The city shook. Mr. Sini quietly removed his glasses and gently placed them on his desk. He was older, sporting a few wrinkles on his dark skin and several grays in his beard. He wore a black suit, one made for business instead of combat.
All around him was destruction. His newly created lab in Rose City was in ruins. He had created Sini Corp shortly after Lucifer was truly defeated. While Full Monarch decided to follow Nier's final example and throw himself into hero work, he had settled on a different path.
Before the Calamities, they say humans stood at the top, that they were far more advanced. It had taken nearly fifty years and the work of every Super he knew, but gradually, Sini had brought the world back to its true self. Now, though, it was all in ruins once more.
His building was falling apart. Black flames ate away at the walls. Most of Rose City was already gone. "If you wanted my attention, rest assured. You've gotten it," he called out.
Outside his building was dirt. The road, the street, the buildings, the cars, the people, and even the city had been wiped clean off the map in a one-mile radius, leaving just a flat stretch of land directly outside his front door. At the very edge of this bizarre, strange new battlefield that had been created, Sini saw him—his once-long-time friend.
The thing might have been Nier once, but he wasn't that hero any longer. A twisted, jagged throne created from living flesh had been forged directly at the edge of the arena. The Emperor's proper form was blacker than even darkness itself, melding in with the wisps of night. What he could see, though, was a pair of glowing blue eyes that stabbed out of the black void that rested on the throne. He couldn't make out arms or legs or anything like that, but he could feel the thing's tremendous power. A power that was rivaled only by the other Calamity threats.
Directly in front of the shadowy throne, the Emperor's bodyguard stood. Hell Hound wore blood-red armor, something she had been gifted from her dark master. Sini traced her form as she walked forward slowly. In her hand, she gripped a jagged mace, one stained in blood—her weapon, the very same that had shattered dozens of heroes' skulls. Able to negate and cancel out weaker powers.
Sini strolled forward, walking out of his building. He stopped fifteen meters away from Hell Hound as he and the villain glared at one another. "You could have just knocked if you really wanted to speak with me. This destruction was uncalled for, Nier. I know that you're hurting, but this isn't the way. This isn't what she would have wanted-"
Hell Hound's fingers grew tighter on her weapon, and he could see her eyes narrow. "You have no right to speak as if you know who the master is or what he's gone through. He is not Nier."
"I'm the one who raised him. I have every right." Sini sighed. "But you're right. He isn't Nier. Not anymore. He's become something worse than the very monsters he creates."
"I'm going to teach you a lesson." The monster hissed, crouching low. "One you should have been taught long ago."
"Oh? And how do you plan to do that?"
"I planned on hitting you so hard your head pops, and I'd get to see the inside of your skull."
"I see." A ring of water began to slowly twirl into existence around Mr. Sini. "It's been fifty years since this old man bothered to fight. That said, I hope you don't think I've gone soft-"
Hell Hound was on him in an instant. Moving faster than most pro heroes, she swung her mace down so hard that the world had trouble keeping up, space twisting and bending to her will. Sini's water barrier barely had time to rise up and block the strike, and even then, the force of the attack was enough to send him flying back. His water struck out like a whip, but Hell Hound twirled herself around and slammed her weapon down onto the wave, sending a powerful shock wave through it that was so hot and fast it caused the water to instantly boil and turn into steam.
Sini held both his hands out and let out a loud battle cry. From the sky, the clouds were torn in two as a long trident slammed down into the ground, and he ripped it out with one hand. "Do me a favor and help this old man get back in the swing of things, will you?"
Hell Hound threw her mace at Sini as hard as she could, and he swung his trident out, smacking it out of the way. The villain dropped to all fours and darted forward like a wild beast, her armor's helmet ripping in two and allowing the wolf-shaped maws on it to lash out. Sini vanished and reappeared behind the woman, bringing a sword made of water down in an attempt to rip her head clean off.
Blood splashed down onto the floor, and Sini's sword slipped from his grip as he stared down at his stomach. A beam of blue energy had stabbed through him. His glare turned toward the Emperor, who still rested on the throne. The man's finger was raised ever so slightly, poking out of the black he had covered himself in. "Have you no shame! I was fighting her, and you-"
Hell Hound's mace smashed into the side of Sini's head so hard his neck nearly snapped as he was sent flying with dozens of his teeth flying out his mouth. He rolled across the ground, spitting up blood, and groaned. Hell Hound stalked forward, raising her weapon, but stopped when she saw her master's hand raised.
"Let me guess..." Sini slowly pulled himself back up and nearly collapsed to his knees. "Now that I'm like this, you want to fight me, huh?" Sini stalked forward, moving past Hell Hound and back to the sword he left stabbed into the ground. "You really aren't Nier anymore. You're just as bad as Lucifer." Sini screamed and ripped his weapons out of the ground. He gripped the sword tightly as ice armor began to form around his body. "I won't give up, monster! This old man has some fight left in him!"
And that was Sini's final battle.
Unknown to him, a small drone recorded the entire battle from above. Avalon watched the man that saved him, the one that raised him and helped him, fight until his final breath.
"Goodbye, Mr. Sini." Avalon said quietly. "Thank you for helping humanity out."
The Emperor lifted a white sword covered in runes up and, in a single flash, brought it down.
***
"Finish him!" The voice announced over his computer. Avalon clicked a few buttons and watched as his character in the video game performed a series of combos and wiped out his enemy with a gory over-the-top move.
The man leaned back in his chair and stretched out. "Next time, put up a real challenge." Avalon snickered. He was back in his spotless room in his Oleander lab. Everything had grown so dull now, and he was forced to wait. Fairy Queen had locked off his basement and refused to let anyone down until she had fixed up Golden God. As for Green Wolf...
Harrison let out a heavy sigh as he felt a wave of thoughts rush into his head. Images of the stadium appeared. Green Wolf was requesting a teleport into the arena that would become their battlefield. "We're ready." Green Wolf's voice echoed around his head. "Send us in, boss."
"You got it." Avalon snapped his finger, and for a second his body glowed blue. "Send them randomly in groups into the stadium." The glowing grew in strength, and he could feel Green Wolf and the others all vanish and reappear somewhere in the stadium. "Good luck."
It was almost like a psychic connection. It was one of the many powers he had been granted long ago. He had used it to connect with many people. Battery, Green Wolf, even Mr. Sini, Full Monarch, and the Emperor had been connected to him at one point or another. It allowed him to use his teleportation ability from a distance. He had been blessed with many powers, most of which he got from the Emperor. His connection also allowed him to control his puppet hands.
They were small gray metal hands that floated around his office, obeying his will. He had created them from the metal he got when he studied some of the Pods. He had used the same metal to make all of Red Ape's helmets and Poseidon's trident.
His entire office was filled with various desks that had half-finished projects on them. White metallic hands constantly went about fixing everything up or finishing some of his smaller goals for the day; all the while, he got to sit back and play games.
Those same hands had built Beta, a robot that kept its eye on the Enforcers and made sure they didn't stray from the path of humanity.
He clicked a button on his computer and was about to start up another game but was unable to do so as his screen changed and one of the few other humans that were in the tower appeared on his monitor. He didn't know her name. She was some desk worker he had been forced to hire since the Hero Branch didn't want his tower to be run by just robots.
"Mr. Avalon." The woman's voice cracked a bit. "T- There's someone here to see you."
He narrowed his eyes a bit and hummed. "I don't have any appointments."
"She was very insistent."
"Well, who is it-" His wall exploded and sent debris all throughout his office. A wave of ice and water expanded out of the hole, freezing dozens of his hands in place. "Never mind. I think I know." His eye twitched a bit when he saw the large blade of ice that had impaled his monitor, killing it. A few of his hands had swarmed him and created a glowing green barrier that kept him safe. He had based it on Green Wolf's own kinetic shield. "Can I help you?"
From the hole in the wall, Ocean Empress gently floated in. She walked on a stream of water and flipped her hair casually. A chair made of solid ice grew out of the floor, and she took a seat, folding her legs. "I hope you don't mind, but I decided to drop by."
"I mind a little."
"Aw. Too bad." The hero folded her arms and leaned forward, eyeing him up. "I'd like to have a nice long chat."
"About what?"
"Oh, you know. This and that." Ocean Empress constantly changed the shape of her dress, wisps of water snaking through the air and gently splashing against the barrier Avalon kept around himself. "You're a pretty important person in our little community. Avalon Industries has worked with the Hero Branch for years. Of course, recently, Boy Genius joined us, and we haven't needed your help in quite some time. I wonder if that's why you've been doing all of this."
"Doing what?" His eyes narrowed slowly.
Ocean Empress gave a lazy shrug and shifted in her chair. It changed to accommodate her and started to look like a really fancy throne. "I don't like the guy or anything, but he told Boy Genius some interesting things, who in turn told me. You were friends with my grandfather and my dad. You've even helped my daughter out and created a weapon made just for her."
"Your grandfather, Mr. Sini, was a good man. It's a shame what happened to him. It's even more of a shame that the title of Lord of the Sea and Depth skipped over you and went directly to your daughter. With that kind of power stacked onto your already impressive powers, you might have been one of the strongest Supers. Maybe even stronger than the Victorian." Avalon drummed his fingers down on his desk, or at least he tried, but his desk was outside of his protective barrier. This was not a good situation to be in.
His eye twitched, and he let out a sigh. He was about to say something but stopped when he felt a rush of thoughts slam into him. Green Wolf needed a teleport again, somewhere behind the hero known as Cinder.
"Something wrong?" Her lips were twisted into a sly grin.
"Let's just skip the silly taunts and get to the good stuff, huh? Why'd you come?"
"Where's the sword?"
"What sword?" Green Wolf tried to reach him again, and he rubbed his neck awkwardly. There were conditions for his power. He needed to speak the command out loud to teleport them and also be able to think about the location requiring focus. The barrier he was in might be able to take one attack from her if he was lucky. But that would require him speaking faster than she could act and teleporting himself out before she broke past it and got him.
"Let's not play dumb." Ocean Empress sighed. She folded her arms and stared him down. "Battery told us everything."
Harrison felt his heart sink for a moment. "Ah. So my old partner betrayed me. Figures. I was planning on backstabbing him, but he beat me to it."
"Your old partner?"
Avalon snorted and shrugged. "It was at a time I didn't like. A time when I didn't work for the heroes. Fifteen years ago, I was approached by someone, and he used his powers on me."
"You mean?"
"That's right. Fifteen years ago, I worked for the Emperor. Just like Battery. In fact, he and I were on the same team. You'd be shocked at how many people the Hero Branch is willing to give a second chance to, so long as they can at least pretend to be useful."
"I was told you hate the Emperor though?"
"I do."
"What made you hate him though?"
"He killed your grandfather." That caused her eyes to go wide, and she stared at the man. His goofy look was gone, replaced with a serious one, and his tone was straight-laced. Avalon snapped his fingers, and the barrier around him went out suddenly.
Ocean Empress stepped back and narrowed her eyes, but Avalon didn't seem like he was going to attack. Instead, he casually placed his hands in his pockets and leaned over a bit. "What are you doing?"
He gave a lazy shrug. "I figure there is no use in hiding anything. Even if I do manage to get away, the Hero Branch will shut down all my buildings and take all my toys. Sure, I might be able to escape, but where would the fun in that be? Besides, you came all this way. I might as well show my hand, right?"
Ocean Empress tightened her grip on her sword. She placed a finger on her communication device. "I want you two as backup in case he pulls anything."
Avalon blinked as he watched more of his wall be torn to bits. Poseidon came up slowly, using her gravity control to pick herself up. In her arms, she carried Paragon, holding onto the girl tightly. Instantly, Avalon nearly buckled as he felt the gravity around him grow stronger. Paragon walked toward him and softly placed her hand to the back of his neck, ready to use her power if he tried anything.
"Don't do anything rash, okay?" The healer stated bluntly.
"I would never-" Her hand came closer to him, hovering just above the flesh of his neck. "Do you want to know why I'm working with Green Wolf?"
"So, you admit it? Just like that." Ocean Empress asked with narrowed eyes.
"Oh yes. That idiot allowed himself to be seen with the sword, and it was only a matter of time before Jack decided to rat me out. No sense in hiding anymore." He threw his arms out as wide as he could. "So, I'll go ahead and tell you now. I've been doing all of this to kill the villain known as Wish!"
Ocean Empress shot him a deadpan look. "Yeah. I sort of figured that out. It's pretty obvious. Why are you doing it, though?"
For a moment, Harrison's look grew serious. "I told you I don't like the Emperor. There isn't a person on this planet who hates that man more than me, besides maybe the Victorian. Wish is the next Emperor. The next Lord of Life. She can grow just as bad as that man did if left unchecked. And as usual, that bastard Jack failed to put her down for good. I hate him almost as much as I hate the Emperor. He's a total nobody, though. Built by the Emperor to serve as his perfect warrior. He's just some monster that got lucky to have been saved by Full Monarch-"
"That's enough."
"What? Don't like me badmouthing him? I thought you hated him as much as I did." Avalon smirked. "Honestly, I can't wait for his heart to finally give out and for him to die. It'll do the world a favor-"
"If you hate the Emperor so much, why haven't you worked with the heroes to help beat this Wish? She's the Lord of the Land and Life. If she exists, it means the Emperor can't be the current Lord. His power would've had to pass on. Why work with villains and not help us take this threat down?" Poseidon asked, cutting the man's rant off.
"Because it's my fault she exists."
Instantly, he felt the gravity hit him like a truck. It came down hard, and this time he was forced to his knees, causing him to gasp. "Oh boy." Paragon stepped back. "You pissed my sister off."
Poseidon grabbed Avalon by a handful of his hair and lifted him up, glaring at him. "What the hell do you mean it's your fault she exists? That bitch hurt my Kenny. Are you saying that is also your fault as well?"
Despite the pain, Avalon couldn't help but smirk. "My bad. But yeah. That's exactly what I'm saying."
Poseidon pulled her fist back, about to punch him as hard as she could, but her arm was grabbed by her mother at the last second. Ocean Empress shook her head. "Don't do it. We need him alive. There's still a lot we don't understand." She hesitantly let go once she was sure Poseidon wasn't going to kill Avalon and turned back to the man. "My daughter is right, though. What do you mean you are the reason she exists?"
Avalon managed to get out of Poseidon's grasp and threw his arms out. His gravity was still enhanced, making it hard for him to move, but he had the biggest smile on his lips. "I think it's easier if I show you! Follow me?"
It had the smell of a trap all over it. Heroes were made to fall into traps though and then break out of them. They debated about it for a bit but finally allowed him to lead the way, but very slowly. He took them out of the room and down to his elevator. It must have been a strange sight having the beaten-up owner of the tower escorting three heroes. In the elevator, Ocean Empress waited for him to try and pull some stunt. Paragon was still ready to use her power and shut his nerves or something off if she had to. He didn't try anything like that, though. Instead, he calmly put in a code, and the elevator opened up to a secret room.
It was a large gray room filled with dozens of weird screens all along the wall and bright lights above. There was a stand that should have held something in the center, but it was empty.
"Welcome to my viewing deck!" Avalon announced throwing his arms out. "I come here to relive old memories. You see, I record almost everything constantly. I was around when Lucifer first attacked. I was a young boy back then who had just discovered he had two powers, one of which is my Mental power that lets me make my vast tech."
"I'm guessing it was meant to hold more though." Paragon questioned, eyeing up the empty pedestal in the center of the room.
"Indeed. They took each other out." Avalon hummed. "The Emperor and Full Monarch both gave it their all, and in the end they both fell to this world consumed by their hatred for one another. On that day, two Pods appeared near each other in the ocean. I only managed to get one of them, however. The other was seemingly picked up by someone else. I took the pod and stored it in my tower for safekeeping until it was one day stolen by an old friend of mine. Doctor Blue. A famous scientist that worked with Doctor Alma. Blue broke into the place and stole the pod."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Ocean Empress frowned.
"That's easy." Avalon held up two fingers and smirked. "First. I had no idea which Pod I got. I didn't want to let the Lord of the Land and Life exist, so I made sure to keep it away from people so it couldn't get enough DNA to create a new Lord. The Pods only accept the DNA of humans, and as I said, I was on the Emperor's army, so like Battery, my DNA has been tampered with and altered, so the Pod wouldn't accept me, and I wouldn't have to worry about accidentally making a Lord if I touched it, on the off chance it was the Lord of the Land and Life's Pod. I knew that if the Branch learned that I alone had the Pod, they would want to create the new Lord themselves in hopes they could get another Full Monarch or a monster like the Emperor they could control. My second reason is that I feel like the Lords have only made this world much worse. In fact, I think they could even be the reason the Shadow came to our world in the first place. If you ask me, we're better off without them." He chuckled. "When Blue took the pod, I tried to stop him, but it was too late. He used DNA samples he had of the original Princess of Life before she was a monster, as well as his own, to create the new Lord. I sent a small force to stop him, but it failed, so now I'm forced to work with the villains if I truly want to stop the Lord." His eyes turned to look at Paragon, and he scowled. "All because you exist."
"What do you mean by that?" Poseidon asked, frowning.
Harrison looked her dead in the eye and slowly gave a grin. "Battery and Myth worked together and managed to kill Wish while they were in the pocket realm. With the help of my power, Wish's DNA was forced back into her body. It should have ended there. She should have died, but she didn't because she isn't really all there. Part of her still exists outside of her DNA. A strand that has gone on to be its own person. Why did I work with the villains? That's simple. It was just easier. After all, when I told them that in order to kill Wish, we'd also have to murder Paragon, they didn't even blink."
Ocean Empress swung her sword, and a hand tried to form a barrier around Avalon, but it exploded. He tried to jump back, but she was faster, ramming her blade into his gut and out his back. His eyes snapped wide open, and blood poured out of his mouth.
"You'd really kill me to keep her safe? Way to prove my point-" She twisted the sword, and he grunted, spitting up more blood. "It's the only way. Kill one. Then, before they recover, kill the other. Wish's body has already come back. If they can kill her, then all we have to do is kill Paragon, and she—"
"Shut up!" Ocean Empress screamed. She rammed Avalon into the wall and hung him up with her sword. "Like hell, I'm letting something like that happen! I don't care if it means Wish lives. I'll find another way to kill that bitch! I won't let you or anyone harm Sky."
"Mother of the year," Harrison grunted as he slowly began to choke on his own blood. Poseidon stood in front of her sister, who had stayed silent. "Tell them the truth." He spat out. "Tell them what happened when Wish died!"
Paragon quietly stepped forward and placed a hand on her mom's shoulder. "I think he's telling the truth."
"What!" Poseidon stared at her sister in shock. "He can't be!"
Paragon took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts. "The reason I couldn't heal Grampa… The place I went… I found myself in a world I can create. Normally I can control it, but this time someone else was there. Wish had total control over my dream world. She… She's somehow connected to me."
Avalon coughed up more blood and slid against the wall, grabbing at his stomach wound. He chuckled softly. "The Emperor… Nier… He truly died the day the Beast arrived. He used his powers to try and recreate that which he lost. It isn't wrong to say that you're a monster. One created by his love. A being that never used to exist. Forged with the power of the Lord of Life. His title should have gone to you, but it didn't. He was destroyed so badly by Full Monarch that his power had no choice but to recover in the Pod. That connection is still there, though, and through that connection, Wish's consciousness remains. As long as it does, Wish cannot be truly killed. The Pod will remain hers, and it will be able to bring her back hundreds of times. Your death is the only way to end her for good. Die Paragon-"
"Shut the hell up!" Poseidon yelled. Her gravity smashed Avalon into the ground, and he grunted.
Avalon smirked, fighting through the pain, and glared at all three women. "Maybe I should show you. Let you see just what it is that the Lords can do. Why don't I show you the terror that Full Monarch and the Emperor uphold?"
The room lit up as the monitors came to life. Then in an instant, all of them began to see things. Memories that weren't theirs. Memories of Avalon's.
He was going to show them.
Show them the dark past he had lived through.
The path of the Lords.
It hit them like a truck. The monitors didn't just come to life; they literally beamed the information into their heads. They had been expecting something but not this. It was like they were dreaming. In the blink of an eye, Ocean Empress, Poseidon, and Paragon found themselves suddenly recalling thoughts they never had, seeing sights they never saw, and remembering a memory that didn't belong to them.
In the blink of an eye, they watched the story of Avalon.
Or at least the parts he decided to show them…
"Seriously, more kids? The guys up top know this is a war, right? We don't need this dead weight." A soldier grunted. "We can barely keep ourselves safe. How do they also expect us to keep a band of brats alive while we're in the thick of it?"
"I heard that the team that gathered them all up was wiped out." Another soldier whispered to his buddy. "Torn to bits by the Angel's Zombie army. Now we're stuck on protection duty escorting these kids to one of the nearby cities."
"What could be so special about these brats?"
Nearly one thousand years had passed since the Shadow had been defeated, and today, while the Super population might have remained small, their forces had been taken over by a dark threat. The second-ever Calamity to face the world since the Shadow, the Angel, also known as Lucifer. Supers and Humans were at each other's throats. This was over sixty years ago in the past.
Within a small village that had been practically wiped out, a group of soldiers that would one day go on to be the first members of the Hero Branch stared at the group of kids they were tasked with keeping safe. Their army was small; most of them had been wiped out a while ago in a fight with Lucifer's Monarch force. As for the kids, there were twelve of them in total. All varying in age, the youngest being six and the oldest being sixteen. The soldiers had set up dozens of tents as most of the buildings had been torn down. They had a few vehicles scattered about, but not enough for all of them. Not with the kids, at least.
It was on guard duty that two soldiers found themselves grumbling about the situation that they were in. "It won't be so bad, at least." One of them sighed.
"It won't? Why do you reckon that?"
"I heard the guys up top got their hands on a powerful Super. Called him Sini. He'll be coming here personally to help escort these kids and ensure we make it to Dandelion in one piece."
"Seriously?" That caused the second soldier's frown to grow. "Now I'm more concerned. Top brass could give a rat's ass what happens to the fodder crew." His eyes traced over the kids. "What's so special about them?"
All the children had formed a makeshift group of their own away from the soldiers. They all stood in the center of the village together. Most of them were boys, though there was a girl or two scattered amongst them. All of them had one thing in common, though. They shivered and shook, the rain pouring down hard. As the soldier's eyes traced over all the kids, only one really stood out to him.
In most things, people tend to subconsciously create an order of hierarchy. Knowingly or not, the kids had seemingly done the same. It wasn't the biggest or the oldest that looked to be in charge, though. Dead in the center, surrounded by the other kids and constantly whispering back and forth amongst them, was a young boy. Nine years old at the most, he had messy brown hair that had been soaked in the constant downpour and wore a pair of thick round glasses. In his hands he held some weird metal device he had been tinkering with for the past few hours they had been standing out there.
The soldier felt those eyes lock onto him, and he couldn't help but shiver a bit. He tried to convince himself it was just from the cold. "Think we'll make it to Dandelion?" He asked his friend quietly.
"If God loves us..."
"Harry, I'm scared." One of the kids, a young girl, said, shaking from the cold. "How much longer are they going to keep us out here in the cold?"
"It'll be okay," the brown-haired boy tried to smile. "Any moment now, I'm sure they'll be ready for us to head out. And if they don't, and worse comes to worse, I still have my box." He patted the metal device he held. It was shaped almost like the top of a mailbox. Made out of a brass-looking metal, it was covered in wires and had an opening that could unfold at the front of it. It was no bigger than a breadbox, and he held it tucked under one arm.
"Are you sure, Harry?" An older boy questioned, folding his arms.
"Of course I am. We'll all be safe, I promise." The brown-haired boy said, giving a sly smile. I'll make sure we'll all be kept safe. After all, I'm a genius."
A horn buzzed loudly through the village, and several of the cars roared to life. Some of the soldiers stood up, grabbing their gear, and got ready. "Alright!" One of the men called out. "That was our scouting unit. That horn means they've spotted the Super that was sent up top to help us. We don't have seats for everyone, so all the kids will have to pile in first. We're going to take this slow and-"
Jagged blades of metal impaled the man from behind as the car he stood in front of exploded! Screams filled the village, and gunfire rang out in a panic. A second car erupted in a mighty fireball, followed by a third, wiping out the last of their vehicles. From the darkness, moving faster than the human eye could follow, dozens of figures ran through the soldiers, ripping them to shreds.
"Monarch Supers!" One soldier screamed out. "Grab the kids and run!"
This particular Super was a nasty one. He came to a sliding stop in front of the group of kids. His name was Edge, and he didn't look human. His skin was made of metal, and jagged blades came out in all directions. He was exceptionally fast and so strong that just by running into someone, he could tear them to bits. Sword-like blades grew from his fingertips, and he raised his hand up high, ready to ram it through the group of kids, but before he could, one of the soldiers slammed his full weight into the Super and managed to actually knock Edge over.
"R- Run!" The man grunted out, the blades tearing into his flesh and spilling his blood.
Some of the soldiers grabbed the kids, scooping them up in their arms; the rest screamed for the kids to follow as they made a break for the exit. Edge grunted and stood up, picking up the man that had tackled him. His blades dug into the man's neck, and he sneered.
"Did you really think you could stop me-"
"I really hope you're not one of the Supers that're grenade-proof," the soldier grunted.
"What-"
All the grenades that had been in the soldier's pocket went off, creating a massive wave of fire that smashed Edge through a building and sent him out to the other side. Edge grunted and slowly picked himself up, sparks flying as his teeth began to grind together.
"I hate humans."
As the soldiers ran out of the village and toward a large hill in the distance, one of them froze when he saw a man standing at the top. His heartbeat began to settle down, though, when he noticed the jacket the man wore. It was a Full force member. The man in question was dark-skinned and didn't have the gear of a soldier. He was young as well, in his early or late twenties.
"Are you the one the guys up top sent?" The soldier screamed in the rain.
"Are those all of the kids?" The dark-skinned man asked.
The soldier looked back and took note of all the kids they had with them. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight—shit, we just have eight. We're missing four!"
The dark-skinned man nodded and began to push his way past the soldiers and head toward the village at the bottom of the hill. He was stopped, however, when one of the men grabbed him by the shoulder and shook his head. "A Monarch Super is down there. Those guys are on another level compared to normal Supers. They've been enhanced by their master, the Angel Lucifer."
"I'll be fine. Trust me. I'm strong." The man said, brushing the hand off. "I can handle anything they try to-"
An explosion smashed into the dark-skinned man, throwing him back and blowing the man next to him to bits. From high up in the air, the Super that had blown the cars to bits came crashing down, letting out a mad cackle. He was covered in dozens of blue feathers and wings connected from his back to his arm. They glowed and blasted off of him like bullets stabbing into the ground or a person, then exploded like a bomb. He wasn't alone either. In the air, dozens of other winged Supers slowly came down.
"We're all going to be rewarded so handsomely for wiping this group out!" The feathered man called out. He fired off his feathers at one of the kids, but the attack barely got two feet before the water in the air seemed to bend and twist, wrapping around the feathers and jamming them back into the Super's arm. "Oh shit!"
The feather bomb went off, blowing the Super's arm clean off and throwing him to the floor, causing him to howl in pain. Before any of his other teammates could react, they were smashed into the ground as chunks of ice began to form on their wings, dropping them from the sky. The dark-skinned man began to pull himself out of the crater he had been blasted into.
"It was a bad move to fight me out in the rain." The man's eyes stared darkly at the Monarch Supers.
"W- Who the hell are you?" The now one-armed, feathered man screamed out, trying to get back to his feet.
"My name is Sini."
"Sini? Wait! I've heard of you. You're the-"
"You guys should have never fought a Lord of the Sea while it was raining." The water twisted and morphed behind the man, forming into a massive kraken-like beast created from shards of ice and liquid. "I guess I'll need to punish you for your arrogance."
Back in the rundown village, Harry poked his head over the edge of a window, peeking out. "Harry, I'm scared," one of the kids whimpered and clung to him.
He, as well as three others, hadn't made it out with the other soldiers. Something the monster, Edge, was very aware of. The metal man's nose flared, and his eyes darted around, looking at the many destroyed buildings. The beast could tell one of them held the last of the runts. The villain's senses had been fried from the grenade, however, causing the thing's skull to ache.
"It'll be fine," Harry whispered back to the little girl. "I'll keep us all safe. I'll use my box."
"W- We need to get out of here." An older boy hissed out. The kid tried to stand and stumbled back a bit, knocking a shelf in their hiding spot over.
"Down!" Harry yelled, but it was already too late. Instantly, the wall was torn to pieces as jagged blades fired into the house. Edge pointed his elbow towards the building, spikes jutting from his body and tearing the place apart and bringing it all crashing down. "Shit!" Harry cursed, grabbing for his box and pulling the lid down.
The entire house caved in, the walls falling over and the roof breaking to bits. It would have crushed everyone inside to bits, but something happened. At the last second, a bright blue flash expanded throughout the darkness, lighting everything up. Edge stepped back, grabbing at his eyes and hissing. When the light finally died down and he was able to see, he stared in shock. The house was gone. All the kids were fine. The plot of land was still there, but the wood, the stone, the rubble—all of it that had built up the house—was gone, as if it had never been there in the first place. Standing in front of the kids was a lone child with brown hair and round glasses who held a metal box that had steam pouring out of it.
"A Super? And a strong one at that." Edge growled. What are you doing on their side? Your kind belongs to us! How would you like to be a god? To be gifted a never-ending life! I can help you." Edge held his hand out to the boy. "Or… I can kill you here and now. Your call."
Harry stepped forward slowly and raised his box up. "I'm not on anyone's side. I'm my own team." He announced. "And I'm going to make you pay for the sins you committed!"
Edge scowled, and from his elbows, long swords formed out as he stomped forward. "Guess you'll just have to join us when the Master brings you back from the dead!" He roared and charged forward.
Harry opened the box once more, allowing the blue light to spill out.
Outside the village, Sini ran as fast as he could now that he had dealt with the other low-tier villains. A barrier of water formed around the soldiers and the rest of the kids, keeping them safe, and he surfed on the water, practically skating on it. He broke past what was left of the village's walls and looked around.
"What the hell was that blue light? Damn it. I took too long toying around with those guys. I hope I'm not too late-" He froze when he saw it in the center of the village. "I'll be damned. So that's why they sent me, huh? It was to get you, wasn't it?"
In the center of the village, a young nine-year-old boy stood. The child turned to look at him, staring at him with dull eyes. "Are you an enemy also?" The boy asked, raising his box up.
Sini held his hands up and chuckled. "No. I'm not here to hurt anyone. In fact, I came to save you, but it looks like you didn't need my help." Edge's lower body was on its knees. Just his lower body. His upper body was nowhere to be found. The man had been torn in half by something. "What did you do to the bad guy?"
The boy cocked his head to the side and patted his box. "He's in here."
Sini stared past the boy and at the other young kids the child had protected. "What's your name, kid?" Sini asked, slowly approaching.
The brown-haired boy turned to look back at him. "Harrison. My name is Harrison Avalon. I'm a Mental based super, and I want to save the world."
Sini reached out, gripping the boy's hand. "Yeah, I want to save this world too." He used his power and forced the water to stop falling on all the kids holding it at bay. "Why don't we start by getting you kids to somewhere where it is warm first?"
And so time would pass…
"How is the fight going, Avalon?" Within an office room, a now much older Mr. Sini stood at his desk. He wore a long black suit and stared down at a map of the battlefield that was to come. Years of stress had taken its toll on the man.
Sitting across from him, his long-time friend and best student rested. Avalon had gotten older now. He was still young—not even an adult—but he had come far. The brown-haired teen lifted his hand, and a glowing blue screen appeared in front of him. "I had a drone follow them. I'll check in on it now."
The screen that appeared in the air shimmered and twisted, showing off the footage of the drone. It revealed a battlefield that was still in the middle of a fight.
Shards of stone rained down upon the land. "Die, human bastards! This planet belongs to the Supers!" Buildings came crashing down, and in the center of the war zone, a lone enemy stood.
His name was Gargoyle. Forged from tough stone skin with large wings, he was nearly ten feet tall and able to control the earth, thanks to his powers. Bullets deflected off of his hardened skin, unable to harm him as he casually marched through the battlefield.
His goal was simple. Take over the city. Though 'city' was hardly the right word for where they were now. No civilians remained, just the warriors in red that belonged to the Full team. Buildings were torn down, or knocked over, and stones crashed together, forming massive boulders that crashed down onto the men below.
Dozens of soldiers ran away as fast as they could and managed to get behind a building just in time as an avalanche of rock smashed down. "This is a total slaughter." One of the soldiers screamed. He poked his body behind a turned-over truck and fired at the villain. "There are only a few of them, but we're totally outclassed!"
Gargoyle was not alone. Dozens of other powerful Supers lurked behind him, each nearly as strong as he was. They stood with folded arms, watching their squad leader have a good time. He could handle a little team of squishy humans like this easily.
The Full squad leader threw himself to the ground as more jagged rocks blocked out the sky and came crashing down. Despite the situation, he couldn't help but smirk. "It's okay, men. Looks like things are turning in our favor."
"Huh?"
The boss pointed up towards the sky, and they turned and stared in shock. Above even the reaches of Gargoyle's stone, something broke past the clouds. Nearly as long as a bus and made out of solid oak wood, it was shaped in the image of a snake-like dragon. Gargoyle stared up at the wooden dragon, his eyes narrowing. It was coming down quickly, and he roared at it. With a flick of his arm, dozens of shattered buildings rose up and broke apart, reshaping to his will.
A massive fist of stone nearly half a mile wide and thick fired towards the wooden dragon. Two figures rode on its back. Both cloaked in red Full jackets. One of the figures was at the head of the beast he rode on, his hands gripping the horns of the wooden dragon and steering it. The other figure stood up and brought his arm back.
He balanced on the creature, not faltering even as the dragon swooped down, and the air roared as the fist soared toward them. The figure threw his arm out, and a massive blade of fire blasted from his palm. It soared out, and in an instant, it blew through the fist, shattering it and forming a cloud of debris that their dragon flew through perfectly.
"Yo, big bro! I'm heading down." The figure that stood up announced.
The one who guided the dragon shook his head. "Jackson, don't you dare-"
"Too late!" Jackson leaned over the side and plummeted towards the ground. "Woohoo!" The boy hooped and hollered as he dropped straight towards Gargoyle. The villain threw out a large fist, but at the last moment, fire blasted out of the boy's hand, spinning him out of the way of the fist and moving him through the air. He landed on the ground a few feet away from Gargoyle. "Hey, I'd block if I were you."
"I'll kill you-" Gargoyle was cut off when the ground beneath him suddenly exploded in a pillar of fire that scorched past his stone skin. The fire slowly died down, and his eyes rolled back before he finally crashed down into the stone floor face first, a few inches away from Jackson.
The boy rubbed his neck sheepishly. "I tried to warn you." Now that he was on the ground, it was easy to see just what he looked like. He was young. Way too young to be in a war like this. He had messy, fiery red hair, and hot flickers of embers rose from his palm as he turned toward the other villains that all charged at him. "So, who's next?"
Paragraph comment
Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.
Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.
GOT IT