Black feathers rained from the sky as Lucifer folded his arms.

"The audacity of Nier. Thinking that he could control me and use my power. How dare he?"

Lucifer stayed suspended in the air, flying with the help of his wings. He stared down at the planet beneath him with his golden eyes, taking in the sight.

He didn't know how many years had passed since he had been defeated. All that time had seemed to go by in a blur. He still remembered it as if it had just happened. Full Monarch had killed him. His body had been reduced down to such a small state that he couldn't put himself back together, not even with the dark gift that his master gave him.

The Ruler of Death and Rebirth had truly been defeated. That was until Nier put him back together using the energy of the other Calamity...

The Emperor, as he was calling himself, needed an army, one he provided with his undead soldiers. Every being that had ever fallen at his hands was brought back and used, transformed with the power to twist life. He was a little shocked that Nier had changed so much. What happened to change the hero into such a dark devil?

Still though, the man overstepped his hand and actually thought he could command the mighty Lucifer.

Lucifer scoffed and gripped his tome tighter to his chest. "Make him pay, Full Monarch." He ordered from high above. "Teach that miserable little man a lesson. I serve only one master, and it is certainly not him. I hold the power of the Ruler! Though it seems I am not alone... Not anymore."

He had sensed it after he was brought back by Nier's hands. Other Rulers existed. In fact, one stood on the battlefield down below.

Legend had been knocked out after a direct punch from the Emperor, but Lucifer was certain he could still feel it. The power of the Shadow was alive in that man...

"It seems he's used his dark gift too much. I wonder just how many times has he died and been brought back." Lucifer wondered out loud to himself. "No matter. I alone will be the one true Ruler. Neither Lord nor a false Emperor will stop me!"

Down below in the ruined streets, Max glared at Nier. "I trusted you! I vouched for you! How could you do something like this?" He demanded.

Nier didn't even bother to look at him. The Lord of Life's eyes stayed fixed on Full Monarch. "Golden God. Leave this place with Princess and Queen. I will fight him alone."

Legend and Mermaid were in no condition to fight. That left just Max, Ruby, and Full Monarch. People were no longer in danger, not in this city at least, as all the monsters had quit their rampage and stayed low to the ground, ready for their master's orders.

"As you command." Golden God began to lift off of the ground, carrying Fairy Queen and the Princess of Life on his palm, but was interrupted by a loud yell.

Ruby came down from the sky, having jumped up as high as she could, and brought her fist back. "I'm not letting you get away!"

The Emperor lazily lifted his hand up, and his monsters took to the air, hundreds of them jumping up or flying. They formed a literal tidal wave of bodies and came down on Ruby who panicked.

"Stay silent, you bad product." Nier said in a cool tone.

Fire slammed into the monsters suddenly, blowing the tidal wave apart, and Ruby dropped down into the waiting arms of her father, who caught her. "Don't call her a bad product." He said through clenched teeth. He floated down to the ground and placed Ruby next to Max. "Sir Max, please get Legend, Mermaid, and my daughter out of here."

"No!" Max argued. "I want to fight! Let me stay-" He froze when he saw the look in Full Monarch's eyes.

The number one hero's eyes glowed with a harsh red fire. "Please," was all the man said.

Slowly Max nodded and created a large cloud that picked him, Ruby, Mermaid, and Legend up and began to take them away. "Dad!" Ruby yelled, about to jump off.

"Stay put!" Full Monarch ordered, not taking his eyes off of Nier.

"No way! I want to help!"

"I'm not asking!" He raised his voice, causing the city to shake. "You always disobey me! If there was ever a single time in your life where you decided to listen to your father, then make that choice today! Stay. Put."

Ruby flinched at her father's harsh words but nodded. Full Monarch never looked away from Nier, who sneered at him.

"I know you're stronger than me, but don't think I'll go down so easily." Nier announced. He waved his hand, and all the destroyed monsters began to put themselves back together as Lucifer's immortal soldiers stood back up. "Let's see how you deal with this-"

Golden light exploded out of Full Monarch's palm, sending shards of metal stabbing out. The shards stabbed their way into the bodies of hundreds of monsters, causing the creatures to howl and burst into ash as the metal caused their atoms to come undone.

High above, Lucifer shivered a bit as he watched his warriors scatter apart and become so damaged they couldn't put themselves back together. That had been the same attack that undid him years ago.

Nier scowled as he watched more and more of his monsters come undone. With Alpha busy, that meant he couldn't call in any more forces, and worse yet, Lucifer was no longer willing to help him out.

"Don't think it will be so simple!" Nier slammed his hand into the ground, causing the stone street to shatter and snap open as hundreds of wooden spikes jutted out. Full Monarch floated forward, snapping through the spikes, which were unable to harm him. "I'll come out on top! I can't lose!" Nier roared.

More of the ground broke and began to rise up beneath Nier, forming into a large wooden dragon. Lucky, his summoned beast from the war, his loyal steed-

In an instant, the wooden dragon exploded into shards of wood as Full Monarch flew straight through it, causing the sound barrier to snap. Nier raised his arms in an effort to block, but Full Monarch didn't hold back, so he hit the Lord with a direct punch as hard as he could.

Nier's armor screamed as the metal snapped, and his left arm completely twisted back and shattered. Red blood poured from his mouth as his ribs exploded, and he was thrown back by the punch. He was sent flying, the air cutting into him as he was hit so hard he flew past the clouds and directly out of the city.

His eyes stung, and he couldn't focus as he flung through the air. He spun faster and faster, going for miles before, all of a sudden, the ground came up, and he hit it hard.

More of his armor broke apart and came undone, shattering off of him, and he rolled across the ground, vomiting up blood. He was no longer in the city, nor was he in any city. In a single punch, Nier had been launched across the world and now found himself in a massive open desert.

He didn't have long to process this fact either, as a second later he was forced to jump to the side as a pair of thin red laser beams tore across the field he was in.

Full Monarch floated down gently, his eyes burning a bright red as he fired more lasers out. Nier tried to counter by slamming his hand into the ground and causing a mass of trees to pour out, but the lasers sliced into them and burned them down to ash.

Full Monarch pulled his fist back, swirling a mass of fire into his fist as he struck out, appearing in front of Nier. His fist rammed into Nier's face, burning the blonde man and causing him to stumble back.

"Why?" The number one hero said through clenched teeth. "Why did you think this was a good idea?" He struck again, nearly snapping Nier's neck. "Why didn't you come to me for help?" His next attack was a gut punch, causing Nier to drop to his knees as more of his armor fell apart. "Did I mean so little to you that you thought genocide was your only option!" He landed one more blow, slamming it directly into the center of Nier's face, causing his brother to collapse on his back.

Nier spat up blood and broken teeth; his face nearly caved in as he struggled to stay awake. "I- I knew you'd talk me out of it. Now, though- It's too late now. I've already done so much evil. I have no way of coming back from this. Not when I have him." He reached up to the sky, his vision fading. "He'll make my dream a reality. It's hard to believe I found him wasting away. He'll make the world I want."

"Who?"

Full Monarch felt a chill go down his spine as a blue portal began to rip its way apart a few feet away from them. Nier managed to give a twisted smile and looked up at Full Monarch.

"Alpha."

A foot stepped out of the portal. One covered in shadowy black armor and wearing a black cape. The Emperor stalked forward with his fiery blue eyes, looking from Full Monarch and then down toward Nier. Behind him, Hell Hound stalked out and dropped to a knee in front of her leader. This was the Emperor that she served.

The Emperor spoke only a single word, yet it caused Full Monarch to remain on guard. “Father.” The Emperor’s eyes stared down at Nier.

“Do it.” Nier spat out. “Use your gift. Win! My son!”

There were two of them.

Nier was the Emperor. He was an Emperor.

The blue-eyed Emperor drew a sword from his belt. One forged out of white metal. He pointed it at the golden hero that stood before him, then slowly spun the blade around and stabbed it into the ground. Full Monarch narrowed his eyes, but the Emperor didn't elaborate and simply began to stalk toward the hero without his weapon.

Nier managed to give a weak laugh and pushed himself up on his elbows. "Behold my weapon! My solution to the problem that is you! He’s one of the strongest Supers I’ve ever seen! It’s all thanks to the title he holds! I thought Lucifer was the only one, but I soon discovered that there were more of them! Of course, he also has his father to thank for his mighty strength! A strength that defies logic and was born from a child's Imagination!”

'Jackson.' The voice of the Brightest Star spoke quietly in his ear.

"Yeah, I know. I feel it too," Full Monarch responded to his partner. "This guy is..." The Emperor reached Full Monarch and stared into the golden man's eyes. Red clashed with blue. "Who are you?" The number one hero asked sternly.

The Emperor spoke softly. "Funny. I remember you being taller-" Full Monarch's fist slammed into the Emperor's stomach, sending the man in armor blasting back. The force was so great that in an instant the Emperor was flung out of the sand-covered battlefield, sent crashing across the world. The Emperor slammed back first into a building that shook. All around him, screams echoed out as people stared at the villain, which had suddenly appeared. “Lillian.” The Emperor looked around slowly at the city he was in. “He punched me halfway across the world.”

“I didn’t mean to.” The screaming instantly stopped, and everyone in the city stared up. Up above, Full Monarch floated down with his arms crossed. “I just got mad and used more strength than I typically do. About ten percent give or take. I’m honestly shocked you’re still standing. That was the same punch that left your precious father in such a bad state.”

The Emperor just grunted and ripped his way out of the building he was in. He dropped to the street below, and instantly the screaming picked back up. They were in a crowded part of the large city, and hundreds of cars had stopped as people stared at the battle that was about to begin.

‘Jackson!” The Brightest Star barked out inside of the number one hero's head. ‘What are you doing! Why the hell would you send him flying in the direction of a city? Get him out of here! Quickly!’

“Not yet.” Full Monarch remained in the air, staring down at the Emperor. “I’m pretty good at seeing evil when I want. I know how bad someone is. I want to check on something first.”

‘What!’

The Emperor waved his hand out, a crackling blue aura glowing around his body. Everyone in the city screamed out as, all across it, blue portals opened up beneath the people.

‘Jackson! Don’t just stand there! Stop him!’

Full Monarch didn’t budge. He simply waited until every person in the city was swallowed up. The portals shut soon after. Every building, car, and street were now empty, just leaving him and the Emperor. With his enhanced senses, he looked through the buildings using a form of X-ray vision, and he stared out across the planet. Every person in Lillian had instantly been teleported to a different city. Some were in Daisy, others in Oleander or Dandelion, but they had all been placed back on their feet and in a safe location. All the monsters had also been teleported out of the city and were gone.

‘Why did he do that?’ The Brightest Star muttered. ‘It would have made more sense to use the people as leverage against you.’

Full Monarch just gave a sly grin and slowly floated to the ground. “I had a feeling when I first laid eyes on you that something was wrong, but just now you confirmed it. You’re a bad guy, but you’re one with morals.” He stared into the Emperor’s blue eyes. “I’m right, aren’t I? You aren’t that evil-”

The Emperor instantly appeared in front of Full Monarch. “My turn.” The villain said in a cool tone. His fist flew out at the speed of lightning and rammed directly into Full Monarch’s face. The street around them exploded, and cars were sent flying back as a massive shock wave was unleashed from the powerful villain's punch.

Full Monarch recoiled back, feeling a bit of shock. He actually felt that attack. It stung his cheek a tiny bit. As if there was a tremendous amount of weight behind the villain's strength. He had just been hit with the full force of a Giant. Fire ignited off of Full Monarch, but before he could counterattack, the energy around the Emperor flared up once more. The villain’s right arm expanded, being surrounded in blue light that formed into a massive arm. The large limb wrapped around Full Monarch, and he sucked in some air as he was suddenly chucked through dozens of buildings and sent flying across the planet.

It seemed as if the Emperor was paying him back for sending him to Lillian the way he did. Full Monarch flew through the air, spinning around. He tried to regain control of his flight by using his ability to fly, but before he could, a portal opened above him and a massive fist rammed down into him from behind, sending him smashing down into an open field of flowers. Another portal opened a few feet away from him, and the Emperor casually stepped out, his arm now back to normal.

‘I don’t think he’s as good as you thought.’ The Brightest Star snorted. ‘He’s pretty evil.’

Full Monarch launched himself forward and covered his body in fire. He unleashed a powerful punch, which the Emperor attempted to block. The Emperor’s shoulders glowed and formed two large energy arms that tried to block the punch, but Full Monarch’s fist shoved its way past the limbs. His fist rammed into the Emperor’s gut, causing the man to let out a soft groan, and his armor began to melt slightly from the heat.

The Emperor flexed and forced himself off of the limb and struck out with his power. Another massive arm grew out of his back, this one being twenty feet long and as wide as a bus. It rammed down where Full Monarch was, but the golden hero casually dodged the attack and appeared behind the Emperor. The villain created a pair of long swords in his real hands that were shaped like lightning bolts, and he spun around swinging them both out at Full Monarch, but once again the number one hero dodged the strike.

The Emperor growled and stomped down on the ground as hard as he could and caused dozens of energy limbs to grow out of it. The arms tried to wrap around Full Monarch, but the hero rammed his fist up, uppercutting the Emperor, then flew after him, escaping the grab attempt. The Emperor was flung high into the air, going past the clouds, and almost reaching space. The villain couldn’t fly, and so he began to rapidly fall toward Full Monarch, who was ready with another attack. Fire compressed around Full Monarch’s palm, and he blasted it up at the Emperor.

More blue energy swirled around the Emperor, blocking the intense heat with a large barrier. Another portal opened, and the villain stepped out, appearing in a field of snow miles away, but he barely got a moment to think before he felt a fist slam into the back of his head as Full Monarch flew over to him just as fast as he got away. He rolled with the punch and spun around, shooting out a thin beam of light that the golden hero barely dodged. The beam sliced the mountains around them apart and caused them to come tumbling down around them.

Full Monarch smashed his hand down and grabbed the Emperor’s helmet. His palm and fingers dug into the man’s helm, and he lifted the villain up easily. “I don’t want to hurt you if I can help it since you’ve been going out of your way to not hurt innocent people, but I need to know. Where is Sini?" Full Monarch questioned with narrowed eyes.

The Emperor struck out, but his fist bounced off of the number one hero’s face. Full Monarch had been slowly drawing out more and more power as the fight went on and had now become too durable for weak attacks like that to work on him. The Emperor grunted, then spoke once more. "If I tell you I've already devoured him, would that make you mad?"

Full Monarch felt his blood boil, and he punched out as hard as he could, but his blow missed as a small portal appeared in front of the Emperor’s gut. Full Monarch’s fist went through the portal, and a second one opened behind the hero’s head, which launched his arm out. The number one hero punched himself in the back of the head as hard as he could, which caused his grip on the Emperor to loosen enough for the villain to break his way out of the grab. Full Monarch tore his arm out of the portal and kicked out, unleashing a strong kick to the Emperor’s gut, which blew the man back.

The Emperor rolled with the kick and held both his hands up, forming two thin disks out of his Imaginary energy, which he launched out as hard as he could. The disks expanded to the size of cars and flew forward at insane speeds. They were so thin they almost appeared invisible and spun so fast they could cut through nearly anything.

"You don't seem as tough as Nier warned me." The Emperor taunted. “He told me you were truly strong-” Full Monarch punched through the rings and flew past the Emperor, vanishing in a loud crack. Not even a second later, he reappeared in front of the villain, having circled the planet faster than light, ramming both his arms out. The Emperor created a blue portal in front of him at the last second, which the hero flew into.

Full Monarch spun around awkwardly, looking around at the void of space. He was directly above the planet. He scanned the entire planet flying over in an instant with his enhanced sense and located where the Emperor was flying back down as fast as he could. It had given the villain enough time to do a new plan, though.

Everywhere around him, the Emperor used his new power to boil and heat up all the ice and snow. His blue energy flared out like lightning and fire, causing the area he was in to totally melt. In an instant, an entire land of cold became a bubbling ocean. He dropped down onto the water and rode it like a tidal wave, using his energy to direct it, which allowed him to fly up after Full Monarch, who was coming down again. He brought both his hands up, firing out another compressed beam at the hero. "Do you hate me?" The Emperor called out.

Full Monarch stopped at the last second and breathed in, puffing his chest out. Then he let out the breath he was holding, sending a stream of cold air that instantly froze the beam of energy and the new ocean the Emperor had made. The wave the villain had been standing on shattered beneath the villain, causing him to drop out of the sky, but he simply formed a barrier beneath his feet, which he stood on. He created a compressed orb of energy and chucked it at Full Monarch as hard as he could. The orb was so dense it caused the ice around them to shatter and begin to lift up. It formed into a massive ball that was practically a tiny moon, trapping Full Monarch inside of it, but the hero simply shattered his way through with ungodly strength, sending debris flying out for hundreds of miles.

"I don't want to play any of these games!" The hero called out to the villain.

"Games? I'm giving it everything I got." The Emperor skated forward on the ice, created hundreds of portals around him, and fired dozens of beams into them, bouncing them around. They moved so fast that even Full Monarch had trouble following them. Then, without warning, the portals appeared above him, slamming the beams into his back. His costume was already torn and ripped from his battle with the Beast, and this tore his cape nearly all the way off; it only managed to hang on by a thread. "Do you hate me?" The Emperor demanded once more.

Full Monarch ignored the question and shrugged off the attack. He clapped his hands out, smashing them together, and exploded the area around him as well as the clouds above. He appeared in front of the Emperor again and rammed a fist into the man's helmet, denting it. The Emperor was sent crashing down and slammed back first into the ice below, shattering through it and forming a hundred-meter crater. From the crater, a roar emerged as five massive draconic heads came exploding out. They were made out of the same energy the Emperor had been using, and as they roared, they charged up waves of gravity, which they blasted out.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Imaginary energy was what the Emperor wielded. It was a blank form of energy that lacked all properties in the universe and would instead shift and mimic any form of energy that the Emperor could imagine, even those that didn’t exist. This meant it could defy the laws of the universe, and in almost any situation, it meant that the Emperor would always win as he could imagine himself coming out on top.

Full Monarch tried to move, but more of the gravity around him grew heavier, forcing him in place. He raised his arms up, blocking the five gravity waves, and part of his sleeve was torn away. The beam washed over him and bent space itself, but he took it all head-on. As soon as the beams died down and the dragons recharged, his eyes glowed, and he fired out his own lasers, slicing their heads off in one clean shot.

Another portal opened up meters away from him, and the Emperor flew out on a chunk of ice. Another energy disk formed in the villain's hands, which he threw at Full Monarch, but the hero just opened his mouth and bit down on the attack, shattering it. The Emperor compressed more gravity around his fist, and he rammed directly into Full Monarch's face. Full Monarch took the blow head on, barely being pushed back, and rammed his fist into the Emperor's gut again.

Despite how strong the Emperor truly was, he was faced with something that had never happened to him before. For the first time in his life, the Emperor, also known as Alpha, wasn’t able to imagine in his mind a way in which he won this fight. That was truly how Godlike Full Monarch was. Being so far above imagination, not even an arrogant child could come up with a way to win.

Black metal rained down as a chunk of the villain's chest plate exploded. The Emperor was sent flying across the planet once more, being flung through clouds, but he didn't even have a chance to hit the ground as Full Monarch appeared behind him with his hand out. As the Emperor flew past him, Full Monarch grabbed the man by his cape. The villain's fall was cut short, and the cape nearly snapped as he came to a sudden stop. He created a portal and was about to jump into it, but Full Monarch began to spin while holding onto his cape. It pulled at his neck, and he was dragged away from the portal. Then, the hero simply let go.

The Emperor went flying the other way across the planet and slammed head-first into a mountain, shattering most of it, which came crashing down on top of him, burying him in rubble. More of the mountain exploded and was crushed as gravity began to swirl around the villain, who stood back up. More of his armor groaned and creaked, falling off of him, showing off a body that had trained for years for a moment like this. Muscles rippled and tore through the chainmail as the Emperor rapidly increased his strength as much as he could.

"I have a question for you." Full Monarch yelled down once more on the scene. "I heard that you teleported everyone in Rose away. Why? Why did you save them?"

"Do you hate me?"

"And why do you keep saying that!" Full Monarch let out a sigh. “Nier already told me what his goal is, but what about you?”

“My goal is the same as his.”

“What about after you finish his goal? Surely you have to have something in mind?” Full Monarch questioned.

The Emperor patted what was left of his chestplate and glared up at the hero above him. “Absolute strength. That is the only thing I care about!”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you die!”

The Emperor stabbed his hands into the ground and lifted, ripping up an entire chunk of the mountain. He held a massive block of stone far bigger than any skyscraper, and he chucked it at the number one hero as hard as he could muster. Full Monarch lazily held his fist out, shattering the massive block as it hit him, but as it broke away, he found himself staring into the eyes of the Emperor who had been on the other side. The Emperor's hands clasped together, and he swirled a mass of gravity into his palm just as he did with the thin energy beams. He smashed his hand directly into Full Monarch's face and fired it.

It was like a black hole had been weaponized, bending light itself and turning everything around them into less than dust-

"Knock it off." Full Monarch brought his fist down on the villain's head, shattering one of the horns, and sent the Emperor slamming through the ground. "Just give up. You're not going to win-" A portal opened up beneath the Emperor, swallowing him up, and Full Monarch just sighed and rubbed at his stinging face. "Where did he go now?"

‘You need to stop playing around.’ The Brightest Star hissed.

“I know, but I’m having a lot of fun.” Full Monarch smiled. “It’s been a while since anyone has pushed me this far, and unlike the Beast, this guy actually talks to me.”

Over with Nier and Hell Hound, the two found themselves staring in shock as a portal opened up, and the Emperor came stumbling out of it. Most of his chestplate was completely gone, and his helmet was badly cracked and dented, missing one of his horns. Despite that, though, the man was still standing. At least he was before he was suddenly slammed into the ground so hard a current of wind sent Hell Hound and Nier flying. Full Monarch rammed his leg down into the Emperor's gut, standing on the villain.

"You give up yet?” Full Monarch asked with a soft smirk. “Or do you still have more tricks to show? Your power is pretty strong, you know. You could make a great hero-”

“Do you hate me?”

“Seriously, what is with that question?”

The Emperor coughed out and stared back up at the number one hero's face. The blue eyes of the villain traced the face of the number one hero. “I guess it isn’t enough. The power that I have now can’t keep up with you.”

“So you do give up-”

“I need more.” The Emperor’s body began to glow brightly, but this time something was wrong. The energy beneath the man’s skin flared up, and it caused cracks to appear all along the villain’s body. “More power. I just need to get a little stronger. A bit more and I can reach it. I just need to grow bigger!”

“What are you doing!” Full Monarch’s eyes went wide. “Stop! Your energy is flaring up way too much! Your body is about to-”

Nier formed a massive barrier of pure life force around himself and Hell Hound just in time as the Emperor exploded with a massive blast! The force of the explosion shook the planet, and the shock wave stretched on for hundreds of miles, the blast itself reaching all the way up to space. It scorched the ground and reduced everything to a state of total destruction. Despite how mighty the blast was, Full Monarch stood unharmed, shielded by a barrier of his fire.

‘He blew himself up.’ The Brightest Star let out a soft hum. ‘That was the same force of power held within the Beast’s bomb. A last ditch attack to take you out?’

“Damn it!” Full Monarch rammed his fist into the ground and clenched his teeth as tightly as he could. “Why! Why the hell does that always happen! Why the hell do they always do that? Again and again, they always die! Why does every villain I fight pick death! Why am I not strong enough to save any of them!”

‘Calm yourself Jackson! It isn’t over. Not yet.’ The Brightest Star instructed.

“What do you mean?”

‘You’ve fought it many times now. You should know as well as I do what happens when the Beast blows itself up… It doesn’t stay dead for very long.’

It happened instantly. A wave of darkness rammed out of the ground. It screamed through the air and howled. The shadows themselves seemed to be almost alive and whipped out like bolts of lightning. Then, a low voice began to hiss through the field. It was distorted and twisted and sounded totally wrong. It caused Full Monarch to shiver, and he stepped back as the darkness began to take shape.

“Did you really think I would let you die so easily? Rise, my Ruler. My creation. My destruction. My little Alpha. Wake up. My Giant."

The darkness gradually died down, and in its place, the Emperor stepped forward, his eyes closed, and his body fully healed and restored.

‘This power is what caused me to first wake up within you!’ The Brightest Star warned. ‘This is the reason we Lords stayed on this planet! This is it! A fragment of the Shadow! It was strengthened by his death! Take him out now!’

Full Monarch rammed his fist toward the head of the Emperor. Calmly, the Emperor opened his eyes. They weren’t a fiery blue anymore. Now they were a wild, crackling black. A shadowy hellish aura covered the villain, and Full Monarch put all his effort into his punch, but his hand was blocked as a wave of black lightning blasted out of the villain's eyes. The lightning actually managed to burn Full Monarch's hand a bit and tear away more of his sleeve, causing him to jump away. The Emperor's eyes no longer were blue. Now, instead, it looked as if black lightning had come to life, seeping out of his helm. The villain slowly walked forward.

Nearby, the barrier Nier formed crumbled away, and the Lord of the Land and Life saw his weapon. Hell Hound’s eyes went wide, and her body trembled a bit, but Nier simply let out a loud laugh.

"Yes!” The second Emperor cheered. “That's his true power! Look at the weapon I found, Jackson! Isn't he truly amazing? Only he can reach the dream I want! It's possible with him! He holds strength unheard of! The strength of monsters found in only folklore! The power that rivals the gods themselves! This is my trump card. My Alpha! My son! I am so proud of you! Now do your job! Help me create a world for my real child!”

The Emperor flexed a bit, his muscles growing in size and ripping up more of his armor. The energy seeped out wildly from his helm and began to take shape. Full Monarch rubbed his burned arm. “Why are you listening to him! Why do you obey Nier!”

“Because he saved me from the hell that I was in.” The Emperor blasted forward, shattering the ground, and rammed a fist directly into Full Monarch's face. The number one hero was caught off guard and stumbled back, spitting up a bloody tooth.

He grabbed at his face, wincing. "You hit harder than my daughter. What the hell kind of strength is that?"

"Do you hate me?" The Emperor appeared behind Full Monarch, and this time it was his turn to grab the man by the cape. He swung with it, lifting Full Monarch off his feet and kicking out, shattering reality and opening another portal directly in front of a volcano. He let go and sent the hero flying into the lava. Before Full Monarch even hit it, the black energy blasted out of the Emperor's eyes, and a compressed laser rammed into Full Monarch's back, shoving him deep into the lava.

Full Monarch sank into the magma and spun around, firing his own laser beam out of his eyes, clashing with the Emperor. He flew out, keeping his power on, as their lasers fought against one another, black and red, trying to push the other back. The Emperor, however, couldn't fly as he could, so he just floated up higher until he was able to move out of the way, causing the black energy to go blasting into the sky. Before the Emperor could turn his head, he slammed his red laser into the man's stomach, badly burning it and sending him flying back. The Emperor spun and landed back on his feet, being sent miles back, landing where Nier and Hell Hound were once more. He lifted his palm, using it to block Full Monarch's energy, and ignored how it melted his glove.

The laser died out, and Full Monarch blasted back toward him. The two rammed out with their fists, slamming them into one another. Full Monarch hit the ground, shattering part of it and causing a massive earthquake around them. He was glad that he had been able to keep the battle away from so many people. The Emperor hadn't bothered taking them to a city for some reason. The villain rolled across the ground and dug his feet into it, kicking off and ramming his remaining horn into Full Monarch in an effort to stab the hero. It didn't work but did badly poke the golden man and bruise his gut, shoving him back.

Full Monarch caught his breath and rubbed at his stomach. The fight with the Beast was starting to catch up to him. The Emperor also breathed heavily but didn't stop. He clasped his hands together, and the energy began to spill out once more. The villain jumped into the air, going up for miles, and then exploded in a massive arc of lightning.

The bolts rained down wildly and hit the ground all around them. "Behold." The Emperor declared. The lightning began to take shape, and the planet seemed to rumble for a moment as massive hands broke out of the ground. They were forged from black energy and tore their way out of the surface of the planet around them. Some stood at a hundred meters tall, others were smaller, and some were far bigger. Some wore armor, and others were fat and chubby, with only a cloth covering them. They stood shoulder to shoulder, stretching out for miles, forming a thick line. There must have been hundreds of them, with the tallest one reaching nearly two miles in length. It was like a walking mountain, which the Emperor calmly landed on. "My Gigantomachy." The villain glared down at Full Monarch. "Do you hate me?"

The march of the Giants caused a massive series of earthquakes shaking everything around them as the figures took a step forward. They were so big, and there were so many of them that they could easily level a city in mere seconds. This was a threat to everything. Something that could bring the planet itself to ruins. Total destruction.

“Just where did he get power like that?” Full Monarch said in shock. “This doesn’t make sense. First he’s strong enough to create portals anywhere he wants, then he can summon something like this? It doesn’t add up. Each of these things alone should be impossible. Something isn’t right.”

'Jackson. It’s the same as you. Just as you have Godlike strength for the title you hold, so does he. However, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how great he is. Because. You. Are. The. Greatest.'

"Yeah.” Full Monarch closed his eyes and charged his power up. “You're right, Brightest Star. Playtime is over."

"Do you hate me-"

The Emperor never got to finish as suddenly, a massive wave of heat flowed across the planet. All the sand around them was instantly turned into a field of glass as Full Monarch was suddenly surrounded by a thick blue flame cloak. It coated the man's skin from head to toe, and he actually looked as if a blue star had come to life, swallowing all of planet Earth up in a ball of fire. The fire reached all across the planet's surface but burned nothing. Not right now, at least.

The battle was over in an instant.

Full Monarch flew through all the Giants, shattering them all to bits before they could even think of taking another step. The Emperor didn't even have time to process what was going on as Full Monarch's fist rammed its way into his helmet, and this time, he was hit with the same attacks that staggered the Beast. His helmet cracked, as did part of his skull as he was rammed through several of his Giants and smashed into the ground directly next to the sword he had left behind...

He didn't get back up this time.

Full Monarch appeared on top of the Emperor, cloaked in his blue fire, and went to ram his fist down. It rammed into the Emperor's helm, cracking it even more and caving part of it in. His fire wrapped around the villain but didn't burn. Instead, it was more like a warm blanket.

"Give up." Full Monarch stated.

Laughter echoed out of the helm. "Do. You. Hate. Me." The Emperor's hands came up and grasped the man by the throat. "You must truly despise me! Condemn me even! After all! You broke your promise!"

"What do you mean?" Full Monarch didn't flinch as the fingers tried to strangle him. They couldn't make a dent through his flame cloak. His cloak could block anything in the universe after all.

"You never saved me! You never came back for me, no matter how much I called your name!" The black energy began to bubble up out of the cracked helmet, and once again the Emperor got ready to blow himself up. "I wield a greater power than you! I'll come back again and again and again! You can't beat me-"

Full Monarch's fist rammed into the Emperor right as the blast went off. The Emperor's body came done atom by atom, burning up and shattering, but in an instant, Full Monarch shoved every piece back together, forcing the molecules to obey him. He was the Lord of the Cosmos, and this universe was his to command! With control of matter itself, he forced the Emperor's body back together, undoing the blast...

"How!" The villain cried out. More of their helmet began to break and snap off.

Full Monarch sat on the man's chest, staring down at him with cold eyes. "Lucifer. He has that exact same power. I've seen it before. His death is always reversed and changed. He comes back. Over, and over. I beat him though. With my power of Cosmos, I undid his body and separated him. I use this same power on other villains as well. I shove a small bit of my energy into their hearts. If they turn their power off, it won't hurt them, but if they refuse and keep using their powers, it'll rip them to bits just as it did Lucifer. I reversed the effects of that power, however, and caused it to rebuild your body and force you back together. I saved your life."

"Why." The Emperor hissed. "I would have just come back!" The Emperor tried to blow himself up again, but it didn't work. Something was wrong. His connection to what gave him that power... It was... "What's going on? What did you do!"

"That isn't healing. I don't know what it is, but you shouldn't use it. It's a curse. Besides." The man smirked. "You still never explained why you took all those people out of the city. Every time I give villains the option to stop, they refuse." The man slowly stood up and held his hand out to the downed Emperor. "Give up. It's okay to give up."

The Emperor stared at the hand in front of him. "You beat me?"

"I beat you." Full Monarch grinned.

"No... Not yet!"

"Y- You." Full Monarch felt his blood run cold. "I know you-"

'Look out, Jackson!'

The Emperor grabbed his sword and swung it up! The blade failed to stab through Full Monarch's flame, and the hero just stared down at the man with a sad look. "Stop it. I think I know who you are. We've met before. Do you remember me? If you don't, it doesn't matter. You can't beat me in a battle of strength."

"You're right." The Emperor spat out. More of his helmet broke away, revealing a few locks of reddish-brown hair. "I haven't grown strong enough yet! I still need to grow! I still haven't become a true Giant that can stand before the Gods! If I can't beat you in a battle of strength, then I will just get rid of you!" Full Monarch tried to move away, but from out of nowhere, Hell Hound appeared behind him! The woman wasn't strong enough; even with her mace, it could never turn his power off, but she didn't need to. She threw herself at Full Monarch, wrapping her arms around him. "Yes, Hell Hound! Hold him down!" The Emperor roared as he kept thrusting his blade further into Full Monarch's flame cloak.

Full Monarch grunted and tried to twist his body, but several vines and branches also stabbed out of the ground as Nier activated his power. It wasn't just him either. Space began to twist and change as Fairy Queen appeared, and a massive beam of gray light rammed from the sky above as Golden God fired his laser into Full Monarch, trying to age the hero by several hundreds of years.

"Stop it!" Full Monarch yelled. "Don't do this!"

The Emperor's eyes ignited, and he forced the blade forward more. "Anyone touching this sword counts as the sword having gone there." He growled out. "My Portals aren't perfect. They have limits, same with this sword! I normally can’t freely teleport around anywhere I want in the universe, but that Lord inside of you! I know what they are and where they come from! Your kind have been across this realm countless times just as the thing that exists within me has!"

"What are you saying? Just give up, please-"

"Take him there! Take him to the edge of our Universe!"

Full Monarch slammed his hand down, but it was too late.

In an instant, Full Monarch was gone.

Hell Hound collapsed to the ground, and Nier's plants died as Golden God's laser turned them to ash. Space stopped shifting, and every member of the Organization that had suddenly appeared on the battlefield panted totally exhausted. It had taken everything just to hold the number one hero in place for a few seconds.

The Emperor breathed heavily before slowly forcing himself back up. He wobbled a bit and gasped. His sword glowed, and his outfit suddenly vanished and changed, replaced with a new set of armor that wasn't battle-damaged. He stalked forward weakly and forced a portal open. His body was still beaten and battered, not healing. Whatever Full Monarch had done to him seemingly wasn't going away. Not yet at least... That didn't matter, though. He had other things to do.

He heard yelling all around him as he stepped out and came face to face with Max and Ruby. He was on the floating cloud, and the two were shocked to see him suddenly appear. He lifted his sword, pointing it at Max. "I will devour you! I will claim your power as my own-"

A mass of black energy crashed down as Lucifer came slamming down into the cloud. He stood directly in front of Max, his wings unfolded, and a sword forged from the Dead Virus in his hand. He pointed it directly at the Emperor. "I don't know who you are, but I doubt you're in any condition to actually fight. You look like you can barely stand." The Emperor wobbled a bit and tried to focus, but his skull was killing him. "What's it going to be?"

"Why do you stand in my way?" The Emperor growled.

"Why do you have the same gift I do?" Lucifer hissed. "First Nier, then that other hero bastard, and now you? I was the chosen one! I was picked by the Shadow! The only reason you still live is because I know that if I kill you, you'll just come back to life." Lucifer growled. "That said, whatever it is you want with this brat, I don't think I'll let you have it. I usually try to keep my emotions in check, but I'm quite livid at the moment."

The Emperor stood there, staring into Lucifer's rage-filled eyes. Neither of them looked like they were about to give an inch. His grip on his blade grew tighter, as did Lucifer's. Then, all at once, the tension suddenly faded.

Slowly, the Emperor turned away and opened another portal. His eyes glared back at Max one last time. "I'll. Be. Back."

The portal closed, and Ruby collapsed back, breathing heavily. "I thought my dad was fighting him!"

"W- Who are you-" Max flinched when he found himself staring into the golden eyes of Lucifer. "Wait! I- I've seen you before! My dad told me- Oh God! Are you-"

Lucifer turned away and stepped off of the cloud. "I won't do this again. I simply find it amusing to stop little Nier like this. From this point on, you're on your own."

And with that, the former Calamity left, leaving just Ruby and Max alone with the unconscious bodies of Mermaid and Legend. "Oh God, oh God, oh God." Max began to hyperventilate. "Did Full Monarch lose? If a monster like that guy lost, then what chance do I have? Oh God, he's going to absorb me like he did to my dad. I- I'm screwed! I- I can't-"

"Calm down!" Ruby gripped his shoulders and shook him, staring into his eyes. "It's okay! I'm here."

"What do we do?" Max gulped.

"I- I have an idea..." She said quietly.

"What?"

"How did your father stop the Lord's power from transferring to him?"

"He killed himself and transferred it to me. But that can only be done by having a kid."

"Exactly."

"Huh?"

"What if... What if you were to have a kid?"

“What are you saying?” Max asked, feeling a sense of dread.

Ruby’s looked away, gritting her teeth. “If there is someone the title could pass down to, we could use it to barter or something. After all, you’d be able to kill yourself and stop the power, and they’d have to wait once more, putting them at square one. But in order for that to happen, you'd...”

“I’d need a kid.”

“Yeah… So… I have an idea.

***

Hope snapped her eyes wide open before instantly shutting them as a bright light hit her directly in the face. She groaned and felt a strange chill go through her body-

Body?

She was alive?

Hope opened her eyes once more and gasped. Her head was still spinning, and it was hard to focus, but slowly, she was recalling what had just happened. She remembered it... She was out in space- The Beast- Then it had all gone dark. Everything stopped. The next thing she knew, she was somewhere else, someone else. Memories that didn't belong to her jammed into her head. She had been Ruby Admiral, or at least she had been forced to witness what Ruby had seen. Someone had shown her the story of the Victorian?

"Ah, good, you're awake, Cinder." A mechanical voice buzzed in the area around her.

She tried to speak, but her throat burned. It was hard to move, and her entire body felt weird. It was like her muscles were half asleep. She felt off, like she was smaller and weaker. As her vision finally began to work fully, she looked around, still trying to process everything. She was in a small room. One that had hundreds of monitors all along the wall, all flashing various colors and scenes. Her eyes burned just looking at them, and she found herself flat on her back on a cold metal table.

Her hero costume was gone, replaced with a hospital gown. Her body looked weird as well. Like something was off, but she couldn't put it into words exactly. "W—Where am I?" Her voice sounded different, more immature in a way. How was she alive? What was going on? What about the others? How much time had passed, and why did she dream about the Victorian?

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions, dear Cinder." That strange mechanical voice was back. It echoed around the room from an unseen speaker. "Worry not. I'll be down there shortly to explain everything."

"Who are you?" She cringed a bit, hearing her voice. She managed to force herself off of the table and dropped to the ground. Her sense of balance was off, and she wobbled. Her head barely came up to the table. Had she gotten shorter? Or someone had shrunk her? Either that or the table had been built to be big for some reason.

"Who do you think I am?"

Her mind still felt sluggish. It was like she was working at half capacity, like a computer that still hadn't fully restarted. Despite that, she could tell she was in danger. Whoever this person was, they weren't a hero. Whatever reason they had for taking her couldn't be good either. The monitors all flickered and rapidly powered off, turning black. A light appeared at the top of the room, and she stared at her reflection in shock. "W- What the hell? What happened to me? What did you do to me?"

"Oh, I didn't do anything, dear Cinder." The voice mocked. "You can thank your new form to the one who is hiding inside your head."

"You know about the Brightest Star?"

She didn't get an answer. Slowly, she reached up and touched her face, staring at herself in the reflection of the TVs. Her hair wasn't golden anymore. Her battle form had finally run out. Her hair was shorter, though. Before, her hair went down her back, but now it barely made it past her shoulders. Her eyes ached as well, like when she was a kid, and she needed to wear her glasses. Most shocking of all, though, was her body. She was shorter. No... She was younger.

The reflection in the mirror didn't show a sixteen-year-old girl. It showed her a shivering, terrified twelve-year-old.

She had become a child again.

"What the hell happened to me!" Her strength was gone, her enhanced sight gone, and her senses were reduced down. She tried to cause a flicker of fire to come out, but it didn't happen. She couldn't feel the power of the Lord. She didn't hear the Brightest Star's voice. For the first time in a long time, she felt lonely. "Brightest Star? Say something! You're there, right? I- I'm a Lord! I'm the Lord of the Sun! I'm not a kid—I'm a Super! I'm Cinder! What the hell is going on?"

"There's no need to panic." The voice was no longer mechanical. A wall behind her slid open as someone stepped into the room. "Your body will return eventually. You're not actually a kid. How do I explain this... You saw what the Beast did, right? It couldn't heal itself, so instead, it compressed its size down and rebuilt what it could with unnecessary matter. In a way, the Lord inside of you did the same. You would have died, but I guess it felt some pity on you and did its best to repair your form with what was left of you. It even used up some of its own flesh and rebuilt your brain and heart. I didn't even know the Lord of the Sun could do that."

Slowly, she turned around and stumbled back, staring at the man who was in the room with her. He approached her with a sly smirk on his face. He wore a lab coat just like Sky always did, and he had messy brown hair. She had seen him on TV a few times. She had also seen him standing next to the Emperor. She knew who this man was. Harrison Avalon stared down at her as her back was pressed up against the wall.

"W- What do you want with me?"

"What do I want?" The man's smirk grew, and he dropped to his knees, placing his hands on her shoulder. He stared into her eyes, his grin growing. "I want you to help me! With you, it can be done! We can kill the Emperor! We can save this world!"