Chương 119: Monster
Those with powers are known as Supers. It is because they can have Godlike abilities that people wonder if they are truly human. Despite that, though, all Supers still look like they did before they got their powers. They still look human.
Some Supers, however, gain the ability to enter a state where their power is active at its peak, transforming their body into a new form. All Lords have this, calling it their Battle Mode, where their hair changes, and the children of Lords also have a similar state of power, only able to use their abilities when they transform and let their powers take over. The most famous Supers with transformations were the Thaddeus clan, who all became one with their Egos, making it unclear who was truly in control of the body.
Fire Prince was much the same. The Ego within his power came bubbling out, transforming his body into a higher state that could utilize his power at its maximum. He stepped forward, more of his suit burning away and being eaten by the flames as they flickered across his skin. Across from him, on the other side of the dance floor, Max stood. The boy's arms were up in a guard stance. He had changed his outfit from the diving suit to a basic white dress shirt and pants that practically glowed as bits of electricity popped into the air around him.
"Who are you?" Fire Prince spat out.
"Someone who doesn't like villains." Max sneered at the bad guy. "Your kind will pay for what you did to my father."
"You're not in a costume, which means you aren't a hero, right?" Fire Prince snorted. "If that's the case, then by society's standards, you're a villain as well."
"If the Hero Branch wants to stop me, they can try." Max and Fire Prince began to slowly circle each other as they walked across the dance floor, neither taking their eyes off the other. "I'll use the power my teacher has drilled into me to stop you all and enact my revenge."
"Teacher? Makes sense, I guess. You seem pretty stupid. I'm not shocked there is someone else pulling the strings." Fire Prince rubbed his chin, digging his rock fingers into the stone surface and causing magma to gush down his face. "Why don't you think for a moment what happens when I die? I'm running this city. I go down, and suddenly, that leaves a hole in the power balance. We already lost the other three Princes. I've noticed more and more villains have been going missing. I'm guessing it has something to do with that armored man. He's using you to get rid of his competition and clear the path himself."
"You're wrong. My teacher is Nier! The Lord of the Land!" Max rocketed forward at his top speed, lightning crackling around him. He used a boost of air to shove himself forward and rammed his feet directly into the stomach of Fire Prince.
The villain let out a grunt and made a face as he was blasted back. All of his people had already evacuated the building, so he didn't have to worry about slamming into any of them as he rolled across the ground and smashed head first into the wall. The entire club shook, and he gritted his rocky teeth, ripping his way out. Because the building was empty, he didn't have to hold back. He brought his arms up and then rammed them down as hard as he could, shattering the floor and sending shards of glass everywhere. Magma exploded out of the ground, rising out of a series of cracks that expanded, heading for Max.
Max felt an intense wave of heat hit him as all the air became hot. It got harder for him to breathe and focus, but he managed to use his power to shoot down an air current that threw him up into the air, avoiding the lava that flowed out. He reached the roof, grabbed onto a hanging light, and stayed up in the air. The heat of the lava still burned, though, and if not for his superhuman durability, he was sure he would have already been cooked. After becoming a Lord, all of his stats had shot through the roof, so he was no longer on the same level he had been when he first fought Stab Face. Despite how much stronger he had become though, he was faced with his strongest enemy yet.
Fire Prince smashed his hand into the destroyed wall behind him and set fire to the shards of rubble, which he then threw at Max as hard as he could. Max hung from the light with one arm and raised his other hand up, pointing a finger out. Lightning blasted from the finger, going wild in the air and blowing the rubble up before it could reach him. Then he used the light to swing himself from side to side and jumped, boosting himself further with his wind, which allowed him to crash onto a spot on the dance floor that hadn't been covered in lava yet.
Fire Prince ran at him at full speed, more of his lava gushing out. The villain charged through the pool of magma, throwing a punch in the direction of the Lord of the Sky, who proved to be too fast. Max casually dodged the strike and punched out with his fist, leaving a large crack on the Prince's side. Just touching him burned his hand and caused more lava to flow out. His lungs were aching, and his skin was starting to blister from the heat, but he didn't stop and unleashed another lightning-fast punch to the bad guy's gut.
Fire Prince nearly threw up from the force of the attack but managed to stand his ground, swiping out with his palm and blasting a wave of fire. Max casually caught the villain's wrist and lifted it up, causing the attack to completely miss and smash into the roof above, catching it on fire and filling the room with intense black smoke. Max rammed his elbow into the face of the gang leader, shattering the man's nose and causing the Prince to howl.
With one last desperate gamble, Fire Prince tilted his head, pointing the opening of his volcano head in the direction of Max. It was like a bomb went off, blasting out a stream of lava so intense it might as well have been a beam of energy. Max had no chance of dodging it due to how fast the attack was, so he did the next best thing. An actual tornado formed around his body, the air swirling and hissing as it caught the stream of magma and began to rapidly circle around Max's body. With a flick of his hand, the stream was thrown back, hitting Fire Prince and covering his body in the lava. The air rapidly grew colder, causing the magma to grow solid and rough as it became hard rock, leaving Fire Prince encased in stone with only his head poking out.
Max brought his other arm down, and the electricity in the air formed together into a bolt that dropped directly onto Fire Prince's head, causing the villain to howl. "I would have beaten Water Prince if he didn't sneak attack me." Max looked down at his hands, wiggling his fingers. Nier had sent him after dozens of villains already. The Prince was just the next step he needed to take to unlock more of his father's power.
"Stupid boy." Fire Prince gasped and groaned, catching his breath. "You can't even see how you're being used, can you-"
Max rammed a fist into the stomach of the fire-based villain, causing Fire Prince's eyes to roll back. "Shut up." Max cracked his knuckles, which caused the wind to twist and bend around his arms, almost forming into a drill made of pure air. "You don't know what you're talking about. Nier was a good friend of my father. He's personally training me to take out scum like you. My teacher is one of the greatest Supers in... In... The..." The wind suddenly died out, and Max felt himself wobble back and forth. His body was sweating intensely, and his vision began to blur. His heart was beating wildly, and his lungs almost felt like they were about to explode. "W- What the hell-" He dropped down to his knees, grabbing at his chest.
Fire Prince gave a wide grin and flexed his body, shattering the stone around him. "Looks like it's finally kicking in."
"W- What?"
"When a volcano erupts, it unleashes a wave of gas made up of different elements. These fumes have rapidly filled the air and work almost like poison. Being a Super, it seems it took a while for it to kick in on you. Most humans would have died long ago." He reached down, grabbed Max by his ponytail, and picked the young man up by it. "If you were smart, you'd have taken the battle outside and not in an enclosed space like this. Between my vapors and the thick smoke from the fire, all I had to do was wait." He twisted his hand and threw Max into the air. As the Super began to fall, Fire Prince pulled his fist back and threw out a powerful punch. "This was never a battle of raw strength. 'Course, I am still freaking strong!"
Max felt his face nearly cave in as the punch shattered his nose. He was sent flying back, slamming into the wall so hard the entire building nearly came down. Smoke covered everything by now, and his eyes stung as he tried to figure out a plan. Fire Prince stalked toward him slowly, his smirk growing.
"I never liked the other Princes." The man spat out. "I was forced to work with them due to the power balance that had been formed. Now though, that armored bastard went and ruined it all." He reached Max and lifted his foot up, ready to bring it down. "I tried hard to keep my city in a peaceful state. I make sure the drugs don't get dealt to the kids, and the poor don't gotta suffer. Do you know how hard it is to be a villain with a moral compass? Then dumbasses like y'all show up and ruin my entire plan!" He brought his foot down with as much force as he could, using all of his strength in an attempt to crush Max's skull. "Die!"
Max flinched but then stopped when he felt the force press down on the back of his head. It wasn't all that strong. He blinked and looked up at Fire Prince, who had a look of shock on his face. The villain's rocky skin broke away, and his head reverted back to normal. All the lava in the room rapidly hardened and shattered, and the fire began to go out. Fire Prince's power simply shut off, and like all non-Lord powers that had a transformation that suddenly meant he no longer had any ability.
"What the hell!" Fire Prince glared down at his human hands, trying to force his power back on, but it didn't work. His ability was refusing to activate.
"Halt, evildoer!" A loud voice announced, speaking in a proud tone. Both Supers were no longer alone. Standing at the very back of the room, another Super arrived on the scene. "I'm here to take you down once and for all, Fire Prince! Young Dog stands before you!"
"Young Dog?" Max made a face as he stared at the man on the other side of the room.
Young Dog wasn't that young... Sure, the man didn't look old by any means, he looked to be in his late forties or early fifties, but it was well known Young Dog was actually well into his seventies and only remained youthful-looking thanks to his good genes. He had mixed-colored skin, and his head was covered up by a military helmet. His entire hero costume was actually a military uniform, the kind a normal soldier would wear, but the color was off. It was bright white. So white it hurt people's eyes when they looked at it, and it was covered in hundreds of sponsor stickers all over it. A long cape flowed behind Young Dog, also covered in dozens of stickers and brands, and a belt of knives went across the man's chest.
The son of the great hero Sini, a child of a Lord who did not possess any inherited power from his parents. Besides his enhanced strength, his only other power was one that neither his mother nor his father had. Young Dog casually ripped a knife out of his belt and threw it in the direction of Fire Prince, who was forced to block the throw with his wrist. The villain hissed out as the blade stabbed into his flesh and caused his blood to spill.
"Why can't I use my power? What did you do to me!"
Young Dog smirked and drew another knife. "You're under the effect of my ability. It can hardly be called a power; it barely works on the strong, but anyone as strong or weaker than me will have their ability shut off just by me being near them." The man twirled his knife between his fingers. "The Hero Branch sent me to put an end to the crime here in Oleander, and I have no intention of letting my father down. Oh, you might want to grit your teeth, by the way; my power isn't working on that young man."
Fire Prince spun around, but it was too late for him to react. Max was already back on his feet and ramming a punch directly into the man's stomach with everything he had. The villain's powers were shut off, his enhanced durability gone, and the strike literally tore a hole into him. Max didn't stop there, though, forcing a powerful burst of wind out, which blasted the bad guy across the room, sending him smashing through the wall and out of the building, where his body fell to an alleyway below.
Max breathed heavily, still feeling as if his lungs were about to burst. He used more of his power, forcefully circulating air around his lungs, clearing them of some of the gunk as best as he could. He spat up coal and smoke and rubbed at his throat. "Thanks for the save-" He barely reacted in time, blocking the knife that was thrown at him. "Hey! What gives! I thought we were teaming!"
Young Dog didn't answer the hero and instead reached behind his cape, drawing a sword. He jumped forward with his enhanced strength, but he wasn't fast enough to beat a Lord. Max easily blocked the blade, swinging his arm out, causing the weapon to shatter on it. Young Dog dropped his blade and pulled something off of his belt, throwing it behind Max. It was a bomb that went off, staggering Max as the blast hit him in the back. Before the Lord could try and recover, Young Dog grappled him by his arm and threw him to the ground, using his weight and strength against him.
Max gasped as he felt Young Dog's knee press down into his throat. "Who are you?" Young Dog asked sternly. "Answer fast if you still want the ability to talk."
Max pressed up with his strength, causing a layer of air to blast off of him, shoving the hero into the air. Young Dog spun and landed back on his feet, throwing another knife at Max's head, which bounced off of the hero's flesh. "Knock it off, man. I'm here to deal with the villain, not you."
"You're not a hero." Young Dog growled, drawing two more knives.
"No. I'm not. You guys didn't help my father when he needed it most and don't deserve my help." Lightning crackled between Max's fingers, and the wind caused his air to flow. "I don't care about whatever silly little war you guys have. I'm more focused on my own goal, so stay out of my way!"
The two got ready to charge at each other once again, but both stopped when the entire building began to rumble and shake. Then they felt a wave of intense heat coming from the hole that Fire Prince had been thrown into…
"We should deal with that first though." Max said flatly.
Young Dog's grip grew tighter on his knife. "Agreed."
Outside, down in the alleyway, Fire Prince spat up a lake of blood. His body was broken and shattered, and his organs had been destroyed by that last punch. He could barely transform his body now that he was out of Young Dog's range, which was the only thing stopping him from dying instantly. Despite it, though, his body was literally falling apart, and he had no way to stop it.
"I- I can't die." He dug his fingers into the ground, heat flowing off of him. "I worked so hard. I reached this point all on my own! I became a Prince. My city. My Oleander." Parts of him crumbled and broke away, and as he raised his head a bit, he found himself looking up at someone. "I- I don't want to die."
"Would you like for me to save you?" In front of Fire Prince, someone stood. A person who had been waiting for the villain to be left in such a state. Black, jagged armor covered his form with twisting horns and a cape that flowed behind him. Fiery red eyes stared down at the broken body of the villain. The Emperor reached down, placing his hand on the head of the villain. "Do you want to live? Then submit. Accept my gift. My power."
Fire Prince felt something course through him. The Emperor's hand almost seemed to glow with a faint reddish-pink light. Flowers began to bloom all over the man's armor, wrapping their vines around Fire Prince and digging into his body. The villain gasped and felt his eyes roll back as he collapsed to the ground. The flowers dug their way into his body, attaching themselves to him. His damaged body began to repair itself, the flesh coming back together and his bones snapping back into place. Then he felt a strong stabbing pain right behind his eyes. His head began to pulse, and he felt something snapping away inside of his skull.
Thoughts got harder to form. He was having a hard time recalling what was happening. Who he was, where he was—all he could tell was he was in pain. It wasn't just physical but something beyond that as well. The soul, the Ego, whatever you wanted to call it, the balance was being broken. The two Egos that made him up were fighting to the death. The power was devouring him and breaking him. Mutating and evolving, it destroyed the part of him that was still human.
Then he stopped being human. He stopped being a Super. He changed. He grew. He twisted.
From the hole in the wall, Max crashed out, carried by a wave of wind. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Fire Prince on his knees, kneeling before someone else. "You!" Max felt his lightning flare up as he stared into the red eyes of the villain who had ruined everything. "You're the one that took my father from me!"
The Emperor didn't even bother to look at him. Instead, the man in the armor turned his back and whipped his cape out. Max went to take a step but stopped when he heard the hellish scream Fire Prince let out. The man was clawing at his face, his eyes wide. His body began to change like it did when he powered up, but something was very wrong. Instead of stone forming across his flesh, his skin instead began to crack and bleed as if part of him was becoming like stone. It wasn't lava that flowed out, though. It was blood. Bubbling and red, it hissed and smoked. Boiling blood was flowing from all the cracks in his flesh. The top of his head also began to tear and split, and his skull jutted out, opening up like the head of a volcano, more blood gushing down. His eyes twisted and formed together, becoming a single orb in his head, and his teeth and nails grew longer, becoming fang-like.
He had become a bleeding volcano...
The villain hissed and bared his fangs, and the boiling blood that flowed from his body fired out like a bullet. Max tried to react in time, but before he could, Young Dog jumped in front of him, swinging out with a shield that blocked the stream of heated liquid. The hero had a heavy frown on his face as he stared at Fire Prince. "Something's wrong."
"You think?" Max retorted. He glared past Fire Prince and followed the movement of the Emperor. The villain had his back to them both, not even bothering to turn to look at them. "We have to stop that man-"
"I can't turn either of their powers off." Young Dog winced. "I'm pretty good at telling how strong someone is. That's how I know if my power will work on a person or not. You and that armored guy are too strong for my field to shut your powers off. Fire Prince, though, whatever form he changed into, he didn't actually get all that stronger. I should be able to use my power on him, but it's not working."
"What are you saying-"
Fire Prince howled like a mad beast and dropped to all fours, clawing his way toward them. Steaming blood twisted its way out of his back, cracking through the air like whips, causing the hero and the Lord to jump back, barely dodging the strikes. "It means he doesn't have a form to revert back to!" Young Dog yelled out. "Whatever that guy did to him, he changed him into something else! I can't shut off his power because all he is now is his power! A Super without a mind, it's like he inverted his power so far to the max that it destroyed his humanity!"
The blood ignited and twisted, becoming a large spear, which the villain chucked out. Young Dog had a shield on his arm, which he had unfolded earlier, but he pressed a button and caused it to fire toward the spear, dissipating it in a burst of flame. He reached into his belt, pulling out a grappling gun, which he fired into the air, zipping up and allowing him to flip over the villain. Max, on the other hand, jumped in the direction of Fire Prince and compressed all the wind to a thin, sharp point, slashing out with his hand and cutting into the villain's torso, splitting him in two.
As Fire Prince's body fell into pieces, the blood flowed out and wrapped around his lower half, forcing the two halves back into place. The villain let out another hiss, and his skin changed once more. It began to gain black fur all along it, and a pair of large bat-like wings stabbed out, allowing the villain to take to the sky, where he flew after Young Dog.
"Did he just become a freakin' vampire!" Max yelled in shock. "What the hell is going on!" The man didn't just change. It was as if a brand new power or Ego had been forced into Fire Prince's body. Normally Supers had two Egos. The human half and the Super half, but now with Fire Prince, a new Ego had been forced into the equation, which devoured the human half, leaving just two powered Egos to run the body. There was no humanity left. "Look out, hero! He's coming for you!"
Young Dog felt his line snap as the villain flew past him and sliced up with a pair of long claws. The hero began to fall to the ground and twisted his body, causing him to fall back first into a trash can. Fire Prince slammed down, folding his wings up, and clawed at the hero, but before his attacks could land, Max fired a bolt of lightning in the direction of the monster. Fire Prince was still growing and evolving though, and the villain's eye narrowed, allowing the monster to step to the side just in time to dodge most of the bolt. Some of him was still hit, though, and his teeth clenched down as his nerves went haywire, causing his body to shake.
Young Dog drew his knife and sliced up with it, ramming it directly into the eye of the villain, blinding him. The monster screamed out and punched out, hitting the older man head-on and nearly snapping the man's neck. Young Dog was thrown back, rolling across the street, and would have crashed headfirst into the wall of the alleyway, but Max managed to slow his momentum with a wave of wind. This left him open, though, and before he could recover, the bat-like creature pointed in his direction as its eye mended. A thin beam of superheated blood launched out, blasting directly through Max's chest and causing the teen's eyes to go wide as he spat up a glob of blood.
Max crashed to his knees, clutching at his chest. One of his lungs had been hit, and he still hadn't fully recovered from his earlier fight. Young Dog was out for the count from the punch as well. It didn't look too good, and he could hardly focus on his powers now.
Fire Prince howled and charged toward the downed man. "Do not kill him." Fire Prince stopped and glared back to the end of the alleyway where the Emperor stood. The villain stared down his newly created monster. The monster narrowed its eyes and growled. "I made you, and I will unmake you. Do. Not. Kill. Him."
Fire Prince bared his fangs but slowly backed down. The thing almost acted like a dog, letting out a low whine as it pulled back. It eyed up the unconscious Young Dog and shot a look back toward its new master, who had nothing more to say. Sensing that the hero wasn't off limits, it began to charge toward the downed Super, ready to rip out Young Dog's throat and feast on his flesh.
"No!" Max spat up more blood and tried to stand, but his knees didn't obey him. "Don't!"
Fire Prince reached the downed hero and clawed out with his fingers, the blood twisting around them. He never got the chance to land the attack, though. A glob of water appeared in the air next to him and ripped off one of his hands, causing him to howl in pain. His wings expanded out, allowing him to take to the sky, and he glared up at the roof where two new figures stood.
Mermaid glared at the monster that had almost taken her father's life and caused sharp blades of water to stab down. They tore through Fire Prince's wings, causing the bad guy to collapse from the sky and crash face-first into the alleyway.
"Looks like we made it just in time." Standing next to the hero, Ruby Admiral stepped off of the roof they were on and landed down next to Max down in the alleyway. She was followed shortly by her friend Mermaid. "Hey, you're the boy I saw." She reached out, tilting his head as she looked him over. "Guess I'm saving you again."
"Again? I saved you first!" Max hissed out.
"Max!" A third voice joined them, and the blonde boy turned, finding a familiar face had run into the alleyway. Harrison Avalon breathed heavily and walked toward the boy. "Thank the Lords, you're okay."
"Okay isn't the word I'd use." He winced, clutching at his chest.
Avalon dropped to a knee and began to look the boy over. "It's bad. None of us have a healing power. We'll need to get you help, ASAP!"
"It's fine." Max shook his head. "I'll just get Mr. Nier to help me after this is all over."
"Nier?" Ruby threw her arms behind her head and hummed. Her eyes wandered the alleyway, staring at the weird bat monster that was putting itself back together and the man who stood behind the monster, coated in his black armor. "Who are these guys anyway? Some bad guys on my turf?"
"You don't even live in Oleander!" Mermaid yelled. She was crouched next to her father, checking the man over. "Dad? Are you okay?"
Young Dog groaned, opening his eyes slowly. "R- River?"
"It's okay, Dad. I'm here."
Ruby's red eyes locked onto the Emperor's, and for a moment, the two stared at one another, almost sizing each other up. The bat monster hissed and finally stood back up, fully healed. "River, take the others and get them out of here." Ruby ordered, walking forward.
"What? It's a two-on-two; we can take them out together-"
"I'm not playing." Ruby didn't look back at her friend, keeping her eyes locked onto the man in the black armor. "That one's dangerous. This isn't a game anymore. I'm going to hit him as hard as I can. I don't know who he is, but I have a bad feeling that if I don't stop him here, then I'll have made a seriously big mistake."
Fire Prince jumped toward the girl with glowing red hair, expanding his body. He grew in size, and his blood stabbed out wildly, going nuts. In an instant, though, it was over. The entire alleyway exploded, and the buildings were knocked over as Ruby Admiral punched out with everything she had. Avalon and Mermaid barely had time to jump in front of Max and Young Dog, shielding them as debris blasted in all directions. Fire Prince was reduced to less than mist, vaporized as a gigantic thunderous boom echoed out for miles.
Steam and smoke rose from Ruby's fist, and the sleeve of her shirt was completely gone. A massive crater was in the ground beneath her from where her punch had landed. The Emperor stared down at her, completely unfazed. "So, Full Monarch decided to get good work out of you, I see." The Emperor's voice came out twisted and echoed in his helm.
Ruby smirked and ripped her fist out of the ground, pointing at him. She placed her other hand on her hip and tilted her head back. "I like your drip. I'm taking it. Give me your armor! I claim it as my own now!"
"No." The Emperor said flatly.
The newest threat to face Earth that called himself the Emperor was about to take on the self-proclaimed number one villain who called herself Ruby Admiral.
A battle of pure evil and self-realized justice was about to take place.
Meanwhile, beneath the Rose City Hero Branch Tower, Full Monarch silently stared at the statue of Wano…
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