Chapter 99: The Return Of A Giant
Fairy Queen screamed out as the giant hand smashed its way toward her. She tried to twist and expand reality to create distance or cut it off, but the power didn't care. It tore right through it. The strength of a monster found only in legends. Giants were said to rival the power of the gods themselves in the story mankind spoke of before the Shadow appeared. This was the same power that was compressed into the fist forged from Battery's energy.
Fairy Queen never stood a chance.
The enormous fist slammed down, shattering the barriers she tried to form. The energy burned with the force of the molten core of the planet, burning her on the spot and destroying her. In an instant, she was flattened and reduced to less than atoms, all from one punch. The fist gradually faded and broke apart as the energy dispersed, and Battery let out a small sigh as the blue energy around him sizzled.
"Earlier, you told me trying to heal you wouldn't work twice. I suppose it's the same for your tricks as well. Did you really think another illusion would trick me?" Battery lazily slapped at the air, and the blue energy zapped off of him like shards of lightning. Everything twisted and broke, and he found himself back in the real world, staring down Fairy Queen, who was dozens of feet away from him.
The woman scowled, and black blood gushed down her lip as her teeth tore into it. "How did you know?" She demanded.
"Like you'd die that easily." Battery snorted. "You and me. We're both cockroaches. The only difference, though, is that I specialize in making sure roaches don't come back." He had changed ever since the blue light appeared. He still looked the same as before, for the most part. Instead of golden light, it was blue, and his iris had changed to match the color. The change was more in the way he spoke and acted. Like a predator that knew it had already won. "Sit still. I'll make sure you don't feel anything. It's the least I can do. We used to be on the same side after all."
"I'll admit you're stronger than me now." Fairy Queen grunted out. She cocked her head to the side and gave a sly grin. "I don't need to beat you, though. Just by looking at you, I can tell you're not doing well. Your body is practically falling apart."
It shimmered in the ocean of blue. Igniting his eyes and going through his veins, his body was slowly filling with cracks—ones that all hummed with a faint golden glow. It all started where his heart should have been and worked its way down. Small bits of him were already breaking off. Like a sandcastle that had been caught in a strong gust of wind, he would crumble before too long if he didn't shut the form off.
Fairy Queen's wings expanded out, and she let out a loud scream as everything began to break around. "Is this an illusion, or am I breaking reality? Try to figure it out-"
"Don't care." The cracks all across his body closed, and the ground beneath Fairy Queen broke apart as an energy hand large enough to hold her jutted out and wrapped its fingers around the woman before she could move. Her power shut off, and the breaks in the air sealed shut. She screamed out as the fingers of the hand began to tighten around her, ready to crush her. "I'm sure that this is the real you." Battery held his palm out, facing it toward her, and began to squeeze it shut. The hand of the Giant obeyed him and started to bore all its might into Fairy Queen. "It's okay. Just close your eyes. Your body will pop, and that'll be the end of it." Battery made a 'pop' sound with his mouth and smirked.
"Oh, screw you!" Fairy Queen screamed out. She tried to break out of the hand's grasp and expand her wings, but it was simply too strong. She formed barriers of reality, but the blue energy easily overpowered them all and shattered them before they could even truly form. "Let me go! You damn traitor! That's all you are! A mad animal who slaughtered his own family! You're no hero! Just putting on a mask does nothing! They'll all kill you when they find out who you really are! The crimes you've committed will ensure a special spot in hell for you!"
"Are you done yet?"
Fairy Queen panted, and her eyes glared at him, filled with madness. She breathed heavily before letting out one last snarl. "I hope that when you die, you see Full Monarch one last time and see the look of disappointment on his face."
"Goodbye, Fairy Queen."
The villain squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the intense pain. It never came, though. Instead, she felt a wave of force slam past her. Her eyes snapped open, and she stared in shock as Battery was blasted back. A whistle echoed out around them, and Battery just let out a sigh when he heard it. "Had to put nearly everything I had into that attack just to shove you a bit. You've really changed now that you're all blue." Green Wolf rested his elbow on Fairy Queen's head and pointed his sword at Battery. "So. Care for a rematch, hero?"
"Why are you here?" Battery asked slowly.
"Well, I was just sitting on the sidelines, bored out of my mind." The man hummed. He adjusted his wolf mask and raised it up slightly, showing off his lower mouth, which twisted into a grin. "Figured this was a one-time chance to see you in this mode. You pulled this out on me once, didn't you? Your speed and power shoot through the roof, but I'm guessing your body can't handle it. If we were to fight right out of the gate, I'd lose. Sadly for you, though, I've been absorbing energy all day. I'm pumped full of so much kinetic energy that I can cut through even whatever you've become."
"I don't have time to deal with you." Battery lazily pointed out with a finger and sent out a massive wave of his blue light. It wasn't like the normal thin beams he fired; this one was nearly as big as he was, and it deleted the ground as it flew at Green Wolf and Fairy Queen.
Fairy Queen was still bound up but managed to force part of her arm forward, twisting reality and causing it to bend and fold, making a ramp in the space around them. Green Wolf forced out a kinetic barrier around the ramp, and the energy hit it and flew over their heads and high into the air.
"Damn! He's not holding back at all. That guy is seriously trying to kill me." Green Wolf snickered and pulled his mask back down all the way. "Hell yeah, baby. Boss time."
"Imaginary energy." Fairy Queen grunted out. "That is Alpha's power. He controls power that shouldn't have existed. That blue light can twist and convert itself into any other kind of energy he needs it to, and he can shift his body into it as well. Not all of him changed, though. He can still be hurt by normal means, and at the moment he's unstable and falling apart."
"Thanks for the info!"
"Cut me out of this hand! Your kinetic energy can cut through it! We can team up on him, and-"
Green Wolf stabbed his sword through the fingers of the energy hand and into the stomach of Fairy Queen. He let go of the blade and left it in her as he walked away, giving her a casual wave. "Oh yeah. Our truce is gone. I had a talk with the rest of my team, and we don't really need you guys anymore since you've only screwed things up ever since we joined you." Blood gushed down Fairy Queen's chin as she stared at the sword impaling her gut in shock. Normally, attacks would bounce off of her, but Green Wolf was someone who could get past durability. "I'm going to play this game single-player!"
"Game?" Battery growled out when he heard Green Wolf. His energy wave had kicked up a wave of dust, but lightning danced off of him and burned it away, revealing Green Wolf, who walked directly toward him. "You still think this is all some sort of game?"
"Of course it is." Green Wolf announced. He had tossed his jacket earlier, which kept most of his knives, so he was down to his last pair. He pulled them out of his pocket and swung them through the air. "This is the boss fight! At your current level, you're near her, aren't you? You're like the Victorian! Or could it be you're even stronger! Either way, it doesn't matter, because you're the one I've been waiting for!"
Battery held his palm out, and a giant torso forged from his energy suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking the attack. It cracked as waves of unseen slashes smashed into it. Green Wolf was pulling in more power, constantly feeding off of all movement. Every second he fought, he grew stronger. That said, he was no match for a true monster. Battery held the power found only in stories of ancient history. Tales of creatures that fought the very gods themselves.
Battery's barrier broke to bits as the slashes tore it down, but the hero was already gone. Green Wolf filled his body to the very limit with kinetic energy and jumped back dozens of feet, but no matter how strong or fast he got, he would never be able to match Battery's speed. The blue blur was on him faster than the villain could even react. Battery rammed his hand forward and tore it through Green Wolf's stomach. It went all the way through and came out of the man's back, causing the villain to vomit up a wave of blood.
"I'd like to say I'll make your death quick, but I could care less about you." Battery whispered into the man's ear. He tore his hand out and batted Green Wolf's knife slash away. "You can't keep up with me while I'm like this." Green Wolf stumbled back, dropping one of his knives, and clutched at his stomach. The man swung his other arm out, sending another attack in Battery's direction, but the man sidestepped it. Battery flicked the air and sent a bullet of energy through Green Wolf's wrist, nearly blowing it off and causing the hand to drop the knife. "It's over, Green Wolf. I've used my Imaginary energy to give myself the power of Giants. They're imaginary beings that never existed, yet in this moment I embody them. I am them. All that power from their fiction courses through my veins. I hold the power that can rival even a Lord right now."
Green Wolf collapsed to his knees and bowed his head as blood poured out of him. "Yeah, you beat phase one." Out of instinct, Battery jumped away just in time. So much kinetic energy erupted from Green Wolf that the man formed a green aura around himself. The spot Battery had been standing at broke away as blades of kinetic energy stabbed out of the ground. "A boss fight is something that should be hard but fair. Something that the player can beat if they give it their all and use all their skills. Smart players always keep a trump card. They save up on potions and one-time-use items, then blow them all during the final fight. That woman, Fairy Queen, she called you Alpha, right? Whatever your real name is, it really doesn't matter. Just know that from this point on, you better be one hell of a boss fight to force me to bust my trump card out."
The energy cloaked around Green Wolf. It took on the shape of a large wolf pelt that dropped over his body. More of the energy twisted and forged itself into a sword made perfectly for him. He gripped it with his good hand and howling filled the air as, on either side of him, wolves began to rise up, created from his kinetic energy. The pack had found their prey.
Battery sighed and held his hand out. It hummed, and the lightning around it cracked through the air. Cracks began to appear around his palm, and steam rose up. The sleeve of his costume broke away, and his flesh began to turn a nasty black color and melt off his arm. A small hole was punctured into the universe. With sheer force, Battery created a basketball-sized portal to another realm. His arm took the damage for daring to use so much power, but he ignored the pain and reached through the portal, grabbing something.
"Just so you know, I'm going to take this seriously, Green Wolf. This will likely be the last time you and I get to talk. I'm not really sad about it, though. You're annoying." Battery pulled something out of the portal, gripping it with his damaged hand and raising it in the direction of Green Wolf. It was a black, jagged mace. One stained in blood. "This belonged to Hell Hound. I think it's fitting. I'll kill you with it since you're also a dog-themed bad guy."
"Dog-themed? Is that how you see me?" Green Wolf chuckled and swung his sword through the air as hard as he could. He unleashed enough kinetic force to slice the ground apart. They weren't like his normal attacks, either. They were packed with so much energy that they weren't unseen anymore. The air was filled with jagged, compressed lines layered on top of one another, cutting everything apart as they soared forward. "Well, this dog has some new tricks!"
Battery's destroyed hand gripped tightly around the mace, and his eyes traced the slashes through the air as they came at him. To him, the entire world seemed to almost move in slow motion. This was the first thing in a long while that was nearing his speed. Obviously, though, he was faster. Battery swung the mace out, and the top of it broke through the slash, breaking the energy up and dispersing it back into the world.
With his good hand, Battery held out his finger and fired a thin beam of energy that separated into hundreds of smaller beams coming from all directions and electrifying the air. Green Wolf kicked at one of his packmates, sending the kinetic beast into the air, and used it as a shield. Its body exploded and formed a massive barrier of energy around the villain and the other wolf. The beams rammed into it and easily tore past it, ripping holes through Green Wolf's body.
The villain gasped out as more of his red blood flowed down his body, and his vision began to blur. The beams died down, but he was already filled with holes that went all the way through his body. On his arms, his stomach, and through his chest. His blood constantly poured out, staining what was left of his shirt a nasty crimson color.
Battery stared at the villain, who barely clung to life. "Had enough-"
Green Wolf's laughter broke through the air, and the man's cloak grew larger and swirled around him, plugging up his wounds. "Get ready, Battery. Here's my everything!" Green Wolf raised his sword up as high as he could, and his wolf growled and crouched down, about to charge. The air next to it shimmered as his broken barrier came back together and reformed into the second wolf, also about to charge forward. All of his energy was compressed down to the edge of his blade. "Die!" He yelled, bringing his sword down.
This wasn't a normal slash. It stretched out so high that it reached the clouds, splitting them apart and going deep into the ground for nearly a mile. It was so wide that it'd be impossible for any person to move out of the way of it, stretching out in all directions by half a mile. It was faster, too—much faster than his old attacks. If a person did somehow survive that, though, it'd be the least of their issues.
Directly behind the attack, his wolves chased after it. Every step they took unleashed so much explosive force that it was like hundreds of bombs going off, kicking up a wave of dust nearly a mile high. They glowed, and when they reached their target, they exploded with enough force that they'd likely kill the other heroes there miles away. And the best part was that it was all from a single attack.
Already, his arm was about to swing again, and a second pair of wolves were appearing on either side of him. This was his maximum power. Everything he had. The ability to destroy an entire city hundreds of times over.
The world itself was on his side. It moved, and that power was his to absorb. He'd never be strong enough to halt the planet's rotation, but that didn't matter. Every drop of energy he had ever absorbed was unleashed in this form. It had taken him years of nonstop absorption to reach this point, and he'd have to spend another several years to recharge it. A perfect, undodgeable, unblockable attack-
Battery lazily swung the mace out, blasting his energy out of it and forming an arching barrier. Green Wolf's slash and wolves smashed into it, and instantly they burned away into nothingness, unable to get past them. Green Wolf felt himself step back as shock settled in. "How!"
"Hell Hound's weapon is made to handle arrogant fools like you. It's the perfect shield. A barrier able to block any attack from a Super. You never stood a chance." Battery slowly raised his other hand, his blue eyes boring into Green Wolf. "You're already dead." Behind him, it flickered into existence. "Rise my Giant. Kill."
The energy around Battery grew sharper and gushed out of the man, covering him up. It was hard to even say if he was human. Just like Duplicity, his entire body almost seemed to be made out of energy. He was jagged and rougher, like a lightning bolt that had been given human form. All color around the battlefield vanished, leaving everything in a nasty black and white shade. Only he kept his color, radiating his blue. With every step he took, more of his energy twisted and snapped off him, erasing matter and burning the air, constantly pulling everything in. He was living Imaginary energy.
His form began to grow, getting bigger as the energy swirled to its maximum, and in a single moment, he towered over Green Wolf, standing at nearly one hundred meters tall. Green Wolf stared up at the being before him. It was one he had seen before. Polaron had created a giant made of iron that had been so big it shook the island. The story Polaron once told him went through Green Wolf's mind, and in an instant Green Wolf knew that this was the person Polaron had based his giant off of. This was Alpha, the Emperor's Giant.
Alpha stood as tall as a mountain, covered in crackling blue energy that formed powerful armor. Dragonic-like wings, bigger than a house, stabbed out of the back of the Giant, and at its side was a sword, which the thing began to draw. Just drawing the blade was enough to destroy everything around the battlefield, splitting the land in two. Alpha stared down at the tiny dot, the pathetic mortal that dared to stand before him.
Green Wolf felt the smallest hint of fear for the first time in his life. "What the hell is this! Are you a Lord or something? This power can't be real!" He howled.
"I'm no Lord." Everything shook, and Alpha raised his arm. The sword stabbed up so high it went past the clouds. "I'm something worse. You're dealing with a Ruler. This is the power of a story. A story about beings that needed to be the biggest and strongest thing alive, for that was the only way they could even hope to harm the gods. This is the power of a child's imagination. A boy who wanted to follow after those old stories."
For a moment, he remembered it. When he had been a young boy living in the basement of his family's home. Exploring that city, which no longer existed, he had found remnants of the old world, before even the Lords existed. That was when he discovered the book speaking of the Giants and how they threatened great beings.
That was where his imagination and dream had first started. His desire to become like them. To grow so big and strong, not even the modern-day gods like Full Monarch could hurt him.
That was when he became a Giant.
Green Wolf threw everything he had at the true monster before him, but none of it mattered. It couldn't even begin to harm Alpha's large form. "Goodbye, Green Wolf." Alpha brought his sword down.
Everything was destroyed.
It was over in a single instant.
Wind tore through the endless field of sand around them, ripping everything apart, and a bright blue flash danced across the battlefield. Green Wolf barely had time to throw up a barrier in some sort of effort to stay alive. The sword rammed down, shattering the ground and blowing the entire field up, turning it into a volcanic wasteland as a massive crater was forced into the ground.
It was over. Green Wolf was...
Battery's giant form shattered, and the man fell to the ground, landing on his feet. His legs shattered due to the hundred-meter fall he took. Blood poured down his mouth, and he clutched at his chest, his eyes going wide as he gasped and his head shook. In front of him was a smoldering crater that held what was left of Green Wolf's body. Most of the upper half had been badly burned and crushed. Lava coated the area around them, slowly swallowing up what was left of Green Wolf. At last, the battle had ended-
"Still so cocky, Alpha?"
Battery turned around just in time as Fairy Queen came rocketing forward. She had managed to pull the sword out of her stomach that Green Wolf gave her and used what was left of the man's kinetic energy to break the hand that had tried to crush her. She swung out with her sword and rammed it directly into Battery's neck.
A skin-tight layer of blue energy compressed around Battery's body and caused the sword to shatter. Fairy Queen tried to jump away, but Battery was too fast. His hand grabbed her by the face. All the flesh and most of the muscle had been burned off of his left hand when it forced it through space. The bones of his fingers were visible, and he dug them into her face.
He still looked like a living lightning bolt, and the energy swelled off of him and danced through Fairy Queen's body, causing her to scream out. It glowed so brightly that, for a moment, her skeleton became visible.
"You have to die." Battery's other hand came up, and he wrapped it around the other side of Fairy Queen's face, lifting her off the ground. His voice was broken, and blood was starting to flow out of his eyes and nose. The energy form was breaking apart, revealing the human beneath. His flesh was filled with dozens of cracks, rapidly expanding as the shard in his heart burned with a golden flame. As his hands grew tighter over Fairy Queen's face, so too were the hands of death wrapping around him. "You must die. I have- It's the only way. Don't fight it. If it means saving 'her' then gladly give up your life, Jack Larison. That's the promise you made!"
Fairy Queen gasped and groaned, smoke rising off of her and her flesh turning a nasty shade of black as she twitched in his hands. She couldn't even raise her arms or try to fight back; her nerves were wild and destroying themselves. She tried to place the man under an illusion, but that only made it worse.
He was back on that roof. The ball came at him, but he didn't raise his hands to catch it. He kept them around Fairy Queen's throat.
The next thing he knew, he was knee-deep in water. The beach was as pretty as it had been before the Beast destroyed it. He could hear her calling out to him. The voice of his wife. He didn't bother listening to the actual words, though, and impaled his fingers further into Fairy Queen's body, making sure he couldn't let go.
The pain was getting worse now, building up in his heart. Like it was about to blow. Fairy Queen gurgled and shook, and he did the same, his throat filled with blood. He couldn't see anymore. His bloodshot eyes stared into Fairy Queen's, but the light gradually faded to a pinprick, his vision fading.
'Are you really going to let yourself die like this?' The voice was back. He never got to see the owner of it, and now that his eyesight was gone, it sounded like it was right in front of him. He ignored it. That was until it changed into a different voice. 'Mr. Larison? Are you really going to kill yourself like this-'
"You're not the kid." He grunted out. "Stay out of my head-"
'I thought you said you'd be there to talk anytime I needed it.'
It was the smallest twitch. But it was enough. For less than a second, Battery came to a total halt, and his energy died down. Fairy Queen's power surged forward, and she blasted her way out of Battery's hands! The man stumbled back and tried to take a step forward but gasped as suddenly, from behind, a massive sword impaled its way through his back and out the front of his chest.
Blood poured down Green Wolf's ruined face. His skull was nearly caved in, and it was hard to tell if his eyes were even still inside his head. Either way, the man had managed to create one last sword and rammed through Battery's stomach. The blade didn't last, though, and Green Wolf's melting body collapsed back onto the ground, vomiting up blood.
Battery dropped to his knees and threw out a blast of energy in the direction of Fairy Queen, blowing a hole through her chest and destroying one of her wings. She hit the ground rolling across the field of lava they were fighting in, still twitching and rapidly bleeding, as her body finally gave out.
Green Wolf and Fairy Queen were both down but not dead.
The blue light around Battery died out, replaced with a golden glow. It meekly began to heal his body, but it didn't matter. He had two large holes in him. One through the stomach that destroyed most of his organs and one through the chest that barely missed his heart. His left hand was in ruins, and all along his body, cracks grew. The golden light flickered, fading quickly, only managing to ease the pain. His ankles sank into the lava. It wasn't deep, but it was more than enough.
He crashed onto his back and stared up at the sun above. Its harsh rays burned his eyes as he wiped the blood out of them, able to see once more. Time was out. He failed to kill Fairy Queen.
The cracks in his chest began to expand and grow. His flesh was turning a nasty red, and smoke started to rise off of him. His heart was on fire. He was burning up as the golden flames pumped their way into his body. Victorian's ultimate weapon was about to kill him.
He heard footsteps, and his eyes barely made out the form of Red Ape. The villain approached slowly and picked up Green Wolf's mask, slipping it into his pocket. He kicked at Green Wolf for a bit, then quietly managed to get a hand under the man and raise him. The lava had somehow turned into solid rock, likely Fairy Queen's doing, the woman trying to stop herself from drowning in it. "Guess you're still alive, boss." Red Ape hummed, holding the torn-in-half, badly burned body of Green Wolf. "Looks like we're pretty much done here." Red Ape's eyes met Battery's, and he nodded slyly. "You were there the day that Cinder attacked my base." Red Ape reached into his coat and placed a jar of black liquid in front of Battery. "I spoke to Doctor Blue, and he told me that this drug was made to replicate a bit of Wish's regeneration. Not sure if it'll save you, but be my guest. You can have it. I don't need it now that I have the doctor."
"Why?" Battery groaned.
"I don't know." Red Ape shrugged and began to walk away, carrying Green Wolf's body. "I guess the game would be boring without you."
Battery stared at the jar in silence and reached for it grimly. His fingers wrapped around it, and he felt the burning feeling getting worse in his chest. He let out a low snort. "What a shitty life I had." He took his hand away and rested them at his side.
Everything began to go dark. It all started to fade to black. He didn't fight it. He didn't want to fight it. The image of the beach was still strong in his mind. All he wanted was to end up at that place. To feel the wind on his skin. To not feel like death. To not be alone anymore.
He just wanted to see his wife again.
A flicker of light caught his attention. A small fire. It started in the darkness and expanded. He felt lighter and was suddenly on his feet. He walked forward and found himself in front of a campfire.
"You came a bit early." His head whipped around when he heard the voice. The man's back was to him, but he still looked exactly like he did the day they fought. "Are you sure you want to be here?" Full Monarch asked softly.
Battery stepped forward, reaching out with a shaking hand. He still didn't see the man's face. Just the back of his head and his cape. "Full Monarch?"
"I really think you shouldn't be here yet." He watched the man throw something into the campfire. "After all, you still haven't finished your promise to me."
"But I'm-" Jack stopped and sighed, bowing his head. "I'm so tired."
"Then take a break." Full Monarch's voice was as bright and bubbly as the kids. Even without seeing his face, he could tell the man was smiling. "There's no shame in realizing your limits. Someone said that to me once."
"Well. I think I hit my limit a while ago." Jack rubbed his chest. It didn't really hurt that much. He took another step forward. "Can I sit down?"
"When it's your time, sure."
"It is my time. I'm not coming back from this."
"Yeah. You decided not to. Though you forgot about the people who care about you. There are others who made the choice for you."
"What-"
The fire began to go out. He felt himself stirring. He was waking up. He felt something on his lips. Something was going down his throat, pushing past all the blood that had built up. The sun above began to burn his eyes as the black void faded. Water flowed over his skin, and he felt the sand beneath him. For a moment, he wondered if he was on the beach. Maybe he really did die. He wasn't hot anymore. In fact, he felt cold all of a sudden. A chill he had never felt before started in his chest and worked its way through his body.
"Are you alive?"
"I kind of wish I wasn't." He groaned. He was still in a lot of pain. He stared up at Ocean Empress, who pulled away from him. "What did you do?"
Ocean Empress wiped at her mouth, clearing it of some of his blood. "Reverse CPR."
"Come again?"
"Your insides were literally on fire. I forced water into your body, froze the flames, put them out, and got your blood pumping again. I had to manually pump your heart for you, but it finally seems like it's starting back up. Your own body's natural healing factor kicked in, ensuring it all works again. If you weren't a Super, something like this wouldn't be possible. Even if you were a Super, it would normally still be impossible. I guess it's because you have the body of a monster that you can run even in a dead state like this."
He sat up, clutching at his heart. "My body is more like a machine. Part of me breaks down into energy as I use my power, and as long as I have energy, I keep working. It's one of the reasons I don't fully bleed when I'm stabbed. A machine can keep working even if it's damaged as long as the core parts stay together."
"It's not a fix." The woman pulled away from him and finally stood up. "I can tell just by looking at you. You're practically dead already. You've damaged yourself more than you can heal. I barely got you up and running again."
"That's a cold way of putting it..." Speaking of cold, he looked down at his body. His costume was mostly in one piece. The mask was a little torn on one side, and he had two large holes directly through it. The holes in his body were gone, though. Plugged up with actual ice. She must have tried to piece him back together. His own body was regrowing the parts over the ice and gradually replacing them. He couldn't regrow organs or heal damage this extensive, but his skin was piecing itself back together, making it look like he was whole. The cracks all along him would be covered up and unseen by all. Only he would even know just how much of his body was basically gone.
"Why are you even a hero if your body is this screwed up?"
"How are the others doing?" He bent down and picked up the jar of black liquid that Red Ape had given him. He placed it in his belt, out of sight from Ocean Empress.
"Don't dodge the question." Ocean Empress sighed and folded her arms. "It's all pretty much over. Myth and the others are still dealing with Golden God, but it's reached a stalemate. Everyone else has pretty much taken down the villain they were fighting. I came to help you take out Fairy Queen, but it looks like that isn't needed." She kicked out at the body of the unconscious Fairy Queen.
The villain looked worse than Battery. She wouldn't be getting back up to fight anytime soon. Not for a few days, at least.
"So. All that's left is Wish, then."
"Yeah." Ocean Empress tied Fairy Queen up with rows of water disks, then froze the girl's body just for good measure. "All that's left is Wish."
Battery sighed and felt the golden energy slowly crackling away at his flesh as he turned his power on. Even using the golden light burned and ached now. Worse than it had ever done before. He had one, maybe two more fights left in him if he was lucky.
"Alright. We're putting an end to this tonight. No matter what."
Chapter 100: The Hero Paragon
"Hey, you guys, think I could somehow create a clone of Cinder?" Red Ape asked, holding up the metal helmet Fairy Queen had taken off of Cinder. During all the fighting, he had swiped it. "Bad guys do stuff like that, right? Like it's the trope for the super smart villain to make a genetic clone of their rival and then sick it on them?"
"That implies you're smart." White Lamb stated bluntly. She rested on Green Wolf's stomach and poked at what was left of the man's face. He hadn't budged or said anything after his 'fight' with Battery. She had no idea if he was even alive. If he was his life as the leader was over. A good portion of his face was caved in, and his eyes had fallen out. Not to mention, most of the front part of his brain was crushed, and his legs had basically melted off. "What would you even call her clone?"
"I dunno? Ember?"
"That's actually a pretty good name."
"So, am I the leader of Zoo now, since I'm the last adult left standing?" Red Ape questioned. He slid Cinder's helmet over his mask and pressed down on the button, causing the face mask to slide over his mouth and give him a distorted voice. "Because I think I can pull off the evil voice wearing this."
Doc let out a heavy sigh. "First, I was kidnapped by the Hero Branch when I was a young boy. Then, I was kidnapped by Grove and forced to work for the Wandering Coin. Now, here I am being taken away by Zoo. Feels like I downgraded... Why are you taking me, anyway?"
"Because we're science bros!" Red Ape said, holding his fist out for a bump, only to awkwardly remember that Doctor Blue was blind and couldn't see.
"We should leave before Demonica gets any ideas." White Lamb hummed.
"Way ahead of you!" Red Ape announced. "I call this one Buber. Like Uber but with bugs."
Doc pinched the bridge of his nose. He was glad that he couldn't see the 'ride' Red Ape had been creating.
In front of him, hundreds of bugs were twisting and fusing together into a large platform, which Red Ape forced him to step onto. White Lamb kicked Green Wolf's body onto it and stepped on his back as the bugs began to skitter away and carry them in the direction of the city.
Red Ape looked back at the large tower in the distance. "So, is this a win for us, or did we lose?"
"Our boss will never be able to eat solid food ever again, you tell me."
"Good point!" Red Ape hummed as he watched the tower. "Well, until we meet again, rival."
Inside the tower, Poseidon stood guard. She couldn't help but look around at the strange room they were in. It was just her now. Cinder, Paragon, and Wish vanished when they went into Paragon's fake world. Whatever this place was, it gave her the creeps.
The metal floor creaked, and she jumped back, turning around and forming a barrier around herself. Standing at the entrance of the tower, covered in scratches and sweat, Mayor Grove stumbled in. He would have had to climb all the way up—a task most people would have given up on.
Not him, though.
He was lucky.
"A—Ah, Poseidon." He cleared his throat and wobbled back up to his feet, grabbing at his tie. "How fitting that you're here. I assume Wish is currently engaged in a battle with Paragon to gain control of the full title of Lord of the Land and Life."
Poseidon narrowed her eyes and stood up slowly. "You shouldn't have come in here." She fired a wave of water bullets at the man, but all of them missed. Not because he dodged. He simply walked forward, heading for the stairs, and happened to end up in the perfect place to avoid all of them. "What the- Are you like Whisper?"
"Sadly, no," the mayor hummed. He reached the bottom of the spiraling staircase that went all the way to the top. "I couldn't be further away from her. After all, I'm only a mere mortal."
"What? Are you claiming that you're not even a Super?"
"That's correct." The man chuckled. "I have no power. I'm just a human. As average as they come."
"Bullshit!"
"It's true. I've just gotten lucky. No. Actually, that's a lie." His smile faded for a second. "I don't think I've ever had a lucky day in my life. It hasn't been luck. Let's call it Destiny. That works far better. I guess you can say Destiny wants me to win. In order for the story to happen, I must go on."
"What kind of plot armor BS is that!"
Her water swirled again and launched a powerful blade of ice. By pure chance, though, a bird flew into the hole, and the shard of ice impaled it, causing the attack to narrowly miss the mayor.
"Why can't I hit you? Whisper was able to! You're cheating!"
"The issue is that you're trying to stop me. Whisper wasn't. She saw the Paths. If she admits it or not, it doesn't matter, but it's all been set in stone from the start. The ending to this tale." He began to walk up the stairs and reached into his coat pocket. He felt her trying to mess with his gravity, but he had a way to stop that. He pulled out a disk and chucked it at her. "Better block that if you don't want to die."
Poseidon saw the object fly toward her in slow motion. It began to beep rapidly. She had a choice to make. She'd likely tank the explosion and be fine. She could increase his gravity, stop him in his tracks, or block the attack. She'd be able to take the blast, but could the tower? If it tumbled and came down, what would happen to her sister when they appeared back in the real world? With a sigh, she created a bubble of water around the disk and froze it in order to stop the blast. It worked, containing the explosion, but it had done its job. She lost sight of the mayor as the blast went off.
The tower rumbled, but her barrier held firm. As soon as the blast ended, she pushed forward, ignoring the massive amount of pain she was in. She heard the mayor running as he made a beeline for the top of the stairs. She ran to the bottom but quickly created another barrier as he chucked another explosive disk at her.
She blocked it again, but the tower shook even more. It wouldn't be able to hold out. Even worse, the mayor seemed to figure the same thing out and chucked another one at a support beam. "Take one step forward, and I will bring this entire place crashing down!"
"Oh, screw you," Poseidon grunted.
She tried to take another step forward, but black blood poured down her mouth as she nearly vomited and collapsed to her knees. She had taken a strong blow from Wish, one that she hadn't recovered from. Her organs were a mess. She really didn't have the strength to fight like this. Especially not when the bastard was crazy enough to blow this entire place to bits just to get her.
She turned to look back at the spot where Cinder and Paragon had been. By now, the two were no doubt in the middle of fighting Wish. "For better or for worse. Good luck, Cinder. You seriously better not lose."
***
The plan had been simple: Weaken Wish enough so that Paragon could absorb her in the dream world. She had come up with the plan after Poseidon told her. Paragon mentioned that when Wish was first defeated by Mr. Larison and Myth, she ended up in the dream world.
During that point, Paragon had actually vanished, and no one was able to find her. As if she actually stepped foot in another world.
Honestly, she had been gambling on whether this would work or not, but she was relieved when she saw the pissed-off look on Wish's face. Cinder put on her best Victorian smile and ignited the fire around her. Her hair was already golden, and her eyes burned with a red flame. "Ready for a rematch, Wish?"
Wish's angry look quickly faded, and the girl sneered. "You already lost to me once? And that was before I got an upgrade." The girl reached up and stroked a pair of horns that poked out of her head. "I don't know if you noticed or not, but I'm a hundred times stronger now."
"Still lost in the real world."
"Dumbass. I didn't take that fight seriously. I knew that if I died, I'd get a shot at taking my full power back." Wish glared past Cinder and directly into Paragon's eyes. The girl wasn't blind in here. "You've only doomed your little girlfriend here. Once I absorb you, Sky, I'll just turn around and absorb Cindy here and become the Lord of Life and the Lord of the Sun."
"You know the Emperor tried something like that as well." Paragon hummed. "He tried absorbing Max Lightning and becoming the Lord of the Sky. It didn't go well for him, though. I hear he was sliced apart by his own creation."
"Too bad I'm not the Emperor." Wish stepped forward, and her head spun as well as her body, snapping and breaking as it came all the way around. It began to stretch out almost like a snake, and her back tore apart as wings unfolded. "I'm much worse." The bones formed large plating around her flesh, and claws jutted out. A tail started to expand out of her rear, and she got nearly ten times bigger. The bones formed into jagged black scales that hummed with an evil heat.
"Did she just turn into a dragon!" She asked in shock. "That's so cool, and also so not good for us!"
Paragon blinked, a little taken aback. "We might have a harder time than we thought."
She didn't back down and stared up at the Wish dragon. "I'm not going to lose."
Paragon had brought her to this dream world before. It had been so beautiful, filled with a long sea of flowers and a sun that wouldn't stop shining. Paragon had been like a goddess during that time. Able to do nearly anything. Not anymore, though. Wish was in charge. Everything was dead, and the sky was blocking out the sun, leaving them in endless darkness. The shadowy dead field twisted and obeyed the girl's command as Wish roared out, now transformed into a massive black dragon.
Wish's jaws opened, and a wave of green liquid blasted out of her mouth. She grabbed Paragon and picked the girl up, jumping out of the way just in time. The place they had been standing broke away and dissolved as the acid ate away at the world.
"Geez. She really did just become a black dragon, huh?" She blasted fire from the bottom of her feet and sent herself flying in the direction of the woods. She dropped down and placed the healer on the ground at the entrance to the forest. "Run and hide," she said.
"What?" Paragon shook her head. "You're not going to seriously try and fight Wish by yourself, are you?"
"If she kills you, then it's all over," She explained. She reached out and gripped Paragon's shoulders. "You don't have as much control as you do normally, and she'd take you out in one shot. I can't fight her and protect you at the same time."
"Do you really think you can beat her?"
She turned away and gave a slight shrug. "I'm going to try. Besides." She turned back to look at Paragon and gave him a grin. "Remember what you told me when you first took me to this place? I don't have to worry about anyone in here. I can cut loose." She cracked her knuckles and dropped down to a crouch. "Do you remember the plan we discussed?"
Paragon nodded her head. "Of course I do. But do you even have a plan of your own?"
"Yeah. I'm just going to win!" She blasted high into the air, going up as much as she could. Fire streamed out of her hands and feet. She still couldn't fly, but this was a close second. Wish was already in the air, having tried to find them. "Hey, ugly! Up here!"
Wish's head turned to look at her, and the girl's wings flapped as she flew in the direction of where she was. Wish's eyes narrowed when it locked onto her enemy. The flame-based hero was getting higher and higher and soon broke past the clouds, truly testing just how expansive this dream realm was. "So, you're the one I'll absorb first?" Wish asked, her voice rumbling in the air around them. "No matter. At the end of this day, I assure you, I will be a Lord of something!"
All at once, she shut off her fire and began to fall back toward the ground. She spun through the air and rammed her hand forward as soon as she reached Wish. The dragon roared and tore its tail through the air. She pressed a button on her wrist, bringing up her shield just in time. Wish's tail slammed into her, and she blocked most of the blow. It was still strong enough to shove her back and send her flying through the sky.
As she dropped, she stopped her fall by firing a chain made out of fire out of her hand. It wrapped around Wish's body, and she launched fire out of her feet, swinging herself over the beast and tying the chain around Wish's wings, stopping her from being able to fly. She stood on the dragon's back, and they both began to fall to the land below. Wish's head twisted all the way around, the neck getting even longer, allowing the dragon to bite at her.
She blocked the strike with her shield and still held onto the chain as they approached the ground. Wish hissed, and her maws opened, firing out another wave of thick acid. She wisely decided not to test her shield's durability and instead let go of the chain and jumped off of the dragon's back as the acid fired through the air. Flames blasted out of her feet, shooting her back into the air. Wish's wings unfolded just in time to allow the villain to glide over the ground and take to the skies once more. As she fell, she created a bow of fire and launched her arrows out in an effort to down the dragon, though it barely slowed Wish down.
"Remember when we first fought, and you decided to randomly kiss me?"
"Are you wanting another one? Sorry, but I'm not really into crazy girls-"
"Aw! That's too bad." Wish flew over her and rammed one of her clawed hands directly into her back. She came down hard and slammed into the ground, groaning. She rolled over onto her back but didn't have enough time to stand up. Wish landed on the ground and placed one of her feet over her body, pressing her down into the ground. "I wasn't asking. Pucker up hot stuff." Wish went to open her mouth to spew out her wave of acid, but she managed to raise her hand first.
The golden fire seeped out and took shape, forming into a giant backpack that opened up above her. The acid began to spew, and the bag rose up, wrapped itself around the dragon's snout, and sealed shut, blocking it off. She raised her other arm up and used the shield as a makeshift blade, ramming it down onto the hand that was pinning her. The metal heated up from her fire, allowing her to slice through it, and her flames ate away at the rest of it, blowing the limb to bits and causing the dragon to shift slightly. Wish forced her mouth open, destroying the flaming hand that was grabbing her, and sprayed out acid once again, but she was already moving away.
"Sit still!" Wish growled, already regrowing her missing limb. "I want to drown you in my fluids!"
"Pause! You can't just say stuff like that girl!" She called out. She ran across the ground at inhuman speeds. They were in the field of dead flowers, so she had plenty of room and places to go. "I will say, though, I wasn't expecting the whole dragon form. It's pretty cool. Honestly, though, acid is never the way to go for a real dragon." She turned around once she had some distance and watched as Wish ran toward her. Every step the beast took practically shook the dream world that they were in. "Everyone knows fire is what a dragon really uses. I don't have a dragon, but I do have something pretty cool that I can show you."
Her golden fire came back. It ignited around her body for a second, lighting it up before it expanded and grew off of her. Just like when she created the backpack out of fire, she commanded the flames to take shape. They twisted and molded together directly behind her. Mr. Larison had his weird astral avatar form, where he would create Giant limbs, and she had copied that once before. She created her own astral avatar forged from fire. Something Wish had seen already.
The golden flames took shape into a massive, forty-foot-tall backpack. The backpack had large arms and legs that came out of it, and it flexed, showing off its guns. She stood all the way on top of her creation and folded her arms. "Get ready. I'm about to pull off a move from my favorite fighting game!" Her backpack placed its hands together at its side, causing a large ball of golden fire to appear between its palms. It stepped forward, shaking the ground, and launched its arms out, sending out a massive golden beam of energy.
The black dragon's eyes narrowed, and Wish opened her mouth, shooting an equally impressive beam of compressed acid. Both attacks met in the middle and blew the ground around them to bits as they clashed. Slowly, though, the fire began to overpower the acid, eating away at it and pushing forward. Wish howled in pain as the attack washed over her and the fire blasted through her mouth. Part of the villain's head caught fire, and it whipped around wildly. The backpack took a step forward and put more power behind its attack, causing the massive energy beam to grow in size.
Dozens of meters away, Paragon made a face as she watched the goofy bag begin to burn Wish into ash. "I still don't get why she has a weird obsession with backpacks." In the fight with Lucifer, Full Monarch had created a bunch of animals made out of fire, so it was possible, though it was still a pretty goofy idea all things considered.
Despite the pain and burning sensation, Wish forced herself through the golden fire. The dragon slammed forward and clawed out, cutting into the backpack. The energy beam died out, and the backpack dropped to its knees, clutching at its stomach, which gushed out random school supplies that were also made of fire. Wish glared only to realize at the last second that Cinder no longer stood on the backpack.
Up in the air, Cinder began to fall to the ground, having jumped off of her giant bag a while ago. The girl brought her hand up and saluted. "Your sacrifice won't be in vain, Baggy. I'll see you on the other side."
Wish's eyes narrowed as the bag began to swell up with a golden energy. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me-" The backpack exploded with a mighty force, unleashing all of its energy and scorching the ground. Cinder brought her shield up, using it to block most of the force of the blast, which sent her flying back for over a mile. She slammed across a pond made of blood, skipping across it like a rock, and reached the other side, smashing through the ground and forming a mini-crater.
"Let's not do that again." She groaned. Even though Baggy's explosion had been her plan, she hadn't expected to be flung so far back. She wasn't holding any of her power back in here. In the real world she constantly only used about thirty or forty percent of her power to not hurt her teammates, but in here, against Wish, she truly got to go all out. Speaking of Wish…
"I will turn your mug into my cup!" The dragon roared and came stomping out of the mushroom cloud that had been formed by the blast.
She rolled over, got back onto her feet, and lifted her shield. The fire started to slowly swirl around it and burn hotter. It formed into a massive disk, and she swung her arm forward, firing it out. The same attack she used on Mars King's body when Paragon first took her here.
The disk of fire expanded, growing bigger and hotter, and Wish stood up just in time for it to hit her. The dragon was still in the middle of recovering and wasn't able to move out of the way fast enough. It cut straight through Wish, severing her legs, and most of her body was ripped in two. The villain crashed back down and screamed once more. Cinder yelled too and fired herself into the air, then blasted her flames out of her hand and slammed herself directly into the head of Wish, breaking through most of the skull.
Half of her body sank into what she assumed was the creature's brain. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as the fire began to flow over her skin. Every part of her became cloaked in fire, as if the sun had taken on a human form. She had done this once before in her first fight with Wish. They say that Full Monarch was always cloaked in a bright blue fire that covered his flesh entirely. Her fire was golden, and she couldn't keep it up for long; in fact, it only flickered on for a second, but it was more than enough.
Her fire reached the same temperature as the sun and expanded out in a massive orb, burning every drop of Wish away and ripping apart most of the ground beneath them. It was so hot that it even managed to catch the air itself on fire and send out an ocean of heat waves in all directions. She had been leading Wish away from the forest for this very reason. The orb tore Wish's atoms to bits and turned her less than dust, brightening up the black sky, and then, in an instant, it was all gone.
Cinder breathed heavily as her fire went out. Her hair faded from blonde to black, but she shook her head and steeled herself, forcing her form back on. "H—How do you like that? I call it going supernova. I literally became a mini-sun. Can't do stuff like that in the real world since it would kill everyone around me for a few miles. Not you, though. You can come on out. I've dealt with you enough times to know that's not how it ends."
The darkness came back as the fire around them faded. Slowly, a large hand rose out of it as the black dragon reformed out of the planet's ground. It let out a loud chuckle and cocked its head to the side, glaring down at her. "I didn't scatter any of my cells. How did you know I could revive myself in this place?"
She snorted and stared up at the beast as it glared down at her. Her arms ignited with fire, and she gripped down on her shield even harder. "Paragon told me how this place works. When she's in charge of it, her real body is somewhere else, dreaming up this realm. I figured it'd be the same with you since you're now the one in charge." Also, there was no way the universe would throw her a bone and make the fight end that easily.
"If you know that, then you know that it's impossible for you to win." The dragon chuckled. "I can revive an infinite number of times no matter what you do to me."
She was acting tough, but the truth was, she was low on power. Using the supernova and Baggy were extremely draining. Using both back to back and keeping her Lord form up was asking for trouble. Her blonde hair was flickering, changing from black back to blonde, but she refused to let the power fade. Her eyes kept burning with the fiery red glow of her Lord form.
Wish stared down at her with a cocked head. The dragon almost seemed to sneer at her. "You're out of options and tricks, Cindy. I've seen through you. This won't be like the last fight where you keep pressing me."
"I'm not out of this fight just yet-"
"I think you are."
She gasped as the ground around her suddenly rose up and blades of thin bone stabbed into her arms and legs. They tore through her and spilled her blood, causing her to drop. The ground surged up like chains and pulled her down, and the dragon lazily placed its foot on her head.
"Did you really think that you stood a chance in here? Within this place, I truly am God!" The claws of the monster stabbed down into her back and pressed down, nearly snapping her spine and causing her to scream. "I was playing around before. The moment we took the battle to this place was the moment you lost. I control all that you see. I could attack you from any direction at any time, and there's not a damn thing you can do. I can come back any number of times that I fall; I am unbeatable!" Wish's claw fully stabbed into her back, and she was lifted up. Wish flicked her wrist lazily, but that was more than enough to send her flying off of the claw.
She hit the ground and rolled across it, going far. Every time she bounced off of the ground, the rocks cut away at more of her flesh, biting and gnawing at her as if they were alive. She finally came to a stop, but Wish was already on her. The dragon came down from the air and smashed its paw back down onto her. Bits of acid dripped down the beast's maw and splashed down onto her flesh, burning tiny holes into her body.
She was reminded of her battle with Intake. How helpless she had truly been in that fight. Despite the bad memory though, she laughed.
Wish stopped and glared down at her. "Did you go insane? Huh? Your brain get fried or something? Stop laughing, you dumb bitch!"
Her laughter only grew stronger as she was shoved further into the ground.
Wish growled and applied more force, shoving her body deeper into the ground. "Say it. Say that I'm stronger! That I've beaten you! That I've done what the Emperor never could and won in a battle with the Lord of the Sun! Quit laughing and say that I beat you!" Her head was thrown back, and she was laughing her ass off as if the most hilarious thing just happened. "You're about to die! What could be so funny! Stop laughing!"
She reached up, still chuckling, and wiped away some tears in her eyes. "Sorry. It's just that I find it so funny that literally every villain I've fought has made the same mistake." She stared up into the dragon's eyes, her fiery red ones causing the beast to step back. "You always forget to pay attention to the person on the sidelines."
Pain. White-hot and blinding. It all came from out of nowhere. That was the only way Wish could describe what she just felt.
"Seriously. What's with you, bad guys, thinking that we heroes will play fair? Did you really think Paragon wouldn't try and get revenge on you after what you did with her sister?" She slowly stood up, grabbing her damaged gut. "I hope you suffer. I hope it hurts."
Wish felt a wave of agony smash into her from all sides. The dragon felt its eyes go wide, and it gasped as the scales around it began to drip down its form and it started to melt. It was breaking apart, and Wish stared down. Her vision twisted and changed. A sword was stabbed directly into her throat.
Looks like Wish really wasn't that godlike.
A few moments earlier...
"If it's anything like mine, then it should be over here..." Paragon walked through the dead forest. All around her, she could hear the sounds of Cinder's fight. The girl really wasn't holding back and was using everything she had to put Wish down. It wouldn't keep the false Lord dead for long, though—not as long as her core was intact. "There you are."
In her world, she kept it here. Deep within the woods was where she allowed her actual body to reside. Or at least the mental avatar that was her body. She would sleep, take control of this world, and make copies of herself that were stronger than even her sister. If Wish truly was like her, then it'd be the same.
Though the world was dead and gray, everything was how she left it. The forest opened up, and twisting branches formed a wooden slab directly in the middle. She had based it on an old fairy tale. Wish's body was on the slab. The girl's snow-white hair was braided back, and her arms were folded over her chest. Her eyes were closed, and it was hard to tell if she was dead or alive. She wore a long black dress, one woven from dead plants.
The dead ground was particularly strong around Wish, dried-out husks of plants rising up like phantom hands as if to stop anyone who got too close to the sleeping girl.
Paragon crouched down and placed her palm on the ground. Even from where she was, she could feel the intense heat wave that Cinder had created. She wasn't as strong as Cinder. She knew that. She might not ever be. She just wanted a portion, though. A sliver of the girl's true power. "Just give me enough strength to put an end to this nightmare."
She didn't have as much control over the realm as she normally had. In fact, she barely had any—just enough to cause the plants to break away from the part of the ground her hand touched. She felt something brush against her palm, and she raised up the blade of Nier as it came out of the ground, which allowed her to summon it. Avalon's words still rang through her mind.
"Give me the power to be a superhero!" She ran forward and swung the sword out, cutting through the vines, and she jumped up onto the table where Wish's sleeping form was. She twisted the sword around and brought it down, stabbing it directly into Wish's neck.
Wish's eyes snapped wide open, staring at the sword in her throat. She gurgled a bit, and a look of pure rage came onto the Lord of Life's face. Her power swelled up, and Wish tried to scream, but it was more of a gurgle as blood gushed down her mouth and neck.
Paragon's yell mixed with Wish's as she drove the blade forward. Bones formed into blades and stabbed at her, but she fought through the urge to jump away and twisted the blade! "This is where you die!"
Wish's head flew into the air, severed from her body…
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
8 Power
stone 
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