Hope held her hand out to her father. Her smile faltered for a moment when he gripped it. It wasn't as strong as she expected. Was he still a bit weakened from the last battle? He had said he was fine, though. She put the smile back on her face before he could notice.

"Ready to look at the village?"

"Yeah?" Alexander looked down at himself, noting the tunic he wore now. "Who changed my clothes?"

"Nikos did. He told me we should lay low and not act like 'Mages'. If anyone asks, we're supposed to tell them we're from Apple Tree Village. Nikos told me all of this before he headed out."

"That kid headed out? And you're not with him?" Alexander asked, a bit worried.

"Kevin is with him." Hope explained. She kept a hand on her father and helped him walk to the door. "Also, I have my senses ramped up. I can hear them. If they scream or something, I'll go running over to them and should be able to arrive in about three or four seconds. I'm confident that Kevin can hold any threat off for that long."

"I see. Why did they head out, though?" The man asked awkwardly. "And what of those stone monsters?"

"The golems aren't around here anymore." She said, shaking her head. "With how far down they are beneath the planet, though, I can't hear any of them till they pop up, so who knows how many of those orbs are out there? I wanted to talk to Druid about it, but I haven't had the time. As for why Nikos headed out, he went out looking for another hunting group. Normally, I would have gone with them, but I was worried about you..." She said a little awkwardly.

Alexander chuckled and ruffled his daughter's hair before his look grew serious. "How long exactly was I knocked out for?"

"Well, by the time we got to the village, a full day had almost passed, and we're now about halfway through the third day." Hope sighed and folded her arms over her chest. "To tell you the truth, I'm kind of worried about time. We only have about four days left before the Immortals show up, and apparently, more and more villages have been getting attacked by Supers. They all thought they were safe and that the Supers would help them, but now that the Murder Games have started, the villains all seem keen on tearing down this world they helped to create. It's pissed me off if I'm being honest."

Alexander frowned and nodded. "Sorry. I didn't expect to black out like that... I'll try not to do it again."

Hope rolled her eyes. "It's not your fault. It's whoever put all those golems into the ground that's to blame. When I find out what villain did it, I'm going to punch them in the face."

The house that they were in wasn't that big, only having four rooms. It was made out of a mix of wood and marble and had a slanted roof above. The room they had been in was Nikos's, but the boy had loaned it to her dad when they had arrived. As she helped her father out of the bedroom, she came face to face with Nikos's father. The man was seated at a hand-carved table next to his daughter Cora. The two of them had been talking about something but stopped when she and her father stepped out.

"Hope." Cora smiled and stood up. "Is he okay to be walking around?"

"You know, you could just ask me." Alexander chuckled.

Cora just giggled and shrugged. Next to the younger girl, her father gave a nod of his head. "I see you're up and moving, Sir. I was a little worried when my son and daughter came back with you on their wagon. Especially with what happened to Gray..."

"Gray?" Alexander raised an eyebrow.

"The donkey." She whispered back.

"Oh."

Cora's father was a tall man with tanned skin. He had long red hair that was tied back. One of his eyes had a large nasty scar that covered most of the right side of his face. He was built similarly to Myth, with large muscles, and he wore gray-looking cloth that covered the left side of his body. He was the kind of person that, in a fantasy novel, would be some sort of great hunter or mighty warrior. At least he would be, but one thing about him had made a job like that impossible. His left leg was gone, all the way up to the hip, and both his hands were missing most of their fingers. He was a scarred man who had clearly gone through his share of battles and came out the other side worse off than when he had started.

Despite all of that, though, the man kept a smile on his face and held his hand out to Alexander. "Sakis." The man said.

"Alexander." Alexander shook the other man's hand, smiling. "Thank you for letting me rest here, sir. I'm sorry for the inconvenience I or my daughter might have caused."

Sakis shook his head. "You're fine, sir. I should actually be thanking you. My daughter here tells me your girl helped save their lives."

"It's true!" Cora said excitedly. "She was able to get us out of danger so quickly, helping us all escape from the golems!" Cora had thankfully not mentioned anything about powers, but the girl had still been unable to keep the fact that she was fascinated with Hope a secret, and so now most of the village was aware that some young girl that looked sort of similar to the queen was able to outrun a bunch of golems. "She's amazing, Dad!"

Hope sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Oh, stop, you're going to make me blush."

"It's rare for someone to be able to fight off those stone creatures." Sakis rubbed his chin slightly. "I guess the people in Apple Tree must grow up differently, huh? You're so young-looking as well." Sakis looked Hope up and down. "How would you like to marry my son?"

"No thanks!" Hope waved the man off. "Maybe if it was your daughter, I'd consider." Cora blushed a little, and Alexander elbowed his daughter.

"Don't let Paragon catch you saying that."

"What? Sky would agree that Cora is cute." Hope shook her head and got her thoughts back on track. "Thanks for letting us stay here, Mr. Sakis, but my father and I should head out. One of our friends was with Nikos, so I'd like to head in their direction."

Sakis nodded. "If that's what you want. You seem capable. Nikos headed out early in the morning, so they'll likely be heading back this way by now. If you hurry, you'll meet them about halfway."

"I'll go with you and show you the path!" Cora said quickly. The girl stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Hope's elbow.

Hope awkwardly shrugged. "Sure? I guess." It was kind of odd having a fangirl. She liked it, though. "Shall we?"

Alexander nodded. "Let's go get our Kevin back."

Alexander felt his breath hitch a bit as he stepped out of Sakis's house. He wasn't quite sure what he had been expecting, but Pine Tree Village looked more amazing than he had thought it would. It wasn't as big as one would expect, but that seemed to add to its charm. All the houses were similar to Sakis's, being made out of stone and marble. The entire village was also sloped at an almost awkward angle, as it was built alongside a mountain, giving everything a weird leaning feeling. Despite that, though, the people of the village seemed to be doing just fine.

Several kids all ran around and played, and along the sloped ground, a field was created where many farmers seemed to be gathering up crops. Makeshift roads had been carved into the ground and paved with stone, and horses and donkeys dragged carriages full of supplies behind them. One path went further up the mountain and headed directly into a massive opening that served as some sort of cave.

He could only imagine what life must have been like in this strange world. Waking up every day in a village that was angled ninety degrees and heading out to the mine. Seeing things like this almost made him forget the fact that they weren't in the real world. All of this was fake. Nothing more than a blank land that had been created by the villains for this sick and twisted game.

Why go through all the effort, though? Why did Lucifer or the Emperor care if this place looked like the real world or not, and why did they create full-on civilizations like this? It was cruel to put all of these people here, raising them over the course of years, just for them to be trapped in a world that didn't actually exist, waiting to be caught up in the Murder Games. It was enough to cause his blood to boil, and that only reminded him of the bad dream he had.

Alexander looked at his daughter's back as they began to walk through the village. He remembered the way Lucifer had stared at him and the promise that bastard had made. "I won't let that happen," Alexander said quietly. He knew he didn't have long left. He could feel it. One way or another, Alexander was pretty sure he wouldn't be leaving the Murder Games. She might have been a Super, but he was still her father. "I won't let him hurt you."

"Hurt who?" Hope turned to look back at her father.

Alexander forced a smile onto his face and reached out to cup his daughter's cheek. "Nothing. I was just thinking out loud. So, what exactly is our plan? You said it yourself; we don't have much time."

Hope frowned slightly and studied her father. She knew he was hiding something. Ever since he had woken up, he had acted strange. When he had first blacked out, she had gotten Kevin and even Druid to take a look at her father. Druid had created some healing staff, and she threatened the villain until she obeyed. In the end, though, neither of them was able to find anything wrong with him. Physically he was fine, just a bit banged up. It was something else that was causing him this harm. Something none of them could see. She'd just have to remember to get Paragon to take a look at him again once they were all out.

She turned back away and stared ahead, not wanting to stare at him any longer. "The plan really hasn't changed. We're going to go find Kevin and then find out how we can find this 'Queen'. Druid told me that Skin Walker has a way out of here. It's our best bet. We just need to get out of here and get in contact with Battery or the Victorian."

"You think they can help?" Alexander asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course they can."

"Are they strong like you?" Cora asked, looking at Hope.

Hope nodded and smirked. "The Victorian is one of the strongest people in the world!"

"Really!" Cora said excitedly.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Yep! Oh, and Battery's my sidekick."

"Sidekick?"

"Basically, it means he's my servant and does what I say, and I'm his boss." Hope shrugged. "Think of me as his Queen or something. If we can get both of them or even one of them, then I think this whole thing will be solved. It feels like those two can do anything sometimes."

"They sound incredible." Cora practically had stars in her eyes. "I can't wait to meet them."

"I'll be sure to give you a personal audience with them!"

They headed through the village and got a few odd looks from the locals. When she first arrived, they all thought she was the sister or daughter of the Queen. It had ticked her off quite a bit, and she had to explain several times she was just a simple farm girl from Apple Tree. They didn't really believe her, mostly because of the sword she had with her. She was still wearing the white robes Nikos had given her and kept the jacket wrapped around her waist. Her backpack kept her sword, and most eyes were drawn to it. It was a very fine blade, and she knew a few of the men were jealous someone like her had it, but none dared to approach her and steal it.

Supers or not, they could all tell right away she outclassed them. On instinct, most of the villagers had begun to avoid her when they sensed her sour mood about the Queen situation.

Eventually, they arrived at the edge of the village and began to head down the mountain. At the bottom of the mountain was a large forest that split off in several directions. Thanks to her enhanced hearing, she knew which direction Kevin and Nikos were in right away. Kevin wasn't able to go back to looking like a human anymore, so the monster had decided to stay in the forest alongside Lycaon. He had also kept Druid with him as well.

"Are you two ready?" Hope turned back to her father and Cora with a large grin.

Instantly, Alexander felt a bit of worry set in, and he took a nervous step back. "Ready for what- Oh no, please don't do it, Hope; you know that makes my stomach get upset."

"What's she planning, Mr. Alexander?" Cora asked, cocking her head to the side. "Is it something bad?"

"She's going to pick us up and do her damn hops-"

The next thing Alexander and Cora knew, they were being picked up and flung over a shoulder. Hope held them both as if she was carrying a sack of potatoes in each arm, and she crouched down. Both Alexander and Cora yelled out, one out of fear and the other in joy, as they blasted through the air at intense speeds.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, Lycaon jumped over a stack of trees. Nikos let out a loud yelp and clutched onto the wolf's fur, laughing.

"You know," the boy called out. "I really got to get me one of these guys."

"Well, this one's mine," Kevin said flatly. "You'll have to find your own."

"Technically, it's mine." Druid hissed.

"Eh, what's yours is mine now." Kevin shrugged.

"No!"

"Yes."

Kevin folded his arms and stared up at the sky. He was flat on his back, lying on his wolf friend as they ran through the forest. He was in his Mars King form, keeping Druid trapped within him until he could figure out a better place to store the villain. On his back he kept the woman's staff in case he needed to get into a fight, as well as the second staff Druid had created when Hope ordered the villain to check her father out. The second staff was a plain-looking stick that had a smallish red gem at the end of it, which could check on a person's vitals. Not too useful, but Kevin kept it around just in case.

He honestly didn't know what Druid's limit was. The woman seemed to be able to turn sticks and stones into various magical staffs and give them any effect they wanted, but they clearly had limits; otherwise, Druid would have teleported out of this realm long ago or deaged herself back to her prime.

"How much longer is it?" Kevin called out.

"Not much," Nikos yelled back. The boy had a large grin on his face and was seated on the head of Lycaon, using the wolf's ears as a way to steer. "Apple Tree Village is up ahead!"

"Why are we heading there again?" Kevin asked.

"Normally, our village has a scholar, but it seems he headed for Apple Tree to talk to one of his friends." Nikos explained. "Scholars keep up with all the day-to-day news and often discuss details amongst one another. They always know when the Queen will appear and what city she'll show up in. The Queen usually appears whenever she wants, and she will constantly change which city she arrives in, but scholars somehow always seem to know the exact date and location. Hope was wanting to find the Queen, and to do that we'll need to find the scholar."

Kevin gave a lazy nod and sighed. "This entire place really is like a damn video game. Constantly following one massive quest line that never seems to reach the end. It pisses me off. I always preferred sports over things like that."

Nikos nodded, though he really had no idea what the other boy was talking about. "So," he said a little awkwardly. "Is Hope married or anything?"

"Yep."

"Really? Darn, that's a shame." Nikos sighed and shook his head. "What about you-"

"Not into dudes."

"Right, sorry." Nikos cleared his throat and got back to focusing on the path.

Kevin frowned as he stared up at the clouds above. One in particular looked like it was shaped sort of like a ring, being a big circle. That, and the mentions of marriage, made him think back to his life. Was he ever going to get married like this? He had dated a lot of girls, but the only one he had ever been happy with was Ashley. She used to always be there for him, constantly coming to all his games and cheering him on. He had been happy when she trusted him enough to tell him she had powers, and he had been the one to urge her to join the Sub Enforcers. That was the last time he had really gotten to see his girlfriend, though.

Oxide was way too busy trying to rise through the ranks of the team she was on. Being the rookie and constantly teased by her team had taken its toll on Ashley, and it seemed like no matter what he said, it was never enough to cheer her up. It only got worse when he began to roid out, constantly trying to push past the limits.

Then they broke up, and in his spiral he did a lot of stupid things and ended up at Wish's side. Wish had been there to constantly whisper things in his ear. The girl had been a literal part of him and made him do so many horrible things that he still had nightmares. He knew that when he died, he'd be heading for hell. That was okay, though. It was a fate he deserved. He was a bad person after all. That's all he ever was and would ever be. He wasn't a hero.

So why the hell was he so keen on helping Lauren out? He was basically right back where he started; only instead of following the orders of the Lord of Life, he was obeying the Lord of the Sun. He wasn't doing it out of some twisted sense of loyalty or love. He could hardly stand the girl. Yet, that didn't seem to stop him.

Maybe because it felt good, doing good?

Nah.

It didn't really matter. He decided he didn't want to think about it too much, and so he stopped.

"What the hell?"

"What is it?" Kevin set up and raised an eyebrow when he noticed what Nikos had. Smoke was coming from the direction in front of them. "Let me guess. Apple Tree village?"

"Y- Yeah," Nikos said in shock. "What happened?"

"Fucking video game logic." Kevin pinched his nose and let out a deep, angry sigh. "That's what happened. Of course, it would never be as easy as 'go find scholar.' We're going to get there and find out he's been kidnapped, and then we're going to find the clues as to where he is and head to the place he's being kept, fight through a bunch of bad guys, then finally get him and learn the information on where the Queen is. This is just one badly scripted game."

Nikos once again gave an awkward shrug. Soon enough, Lycaon came jumping out of the forest, and they saw what was left of Apple Tree village.

Unlike Pine Tree Village, Apple Tree Village had been at the edge of the massive forest that was next to Pine Tree Village. It was given its name because of all the apple trees that grew around it. The village was rather large, with a few windmills and bigger wooden houses than Pine Tree had. As they entered, though, they discovered that most of the houses were on fire, and smoke was rising to the sky. Most of the houses had already burned down, so whatever happened must have occurred a while ago.

Kevin jumped off of Lycaon and landed in the village square. He drew Druid's arm and waved it around. "Summon something to put out the fires."

"Nah, don't feel like it." The woman smirked beneath the suit she was in.

"You're useless." Kevin sighed and put the staff away. He swatted both of his hands out and made them grow in size. The red meat that formed his body expanded rapidly, and he formed them into cup sizes. He stabbed them into the ground, picking up a massive amount of dirt. He then dropped the dirt over the flames, putting several of them out. He kept this up, going again and again until all the houses had been put out. It ended up leaving dozens of massive holes in the village ground, and most of the houses were buried, but it had stopped the fire.

If they had arrived earlier, he might have been able to save several of the houses, but sadly, most were long gone. The entire village would likely need to be rebuilt. That was when Kevin noticed something else. "Well, that's kind of odd."

"What's odd?" Nikos called out. The boy drew his bow and had an arrow ready to go as Lycaon slowly entered the forest. He looked around back and forth, trying to spot anything besides the burned-down village.

"Where is everyone?" Kevin looked around with a frown. Besides the two of them and Lycaon, not a single soul was around. "This place is a ghost town." The entire town was empty.

"Could the village have been attacked or something?" Nikos questioned, also frowning. "And if so, what?"

"Maybe. I'll take a look from up above."

"Up above? Oh, can you fly like Hope can-"

Kevin grunted, and then his neck began to expand. It caused Nikos to fall back out of shock, and even Lycaon looked horrified, but he ignored them both. His neck grew out like a snake, getting longer and longer, allowing him to raise his head high into the air. Druid's head hadn't been taken with him, as that would have killed the woman, so instead, Druid found herself now unable to see, as the eye holes he had grown for her grew out of reach. She looked up with wide eyes, staring at the thin tunnel of red flesh that made up Kevin's neck, which was above her head. Kevin stared down at the village now, able to see it all.

His head stayed up there for several seconds, scanning back and forth. After some time, his neck shrunk back down and reeled its way back onto his body. "Odd." Was all he said.

Nikos managed to get over his shock and shook his head. "What's odd, Mr. Kevin?"

Kevin rubbed his chin and kept looking around. "I didn't see any damage. Well, besides the fire. All the houses were still intact, other than the damage the flames caused. There also wasn't blood or anything like that either. I was expecting to find a lot of damage if something did attack, but instead, it looks like the villagers just vanished, and then something came in and set the place on fire. What would do that, though? And why?" No sign of a struggle was just weird. What exactly was going on?

"It's strange, isn't it?" A new voice called out. "I mean, it's like the villagers almost set the place on fire themselves and then left."

Kevin narrowed his eyes and spun toward the noise, growing several claws across his hand. "Who's there?" He called out.

From one of the houses, a person walked out. They had been inside when he was checking the place out, so he hadn't noticed them. That concerned him quite a bit since that meant the person had been hiding in a burning house. The person was a young man, being about nineteen or twenty years old. He was dressed like a normal person for the most part, wearing long black sweatpants and a T-shirt that showed off every Enforcer member before the Beast attack. The only thing that was odd about the person was the chainmail jacket he wore, as well as the fact he had a massive claymore strapped to his back. He had messy brown hair and eyes that were filled with mischief.

Kevin took a step back and put himself in front of Lycaon and the figure. He let out a low whistle, and the wolf began to back up, getting further and further away from the stranger.

"Who are you?" Kevin demanded. He spoke in a stern tone and kept his eyes on the person.

"You wanna know who I am?" The boy said a bit excitedly. "Aw, that makes me so happy. I never had someone ask me in such a brooding tone like yours!"

Kevin stared at the other boy with a flat look. "Druid?" He questioned.

"Don't ask me." The woman muttered. She stared through Kevin's eyes, keeping an eye on the teen. "He isn't any of the villains I remember being brought in here with. It's possible Cinder could have brought more bad guys with her when the Murder Games actually started. Either way, though, I don't recognize him, so he can't be that much of a big shot."

Kevin nodded slightly. "Thanks for the info."

"What? Hey! No fair!" Druid hissed. "You tricked me into revealing that! Forget I said anything this instant!"

Kevin ignored the woman and raised a clawed hand. The muscles along his body grew larger, and his tail flicked back and forth, smacking the ground a bit and kicking up a wave of dirt. "Who are you? Answer me. I won't be asking a third time."

The other teen just gave another smirk. "Me? My name's Claymore. Yeah, I named myself after the weapon I wield. Pretty badass, right?" Claymore's grin grew. "And you? Who are you?"

"My name's Shift."

"Shift? Ha, remove the f, and your name is shit!"

Kevin growled once more. "Are you the one who did this?"

Claymore cocked his head to the side. "Are you asking if I'm the one who set the village on fire and made everyone vanish?" The boy stepped forward and reached up, placing a hand on his sword. "Yep. So what are you gonna do about it, Shit? Whoops. I meant Shift. My bad, forgot the f."

Kevin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm going to break you."

In an instant he appeared in front of the other boy and swung his fist out, aiming directly for Claymore's face. His punch never landed, though, and the other teen somehow dodged it. Claymore ducked beneath the strike and drew his sword. The blade was massive and worn with use. It was stained black, the same color as monster blood, and Kevin's eyes went wide as he saw the weapon swing toward his face.

"Claymore, the hero that slays all kinds of monsters. I'll show you how I got that name." Claymore swung his sword as hard as he could, aiming to remove Kevin's head in one swift strike.

The blade made contact.