"So, is this all of us?" Green Wolf asked, looking around the room. "I can't help but notice that this little 'team up' is made up mostly of my own men." He grumbled.
"Well, if you didn't leave Mars King and Polaron to die, then maybe we would have more members," Block growled. "As it stands, you've managed to finally wipe out most of the Bad Timers."
There were eleven of them in total. This new team that Harrison Avalon was building, whatever it was going to be named, was placed under his tower in Oleander City, far below the earth. The room they were in looked like a set of ancient ruins. It was massive and filled with large stone pillars that held it up. Near the back of the ruins, they stood in front of what looked like a gigantic metal vault door. It was locked, and none of them had been able to get it open.
Next to the vault door, Golden God rested. The giant man was still missing several of his limbs, and wires poked out of him. His head was slumped, and he didn't move or make any sound. He had been powered off ever since the incident nearly one week ago. Avalon had managed to fix several of the broken limbs, but the hand of the Emperor would still be out of commission for a while longer.
Of the ten of them, not counting Golden God, only three were from Polaron's team. The other eight belonged to Green Wolf, a fact that annoyed the masked villain. Their members were Block, a monster that stood at fourteen feet tall and was made entirely out of hard stone, with blocky arms and legs and a square-shaped head. Saw Head, who they had to bust out of a trip to Nightshade. He looked almost human, having normal skin, though instead of a face, a perfect circular saw rested in its place. He also had a saw going through his head and arms. Lastly was, of course, Demonica, who was missing one of her limbs. The damage she received from Myth hadn't left her.
The other members of this team all used to be part of Zoo. They all wore a colored suit based off of their name as well as an animal mask. They were Green Wolf, Red Ape, Red Monkey, White Cow, White Lamb, White Spider, and Black Shark.
"I would have thought Polaron could handle himself." Green Wolf snorted. "I can see Mars King going and getting himself killed off, but Polaron? I'll admit I'm a little bummed out. I viewed him as a rival of sorts. We don't even know who killed him, do we?"
"It was that bastard, Poseidon." Block hissed. "He fought her last and went missing after that. I'm sure she did it. The same goes for Mars King. He fought Paragon, and then we never heard of him again. Those two sisters are monsters. Now that we know we don't need Paragon, I'll rip her limb from limb!"
"Good luck with that." Green Wolf chuckled. "I mean, you're a little too weak to be challenging the big dogs."
Block's teeth ground together, and flakes of stone began to rain down his skin as he flexed his body and took a step toward the man in the suit. "Why don't I show you just how strong I am-"
"That's enough, Block." Demonica threw her arm out in front of her teammate and shook her head. "It isn't worth it. He's nothing more than a rowdy dog that has grown jealous that his master's found other pets."
Green Wolf gripped his fingers tightly around the handle of a steak knife. His mask was raised a bit, showing off his sly smirk. "How's the arm bitch?"
"You bastard!" Block stormed past Demonica and slammed his fist down toward Green Wolf. The fist bounced off of the man in the wolf mask, all the kinetic energy being absorbed. Green Wolf stabbed out with his blade, thrusting it forward and slamming it into Block's gut. It hit hard enough to crack the stone man's skin and send him flying back. Block slammed into a wall and slumped down, groaning.
Green Wolf didn't have time to say a witty remark, though, as seconds later, Saw Head was behind him. The monster's hand had twisted and formed sharp blades, placing them under Green Wolf's barrier. Despite the shield he usually had on, the leader of Zoo still felt the knives lightly pierce his flesh, causing a small drop of blood to trickle down his body.
Saw Head froze, however, when he felt the barrel of a gun be pressed to the back of his head. Red Monkey wasn't like Red Ape. He was someone who actually got his job done. He gripped a large handgun and casually toyed with the trigger, staring at Saw Head with a cocked head.
He wasn't the only one, either. Saw Head felt cold liquid wrap around his ankles, stopping him from being able to move. It wasn't water, though. It was milk. The milk flowed into a mini-lasso, connecting into the hand of White Cow. She stood larger than most humans, and her suit looked like it was struggling as it stretched over her body.
Demonica pointed her hand out, ready to blast White Cow and Red Monkey with a wave of fire if they harmed Saw Head.
It had turned into a strange standoff.
Red Ape and White Lamb stood off to the side, staying out of it. White Spider, on the other hand, couldn't help but giggle. The other members of Zoo tensed up, ready to move in case a fight happened.
"I leave for a few hours to go and help a friend out, and I return to see you all at each other's throats." The ruins echoed out with the voice of Avalon. The sound of his steps bounced off the walls as the man walked out of the darkness and began to head toward the vault door, which they all stood in front of. He was slouched and had his hands in his pockets, looking very casual. "I thought we agreed to behave, Green Wolf."
Everyone slowly backed away, and Demonica and Saw Head helped Block stand back up. "It was self-defense." Green Wolf smirked. "They struck first. I was just chatting with my new teammates."
Harrison snorted and shrugged. "I guess it can't be helped. I'm honestly impressed you've all managed to stay apart for this long. That said, I come bearing good news."
"You better." Demonica spat. "We lost several of our brothers. Polaron has left us behind, and Ears has been captured. I barely managed to escape and make it back here on my own. We haven't done anything all week!"
"Well, don't you all worry. We're finally nearing the end of all of this." Avalon stopped in front of the vault and placed his hand on the cool metal. "I know who the Lord of Life is, and thanks to an old friend of mine, I know how we can get her. We're nearing his new birth." Sometimes he heard it. He knew he wasn't the only one. They all heard it at times. The whispering behind the vault door.
"How do you suddenly know how to do all of this?" Block grumbled.
"I built realms several years ago with the help of Max Lightning. I got locked out of dozens of them, and they all had a few flaws, which is why I left most of them behind. By luck, though, an old buddy of mine needed to get into one. This realm had been taken over by the Wandering Coin. When I was finally able to sneak off, I took some of the data that was left in the realm, and it showed me everyone who ever stepped foot into it."
"So, I'm guessing the leader of the Wandering Coin has been in there before?" Red Ape asked.
"Exactly. Not just that. I know who he really is." The world's richest man gave a sly smile.
"So, when do we set out?" Green Wolf sighed. "I was starting to get bored, so this better be a little fun, Avalon."
"Soon, Green. Soon. But first, I have a job for you."
"Oh yeah? I like the sound of that." Green Wolf cocked his head to the side. "What kind of job are we talking about?"
"We'll need this big guy up in tip-top shape if we want to beat the Lord of Life." Harrison moved from the vault and placed his hand gently down onto the injured form of Golden God. "The only Super that can fix Golden up is Hell Hound, or Fairy Queen. Sadly, Hell Hound... Well, they can't help us any more. So in that case, we'll have to do the next best thing. I need you to bust Fairy Queen out of Nightshade."
Green Wolf slowly gave a smirk as he put it together. "Oh yeah. I'm going to love this game."
***
"Crap, crap, crap-" Hope dodged to the left as a stream of lasers fired down toward the ground, narrowly missing her.
The lasers bounced off of the ground, hitting the walls of the maze and jumping back in her direction. She sidestepped them, and more fired down in her direction from above. In the air were small drones similar to the ones Rowan had created, but they weren't made out of trash, were a lot bigger, flew faster, and their lasers really hurt.
"This is so much worse than when Rowan did this to me!" One of the beams hit her leg, and she felt herself spasm out a bit. The drones flew around rapidly, shooting her from all directions and making her yelp. "Why do they always zap my butt?"
She was in a strange maze-like place. There were large iron walls about twenty feet high. It was very spacious and offered a lot of room. The maze was filled with twists and turns, and she had no clue how she was supposed to get out of it. The floor was also made out of the same metal as the walls. She had tried to punch it, but while she could dent it, she would have to hit it several times before she broke it, which was next to impossible thanks to the massive drones that followed her and zapped at her. She could have tried to use her fire, but the walls and the floor were coated in a thin layer of oil, and the air had a smell in it.
If she even tried to use her fire, the entire place would go up in a massive ball of fire. She could survive the blast, but she didn't have her hero costume on and would rather not kill whoever else was in this maze and then have to run back home naked. Instead, she was dressed in a black skin-tight suit. The same kind that Armin would wear beneath his snow.
The suit did nothing to block the lasers. The lasers in question didn't ignite the oil, which was good. There were four drones in total, each the size of a large basketball. Two of them would stay low to the ground, and the other two would stay high up in the air, all of them blasting down at her.
She dodged more of the lasers and tried not to slip on the floor as she dove past one of the corners of the maze and made a run for it. The drones took chase, and she passed by more walls and directions, and soon she saw a dead end up ahead. She moved faster, smashed her leg into the wall, and ran up it.
There was a metal ceiling up above that blocked off her escape, but as soon as she reached it, she used the roof to kick off of it and bounce down toward one of the drones that floated in the air. Her hand slapped the side of it, and she smacked the robot hard enough to slam into one of the walls.
The drone exploded into a hail of metal and bolts, breaking apart into hundreds of small pieces. It sparked a bit, and she winced, waiting for the explosion to happen, but it never did.
"Wait, does this mean the oil is fake? Can I use my fire-"
"I wouldn't do that." The maze rumbled as she heard the voice of Boy Genius. "These robots are special, and I built them to not cause the fluids to ignite. It isn't really oil, but it is close enough. It'll only ignite when it meets your fire specifically, and a single flicker will be enough. No using fire, okay?"
"Yeah, whatever." She took off running again, moving at her full speed. Despite this, the drones kept up with her. She tried the same trick again, running up the wall and bouncing off the roof. The drones, however, dodged her strike with ease, now not falling for the same tactic twice. "Damn it! If they dodge and I can't use my fire, how am I supposed to blast them out of the air!" She whined. "This is so unfair."
The three drones didn't seem to care how unfair it all was and kept blasting her. She shook, feeling her nerves light up as she twitched and tripped. She rolled out of the way as more lasers rained down towards her. She was about to go sprinting through the maze again but never had the chance to start running.
The maze shook, and dozens of cracks appeared on one of the walls. The metal imploded in on itself, sending shards of debris in all directions. One of the drones exploded as it was pierced through by a shard of sharp metal. She barely managed to crouch as a red-scaled tail whipped through the room coming from the shattered wall. It left a significant slash mark across the room, splitting the floor they were on in half.
The wind was strong enough that it peeled her off the floor and threw her into the air. She slammed back first into the metal roof, and before she could begin to fall, she dug her fingers into the roof, piercing the metal, and used her grip to turn her body just in time. Wyvern blasted out of the hole in the wall and slammed her fist at the spot she had been. The ceiling shook and rumbled, causing her to lose her grip.
She slammed back first into the floor and groaned. The last two drones zapped her and caused her body to twitch again. Wyvern dropped from the roof and tried to dive-kick her, but she rolled to the side just in time. The floor shattered and broke apart, causing them both to fall, and they came crashing down into another maze.
In total, there were five of the mazes all stacked up on one another. Her goal was to get to the very bottom where she could escape, so Wyvern had sort of helped her. She still had several more to go, though. As soon as she hit the floor, she sprung out with her legs, kicking at the Enforcer member, but wings burst out of Wyvern's back, and the hero flew up where the drones were staying out of her reach.
She held her arm up and pointed it at the hero. She was about to blast out with her fire but stopped when she saw how much of the strange oil covered her body. This part of the maze was also filled with it. "Hey, come on down! I can't fight you if you're up there." She yelled.
"Aw, that's too bad." Wyvern inhaled and suddenly blasted out with a wave of fire. The oil once again didn't ignite; Boy Genius had seemingly made it only react to her fire, just so he could really cripple her powers. She threw her arms out in front of her, and the fire washed over her. It didn't burn. She was used to hotter fire. It did melt the sleeves of her costume, though, and put a few holes in it.
The floor melted from the fire, and she slammed her fist into it, easily shattering the melted metal and allowing herself to fall to another floor below to escape the fire before it burned her clothes entirely off. "This is so bullshit." She growled. She hit the floor and dusted some of the ash off of herself. The suit was mostly holding up.
From the roof, Wyvern floated down softly, followed by the drones. "Well, it isn't supposed to be fair. You're supposed to lose." The woman landed on the floor, and her tail whipped around and cracked the floor as she cocked her head to the side. "Still, if you really want to play a round of hand-to-hand with me, then I'll let you try to entertain me."
"It'll just be all the sweeter when I beat you." She taunted, raising her arms up and entering a fighting stance. "You're going down-"
Wyvern moved faster than her. The woman's fist was inches from her face, everything seeming to slow down. She knew she wasn't going to be able to dodge this. It came at her slowly, her mind racing, trying to figure out what she would do.
'This is going to hurt, isn't it?' Was the only thought that came to her mind.
Her nose shattered, and her head was thrown back as she was smashed through the air. Her eyes were wide and rolled around as she began to black out, though she thought back to how she ended up in this situation.
Well, it started a few hours ago...
"Not sure if I introduced myself yet, but I'm Boy Genius." The dark-skinned boy said awkwardly, holding his arm out toward her.
She sheepishly reached past Wyvern's shoulder and shook it as they flew through the sky. "Yeah, I know who you are. I'm a huge fan of the Enforcers. So why exactly am I being kidnapped? And should I be trying to break out?"
"I wouldn't recommend it." Wyvern snorted. The woman moved fast, almost like a jet, her wings causing cracks to echo through the sky as she flew. Wyvern had her arms underneath Hope's shoulders, dangling the girl as her tail wrapped around the waist of Boy Genius. "I won't hesitate to drop you."
"I could take it."
"Well, in that case-"
"Wyvern." Boy Genius shook his head. "It's only natural she's worried. A lot has happened. To answer your question, Ms. Cinder, we've kidnapped you mostly because I am interested in looking at something. Wyvern and I never got to see what a Lord of the Sun is like. I was born after the events of the war, so I only ever get to hear rumors about how great Full Monarch is. I'd like to see it in person, and Wyvern herself would have been too young to remember anything from back then, made worse by the fact she's a monster, and they tend to have bad memories."
"Yeah, but I'm not the Lord of the Sun-"
"Lying doesn't work." Wyvern's claws dug down, and she winced as she felt part of her skin break. She was still pretty tired after dealing with Wish, and her body hadn't fully recovered. Plus, most of the energy she had during that fight had seemingly faded when her hair changed back. "I can tell when someone tells a lie. I picked this trait up from Old Dog." The Enforcer woman hissed. "We both know you're the Lord."
"Fire powers and a powerful body that seems to grow constantly. The right age for the next Lord. Winding up in serious life-threatening issues but getting stronger after them. Plus, you're surrounded by so many strong people. Either you're the main character in some series, or you're a Lord." Boy Genius snorted. "It would also make sense why Max Lightning was keen on talking to you."
"You knew about that?"
"I like to monitor all my coworkers." The boy shrugged.
"That's a little..."
"Yeah, I know. But it's fine since I'm so cute and adorable." The boy waved off the concern. "Okay, Wyvern, we should be here now."
She wondered what 'here' was, but thankfully, she didn't have to wait for long. The red-haired hero dove through the air and swooped, landing on a set of stone stairs leading to an apartment building. They were still in the city. In fact, they were somewhere she was used to seeing. "This is where I live," she muttered.
"The Hero Branch likes to know who people are." Boy Genius explained. "It's really quite easy to figure out a hero's identity when you know how to look for it. Heroes that don't work for the Branch are still monitored but mostly left alone. They don't know anything important about you, just that you live here, so if the day ever comes for any reason that Cinder is getting on their nerves or in their way, they'd know how to get in contact with you."
She didn't like the sound of that but held her tongue. The Hero Branch, the more she heard about it, didn't sound very heroic. Slowly, she folded her arms. "Okay, so why did you bring me to my home?"
"You need to get a change of clothes and say bye to anyone." Boy Genius's words caused her blood to run cold. "I'm sure Max Lightning or someone would have told you about it. You weren't shocked when we said you were a Lord. That means you knew and were hiding it. You know what happens, right?"
"I have to go away." She clenched her hand into a fist.
"That's correct." Boy Genius hopped up on the railing, casually hanging off of it as he gave her a lopsided grin. "We can't have a weak Lord running around. It took a while for Poseidon to gain enough trust to be left by herself. If you die, then we lose a potent player that might later end up in the villain's hands. Or even worse, someone like the Fairy Queen might come for you. She used to be in the Emperor's army and is quite good at brainwashing and tricking people. Even a Lord could have some issues dealing with it if they aren't strong enough."
"I am strong, though." She could feel her nails digging into her palm. "I fought the Lord of Life all on my own and almost beat her. She took down people like Money Tree. I'm strong. I don't want to be locked up. I became a hero to help people; I can't do that like this. Besides..." The image of her father came to her mind for a moment. He really didn't have much longer left. She had to either find and kill the Lord of Life or get someone else that could heal him. "I can't afford to leave my friends. Not yet."
"Quit yapping, girl." Wyvern sighed. "Do you want someone to see us? The state your costume is in isn't good. Go inside and get dressed, and say bye to mommy and daddy, and we can begin the test."
"Test?"
Wyvern and Boy Genius shared a look. Quietly, the young boy let out a chuckle. "Here's the truth. We're swamped. Like mega super duper busy. Golden God pulled a massive stunt that caused every city to go hog wild with villain attacks. The only reason I came by the hospital was because I detected someone was abusing the fabric of space, which is never good. That's when I happened to see you and decided to play a game." He clasped his hands together and gave a grin. "See, you're sort of a wildcard. All the Enforcers have their winning hands, but if we throw you on the table, it all goes up in smoke. Every Enforcer always has their own idea of how the Lord should be raised and treated. We're too busy to be fighting over something like that right now, though. With everything going on and the threat of Lucifer, I decided to solve this issue myself. Poseidon and Max Lightning are left alone because they proved their strength. We don't have to worry about them. Can you prove the same?"
"I get it." She gave a smile and folded her arms. "I just need to show you why I'm so cool, right? Then you'll let me be like them?"
"That's mostly right." Wyvern boredly chimed in. "Poseidon had to fight Fable and beat him without losing control. Since they're busy, we haven't told the other Enforcer members about you yet. We'll be giving you the tests ourselves. Pass, and we'll let the Enforcers know about you at our next meeting, when they're calmer. Fail, and I won't risk anything. You'll be handed over to Fable, and trust me, you really don't want to go through his brutal tests."
She turned and gave a half wave. "Yeah, yeah. I'm going to get out of this mess of a costume and then I'll do whatever you need me to do. I have some things I want to try out on a strong person, so you'll do well as a test subject."
"I'm going to break your nose," Wyvern said flatly.
She left and made her way up the stairs. She doubted she could escape them, so there was no point in running. Besides, she had just been handed a golden chance to prove that she was a competent Lord. Wyvern was strong, an influential Enforcer member even, but she was the Lord of the Sun. After this, the Victorian might even take note of her.
She pushed the door to her home open and stepped inside. It was late, so she wasn't expecting to see her mom, but the woman was still up. "Hope!" Her mom was on her before she could say anything, pulling her into a bone-breaking hug. "I told you, you can't just vanish without warning. I need to know if you're going to be late! What in the world happened to your costume?"
"Yeah, it sort of got messed up." She chuckled and pulled herself out of her mom's arms. "But look. I'm fine. No injuries." She'd have to seriously thank Sky for that. "I wanted to call, but some stuff went down." She winced. "I sort of blew my phone up, too. Both my hero phone and my civilian one. I'll just make Mr. Larison or Whisper get me a new one, though."
Her mom let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you're okay. Don't scare me like that again. Are the others fine also?"
Her smile faded. "Y- Yeah."
"Hope."
"I mean, some got a little banged up, but they'll be fine. Paragon is going to heal them. She's a great healer." She pushed past her mom. "I'm fine. I promise. So are the others. I need to get out of this suit, though."
Her mother looked at her but hesitantly nodded. "You have school tomorrow, so make sure you go to bed right away."
"Yeah, I will, but I need to head back out. I have something I need to take care of."
"Hope." Her mom placed her hands on her hips. "You said this wouldn't get in the way of your schooling."
"It won't! I'll pass. I already studied."
"Nerd."
"Hey! Do you want me to be a good daughter or not?" She closed the door to her room and sighed. She had sort of hoped that telling her mother she was a hero would mean fewer lies, yet here she was. The humming of the pod made her look up. They had brought it home once she discovered who she was. It stood in the center of her room and let out a faint blue light.
Max Lightning had claimed it was also a third parent of sorts. It always seemed to be glowing constantly. She liked to imagine that meant it was worried for her. She placed her hand on it and rubbed the metal slowly.
It seemed to almost hum back at her. The metal bubbled up like a liquid and wrapped itself gently around her hand, squeezing down on it. "It'll be okay." Quietly, she changed out of her costume and got dressed in regular winter clothes. She had a backup pair of glasses Rowan made her, so she slipped them on and finished getting ready. "Damn. I can't believe it's this bad."
Her costume rested on her bed. It was covered in dozens of holes and had a few burn marks across it. It had taken a beating, that was for sure. Her mask, as well as the helmet Mr. Larison had created, were also gone. The remains of the metal would be somewhere in the forest of that realm. She was bummed about that. The mask could be replaced, but that helmet had been memorable. Same for her backpack. It had been the bag she used on Kevin and Mars King so long ago.
So much happened, and yet the night still wasn't over.
She stepped out of her room quietly. Her mother had seemingly finally decided to go to bed. She made her way out and walked down the stairs to where Boy Genius and Wyvern were still waiting. When she arrived, Wyvern threw something at her. She caught it at the last second.
"What's this?" It looked sort of like a watch. It was made out of a silver-looking metal and was thin, made to go on her wrist.
"A lot of the pro heroes have them," Wyvern explained. Her tail wrapped around Boy Genius and lifted him up. She then easily picked the young Lord off of the ground and flew into the sky once again. "You put it on your wrist and press a button, and it will replace the outfit you're wearing with the costume that is inside of the watch."
"Seriously!" She quickly put it on and pressed the button. It glowed, and then, in a flash of light, she was no longer in her casual clothes. Instead, she wore a black skin-tight combat suit. It had what looked like a bulletproof vest that covered her chest and gloves, though weirdly, it lacked boots, and she shivered as the cold air hit her toes. "This is cool. It looks like what Snowdawn wears!"
"It's a modified field suit." Boy Genius explained. "The fabric is durable and will allow your body to use more of its natural strength. It is sort of like low-level power armor. We give them out to the Hero Branch members who fight in the field, as well as the Cleanup Squad. A lot of heroes also have them built into their costumes. I'll be making your next costume and will include some in it, though I bet your old one already had some old tech in it since it was so durable."
"Nice! So I'll get a new, stronger costume! Wait, but if you were going to put me in this, why did I need to change out of my other suit?" She asked.
"If you look at your wrist, you'll see the watch is still there. Push the button, and your swap will happen again. I thought it would be good to get proper clothes for after the test. Also, in case you do fail, it gives you a chance to see your parents one last time." The boy spoke in a cheerful tone, but it caused her to frown and remember what was at stake.
She played around with the watch, swapping in and out of her suits for a bit before settling on the combat one. Slowly she punched her palm, her eyes lighting up. "So. Just what kind of test do I need to do?"