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46.03% Spectacular World / Chapter 93: The Man That Goes By Battery

Chapter 93: The Man That Goes By Battery

"Did he just hang up on me!" Ocean Empress barely had time to put her phone away and form a shield made out of water. "Oh, I am so telling that asshole a piece of my mind next time I see him!"

Her barrier was blown to bits as a shock wave rammed into her. She felt her muscles and bones shake, and she was sent crashing back, rolling across the street, and ramming back-first into a car.

They weren't in Avalon's office anymore. She had been sent flying out of the building by a single punch from Fairy Queen. Now the battle had moved to the streets of Oleander City. It was night, but despite that fact, there was still quite a bit of traffic. Most people had done the smart thing and made a break for it the moment Golden God appeared. The villain floated above Avalon's tower, nearly as big as the building, and his many arms tore into it, ripping it apart and sending rubble down below.

Not everyone was smart, however. Some people, for whatever reason, thought this was the best time to pull out their phones and start recording. Ocean Empress groaned and managed to pull herself back up into a sitting position. She held her hand up and formed bubbles of water over the people, saving them from the falling rubble. Once she made sure they were safe, she stared back up at Fairy Queen, who floated down to the street softly.

The woman hadn't changed a day. Turned into a monster by the Emperor, Fairy Queen had fought in many battles fifteen years ago. Ranked just under Hell Hound, Fairy Queen was someone even the best Enforcer member would have trouble with. And Ocean Empress was far from the best.

The villain waved her hand, and an invisible force surged forward, heading toward a crowd of people. Ocean Empress threw her fist out, and water surged forward like a wave, crashing down in front of the people and forming into a wall of ice, which exploded into a hail of debris as an unseen shockwave smashed into it. Before she could recover and attack, Fairy Queen fired forward and rammed her fist into Ocean Empress's gut, hard enough to make the hero nearly throw up as she was sent even further down the street.

Fairy Queen licked her lips and smirked as she watched the hero kneel and clutch at her gut. She aimed at the civilians once more, but before she could attack them, a wave of gravity smashed into her from above. It was strong enough to shatter the street they were on, and Fairy Queen glanced up right as Poseidon came crashing down with her trident. Poseidon's hair was already different, and the girl's eyes glowed with a fiery red light.

Poseidon stabbed her weapon into the face of Fairy Queen, but despite using all of her strength and power, it didn't even puncture the woman's flesh. Fairy Queen wasn't even thrown back and simply batted the weapon out of her face. She held her palm out, and Poseidon was hit by an invisible explosion, which smashed the girl into the entrance of Avalon's building.

Ice suddenly rose out of the ground and formed around the Organization member's legs, binding her in place. Ocean Empress had gotten back up and held her hand out, panting slightly. The ice grew larger and began to swirl with water as they froze the villain in a solid block of ice. Poseidon came rocketing out of the building and focused more of her gravity wave, causing the block to sink into the ground and break through it, burying it underneath the stone.

"What the hell did she hit me with?" Poseidon groaned, clutching at the spot where the explosion had rammed into her. "It freaking hurt."

Ocean Empress wiped at her mouth, clearing it of the blood. She had tanked three attacks so far, and her body was already reaching its limits. The Emperor's four warriors really were something else. "She is one of the best inverting power users ever recorded. Her main power involves around illusions and dreams and messing with people's heads, though she tends to not like using it since she'd rather inflict physical harm than mental. She can get in your head and become the image of someone you know, pretending to be them. In a fight, though, she inverts her power. That's where the real issues start."

"What would the inversion of an illusion be?" Poseidon wondered.

"Reality." Ocean Empress finished. "She is able to twist reality to a small extent. Those blasts that keep hitting us are her collapsing a tiny hole of reality and causing it to implode. She's like a reverse black hole. She can also twist and shape things in different ways, so be careful by-"

The hole Fairy Queen was in began to expand and grow larger. It was sort of like watching an old-timey cartoon. Fairy Queen's hands came out and literally widened the gap as she pulled herself out, completely free of the ice. She didn't look hurt in the least. Poseidon didn't give her any time to react; the Lord of the Sea charged forward, twirling her trident around and increasing its weight as much as she could. Blades of water gushed out of it, and she sent a sharp slash out, but her attack never landed.

Golden God's massive hand slammed down between them and blocked the strike with his palm. Her attack dented the metal a bit, but he held firm. He was huge, and his many limbs stretched out well past his body. As he floated down toward them, weaving his way past the buildings, his mouth opened wide, and a grayish light blasted out.

"Don't let that light touch you!" Ocean Empress screamed. She created a floor of ice beneath her and skated backwards to get out of the blast zone. Poseidon reduced her gravity as much as she could and caused a glob of water beneath her to explode, shooting her into the sky and above the beam that came down.

The gray light washed over the street and dozens of buildings, turning everything it hit into dust. The buildings rusted, and their stone broke away, and it was as if they suddenly became hundreds of times older, the supports that held them up giving out and collapsing.

Poseidon twirled herself around and sent out a sharp, piercing wave of water, condensing it into a thin beam and smashing her gravity along it. The attack rammed into Golden God's body and was enough to send him a bit into the air, but he was otherwise left unharmed.

"I think I'm going to have to transform!" Poseidon yelled down to her mom. All Lords had a state beyond their power; the battle mode, but as Full Monarch had shown in his fight with Lucifer, there was a state beyond this as well. A higher form of power where you fully tap into the power of a Lord. Something she also had-

"No!" Ocean Empress called back. "You were told you're only allowed to use 'that' during Calamity level threats. These guys are tough, but they aren't anywhere near as dangerous as the Beast or the Emperor! We just need to hold out for a bit, and I'm sure the Victorian will notice us! She'll take both of these guys out in one attack!"

"Aw. Do you really think so little of us?" Fairy Queen pouted and cocked her head to the side. "I actually wouldn't mind seeing Ruby Admiral again. It'd be like the old days when she was a naive girl. I'm shocked to know she's now the number one hero of today. After all, fifteen years ago, she was always hiding behind her father."

"Paragon got away." Golden God's voice caused the street to rumble. "She used the blade and escaped. We'll need to catch up to her if we want to destroy her and Wish, for the sake of our master." His words caused Ocean Empress to freeze in shock.

"Paragon isn't here? Where the hell did she go?!"

"Pretty sure I got a good idea..." Poseidon muttered. "And as much as I hate to admit it, she's likely safer with Cinder than she is here, with two members of the Organization."

"Don't get too distracted!" Fairy Queen appeared in front of Ocean Empress and grabbed the woman by the face. She smashed the hero's head down into the ground and sent a massive shock wave directly into the woman's face. Ocean Empress screamed, feeling her skull nearly pop and dozens of her teeth crack.

"Mom!" Poseidon tried to charge forward, but two of Golden God's hands surrounded her and smashed together into a powerful clap, nearly crushing her. She yelled out as she was trapped between them both, and they began to press down.

Fairy Queen raised her hand and smirked. The air around it twisted and changed as reality folded in on itself, and a large dagger appeared in her grasp. "Well. Good night, sweet princess-"

"Who's Jack Larison?" Fairy Queen's stab stopped inches away from Ocean Empress's eye. The hero was beaten and battered, her face bloodied, but she had managed to say the right thing to cause Fairy Queen to pause. Her water blasted out, and she tried to impale the woman through the gut, but all it did was throw the winged villain off of her. Ocean Empress quickly jumped to her feet and spat out a glob of blood, shaking her head.

Fairy Queen's long wings expanded, and she took flight, hovering just above the ground. She had a nasty look on her face, and the dagger she held dissolved and faded. "You just had to mention that name, didn't you?" The woman huffed and folded her arms. "Way to spoil the mood."

Ocean Empress took a deep breath and tried to focus. Her thoughts were all over the place, and her ears rang. She had a concussion. Maybe something even worse. She just needed to buy time, though. This was never a battle she had to win. The villain's reaction confirmed something to her. What Laps had said had to be partially true, at least. After all, Fairy Queen recognized the name. "Who is he?" She demanded.

"You're not in a position to order me around." Fairy Queen floated up and landed on one of the fingers of Golden God. Her arms folded, and she glared down at the woman. "He was a streetrat. One that the Emperor took great interest in. I guess you could say he was like a son. Adopted by the master. Though in the end, that traitorous bastard backstabbed the hand that taught him all he knew."

"He can't be that bad if he turned on his former master." Ocean Empress shrugged. "Besides, everyone's heard of Hell Hound, of Golden God, of Fairy Queen, and of the Princess of Life. You four were the Emperor's generals. He had other warriors, of course—people like Polaron, Mars King, or Alien. I've never heard of anyone with Battery's powers, though. Whoever he was in the past, he couldn't have committed so many sins as to remain nameless, not in a war like that."

"Oh, is that what you think? Naive little girl, you don't even know how wrong you are." Fairy Queen giggled as if she knew some inside joke. "Rest assured, the whole world knows the sins he committed; everyone stared at him on 'that' day and bore witness to his evil, one that rivaled the Emperor's own. How fortunate he must be for not a single heroic soul to figure out who he was during that war. As if all memories of his deeds are gone. He was created to be a weapon, one that allowed the Emperor to slay Full Monarch, one that, I promise you, everyone hates. In his final battle with the Lord of the Sun, a scar was left upon his heart, one that would ensure he would never recover again, with the simple command to kill him. Yet he escaped, ran with his tail tucked between his legs, and lived like a coward, hiding away. That was the fate of the Emperor's weapon. He was a wild animal, one that turned against its master, even after the Emperor fed him and allowed him to grow. Even after the Emperor blessed him with the power found only in stories and allowed him to turn into the thing he desired most. Even after he became a Giant. None of it was enough. The sins he carried will never be washed away. He is hated by all sides equally. That I can promise you."

"I just don't buy it." Ocean Empress said, shaking her head. No matter how hard she thought about it, no villain in the great war came to her mind. The Emperor had created hundreds of monsters and forced nearly every villain gang in the world to side with him. He gifted his power of cursed life to many warriors, and most of the 'big' villains were created in that war. For such a prominent person like this, it should have been known. "Something just isn't adding up. Oh well. I don't really care. I was just buying time."

As if on cue, Poseidon managed to force the hands that held her down open, blasting them apart and blowing one of them to bits as a chaotic storm gushed out of her and gravity crushed everything around her. Black blood poured down her nose, and she looked pissed.

Neither Golden God nor Fairy Queen paid her any mind, though. Instead, their eyes were focused on the mass of crackling golden light firing toward them. The Victorian had arrived-

Battery's fist rammed into Golden God's stomach as he hit the villain with everything his body could muster. The force of the attack threw Golden God back and sent the machine smashing through what was left of Avalon's tower. Fairy Queen floated off of the finger and glared down at the red hero as he came to a sliding stop. The Victorian hadn't arrived, but her power did.

"You're not the Victorian." Ocean Empress frowned.

"A thank you would have been nice..." Battery grumbled. He held both his hands out, and a golden light seeped out and washed over Poseidon and her mother, healing their wounds. "Where's Paragon?"

"Used the sword to teleport away. Pretty sure she's with Cinder." Poseidon shrugged.

"You've got to be kidding me! Who the hell gave her permission to—Aw, fuck you, Avalon!" Battery cursed and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "For the love of all that is holy, I pray they don't go into a pocket world."

Up with Fairy Queen, black blood dripped down the woman's face. Her teeth had bitten through her lower lip, and her nails impaled her palm as she glared down at Battery. "You!"

"Me."

The building's rubble broke away as Golden God rose out of it. "We should leave them be for now, Fairy Queen."

"Huh!" Fairy Queen turned back to stare at her teammate. "Is your circuit having an issue or something? You know what that is, right?"

"Wish has spotted Paragon. If we don't hurry, then we won't have a chance. If she absorbs the girl, nothing will hold her back."

Fairy Queen's teeth dug into her lips even more, spurting out a heavy stream of her blood. She glared back down at Battery before finally slowly landing in Golden God's palm. "Fine. We'll kill him after the two girls are dead. It'll be fitting if they all die together."

Golden God's body began to glow and hum. Battery fired a beam of light toward the villain, Poseidon, following quickly behind with her water bullet, but in a flash, the villain was gone, and both attacks passed through him. Just as he had used in his fight with Victorian and Max Lightning, Golden God had escaped.

"He can teleport?" Poseidon asked, stunned.

"No." Battery shook his head and reached into his pocket, pulling out a cigarette. He placed it between his lips and snapped, shooting a spark into it and igniting it. "It'd be much simpler if he teleported, but he's way more busted than that. You two go get help or something. I'm going on ahead."

"But-" Ocean Empress didn't get to finish her sentence. A second later, Battery took off running and quickly faded into a golden blur as he picked up speed. "I seriously hate him."

"Sure, you do."

***

Cinder jumped back, putting herself in front of Snowdawn and Paragon. Snowdawn's power hadn't fully recovered yet, but he had enough to at least cover half his body in some ice. She raised her arms, expecting Wish to strike at any moment, but the attack never came.

When she glanced back down at the girl, Wish's eyes were closed once more. The white-haired girl rested peacefully in Mr. Brenner's arms and didn't move an inch.

"Put her down, sir." She ordered. "And step back when you do. I'm going to reduce her to ash."

"Sorry. Not going to happen." Mr. Brenner said, shaking his head. He stepped back, and Kevin put himself in front of the officer, ready to defend Wish. He wasn't the only one. The other two in red also got prepared for combat. Both of them lowered their hoods and removed their masks as their power began to seep out.

The boy, Casey, was an older teen—likely nineteen or in his early twenties. His eyes turned bloodshot and began to leak with blood; the veins inside of him seemed to expand and start to break through part of his skin. He was completely bald, and the blood that poured out of him formed a light red armor that reminded her of Ocean Empress's dress. This armor looked more like a suit, though.

As for the girl, she had long, flowing brown hair and dark skin. White plates of bone formed rough armor, the same kind Wish had created. Razor-sharp claws grew from the girl's fingertips, and even a tail resembling a second spine grew out. Snowdawn was the first to take note of something else about her, though.

"Hannah?" He asked, shocked.

She felt herself recoil back as she looked at her friend and then back to the girl. She had heard that name before. Hannah was a popular girl at the school. Ranked right next to Paige and Ashley. Her mind went back to the bathroom incident. It felt like it was so long ago, but Hannah was one of the girls who poured soda on her. "You know who I am?" The bone girl asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Yeah. You're my lab partner?"

"Armin Moore?"

"Shit! Why did I say that?"

"And I thought I was dumb." Cinder narrowed her eyes, feeling the fire around her build up. She was already transformed into her enhanced state. Her hair had changed into the color of sunshine, and her eyes were now a fiery red that glared at the villains. Fire flickered down her elbows and seeped into her fingers as she balled them into a fist and entered a battle stance. "I'll say it one more time. Put down Wish."

It would take Snowdawn a few more seconds to fully recover, and Paragon wasn't a fighter, so she would have to fight all three villains by herself. Myth had said to get in and get out with Whisper, but the sight of Wish stopped her. This could have been her only chance to wipe the monster. out.

"You can't kill her." Paragon's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"What? I mean, I know she recovers, but I can burn her to ash-"

"If you do, I'll die."

"What?"

Paragon's bird rested on the girl's head and stared down at Wish's body. "I guess you can say I'm sort of like her twin. As it turns out, as long as I live, she will live as well. If you kill her, she'll drag me to my dream world and could try to take me over. It already happened once before. I think she could use me to recreate a body. Avalon mentioned something about that at least." She muttered, brushing her hand against the handle of the sword. She felt so stupid. She had basically played Avalon's game perfectly.

Cinder stood there, rooted to the spot, as she tried to process Paragon's words. She couldn't help but think back to her conversation with the girl when they went out to eat. Paragon had claimed she saw Wish. Was it then?

"Okay..." She shook her head, already devising a new plan. "In that case, put Wish down, and I'll... I don't know. I'll do something and stop her."

"It seems you aren't in a position to negotiate," Doc announced, pointing his cane at the fire-based hero. "Counting myself and Wish, there are five Supers here. Three of which are all made up of pieces of a Lord of Life! On top of that, we have two humans, and there's even more!" He twirled his cane and pointed it at the bandits. The ones Cinder had saved. Many of them had been badly burned, and some had run off, but most had gotten back up and were watching the display silently. "You guys! I'm sure you can see how these heroes are outclassed. Side with me and-"

Cinder smashed a ball of fire into the ground, which sent out a shock wave. Paragon barely had time to wrap her arms around Cinder and held on tightly as everyone was blown back. All the Supers managed to force themselves to stay standing with some trouble, but the humans, namely the bandits and Grove, were flung back. Brenner was sent high into the air by the shock wave, and he clutched onto Wish tightly. Kevin regrew his arm and expanded his limb, wrapping it around Doc and keeping the man from flying off. His other limb smashed up and grabbed onto Grove, stopping the man's fall.

Brenner crashed into the ground, landing on his back, and managed to roll and break the fall with his knees. He grunted, feeling pain course through him, but he was fine for the most part. That was until, from out of nowhere, Whisper appeared next to him and smashed her taser into his neck. She shocked the man and downed him, giving him a kick to the head to make sure.

"Snowdawn! Get Wish!" Whisper cried out, jumping away.

Snowdawn managed to nod his head and slam his fist into the ground. He sent out a wave of ice that washed over both Wish and Brenner, freezing them to the ground and ensuring they weren't going anywhere. Whisper turned invisible once more, fading from sight, and Snowdawn collapsed face-first into the hot sand. "I'm out. That was everything I had left. I need to seriously rest."

"Can you heal him? Destiny healed my stamina in the fight with Intake!" Cinder shouted out as she launched a wave of fire in the direction of the villains.

Paragon shook her head. "No. This isn't a stamina issue or a physical one. I guess you could say it's like a mage running out of mana."

"Casey! Hannah! Cover me!" Kevin yelled. Muscles expanded out of his arms, and he charged forward in the direction of where Wish was. The girl had crashed several meters away and was encased in hard ice. "I'm breaking her out!"

"Oh no, you don't!" Cinder ran forward with inhuman speed. She was only able to take a few steps forward before Casey and Hannah attacked her. Casey held his hand out and fired another blood beam in her direction. Fire blasted out of her hand, and she used it to jump over the beam and avoid it. As she was in the air, Hannah smashed her arm up, a large bone spear blasting out, but she easily caught it and crushed it with her hand. Her other hand formed her fire into the shape of a chain, which she sent out and got around Kevin's leg, tripping the man before he could reach Wish. She dragged him towards her as she landed on the ground and smashed her fist directly into his face. "I'm not letting you guys free her!"

Kevin took the punch and hissed as her fire ate away at part of his face. His muscles expanded and got larger, coating his skin, and she nearly gasped when she watched him take on a familiar form. Horns jutted from his skull, and he looked almost identical to Mars King. As she was processing that, Casey smashed his elbow into the side of her helmet and managed to throw her off of Kevin. Hannah's bones jutted out of the ground and formed a large cage around the fire-based hero, which started to shrink and close rapidly, attempting to crush her.

She flexed her body, and her flames ignited around her momentarily, sending out a massive wave of force that exploded the cage and left her unharmed.

"Forget about Wish," Casey growled. "We kill her first. Otherwise, she'll get in our way. If all three of us team up, we can wipe her out with no problem."

She gave a sly smirk and placed her hands on her hips. "Oh. Is that what you think?" She cocked her head to the side, and for the first time in her life, she really felt like the Victorian at that moment. "Well. Who's first?" Her shield unfolded, and she raised it, blocking a fist from Kevin. "I don't know why people as young as you decided to be evil, but I'm going to do everything in my power to stop you!"

"Evil?" Casey formed a large sword forged from his blood and charged forward with it, attempting to slice the girl in two, but his strikes were deflected by her shield. "That's rich, coming from you. You have no idea what it's like to be a normal person, existing in a terrible world like this as just a normal human! Being sick, addicted to something, or life just not going your way! We weren't Supers like you, and we aren't some evil or good, black and white group like you Supers keep playing with!"

"You're literally in a drug gang that has dealt to kids, and one of your members loves to use her powers to melt people." She smashed her shield into the man's body, throwing him back. "Besides. I didn't always have powers. I still picked the side of good, though. Just as I can't really understand why you guys will stay on the side of evil, I doubt you could understand why I made my choices."

Hannah was next to attack, large claws jutting from the girl's fingers as she attempted to impale Cinder. "Don't act like you've had a hard day in your life!"

"That's pretty funny coming from you, Ms. Popular!" She took the attack, her flesh easily shattering the bones as if they were nothing, and she smashed her fist into Hannah's stomach, throwing her back. "What do you have to say for yourself?" She asked, glaring at Kevin.

Kevin just shrugged. "I wanted to be stronger." His fist grew massive, and he swung out, attempting to ram it into the side of her head. It never made it to her, though, as a second later, ice erupted out of the ground and froze his arm in place. Snowdawn stood back up, wobbling a bit but forcefully bringing his ice armor back.

"I'm glad you said something. Hearing your voice pissed me off so much that I decided to stop resting. I'm taking you out myself!" He announced proudly before charging Kevin and ramming his fist into the monster's gut. Kevin gasped as blades of ice stabbed into him, and he was shoved back. Snowdawn didn't stop there, though, as he twisted his body and created a giant hammer of ice, which he hit Kevin with so hard it exploded.

Cinder gave a small smile as she turned back to Casey and Hannah. "It looks like you guys lost a teammate. Do you still think you can beat me?"

Over with Grove, he watched his people begin to lose badly and made up his mind. He made a mad dash for the tower. It was less than a mile away by now. If he entered it, then he would win. This nightmare would be over once he got ahold of 'him.'

He took a step forward, only to narrow his eyes and jump out of the way at the last second. Whisper appeared out of thin air, her kick missing him. "How'd you know?" the girl asked, jumping back a bit.

Grove gave a smirk. "Just got lucky, I guess."

"Ah. Don't tell me. You have some bullshit luck-based power, don't you?" Whisper sighed. "First Red Monkey, and now you. I would get stuck fighting the complex powers, wouldn't I?"

"No, no, nothing like that. I'm just a normal human, not a Super." Grove gave a sly grin and reached into his coat, pulling out a knife, which he twirled around the same way he had seen Green Wolf doing. "I just happen to be the main character you see. This world around us, destiny, fate—it's all just one big story. A story that won't end until I do what I have to. That's why I know I won't die. I've lived through the Beast fight, so I know I must be special. Whatever story we find ourselves in, I must be the main character destined for greatness. Lady Luck will save me."

"Your totally insane." Whisper snorted. "I believe in things like fate and destiny, but I don't think anyone stands out amongst it as a main character. We're all destiny's plaything in the end, and yet people still stand that break the shackles of fate and surpass their path. In other words, even if you are destined to not lose, I've seen first hand how things can be forced to change and alter. I'll beat you here and now."

Grove gave a calm shrug. "Maybe you will. I doubt it though." His fingers grew tighter around his knife. "Would you care for a dance?"

Whisper clicked her button and caused her tonfas to unfold, electricity buzzing out of them. "I guess I'll take you up on that offer."

Off to the side, Paragon watched Cinder fight in silence. Her bird clung to her tightly and worked as her eyes, Destiny letting her see just how strong the Pantheon members had become. "Is she seriously the same girl I first met?" In the hospital against multiple Supers, Cinder had been totally outclassed, but ever since the girl figured out how to go into her battle mode, she had greatly improved. "I feel so useless. Maybe... I can help out somehow, too."

Her hand brushed the sword she had. After the crash, she had almost forgotten about it, but she had held onto it the entire time. She had never thrown a single punch in her life, much less swung a sword. The closest she ever got to fighting was being in her dream world, but that hardly counted. That was Sky, a confident, pretty, and strong hero. In the real world, she was just Paragon, the pure support-focused hero.

She gripped Nier's sword and raised it slightly, taking a deep breath. She watched silently for a moment as Cinder dodged between dozens of blood bullets and bone spikes. "Hey! Cinder, I'll back you up and make it a two-on-two!"

"Alright! I always wanted to properly team up with you, Paragon!"

She had almost been expecting Cinder to argue or come in with caution, but the girl was as bubbly as ever, not bothered by this life-and-death situation. She had grown a lot. Paragon nodded and, beneath her mask, gave the faintest of smiles. Maybe if she was lucky, she could get even half as strong as Cinder was. She stepped forward, awkwardly holding the sword out and using Destiny as her eyes.

Her debut as a front-line fighter was about to begin. If she was in danger, she was confident Cinder would be there to keep her safe. The girl did have a shield, after all.

Then it happened...

Something caused them all to freeze and stop what they were doing. The sound of ice breaking.

Wish's fist burst out of the block of ice. White armor covered the girl's flesh as she ripped her way out with ease. Forged from solid bone, it covered her from the neck down, and Wish's head craned around, the muscles in her body popping. "Looks like I missed something interesting."

Cinder turned and blasted out a wave of fire, but the ground beneath Wish literally rose up and swallowed the flames in a single moment. Wish's eyes locked with Cinder's, and the mad girl grinned.

"I had a really long nap and couldn't stop thinking about you. You gave me so many good ideas, Cindy!"

"I'm going to stop you!" Cinder declared, charging forward with her fire. She threw a punch out towards Wish, but it never landed.

Massive bat-like wings exploded out of Wish's back, and the girl fired into the air even faster than she had been previously. "I haven't scattered my cells about, yet. Last time, they were all wiped, thanks to those two heroes. I learned why the Emperor never did something like that. It takes a lot of energy and power to keep regrowing. It's better if I just stay in one body, and it means I have all my energy, so I'm way stronger than when we first fought." The girl smirked before her gaze came down to Paragon. "I'll deal with you in a bit, Cindy. We can play once I've gotten the full power of a Lord of Life. I'll prove to you just how much better it is than the Sun!"

"No!" Cinder tried to blast the monster out of the air, but Wish twirled through the fire, her armor keeping her safe. The girl flew down, and before Paragon could react, Wish's arms wrapped around her, lifting her up. Wish let out a loud laugh and began to fly in the direction of the tower, heading for the entrance. "Get back here-" Bone-like spikes jutted out of the ground, binding Cinder in place, followed quickly by Casey's blood chains. "Stay out of my way!" Her fire exploded out, and she tried to take a step forward, but both villains literally threw themselves into her, not caring if they got burned or punched.

"Sorry." Hannah laughed. "But if you want to save your little girlfriend, you'll have to get through us both-"

Cinder's fist rammed through the girl's stomach, nearly splitting her in two. Cinder's other hand flew out, but Casey barely managed to block it. Before he could counter-attack, however, she opened her mouth and fired out a massive beam of fire directly into both of them, using everything she had. Both of them dropped to the ground, unmoving.

By the time she looked back up, she saw Wish fly directly into the tower's hole and enter it.


Chapter 94: All Roads Meet

Green Wolf let out a loud laugh and swung his sword as hard as he could. The kinetic energy he had been building up since the battle began unleashed itself, rampaging out of the edge of his sword and ripping even the wind apart as he sent a thin slash in the direction of Duplicity.

The hero blocked his attack by floating into the ground. Duplicity literally phased through the floor as if she was some sort of ghost and then reappeared out of the ground a moment later, throwing a punch in the direction of Green Wolf's stomach.

The villain was ready for it though, and dodged the attack by jumping into the air. He created a platform of kinetic energy, which he used to bounce off of, and he sent another slash down toward the ground, blowing most of the stadium floor up in one attack.

Duplicity flew out and hovered in the air, frowning. "Why are you doing all of this?" She asked the age-old question, glaring at the villain. "Most villains at least have some reason or goal for why they walk their path, but you? You just seem like you're totally insane?"

Green Wolf snickered before it slowly turned into full-blown laughter as he let out another swing of his blade. "What do I get out of being a villain? Name me one hero who can laugh as loudly as I can!" He cheered as his blade tore the stadium apart, ripping it in two. "This isn't just fun for me. This is the only thing that brings me joy. I love this game! I know you're not the final boss either, though, so go ahead and die, you trash mob. I'll take the EXP you drop and go hunt down the real final boss."

Duplicity's body had grown in size. She looked like a full-grown woman now and was woven together from strands of pure energy. She phased through matter, dodging past the falling blocks of debris that rained from above as the entire stadium began to come down on them. "You're totally insane, aren't you?" The woman called out. "I'm sure the whole world would love it if you just went ahead and died."

"I don't know about that. I'm sure I have some fans out there." The villain chuckled and twirled his sword, each loop ripping the ground to bits and sending his attacks out in a wild wave of directions.

Energy-based heroes and villains weren't common, but they weren't rare. They were always tricky to deal with. One thing that made them all stand out was the energy they controlled. For everyone, it was different. The Victorian could control and create solar energy, allowing her to fly and create weapons and attacks nearing light speed. Max Lightning was able to harness electrical energy to perform lightning blasts and stun people. Even Cinder and Demonica both used a form of energy control, both using thermal energy, the same thing Snowdawn and Poseidon used. Green Wolf's was kinetic energy. It was what allowed him to tank so many strong hits and grow in power. Kinetic was movement itself. Just by standing on Earth, the rotation of the planet powered him. All other forms of energy had movement to them when they traveled, and thus would be made up of a bit of kinetic energy, allowing him to mostly absorb other attacks. He had one flaw, though. He couldn't absorb energy that wasn't kinetic.

Someone like Battery was his natural enemy. Battery's energy was also solar in nature. However, this was due to a 'gift' he had received from the Victorian. In actuality, his own power allowed him to absorb and then transmute the properties of energy, turning what was once solar into electricity, kinetic energy, or any other form of existing energy.

Duplicity knew she was at a disadvantage in her fight with Green Wolf. The energy she had become made of was not kinetic energy and thus could not be absorbed, but the act of sending out large bursts of attacks would generate bursts of kinetic force that could then be absorbed. Due to this, she was forced to fight only up close.

Or at least that's what she wanted Green Wolf to think.

"What kind of energy are you made of, anyway?" Green Wolf called out, dodging one of her punches. She sank into the ground, and he jumped into the air as she blew the area around him up. "Nuclear or something?" The man asked. "You going to blow up the entire city?"

"Nothing quite that dangerous. I'm not the Beast after all." The woman said, cocking her head to the side and giving a sly grin. "It is a form of energy that I'm sure you've become quite accustomed to, though."

"What do you mean by that?" A heavy truck, one of the ones that belonged to the Hero Branch, surged forward at breakneck speeds and rammed into Green Wolf from behind. The car folded around him and was quickly followed by dozens of others. The attack itself didn't hurt him, but he suddenly found himself encased in metal. The same trick Polaron had tried to do to him, only this time he couldn't teleport out. "This is-"

"Go ahead and die." Duplicity commanded. She balled her hand into a fist, and the cars began to pile on more and more. They shattered and formed walls that grew tight together, barriers of iron twisting. "Be gone from this world."

Radiant energy, also known as electromagnetism. When Polaron had still been around, she had been forced to keep this form secret lest he absorb or tear her apart. With him gone now, she had become one of the greatest masters of metal on Earth. She'd really need to thank Cinder for that someday.

Green Wolf groaned as the ball of iron grew tighter around him. Only his head poked out now. The rest of his body was covered in so much metal that he couldn't even move a finger. None of it could actually touch him, his barrier stopping it dead in its tracks and instantly absorbing the energy that caused it to move, but there was simply so much piled on that he had become totally stuck.

"I can get out of this, you know."

"I'm sure you can." Duplicity shrugged, and she didn't even bother moving. Her body sparkled and glowed, and the metal obeyed her every command. It rose above Green Wolf's head, about to fully encase him in the iron ball.

"I'm serious. I have a secret transformation up my sleeve. A power I had been saving next time I fought Polaron, if it came to it. After he joined our side, though, I decided to save this form for the final boss. My plan was for either Wish or the Emperor to be the final boss."

"Why are you so interested in dying at The Lord of Life's hands?" The hero hummed, though she didn't care.

"Good, evil, I don't care what side you're on. The Emperor was the top dog, fifteen years ago. If Full Monarch is dead, then I will settle for the next best thing. If the Emperor is dead, then I will go even lower. Whoever dares to stand at the top is the final boss—the ultimate fight where the main character of the game takes them out. That is the only meaning my life needs to have. I'm on your side in a way. Let me go. I want to kill Wish, the same as you heroes."

Duplicity cocked her head to the side and smiled. "I'm going to send you into outer space and make sure that this ball remains as your tomb."

"Wait-"

She didn't wait, though. The metal folded over Green Wolf, blocking him out of sight. She could hear his muffled yelling, but she ignored it. The iron smoothed out, and she flattened it all down until a sizable twenty-foot-tall orb had been created, somewhere in the middle of it containing the villain known as Green Wolf. She floated under it and placed her pointer finger directly on it.

"Steady." She aimed up for the moon above and smirked. "Fire-"

"Did you beat him!" She stopped right before she could send the metal ball into space and looked down. The stadium was in ruins. The ground had been torn apart so badly that it practically collapsed onto the parking lot below. All the seats had been torn apart, and the top half of the stadium had slid off, hundreds of cuts all lining it. From down below, the rest of the Watch Dog members were leaving the safety of the underground. It was Backup who shouted. He was followed closely by Roulette, who had a wave of bullets carrying the villains. "You beat him right, Dups!" Backup yelled out.

"Yeah! What does it look like?" She tapped on the metal ball. "He said something about a transformation, though, so I'm not taking any chances. I'm throwing him into space!"

"Should we have a countdown?"

"Nope! Doing it now before something goes wrong-" A gray light smashed into the top of her metal orb, and flickers of dust rained down. "Oh, god damn it!"

Duplicity dropped down just in time as the entire orb rusted and broke apart. It was as if it had suddenly aged by hundreds of years. The light died down right before it hit Green Wolf, who quickly pulled his way out of the flimsy and broken-down metal. The orb began to fall to the ground below, but the villain took a step off of it and spun through the air, landing on the golden hand that suddenly appeared beneath him.

A massive shadow rained down on the stadium, and all the heroes stared up at the flying figure of Golden God. Fairy Queen stood on the tip of his finger with her arms crossed. "Thanks for the save," Green Wolf called out, sheathing his sword onto his back.

"I can't help but notice your team isn't in the best condition," the woman said, clicking her tongue.

"Yeah. I'm fine, though." Green Wolf shrugged. "We can just leave them if you want."

Backup took a step back as he stared up at the villains. "Not good. I think they might be able to jump us."

Duplicity landed down on the ground next to him, frowning. She didn't have much longer left in her form. Soon, it would run out, and just like with Snowdawn, she'd need to recover, going into a sort of burnout-like stage. "What's the big deal? We planned to fight Fairy Queen and Golden God in the first place, right?"

That was the entire reason they had come in the first place. Pantheon had asked them to help out. The plan had been to use Pretty Face, or one of the other two locations, as bait to jump Green Wolf and force him to take them to Golden God and Fairy Queen. They knew Golden God would be down for a bit and wanted to take Fairy Queen out before he fully recovered, but even with him up and about, they had made a plan to take him out.

"The plan went wrong when the Wandering Coin showed up." Backup said, shaking his head. "The first plan had been for Ocean Empress, Poseidon, Battery, and yourself to jump Fairy Queen and overpower them once Ocean Empress brought the sword to Battery. The rest would be on support, throwing in attacks when they could. If Golden God was up, then Roulette, Myth, and Bad Wolf would deal with him until you guys finished, or the rest of us would support them and try to drive him back. Pantheon isn't here, and I'm guessing things didn't go well with Ocean Empress. Besides, you don't have a lot of time left in that mode. Roulette is strong, but even he'd struggle with a general of the Emperor, much less two of them."

"You're in luck, then," Fairy Queen called out. "We're not really interested in small fries like you," the woman said, waving them off. "You're really fine with me leaving your men behind, right, Green?"

"Yeah, screw them."

"Cool. But... Just in case, we really should take one or two of them," the woman hummed.

The monster was gone in the blink of an eye. Faster than any of them could even comprehend, Fairy Queen appeared between them. Roulette was the first to act, sending his bullets flying, but the villain simply waved her hand, and all his ammunition was twisted and changed, reality-bending to her will as she turned them into pretty flowers. She hooked her arms around a few of the villains, and her wings expanded as she took flight.

Fairy Queen was back in Golden God's hands faster than any of them could counterattack, setting three villains down. "Alrighty. Let's go."

"Seriously." Green Wolf huffed. "Out of all the villains down there, these are the ones you picked?"

"Well, I had to get Demonica." Fairy Queen said, cocking her head to the side. At her feet, Demonica slowly pushed herself to a standing position and glared at Green Wolf, who ignored her. "She was a friend of my son Polaron, after all. It would just feel wrong if I left her to her fate." The woman said, patting Demonica on the shoulder.

"Okay... And what about these two losers?" Green Wolf pointed down at the other two villains. White Lamb and Red Ape.

Red Ape stood up, dusting himself off, and helped White Lamb back to her feet. "Ha! Freedom! Watch out, Cinder! I'm not done yet! Your rival has one more trick up his sleeve!"

Fairy Queen just shrugged. "I can go get more if you want-"

"We do not have time." Golden God spoke up. The entire time they had been arguing, his many hands had been keeping them safe, easily deflecting bullets and energy thrown by the Watch Dogs. "I am leaving now." He floated up high, and his body began to glow.

Green Wolf sighed and nodded. "Fine. After this is over, though, I'm killing Red Ape myself."

"Huh?" Red Ape began, but then, in a flash, they vanished, leaving the heroes down below with the remaining villains.

"Oh crap!" Backup let out a loud hiss. "That's not good. I'm guessing they're about to appear on top of Myth and the others."

"What do we do now?" Bad Wolf growled, folding her arms. Her tail whipped back and forth as she glared down at the rest of the villains, who were still knocked out from the damage they took. "We still need to put these guys somewhere, and this time, make sure they don't escape. But we can't just leave Pantheon to die. Someone needs to get a hold of the Victorian or something. We greatly underestimated-"

The heroic monster stopped when a quiet ringing echoed out. Backup reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone. "Oh, hey. It's Ocean Empress. I guess she's fine."

"How does she have your number?"

"I was her father's best student!" Backup answered the phone and let out a low whistle. "Talk to me."

"Are you guys free?" Ocean Empress asked over the line.

"Yeah. We were just about to get ahold of the Victorian-"

"It won't work." Ocean Empress said over the line. "Her and Boy Genius noticed something out in space and left to check it out a while ago. No one can get a hold of them now. They were afraid it would be the Beast or something new, and are too far away from Earth by now."

"Seriously! You've got to be kidding me! Screw the guy who set these events in motion! He just didn't want us to have the Victorian on our side since it'd be too easy!"

"It's fine, though." Ocean Empress cut in. "I have a new plan. By any chance... Could I borrow your boat?"

***

Paragon hit the ground with a grunt as she rolled across it. The sword she held slid out of her grasp and spun across the ground before it stopped directly under Wish's heel. The villain stomped on the blade and sent it twirling in the air. Wish caught it and looked down at it, smirking.

"This is a pretty cool sword. It almost killed me earlier. Teleport the moon onto the surface of planet Earth!" Paragon flinched, but nothing happened. "Damn. Guess it doesn't want to work for me." Wish shrugged and threw the sword as hard as she could directly into the metal floor next to Paragon, causing the blind hero to jump. "Pick it up and get on your feet."

"Huh?"

"Did I stutter?"

Paragon grasped the sword and slowly stood up. Destiny still rested in her hair and looked around, quietly taking in the sight around them. They had made it to that weird tower, and Wish had flown them directly inside of it. It was large, nearly as tall as a skyscraper, and it was wide enough to fit a small stadium inside of it.

Time had eaten away at it, however, as had the many sand bandits. All the walls had been torn away, and wires hung out. If there were lights, they wouldn't work anymore. They were all the way at the bottom, which had actually been sunk into the ground. The only entrance and exit was a large hole in the side of the tower, the one Wish had flown in through, which was nearly thirty feet off of the ground. There were some stairs that looped around the place, like a lighthouse, and led all the way to the very top, where another floor rested, but that was about it. Everything else was either gone or so broken down that she couldn't tell what it was.

Rows of damaged monitors hung on the walls, many of which had been destroyed ages ago, and a few chairs were scattered about in all directions. It looked as if someone had tried to turn this part of the tower into a home of sorts. There were a couple more floors up above that she could try to reach by taking the stairs. It would also allow her to get to the hole above since the stairs circled around, but there was a big issue. Wish stood on them with her arms folded.

She didn't know if anyone else was in the tower. Maybe some villains or a Super, but if they were, they'd have to be up on the floor above. Wish didn't seem to care, though, as the villain hadn't even bothered to look around.

"Where are we?"

"No clue." Wish shrugged. "I heard the boss talking about this place. It's some sort of teleporter. It works like a gate to another world; instead of taking you to some pocket dimension, the gate just teleports you to the moon. I'd bet the entrance is up top. Or at least it should be up top, but this place is so rundown that I doubt it works anymore. Now, it's just a piece of junk like the Enforcer's Tower. Funny, right?"

"Why'd you take me here then?"

"Seemed like it would be a cool spot for us to have our battle."

"That's seriously it?"

Wish shrugged. "I don't need much more."

Paragon nodded and gripped her sword tighter. "Okay, but why did you take me? You have beef with Cinder, not me."

Wish's smile faded for a second, and the girl's eye twitched. "Well, to be honest, I don't really like you. It's more than that, though." It had been only moments ago for her. The fight with Cinder. She had been humiliated. That flame-based hero had shut her down every chance she could, and in the end, the only reason she would have won was due to Cinder running out of steam. "I found out how I can get stronger. See, I saw her do something like this." Wish explained, messing with the horns that now stabbed out of the top of her head. "Turns out, we can transform. Cool, right? I'm already way stronger. But I want more. The man who created us. He put pieces of himself in you. A piece of me. A piece of the Lord of Life. If I can get that piece back, I'll grow even stronger and have the power of the Emperor! This time, though, Life will devour the Sun."

Paragon nodded. "Okay. If that was the case, why didn't you just take the piece in me when you had the chance?"

"Doing so would kill you." Wish shrugged. "Of course, I plan on killing you, no matter what, but I thought it would be best to get that flame chick worked up and waste her energy first. After all, I've seen just how far her power can go. I'd rather avoid that before I have a chance to absorb you."

"You're lying."

"Huh?"

"If you really felt that way, you'd have killed me the moment we were out of sight and wouldn't be talking to me like this. You're scared, right? Scared of what will happen if you absorb the piece. Or maybe you're afraid I'll take your piece and absorb you instead when you try to absorb me."

Wish stared at Paragon and cocked her head to the side. "Or. Maybe I just wanted to beat you nice and slowly, breaking every bone in your cute little body until you pop."

Paragon raised the sword, pointing it at the villain. "I'm not scared of you! I'll fight you and-"

Wish's arm expanded and exploded out, allowing her to ram a fist into Paragon's head so hard that the girl's mask exploded, and Paragon was sent flying, crashing back first into the metal wall of the tower they were in. The entire place shook, and Paragon slumped down onto her back, seeing stars.

She had the body of a normal human—no super strength or speed. Despite that fact, somehow she survived. In fact, the attack hadn't even really hurt that much. She felt some aches in her body, but just like how she was fine being out in the wasteland, she felt mostly fine after taking a punch from Wish.

Paragon tried to stand back up, and her hand began to press down onto the metal behind her, denting it, causing her to jump. Destiny looked down at her hand, watching as her fingers easily snapped the metal.

"What? D- Did I do that?"

Wish sneered and narrowed her eyes. "What gives? Your body shouldn't be this- Oh, I get it. I bet this is that hero in red's doing."

"Battery?" That was the only hero in red Paragon could think of.

"Your DNA is… I never really looked at you before, but it's almost like you were created from four different people." Wish hummed. "I see. You've been trying to get stronger, haven't you?"

Paragon ignored the girl balling her hand into a fist. She had been working on her powers for a bit now. Doing what she had told Cinder. Using her ability to control cells on plants to try and improve it. Powers were like a muscle, so the more you used them, the stronger they would get. She hadn't bothered doing any physical training, but somehow another power was starting to appear within. Her body was becoming that of an enhanced human. Nowhere near as strong as it was in her realm, but enough where she was confident she could take more than one attack from Wish.

"I can do this... God, I hope I can do this." Paragon wrapped her hand around the handle of her sword, pointing it at the Lord of Life. "I'm the hero, Paragon. I save people!"

Outside of the tower where the other heroes and villains were, Cinder tried to run forward, but she barely got three feet before strings of blood and shards of bone grew around her legs.

"Did you forget we got our powers from Wish?" Casey taunted. His flesh quickly grew back, and he stood up along with Hannah.

"You're too soft." Hannah taunted. "You'd need to-"

She rammed her palm into the girl's stomach and unleashed a blast strong enough to turn Hannah's upper half to ash. Already, though, the girl's lower half was regrowing her body. "Not good enough!" Casey yelled, ramming a finger into her stomach and unleashing a red beam of compressed blood.

She felt her nerves scream out in pain as a small hole was blasted through her body. She fought through the pain and rammed her fist through Casey's face and out of the back of his head. His body kept going, though, even as his brain was set on fire, blood knives stabbing out of his elbow and cutting into her shield, which she raised.

From behind her, Hannah's body put itself back together entirely and swung out with a robust bone hammer, smashing it directly into her helmet. She ignored the blow and ignited her entire body in fire for a second, blowing both of the villains back. She jumped into the air and was about to blast away with her fire, but before she could, suddenly, from above, Kevin came crashing down toward her with wide red wings, allowing him to fly. He smashed a fist into her face, knocking her back to the ground.

"Snowdawn! I thought you had Kevin!" She shouted in an annoyed tone. Kevin, Casey, and Hannah still stood in her way, none allowing her to step forward.

"I do!" Snowdawn called back. "I'm fighting him right now!"

"Huh?" She turned to where her friend was, and her face paled when she saw him being thrown around by three different Kevin's. "Damn it! I forgot he could split!" He had shown it off in the fight with Wish the first time. Each of his clones were weaker, but that didn't really matter when they all had his crazy healing and growth. Kevin had gone from a random school bully to an actual Super-level threat.

That wasn't all she had to worry about, either. Doc ran over to Brenner, who had finally broken out of his ice. "Here you go. Use this to deal with that invisible brat." The blind man said, handing over a jar of black liquid. "It's not stable. I made it with Wish before she died the first time, and it could kill you, or it could give you just the right amount of boost that you need."

Brenner shook his head and took the glass, but he didn't drink it. "I'm not going to turn myself into some monster." He stood up and pulled out his knife. "I will help the mayor out, though. You stay here."

Whisper dodged a strike from the mayor and raised her weapon just in time to deflect the knife swing Mr. Brenner unleashed once he reached the mayor's side. Whisper wasn't able to block it entirely, though, and felt the blade dig into her shoulder, ripping it up and making her wince.

"This is a lot harder when I don't have the ability to see the future." It wasn't just the two of them the hero had to deal with either, as from up above, a Kevin clone came crashing down. Whisper rolled out from under it just in time but felt dozens of sharp rocks dig into her legs and arms, downing her.

Things weren't looking too good for them. The invisible girl had Brenner, Grove, and Kevin on her. Cinder had Casey, Hannah, and Kevin on her. As for Snowdawn...

The poor hero had six different Kevins beating on him now. Snowdawn raised his arms up, blocking a strike from one Kevin, but a second one would come up behind him, cause their hand to grow as big as a car, and smash it into his back. Each Kevin hit weaker than the last, all getting slower and less intense the more they split, but no matter how much he froze them or downed them, they just kept coming.

It reminded him of the history stories he had read about Mr. Sini's time-fighting Lucifer's zombie army—this wave of unending beasts that put themselves back together faster than you could tear them apart.

"This is such a cheap power!" Snowdawn yelled, punching through a Kevin, only to have three more fists smash into his face and break part of his ice off. He rolled with the punch, wrapped his fingers tightly around another Kevin, picked the clone up, and tossed him toward one of the spots where the sky had a hole. "Chill out in there!"

The Kevin hit the molten sand hole and began to sink into it. It tried to claw its way out, but Snowdawn blasted it with snow and ice, pushing it deeper into the molten pit of fire as the radiation began to rip its body apart. It didn't get back up and sank into the ground, no longer moving.

"Holy crap! Guys, I think I figured it out! Sun cancer! We just give them mega radiation damage and melt them with the sky holes!"

"Already ahead of you!" Cinder announced. She whipped her hand out, shooting her chains of fire in every direction. She didn't grab Doc, Brenner, or Grove. They were just normal humans, and she'd have felt bad. On the other hand, Casey, Hannah, and all the Kevin clones were fair game. "Take this!"

Her flaming chains wrapped around each of them before they could dodge. She was already powered up and above what most of them could handle. Maybe in the future, she could create flames hot enough to kill them instantly or filled with radiation like the sun, but as she was now, that was beyond her. So instead, she followed Snowdawn's lead and swung them all as high as she could, then down directly onto one of the molten glass holes.

All the villains screamed out, and she felt her heart twitch. They were all kids like her. Hell, Kevin and Hannah went to the same school. They were sinking into the molten glass, and their flesh burned as the sun stabbed down into them.

"If you promise to behave, I'll pull you out!" She yelled.

"No." Snowdawn shook his head. "Look. I don't like this more than you do, but they're way too dangerous. We still need to deal with Wish, and from what Battery said, the girl can respawn through them. I don't want to, but they need to die."

"But..."

"Snowdawn's right," Whisper called out, dodging in and out of Brenner, and Grove's knife swung. "Fuck those kids. They don't want to die like this? Guess they shouldn't have picked the side of evil."

She shook her head. It was wrong. But... She stared at them, watching as the flames ate away at them and they sank deeper. She was reminded of Polaron for a moment. In that situation, she had just needed to move her arm a bit, and he'd die. In this situation, she didn't need to do anything. She just had to watch them melt. This wasn't like a comic. Heroes killed. Myth had tried to kill Red Ape on her very first mission. She just wished it didn't have to be villains that were her age.

Her hand gripped the chain, and her arm shook. She had tried to kill Wish, and she even planned on doing it again, but looking at the three kids, she felt way more guilty about it. They were still screaming and thrashing around, sinking into the glass as the fire ate away at them. It made her feel sick to her stomach.

"I- I can't just sit by and watch this." She winced. "I'm sorry!"

"Cinder!" Snowdawn yelled at her as she got ready to pull the trio out of the hole. She never got the chance to, though.

All at once, it went wrong. Reality twisted and changed, and Kevin, Casey, and Hannah were no longer sinking into molten glass. Instead, they were replaced with a bright red liquid that began to heal and repair their damaged bodies. The sunlight was also blocked out as a massive black shadow cloaked over them. Golden God was so big, he easily blocked out all of the holes, keeping everyone safe.

"Why are we helping these guys out?" Golden God hummed.

"I thought one of them was Mars King," Demonica explained. She had been the one who asked them to save the three kids.

Cinder cursed as she stared up at Golden God. "You've got to be kidding me!" Kevin, Casey, and Hannah pulled themselves out of the hole, all fully healed, and instantly the clones began to swarm around Snowdawn once more. Golden God lowered his hand to the ground, allowing Green Wolf, Red Ape, White Lamb, and Demonica to all step off. "Why is today just the worst-"

She froze when she felt a hand touching her face. She hadn't even realized it, but someone had removed her helmet. Fairy Queen stood directly behind her, gripping her metal helmet in one hand. The woman's other hand poked at her body and rubbed her face. "My. You're far cuter than Full Monarch-"

She whipped around and threw a punch at Fairy Queen, but the villain's finger blocked the blow. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" She cursed. One finger? She was in her Lord form as well, so this was the height of her power.

Fairy Queen flicked the air, and she gasped as she felt an unseen force ram into her, and she was sent flying back. Casey and Hannah both appeared behind her and struck out with bone and blood, smashing her into the ground.

Snowdawn didn't do much better, literally being held down by eight Kevins, who began to pound into him with massive fists.

Whisper slid back, looking at all the villains that surrounded them now. "Myth! If you can hear me, we seriously need some help!"

Fairy Queen floated up and folded her arms. "Golden God. Go and deal with Wish. That's why I fixed you, after all. Her powers won't work on you. She should be in that tower over there. I'll stay here and have some real fun."

"What fun?" Green Wolf called out, folding his arms. "This isn't a fun game. All these kids are fighting amongst themselves."

"I'm not even going to get a chance with my rival at this rate!" Red Ape sighed.

White Lamb shrugged. "I mean, we're not on these guys' side. We can fight them too, right? That one over there looks like Mars King."

Demonica stared at Kevin in silence. "I don't like it." The villain finally said. "I think we should kill that one at least."

"Nah." Green Wolf shook his head. "I'm just going to wait for Battery. He'll be showing up soon."

"You think so?" Fairy Queen called out, landing on the ground.

"Yeah. I saw him earlier."

"You did-" As soon as Fairy Queen was on the ground, the woman blinked and instantly saw a flash of gold. Fairy Queen didn't even have time to think about dodging as Battery's fist rammed into her face so hard that the villain was sent flying back for miles as Battery unleashed a punch well beyond the speed of lightning.

"Yep. Looks like you saw him, too!" Green Wolf called out, drawing his sword.

Battery spun, and his body ignited in a bright blue light for a moment as beams of blue energy fired out. They slammed into Casey, Hannah, Red Ape, White Lamb, and all the Kevin clones, stunning them all and downing them for a few seconds. Green Wolf managed to block the beam with his sword, while Golden God just ignored the damage and calmly flew toward the tower in the distance.

"Way to show up just in time!" Cinder called out, standing back up and throwing the villains off of her.

"No talking!" Battery called out. His energy was golden once more, and he was already clutching at his heart. "I'll handle Fairy Queen! Stop Wish from getting Paragon!"

"Right-" She barely had time to raise her shield up as Green Wolf swung his sword out as hard as he could. She felt the floor beneath her break as she was flung back, and the villain placed his sword over his shoulder.

"Not so fast! I'm the one that's in charge right now, got that! Now! I want my boss fight!"

Battery turned to face him, but before the golden man could even take a step, Fairy Queen appeared behind him and rammed his head into the ground as hard as she could. The villain's eyes were filled with rage, and she dug her claws into the back of Battery's head and began to drag him across the ground as she blasted off with godlike speed.

"Battery!" She tried to run toward him, but the stunned villains were quickly getting back up. She weaved past them but was forced to stop and defend as Green Wolf swung his sword once more.

Kevin was the first to recover and jumped at her while her back was to him. He rammed his fist forward, but his attack didn't get far as Snowdawn appeared before him out of thin air; a statue of the boy was left where he had been standing, and he blocked the punch with a wall of ice.

It didn't matter much, though, as Casey, Hannah, and the other seven Kevin clones had managed to get back up by now. They were back in the exact same position, but now Green Wolf was here.

She blocked another strike but froze when she felt a pair of fingers press against the back of her head. Demonica stood behind her. "Not so fast."

"Hey, no fair! She's mine!" Green Wolf called out.

She sighed and stared down at her discarded helmet, which Fairy Queen had knocked over. She didn't feel like a hero at that moment. They were losing badly—more than they ever had. Paragon was in trouble, and they hadn't even made a dent in the bad guys. "You guys aren't going to win this, you know." She finally said. "You bad guys never beat the heroes. Why would that start today?"

"I don't know if you've noticed or not, but you're outnumbered." Demonica spat out. A purple fire glowed from her fingertip. "Not like it matters. After all, you're dead-"

Water appeared at the tip of Demonica's finger, putting the fire out and shocking the woman. Instantaneously, Demonica was forced to kneel as a wave of gravity hit her. This time, it was the bad guys who stared up as the sun was blocked out by a large shadow. A boat, one that flew, had appeared above them.

"I guess it's a good thing she isn't actually outnumbered," Poseidon said, stepping off the ship and dropping to the battlefield below. "I brought some serious backup."

Golden God, Fairy Queen, Green Wolf, Red Ape, Demonica, Mr. Brenner, Mayor Grove, Kevin and his clones, Casey, Hannah, and Wish. Counting all eight Kevins, there were a total of eighteen villains.

Poseidon landed on the ground and was followed closely by her mother as well as the Watch Dogs. That wasn't all, though. Money Tree dropped down slowly, and a sly smirk was on his lips. "Guess I'm coming to the battlefield a little early. Quite cruel to bring a sick man into the fight." He was followed closely by the rest of the Sub Enforcers. BB, Oxide, and Metal Ronin. Only Wasp Nest was missing.

The numbers had almost evened out. At the very least, the villains no longer held such a massive gap.

Cinder tightened the shield on her arm and smiled. "Alright. Let's try this again."


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