sword into the ground and breaking his fall. He breathed heavily as the giant torso faded and more blood gushed down his face, blocking part of his vision.
'Go, Battery, go! You can do it, you're the best, you got this-'
"Shut the fuck up!" Battery smacked his head a couple of times, growling. "The only good thing about this situation is that soon, you will be dead as well!"
“Go, Battery, go! You can do it, you’re the best!” Boy Genius’s drone floated next to him, also cheering him on. “Why do you keep talking to yourself, by the way?”
“You’re no better than he is!” Battery yelled.
“Around seventy percent of the city has been evacuated.” Boy Genius’s voice suddenly grew serious. “My drones are doing what they can. Just hold on for a little more. Everyone believes in you!” All across the world, people were yelling and cheering at their TV or their phones as they stared at the back of Battery.
Battery’s face remained blank as he processed the words. ‘It feels good to be a good guy, doesn’t it?’ He could almost feel the hand of Full Monarch on his shoulder. ‘You got this. Stay calm and focused. Pace yourself. You’re doing great.’
The Beast stepped out of the massive dust cloud that had formed up from all the raining debris around them and still didn't seem to have a single scratch on it. It crouched down and blasted toward him, and he got ready to counterattack once more but stopped suddenly. A golden glow shimmered, and suddenly, the Victorian came rocketing forward, ramming her feet into the face of the Beast, throwing it back. It hit the ground and rolled across it, landing on its feet, but a large black hand spawned on top of it, crashing down and shoving it deep into the ground.
“Victorian!” The shocked voice of Boy Genius came from the drone.
"How durable is that giant that you keep summoning?" The Victorian yelled at him.
"It can take hits from the Beast?" Battery shrugged. "It's my strongest weapon. I've Inverted my power, so now, instead of giving myself the power of a Giant, I make reality spawn an actual Giant that is my-"
"Yeah, I don't care." The Victorian said, cutting him off. "I have a plan."
"Oh yeah? This should be good."
"Oh, it will be. I need to charge up my power and change into my galaxy form, though. Buy me time."
"Say, please."
"Fuck off."
The drone looked between the two heroes as they stared at each other with very unhappy frowns. “Do you two know each other?”
“Nope.” They both said flatly.
Battery X Victorian became the second most searched thing of that week.
“You just need a few moments, right?" Battery stepped forward and gripped his two swords. “I’ll give you enough time. You better hit him hard, Ruby.”
Once upon a time, there was a young boy. One said to have been found by a great Devil. This Devil took the boy in and raised him as his own. But the Devil didn't want a son. He wanted a weapon. One that would obey him always and help him slaughter his enemies. He wanted something that could devour the Sun.
So, he raised this boy up. He forged him powerful armor and gifted him a weapon that was alive so long as the child trusted it—a partner for this young boy, and he drilled into him the image of what true power should be. Slowly this child grew and eventually surpassed that of his mortal shell as the Devil fed him more and more. Bigger and bigger, this child became until soon only one word could truly describe him.
Giant. The Devil had created a Giant that was so strong it could devour the Sun itself. At last, it had its perfect weapon.
The two of them would declare war on the Sun. The Devil and the Giant would fight it together. The Sun, however, would see the humanity in the boy and reach out to it. Just like that, the Devil's plans came undone, and he soon found himself being devoured by that Young Giant that he had created...
Battery didn't know why he found himself thinking of old events in a moment like this, but he just couldn't shake the feeling off. Just as the Devil had returned when the Emperor stepped foot on their world, maybe that Giant which had been made to eat the Sun could return?
The hand he used to pin the Beast was shoved off of the ground, and Battery charged forward. He glided across the ground as if he were skating and reached the monster, ducking under one of its punches. The sheer force of the attack tore through part of the city, and he twirled past it, attempting to grind his blades into it. The Beast blocked it with one of its wings and kicked out so hard it shattered Battery's spine.
Battery was thrown back, and his torso twisted back into place as the inside of his body forcefully slammed his snapped spine back together and forced it to work. He landed on the balls of his feet and spun fast enough to twirl the wind around him. His blades screamed out and cut through the air, but they were instantly stopped when the Beast caught both of them with one hand. Battery dropped the sword and ducked down just in time to dodge its other hand, which took a punch at him.
He recreated his swords, making them longer, and jagged and smashed them down into the Beast's wrist. It smashed its arm up at him, but he managed to wrap his legs around it and refused to let go. He worked his swords as if they were some sort of saw and screamed out loudly. His energy crackled and fired out of them, and he cut into the hand of the Beast. The creature shot off toward a building while he rode it and slammed him through the walls of one, but he still didn't let go.
His energy wrapped around the wrist, getting sharper, and made cutting motions; all the while, the Beast thrashed its arm out in random directions, attempting to throw him off of it. He was rammed into the ground, through walls, and bombarded with intense white fire that ate away at part of his costume and flesh, but he still didn't give up. He roared with everything he had, using all the strength he could muster.
All of his love, all of his hate, the beginning and the end. All of it was placed into his blade. The pride he held as a swordsman, the ability to cut anything. He forced it all into the edge and swung out. Across the world, Boy Genius as well as millions of other people watched the screen in shock as Battery struck out with one final slash.
The Beast stumbled back as Battery let go. After a moment, the Beast's right hand slid off of its body, and it stared down at its stump, cocking its head to the side. And what exactly came out of its body?
Nothing.
Battery raised his eyebrow and caught his breath as he stared at the monster in front of him. It didn't bleed. Now that the hand had come off, he stared in mild horror when he saw that the creature was hollow. No bones, no muscle, no nothing. It was just pure, solid energy in the shape of a creature. Despite that, though, it told him something vital about the Beast.
"You can't heal, can you?" Battery spat out a broken tooth and a glob of blood and managed to stand back up. "You have the power of the four Lords, but only part of it. You don't have everything they can do. I'm betting you don't have the enhanced senses that the Lord of the Sun comes with or the ability to see the future like the Lord of the Sky. You can change your body with the power of the Lord of Life, but you can't mend or heal. You don't have DNA. You're just pure life force, aren't you? You're just some imposter-"
The Beast took an angry punch at him with everything it had, its eyes glaring in his direction.
"Guess you can understand me after all. In that case, you should know you screwed up." Battery didn't bother blocking or dodging. He didn't need to. "At the end of the day, all villains make this mistake. You're no different."
The hand of the Beast was stopped as the Victorian threw herself in front of Battery and blocked the strike, catching it with one of her hands. Once more, her body was covered in a galaxy-like pattern, and golden stars shimmered all across her. The power of the Cosmos. Her Galaxy Dress!
She shoved the Beast back with her enhanced strength, ripping the ground up. "Do your thing!" She demanded, flying forward.
"I still didn't hear a please!" Battery called out.
"Please!"
The Beast recovered easily enough and swung its stump out, blasting a wave of white fire, which the Victorian slapped away with her hand. A massive shadow suddenly formed over them, and the Beast looked up, finding Battery had recreated his massive, armored giant. The giant kneeled down, and the helmet it wore snapped open as the thing formed an enormous mouth that opened wide. Then it started to drop.
The Beast tried to jump out of the way, but the drone of Boy Genius rammed into it as hard as it could, the drone's thrusters pushing out and managing to cause the injured creature to barely stumble. The Beast was forced near the Victorian right as the giant finished falling, its mouth crashing over both of them. Its jaws snapped shut, and it swallowed, and the drone Boy Genius had exploded.
Battery collapsed to a sitting position as another drone flew over to him. “Is this it?” Boy Genius asked.
“Maybe.” The man grunted. He fell onto his back, staring up at the sky. “Kick his ass Ruby.”
The Beast and the Victorian felt themselves being dragged down, and they found themselves spinning as they dropped through the giant's throat. It was pitch black, and the only light that existed was coming from the two of them, white and gold mixed together.
The truth was the Beast had taken some damage before Battery cut its hand off. However, this damage was all caused by itself.
The Galaxy Dress was strong. It gave the Victorian the full power of the Cosmos that her father once used as well—a power that could rival even Lords. This is what allowed her to become the number one hero and beat people such as Fable. With it, she could take hits from the Beast and shrug off its energy, as well as deal powerful attacks that, while not having an outward effect, she was building something up.
The issue was that the Beast was so durable that only her most decisive strike could hope to do any damage. A strike that would surely destroy the city. While in her Galaxy Dress, her body was able to naturally absorb forms of energy, including kinetic energy. She couldn't negate them, however. Any damage she would be hit with, she would take, but in turn, she would also absorb. It was almost the perfected version of Green Wolf's barrier. Long ago, she used to go by the name of Ruby Admiral, and it was thanks to this power she could keep up with Full Monarch.
They landed down in the belly of the giant, and the Beast flew up and attempted to claw its way out of the stomach, but it finally saw the horrors of a creature that was made up of so much dense energy, even its attacks wouldn’t bother it. The Beast was experiencing the same thing so many others had. It didn't even leave a dent. It was trapped in the giant. The Beast growled and turned back to the Victorian and charged at her.
It had taken her out in one punch earlier. This was because it had used everything it had held within its body. This attack had damaged its form and made it a bit more unstable. It was going to hit her with the exact same thing.
In an instant, it appeared in front of her, and a powerful blow was thrown out. The gravity around it rapidly increased, and fire blasted out of its elbow, launching its fist forward like a jet. Lightning gushed out of its palm, and it used its control over its own body to compress all of its mass and power into the center of its hand—a punch with the full force of four Lords.
The attack rammed into the head of the Victorian, cracking the Galaxy Dress that coated her body and caused her eyes to roll back. It would have been strong enough to shatter the area they were in, but with the power of her dress, she forced all the impact onto herself, just like what she did when it first delivered the strike. This is what stopped the entire city from being blown to bits when it first hit her.
The Beast's elbow slumped down, and dozens of cracks appeared in its body as it hissed. Despite that, though, it knew it won. Its most potent attack was-
The Victorian forced herself to stand back up and gritted her teeth. The world spun around her, and she could feel herself blacking out, but she refused to fall unconscious until she hit this thing with everything she had. All across her form, billions of tiny golden stars suddenly erupted and went supernova. They swam across her entire flesh and changed into a bright ruby red color as the full force of a dwarf star found its way into her fist.
A red star.
The inside of the giant lit up with a harsh red light as she tensed her fist, pouring in every drop of energy she had, including the two massive strikes the Beast had hit her with. All of it was fused together, and she rammed it all right into its ugly face!
Outside, Battery felt himself get shoved back as red beams of energy tore his giant apart from the inside out, and a sweeping burst of air tore everything to bits. The entire city shook, and everything was leveled. All of Boy Genius’s drones exploded across the city as red energy whipped out wildly, splitting through the sky and tearing more of the city to bits. The only reason the entire city was even remotely left standing was thanks to the fact Battery’s giant took the worst of the blow.
The giant cried out as it shattered to bits, and it suddenly vanished. Red light blinded Battery as the energy overpowered the sun, then suddenly died out, vanishing as the Victorian collapsed to her knees. The Beast was sent flying, swinging through the air, and was rammed through layers of torn-down buildings, crashing at the edge of the city block.
Battery rushed forward and caught the Victorian before she could crash face-first into the ground. Her Galaxy Dress completely faded off of her, leaving her back in her normal form, and most of her hero costume was torn up. "Did I get him?" She coughed out.
"I think you got him and most of the city… I lived here, you know…”
Battery looked up as he watched the Beast struggle to move and stand back up. Part of its head hung awkwardly off of its body, barely attached, and its entire face had been caved in with hundreds of cracks dancing all across it. The thing managed to stand up on wobbly legs, and its torn-up shoulder rose up, allowing it to point at them. A beam of white energy blasted out, but at the last second, a wave of hot golden fire slammed into the beam, blasting it out of the way. Battery let out a small sigh before smirking.
"Looks like I made it to her."
"Mr. Larison!" He felt himself get tackled off of the ground as Hope rammed into him at high speeds.
"Ow..." He crashed to the ground and awkwardly patted Hope as she landed on him.
"You're alive, Mr. Larison!"
"For now."
"What?"
"Nothing." He stood up as she pulled herself off of him. "Are you hurt?"
"No! Paragon healed me! Is she with you?"
"No? I thought she was with you."
"Jill!" Mister Man landed next to them and held a handout to the Victorian, helping the woman up. Hope seemed to finally notice the world's strongest woman and felt her eyes go wide. She ducked behind Battery and peeked out. "You okay?" Mister Man asked.
"I'll manage." The woman shrugged. Her eyes roamed over the others that also showed up. Wyvern landed on the ground next to them, along with her brother Drake. Fisherman, along with Myth and Lancelot, came running as well. "Is this all we have left?"
"The others were slowing us down, so I left them behind and had them keep this crowd of people safe." Mister Man explained.
"Got it."
All of them turned when they heard the sound of the Beast. The monster began to steadily walk toward them once more and snapped its head back into place. Battery let out a breath he was holding and placed his hand on Hope's shoulder. He looked down at the girl and watched as her eyes glared at the Beast. "Maybe I won't need my plan after all."
"Huh?" She looked back up at him.
"Nothing. I think we can win." He recreated his black sword. "It's weaker now. This is our chance."
The Victorian rubbed some blood off of her chin. "It'll take me a bit to get my Galaxy Dress back."
"You won't need it." Battery said, shaking his head.
"Can you beat it?" Myth asked his teammate.
"Of course I can. I'm badass." Battery snorted. "Though actually, with this guy here, we've basically already won." He pointed his blade at Mister Man. "What do you think?"
"You want me to finish it off?" The man asked.
"We'll distract it and give you a moment to shoot it. Phase a bullet into its neck and take what's left of it off. I don't think it'll be able to fight if we remove its head."
Cinder gave a small grin and punched her fist into her palm, the golden fire twirling out. "So, what are we waiting for? Let's end this!"
The Beast crouched down and launched itself forward as fast as it could, its wings expanding out. Wyvern and Drake both huffed out, shooting a wave of hot fire in its direction. The Beast flew through the fire, ignoring it, and used the arm that was missing a hand to block Lancelot's sword. Fisherman managed to get his line around the Beast's waist, and Myth grabbed onto it, tugging on it as hard as he could in his bull form and causing the Beast to slip a bit. Battery and the Victorian both formed their swords and rammed them on either side of the Beast's neck, attempting to saw off its head. Mister Man twirled his gun and took aim.
The Beast fired out a powerful wave of energy out of its eyes in the direction of Mister Man, but the beams never reached him. Cinder jumped in front of him and held both of her hands out, using her palm to block the energy. Mister Man fired two shots. His bullets flew out and phased right through Cinder's head, going completely through her and not harming her. They went directly up the stream of the lasers and hit the eyes of the Beast before growing solid once more and causing the alien's eyes to explode in its skull and turn off its energy.
The Beast let out a high-pitched scream that was so strong it blew them all back. Battery felt himself crash into the arms of Cinder as she caught him. He threw his arm out, and his energy crackled, forming into a giant fist that rammed directly into the top of the Beast and forced it to kneel.
"Whoa! Since when can you do that, Mr. Larison!" Hope asked with wide eyes. "Also, since when do you have black lightning?"
"Not important!" The giant fist began to grow bigger and crack the street as it shoved the Beast further down. "Now, Kid!"
"Right!" Cinder let go of Battery and twisted her way past him. As she did that, Battery grabbed one of the destroyed drones and ran his energy through it, causing it to turn back on by force.
“I never wanted the glory. Since the start, my plan was for her to be the one to do it. I thought I’d have to die. That I’d need to kill myself in front of her in my fight with the Beast to finish it and force her power to awaken. Looks like it didn’t come to that.” The drone booted back up fully, and all across the world, the entire planet stared at the back of a fire-based hero. “Cinder is going to beat the Beast.” Battery announced.
Fire compressed around her fist, and she ran forward as fast as she could. The Beast shattered the hand that was above it and formed its wings, taking to the air right before she could reach him. "Oh no, you don't!" Fire blasted out of her feet, and she jumped after it. The Beast flew higher, attempting to escape from her grasp, and she felt herself begin to fall. Its butterfly wings flapped, kicking up a massive windstorm, and she felt herself begin to drop. The gravity around her started to grow stronger as the Beast forced it upon her. She was starting to be shoved down and began to fall back to the ground. The Beast was trying to escape.
She gritted her teeth, feeling her fire reach its peak. The gold energy began to swirl around her, and just like when she would use the supernova, she channeled it all and forced it directly into her back. "Gravity! You don't boss me around!" It exploded out of her back, erupting and taking shape. Her fire formed into a pair of large butterfly-like wings.
She flew.
Battery held the drone up, capturing the entire thing.
The gravity around her vanished, and she blasted up faster than she had ever been able to move, her wings expanding out. The Beast tried to block with its remaining hand, but she was like a rocket, putting everything she had in her fist. The Beast screamed out, and she yelled right back at it as her fist shattered through its injured body, the cracks around it growing more prominent. "I'm ending this here!" And with that, her fist slammed directly into its stomach and broke through.
Everything exploded...
***
Jane stared out the window at the hospital room her husband had been given. The streets of Lillian were still filled with traffic and injured people, with the Hero Branch and doctors working overtime on them. She didn't pay much attention to that, though. Her eyes stared in the direction of where Oleander was.
"How long have you known?"
She didn't turn to look back at her husband. She bit her lip and flinched a little but remained at her spot, staring out the window. Mr. Ward and the other Hero Branch agents had left once Paragon escaped. The Laurens weren't of any concern to them. She supposed that was a good thing.
"Jane." Her husband asked quietly. "Please. How long have you known?"
She sighed softly. "Not long. I only found out recently. We were planning on telling you, but..."
Alexander also sighed and stared up at the roof. "I guess I always knew something like this would happen." He grabbed his blanket and pulled it over his legs. "Is she going to be okay? I shouldn't be staying here at a time like this-"
"She'll be fine."
"How do you know?"
"Because that Paragon girl left to go save her."
"No offense, but I don't really trust that hero." Alexander snorted.
"Hope likes her."
"Oh?"
"'Likes ‘likes' her."
"Oh!" Alexander nodded. "I trust her now."
"Men are too easy."
The door to their hospital room opened slowly, and she heard someone walk in. "Excuse me, but are you guys the Laurens?" A voice asked. They had been getting visited by doctors all day to double-check on her husband and make sure he stayed stabilized.
"Yeah, we are. Are you a doctor?" Her husband asked.
"Sort of. I prefer the term healer, though," the voice said casually. She finally turned around and raised her eyebrow when she saw who it was. It was an older man, maybe in his late sixties. He had messy blonde hair filled with a few grays and a bit of facial hair, as well as very tired eyes. Despite that, though, he had a kind and gentle smile on his face, and he wore a black suit.
"Healer? Are you a Super?" She asked, narrowing her eyes. If he was a Super, then he’d be a lot older than he looked. He could have been pushing well into the hundreds. Something that deeply concerned her, since that would have meant he’d have to have survived through the war with Lucifer. That meant he was strong. Yet he wasn’t in Oleander…
"That's right." The man nodded. His hands were stuffed in his pockets, and his eyes glanced up and down at Alexander. "I heard the hero Paragon wasn't able to fully cure you of the Dead Virus?" The man questioned.
Alex nodded. "Yeah. She apparently regressed it but wasn't able to fully get it out of my system." He glanced down at his hands and squeezed them slowly. "I've never felt better, though. She did a really good job."
The man reached out and rubbed the back of his neck slowly. "Is Paragon here?"
"No?" Jane shook her head. "She left and headed to Oleander. Um, excuse me, who are you exactly?"
"I see." The man replied. "I guess she did that in some attempt to save her false family."
"False family?"
"Or maybe she did it for that girl." The man hummed. "That is why she tried to heal you, right? After all, the two of you are the parents of Cinder."
"Who are you-" Jane went to step forward but she wasn't fast enough.
In an instant, the man's hand landed on Alexander's face. His smile didn't look so kind anymore. "Who am I?" The shadows around him began to slowly rise up. "Well, my name is Nier. Though I guess you guys would know me as the Emperor."