Yellow Kobold was never considered to be a scary villain.

He was just a bad guy that happened to constantly return. Even when he died, it wouldn't be too long before some new guy took up the mantle and carried on the mission of making the hero, Golden Weaver, suffer.

This Yellow Kobold seemed different. He had the same set of powers; all Yellow Kobolds had the same powers for some reason, almost like a passing of the torch, but this Yellow Kobold had a look in his eyes. One that spelled trouble.

"Boom."

That was all the villain said, but it was enough. Cinder felt her eyes sting as a bright flash appeared in front of her and a wave of force rammed into her from all sides. Her suit let out a loud hiss as the blast rammed into them, and the tower she had been standing on exploded, raining down shards of hot stone. She wasn't alone in her falling either. Next to her, Black Weaver tumbled down hard.

The older hero managed to shake off the force of the blast and fired out a golden web, which latched onto part of the building that wasn't destroyed. It pulled him back, allowing him to stop his fall.

She was just about to copy him and do the same but stopped at the last second when she noticed all the people that were down below. The bank at the corner of the street had been where the attack first started. A heavy fire was pouring out of it and spilling out onto the road, which was covered in some kind of flammable substance. Dozens of people were trapped down below, boxed in from the flame and Battery's downed Giant. The rubble from the tumbling building was also raining down on the people below.

Black Weaver tried to stop as much as he could, but he was only able to web up a few large blocks of stone and sever a couple more with his other arm.

Cinder took a deep breath and shifted her focus from catching herself to focusing on the debris instead. "Shift!"

"Already on it!" Kevin announced.

She flung her arms down, and dozens of red tendrils blasted out, all moving like whips. They sliced into the stone, cutting them down to smaller sizes, or simply wrapped around the bigger ones, lifting them up. When she finally came crashing down, she landed in the crowd of people, eight stone boulders suspended behind her that had come from the destroyed building behind her. The tendrils twitched and began to slam the debris down, forming into a makeshift ramp that went directly over the cracked Giant, allowing many of the people to run out of the danger and get to a safe location.

"Thank you!" Someone managed as they passed her.

Black Weaver remained stuck to the wall, watching her for a moment before he slowly looked back up to where Yellow Kobold was. The villain's grin had somehow grown even larger, and he was standing on his board with his arms crossed.

The board in question was a thick silver-looking thing that sort of resembled a surfboard. Yellow Kobold was a villain who had been blessed with several powers, from mild super strength and speed to a few Mental-based ones as well that allowed him to make his flying board and battle suit. Despite how simple and goofy his costume looked, it was actually built with dozens of Super tech in it that amplified him further beyond his power and allowed his voice to come out even louder than it normally would. Unlike Golden Weaver, Yellow Kobold didn't need to worry about his suits running out of battery either since he was the one who built them, so they remained fully charged just by staying near him.

"It's been a while, Golden Weaver! I like the new costume!" Yellow Kobold shouted. His voice came out amplified and shattered dozens of windows.

Black Weaver didn't even bother to come up with some witty response. He was still on a time limit; the more he used his tech, the quicker it would die, so he went all out on the attack right away. Black Weaver fired a golden thread onto the underside of Yellow Kobold's board, and it snapped taut, pulling the hero up toward the villain. He slapped his other arm through the air, the razor wire cutting out, but Yellow Kobold was faster and managed to use his power to block it.

At the last second, before the attack could land, the air seemed to shimmer and change. Large blocky letters seemed to form into existence in front of Yellow Kobold. They spelled out the words 'POW!' in all caps, and whatever they were made of, they were able to easily block the razor line Black Weaver sent out. "Pow." Yellow Kobold spoke, and the words suddenly shattered, and Black Weaver felt his gut be pressed in as an invisible force rammed into him. The hero was launched all the way back down and rammed into the ground, shaking it. Another set of letters appeared in front of Yellow Kobold, this time spelling out the word 'BOOM!'. Once more, Yellow Kobold spoke, and the letters cracked and shattered. "Boom."

A massive explosion went off, tumbling down toward Black Weaver, who was trying to pull himself out of the ground. Before it could reach him, though, Cinder jumped out in front of him. She threw her arms out, and her suit formed into a large red and silver shield that appeared just in time to block the blast. Her arms shook, but she kept them up as the explosion died.

"Talk about a weird power." She grumbled out. Yellow Kobold had onomatopoeia creation as his main ability. It allowed him to bring certain words into existence, which would form into the air, made out of solid space matter, which he could then activate by saying the word. Depending on the word would depend on the effect, and the louder he said it, the stronger it got. This power seemed to always appear whenever the next Yellow Kobold stepped up as well. Almost as if it was able to infect and take over a person, transforming them into the villain. It reminded her of the Lords, and she wondered briefly if the Ego inside of Yellow Kobold was alive or something.

"W- Why did you jump in and save me?" Black Weaver winced as he pulled himself out of the ground.

"Because I'm a hero. Duh." She just rolled her eyes and cracked her knuckles. "You're still banged up from our battle, so you sit tight. I'll take this guy out. You just deal with the other one."

"The other one-" Black Weaver's enhanced senses went off, and he ducked down just in time as a red beam of energy blasted past him. He growled and turned around. "I suppose you'd be here as well."

Slowly walking out of the ruined bank, Yellow Kobold's teammate emerged. Unlike Yellow Kobold, many people considered this guy to be an actual threat, one on the same level as Green Wolf. He had gone toe-to-toe with the late Ocean Empress several times. Squid M.D. was a villain you didn't want to take lightly. He wore a skintight black body suit that covered him from the neck down. His arms were casually folded behind his back as he walked out of the destroyed bank. His entire head was covered by a massive, solid silver ball that had a glowing red dot in the middle of it that could fire out powerful beams of energy. The helmet that Red Ape loved wearing had been based on Squid M.D.'s. Avalon had reverse-engineered it after studying it. Squid M.D.'s was far stronger and had thick metal tendrils that flowed out of it like liquid, which slapped at the ground. There were eight in total.

The villain didn't say anything. He almost never bothered to speak. He did, however, cock his head to the side as his helmet built up another mass of energy and unleashed a powerful bolt toward Black Weaver. The hero sidestepped the attack just in time, and the energy beam tore into one of the nearby buildings, causing it to rain down around them. Thankfully, due to Cinder's actions, everyone had already left the block and evacuated.

"You take him. I'll focus on the flying jerk," Cinder announced.

"Wait-" Black Weaver reached out for her, but she was too fast.

She took off at high speeds, using her legs to perform one of her signature super jumps. The ground shattered beneath her, and she blasted up toward Yellow Kobold, who was still in the air, well above the skyscrapers. A solid mass of letters appeared in front of Yellow Kobold, but she didn't see what they spelled out. Instead, she just heard him speak.

"Zap!"

Instantly, the letters twisted and changed into a thick bolt of lightning that rammed down into her. It railed into their stomach before she reached the villain, and both she and Kevin let out loud yelps as their nerves lit up. She instantly began to fall once more, and she crashed down into the roof of a nearby skyscraper, cracking it a bit. Already, before she could even think of recovering, Yellow Kobold had created more letters.

"Splash."

This time, the letters turned into a large wave of water that poured down on her and soaked her down to the core. She knew what was about to happen next and jumped off of the roof just in time as Yellow Kobold sent another lightning bolt her way. A red tendril formed into a whip connecting her to the building, and she used it to spin her body, causing the bolt to fly past her.

"Better luck next time!" She called out, swinging around the entire building.

"Ha! I don't need luck! It's only a matter of time until I hit you! Pow!" Yellow Kobold pointed toward her, and a wave of force slammed past her. She dodged midair, leaving a fist-shaped crater on the side of the building.

"You might as well give up now, you know." She swung up with Kevin and blasted into the air once more, attempting to reach Yellow Kobold.

"Boom!" The explosion rammed into her once again, and she was sent crashing back toward the building. "Why would I give up!"

She shook off the pain and ignored Kevin's hisses in her ear. "You might have beaten one of the Giants, but each city has four, you know. They're going to show up and kick your ass. We don't have to beat you; we just need to stall you out."

Yellow Kobold's grin somehow got even larger, and the villain let out a loud laugh. "Is that what you think?" He glared down at her and snorted. "I already dealt with the Giants."

"What?" She frowned and suddenly felt uneasy. The Giants weren't fast, but they weren't slow either. They really should have arrived on time. From where she stood, she looked out across the city and saw them. They stood large and imposing, forged out of black thunder, yet not a single one moved. They were totally stuck in place, simply standing there. "That doesn't look good..."

"Tell me, hero, are you a gamer?" Yellow Kobold shouted down toward her. "I happen to love games. I've played so many that I know how to trick the A.I. These Giants aren't perfect. They're sort of like machines. They have to be programmed. Each one needs a series of orders built into them. In this case, they were programmed to protect the block that they were on. Maybe they could have done more, but Battery has them scattered all over the world, so I doubt he could manage such complex orders. When I got here, this Giant attacked me, but none of the others did because I wasn't on their block. It was tricky, I'll admit. It took most of my firepower and Squid M.D's lasers, but we were able to take that construct out."

"That's wrong. The Giants wander around!"

"Only when they're told to." Yellow Kobold snickered. "Think of it as adding a new set of code to them. Do you see those strings of water attached to the back of their head? That's what does it. It's connected to a main source that controls and directs them. Without that source, though, they just stand by and follow their prime directive, which was to guard whatever block they happen to be on."

She had seen the strings of water when she was being carried by Wyvern. Each thread led back to the hero Purrfect, who was somehow in every city. Purrfect likely served as the main instructor in Battery's absence. Purrfect would be the one keeping her eyes and ears open and directing the Giants as she saw fit. If what Yellow Kobold was saying was true, then that meant she wasn't currently in control of them.

"What did you do to Purrfect!" She demanded.

Yellow Kobold waved his hand casually through the air. "Oh, relax. She isn't dead if that's what you're worrying about. A buddy of mine named Mud Man tried that in Daisy City. He snapped the neck of the Purrfect that was there. Sadly, killing her doesn't work. It causes the Giants to instantly go to where she should be as fast as possible, and from what I heard, they tore poor Mud Man apart, reducing him to atoms. After that, a new Purrfect shows up. You kill the one who controls them, and that just causes another order to go off, and the Giants kill you. So, instead of taking her out, I had to come up with a different solution. One that ensured Purrfect wasn't harmed in any way."

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"And what's that?"

Yellow Kobold's power activated once more, and she got ready for an attack, but instead, he spoke something else into existence. "Snooze."

It happened all at once. Faster than she could react, her eyes grew impossibly heavy, and she fought back a yawn. Her vision blurred, and snoring filled her ear as Kevin instantly blacked out. Everything began to grow dark, and she gasped as she dropped to her knees. Yellow Kobold floated down to her and flicked her on the forehead, causing her to collapse onto her back on the verge of blacking out. She was suddenly just so tired...

"I did that to Purrfect." Yellow Kobold said bluntly. "You lose. Now sleep. Lay down like a good little girl and go into an endless slumber-"

A loud crack echoed out, and blood dripped down her chin as her fist rammed into her own face, and she broke her nose. She suddenly didn't feel tired, instead being hit with blinding pain. Pain that quickly changed into anger.

"Shit-" Yellow Kobold tried to jump back onto his board, but she kicked out with her leg and shattered it in two. The villain let out another curse and stumbled back as she slowly stood up.

Blood dripped down her face, and she removed her knuckle from her face, breathing heavily. "That. Really. Hurt."

"You're absolutely insane!"

Down below in the street, Black Weaver dodged another wave of energy that came his way. He jumped forward, using his new robotic legs to boost himself toward Squid M.D. Golden threading wrapped around a large piece of debris, and he threw it at the villain, but one of Squid M.D.'s tendrils slapped it out of the air. He kept going forward with his momentum and launched the razor thread, but a tendril on Squid M.D.'s helmet twitched and turned a knob that was on the side of it. Instantly, a bright red bubble appeared around the villain, which easily blocked the slicing attack. Black Weaver came to a sliding stop in front of the force field and began to unleash a series of blows to the energy, doing his best to crack them.

Squid M.D. cocked his head to the side, not saying anything. He was always the strong, silent type. Yellow Kobold was able to do enough talking for two people, after all. Squid M.D. watched silently as cracks began to appear along his shield. Then, in a flash, his barrier cracked. Black Weaver's fist sailed forward, aiming directly for the villain's helmet, but Squid M.D. dropped down to a crouch, dodging the strike with ease. Several of his tendrils sprung out and wrapped around Black Weaver's waist and began to squeeze down. The hero let out a pained gasp as he felt several of his ribs break, but he ignored the pain and brought his metal hand down.

The fingers of the robotic limb were completely sliced through two tendrils and stabbed into a third. Oil spilled out, bursting into flames, from the fire that was still around them, but neither man paid it any mind. Squid M.D's tendril managed to wrap itself around Black Weaver's robotic arm and force it to stretch out. Next, Squid M.D. pulled his arm back and balled it into a fist. The energy bubble suddenly swirled around it, forming a barrier around his fist as he struck out and rammed it into Black Weaver's arm, ripping it off.

Sparks flew as Black Weaver stumbled back and clutched at his missing arm. "That was a gift from Boy Genius, you ass-" A red beam of energy rammed into Black Weaver's gut, ripping up part of the black suit and blasting him into a nearby wall. His vision was suddenly swarmed with various alerts. His battery was at less than ten percent now. "Okay... Let's finish this fast!"

Back up top, on the roof of a skyscraper, Cinder twirled out of the way as a cutting edge flew past her and ripped an antenna off of the building. Kevin was asleep, so she didn't have any of his strength or shapeshifting to back her up. This was all her; with just her raw physical power, she was going to need to take a villain down.

"Splerch!" Yellow Kobold screamed.

Thanks to her enhanced senses, she jumped out of the way just in time as space twisted and compressed, similar to how the Fairy Queen's powers worked. It tore the ground around her apart but missed her. She fired forward with her super speed and sent out a powerful strike toward Yellow Kobold, but the words appeared in front of him, forming a barrier. Her fist rammed into the letters, and they were so sturdy she didn't even crack them. In fact, she did more damage to herself. She winced and stared down at the word she had just punched.

"Bonk!"

She felt like a massive hammer rammed down into the top of her skull. It rattled her brain and sent her to her knees. Yellow Kobold slammed his hands down to her, and another series of letters formed together, which smashed into her. Her body folded around them, and she gritted her teeth and got ready for it.

"Kaboom!"

The letters exploded, and she was flung toward the edge of the building being sent off of it. At the last second, though, she managed to grab onto the edge of the building. She held on with one arm and swung herself forward, using her feet to ram into the wall and shatter it, allowing her to break into the building. Yellow Kobold growled, and his eyes darted across the ground. He could hear her beneath him. He created more letters, preparing a different word as he got ready.

The roof shook, and the ground began to crack. Yellow Kobold smirked and got ready to activate his power once more. Suddenly, the ground broke as Cinder came rising out of it, swinging her fist out. The letter he created earlier easily blocked the attack, and he activated his power once more, ready to deliver a killing blow.

"Snikt!"

Just like with Green Wolf's cuts, a powerful unseen slash launched out toward Cinder. Yellow Kobold grinned, ready to see the girl be sliced in two, but his smile faded when he saw something else. Her other arm raised up, holding something. His cracked in half silver board. She held it out like a shield, the cut ripping into it but unable to fully slice through it. She had been ready for his attack. The entire roof caved in from the way she jumped through it, and both of them began to fall forward. Yellow Kobold tried to create another word, but because he was falling, as soon as it appeared in front of him, he smacked into its face first, causing him to accidentally bite down on his tongue. He let out a yell of pain, but then the real onslaught of hurt began.

Cinder rammed her arm up as the villain fell directly onto her fist. Her first strike came from her left arm and rammed into his mask, absolutely shattering it. Her feet finally touched the ground as she landed on the floor, and she used the shift in momentum to bring her right arm out, hitting with the second strike. Her fist dug into Yellow Kobold's face, and with a twist of her arm, she caused his entire body to spin around as he was sent back first into the wall. Blood poured down his face, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head before he collapsed forward and dropped to the ground.

Slowly, she took a deep breath and pulled her arm back. "Looks like I still got it." She was forever grateful that Battery taught her how to do a one-two combo. It was more than enough to take out small fries like Yellow Kobold. She moved over to the downed villain and grabbed him, placing him over her shoulder. He wouldn't be getting back up anytime soon. She went to the hole in the wall she had created and looked down at where Black Weaver was. "I hope, pun intended, he's doing okay."

Down in the street, Black Weaver launched forward as fast as he could. His metal legs began to crack as the machine struggled to keep up with him, but he forced them forward. Squid M.D. formed another bubble of energy around himself, but Black Weaver flew past the villain with incredible speed. As he did, he unleashed a wave of his golden thread, which wrapped around the energy barrier that formed Squid M.D.'s bubble. Once it was all the way around the barrier, Black Weaver began to run. He moved in circles around Squid M.D., the thread getting longer and wrapping around the bubble even more.

Squid M.D. remained still, simply watching, his head cocked to the side once more. Then it happened. Again and again, faster and faster, Black Weaver went, his threading growing tighter as it began to push down on the bubble. It was slicing into it, each round pulling it apart. In a loud crack, the entire barrier came down. Squid M.D.'s metal arms flew out, and they attempted to block the threading, but they were torn in half instantly, the villain losing the last of his arms. His own durability was far stronger though, the threading tying around him perfectly, his black suit somehow stopping it. It wouldn't work for very long, though, as Black Weaver got even faster and began to tie the knot tighter. Squid M.D. struggled to break free, but he was literally being crushed by the threading, his suit crying out as it began to tear.

Right as Black Weaver was about to win, his time suddenly ran out.

A simple 'click' filled the air, and instantly, the suit around Black Weaver vanished. The hero was sent crashing forward, back in his white and gold suit, missing both his legs and an arm. He rammed head-first into the ground, losing all his speed as he came to a hard stop. As soon as the threading grew slack, Squid M.D. flexed out and shattered the webbing around his body, breaking free.

Golden Weaver grunted and tried to spin around, but he could barely move. It was hard to be mobile with only a single limb. The hero did manage to flop onto his back, and he looked up just in time to see the red energy build up in Squid M.D.'s helmet. The villain was going to fry him.

At least Squid M.D. would have, but he suddenly stopped as he heard a loud honk. The kind you'd hear from a large vehicle or something. The villain turned just in time as a massive van came roaring out of the fire and rammed into Squid M.D!

"I just saved my favorite hero!" Alexander and Jane cheered from the van as Squid M.D. was sent rocketing back from the van. The car came to a screeching halt as Alexander hit the brakes. "You think he's dead?"

"He's getting back up!" Jane said in a panic.

Squid M.D. pushed himself back up, looking beaten and battered but still managing to stand, and he fired his laser toward the van, ready to slice it in two. Before it could hit, though, a golden thread wrapped around the van, and it tugged. Instead of dragging Golden Weaver toward it, though, it dragged the entire van to Golden Weaver. The laser flew past the vehicle, and Golden Weaver rammed his elbow into the ground, bouncing himself up. He landed on top of the van, and instantly, Alexander knew what he needed to do.

Alexander twisted the wheel, spinning the van around, facing Squid M.D. Golden Weaver didn't have legs, so he would just take the step for the hero. He hit the gas and rocketed toward Squid M.D. The villain went to twist the knob on his helmet, but Golden Weaver's thread was faster. It launched out and wrapped around the knob, pulling it all the way around and snapping it off. Squid M.D. changed his tactic and stomped his foot down and held both his hands out. The van rammed into him, and he began to get pushed back, the road ripping apart. Eventually, though, Squid M.D. stopped being shoved back. With sheer strength, thanks to his suit, he began to push back against the van, stopping it in its tracks.

Golden Weaver launched his web out, grabbing something, which he pulled toward him, right as Squid M.D. managed to get a good grip on the van. Inside the car, Alexander and Jane both buckled up just as Squid M.D. picked the entire thing up and flipped it over. The van crashed down, and Golden Weaver launched off of it at the last second, swinging something out.

It was the metal arm Squid M.D. had torn off earlier. The razor thread blasted out and sliced through the top half of Squid M.D's helmet, ripping the entire thing in half and causing it to fall. Long black hair spilled out as the helmet tore, revealing a young woman beneath it who looked very pissed.

Golden Weaver kept going forward thanks to his momentum and rammed his palm into the woman's face, slamming her head down into the ground as hard as he could! The road shook, and this time, Squid M.D. didn't get back up. Her eyes were rolled into the back, just like with Yellow Kobold.

Golden Weaver collapsed onto his back, breathing heavily. "I think I'm getting too old for this." The older hero gasped. "Maybe I should take a page from Squid M.D. and Yellow Kobold's book and pass on the mantle."

"Dibs!"

The hero turned his head, finding the van doors had opened. Alexander stepped out, supporting his wife. They were a bit banged up but mostly fine.

"Mom! Dad!" From above, Cinder dropped down. She flung Yellow Kobold roughly to the ground next to Squid M.D. and ran forward to pull her parents into a tight hug. "Don't ever do that again! That was so reckless!"

"Don't worry, it's the last time I let your dad drive," Jane muttered under her breath.

"Hey! What I did was totally awesome!" Alexander whined.

"You ruined the van," Hope said flatly.

"It still works."

"Right..." She looked down at the van and winced. The paint job was scratched, and it was impossible to tell who was on it anymore. The windows were heavily cracked, and the front half was partially dented. Other than that, though, it did look like it worked. It was still on, the engine still roaring. She grabbed the van once she let go of her parents, and with her enhanced strength, she flipped it back over, putting it back to the way it was. "Good as new." At least she didn't have to be embarrassed about it having her picture on the side of it anymore.

"I don't think it'll ever be 'good' again," Jane said, shrugging.

From the sidelines, Golden Weaver remained on his back, watching the family. "You really are Cinder. Right."

"I told you that a million times!" She huffed.

Golden Weaver lay on his back and stared up at the roof. "Sorry. I guess I just had a hard time believing it." He looked out at the street. It was a destroyed mess, and not a single soul had been harmed. All because Cinder had been quick with that ramp, allowing the people to escape in time before the real battle began. "You're not Full Monarch, though, are you?" If it had been Full Monarch, that battle would have been over in an instant, and the street would have been fixed with a wave of a hand. That was how great Full Monarch was.

"I'm Cinder." She said sternly. "I'm my own hero."

"Yeah." Golden Weaver chuckled. "I can see that now." He closed his eyes and sighed. "So. What now?"

"You aren't going to try and take me in?"

"I can't even stand." Golden Weaver snorted. "I'll admit it for now. You won. At least for today."

She nodded and gave a soft grin. She had seen Golden Weaver in the memories Avalon had forced her to see. After seeing him in action again today, part of her was also starting to understand why her father liked him so much. "I'd like to do this team up again. How would you like to come with me?"

"You think the Golden Weaver would come with us!" Her father asked with stars in his eyes.

Golden Weaver let out a soft chuckle. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I have to say no. I'm needed here. I'm pretty much all that's left in Lillian. It's my duty. My mission. My want."

She nodded. "I understand."

"I still need to bring you in, you know." Golden Weaver gave a sly grin. "Why don't I give you a head start?"

"I thought you said you couldn't stand!"

"Guess I changed my mind!"

She rolled her eyes and opened the van door. Her mom got in, and she was about to follow the woman but stopped. "You're a cool hero." Slowly, she got into the van.

Alexander twitched a bit and tapped his fingers together. "I know this might be a bad time, but do you think I could get your autograph or-"

She got out of the van and grabbed her father, dragging him back to the car. "Sorry, Dad, we gotta go."

"Aw!"

She snickered and let him get in. She was just about to get in herself, but once more, her enhanced senses picked something up. Water sprayed out, finally putting the harsh fire out, as several firetrucks arrived on the scene. They weren't alone either. With them were dozens of Hero Branch trucks.

One in particular stood out, though. It was a slick black limo—the kind the mayor of Oleander used to drive. It came to a sudden stop, and she felt a sense of unease begin to build up. Several Hero Branch officers stepped out, followed by one more person—an older man in a suit with dark skin and slicked-back black hair.

Dean Ward, director of Lillian City, gave a smile that sent shivers down her spine. "Ah, Cinder. It's good to finally see you face-to-face. I've been wanting to talk to you. Did you know that?"

This was the man.

The one who had messed with Sky and Lily.

The one who had allowed the fake her to exist.

Hope Lauren finally met Dean Ward.