"Are you ready to give up your evil ways and be a superhero yet!" Mermaid demanded.
"Never!" Ruby Admiral announced. "Also! Get off me! You're heavy!"
"Are you calling me fat!"
"Yes! You're really fat!"
"R- Really?" Mermaid asked, sounding a bit hurt.
Ruby quickly shook her head. "No! I lied! You look good as always!" The raven-haired girl said quickly. "You got the super sexy hero body going on for sure!" She said, rubbing Mermaid's stomach and letting her bisexual fantasies run wild.
Mermaid simply smacked her over the head. "See. You took back your insult. A bad guy wouldn't do that. Face it, sister, you were born to be a hero."
"No fair! You cheated!"
Ruby Admiral squirmed a bit on the ground. She was flat on her stomach, tied up with thick ropes of water. Mermaid sat on the villain's back and reached down, pinching one of Ruby's ears and tugging on it. "You're an adult now, Jill. You shouldn't be playing silly games like that. Come on and just say you'll be a hero, already! We can get matching costumes, and I'll let you even be my sidekick."
Ruby's hair ignited with a red glow, along with her eyes, which clashed with Mermaid's glowing blue hair and eyes. "I would rather die." The red-haired girl said flatly. "Ow!" She let out a yelp when Mermaid reached down and grabbed her other ear and began to tug on it.
They got several odd looks from the other people in the building. After the incident with Water, what's his face, her father had called the Hero Branch, who had come to check the boat out. The workers had been busy trying to find out where they should place many of the kids. Most of the children had been taken from the streets of various cities and didn't have a home, and many had to be sent to a specialized hospital to help them recover. Some had even turned out to be Supers, which made it all the more of a headache trying to help them. The boy who had given her the coin she had used as a makeshift projectile in her duel with the Prince guy turned out to be one of those humans that gain powers during a stressful event. The boy could phase through stuff now and would likely be shipped off to some Hero Branch lab and either be turned into a hero or be used in some other way.
She didn't get to make sure any of them were okay either because her father had flown off, carrying her over to Rose City to meet with the head of the Hero Branch to discuss something. That was where she was now, face down, as her friend River tried to 'convince' her to become a hero. They were down in the lobby of the Hero Branch building, which was bustling around with dozens of agents going in and out of the many elevators.
"She's as lively as ever." Off to the side, Full Monarch had been watching his daughter and her friend wrestle, but he turned when he heard the voice addressed to him. "How have you been, Jackson?" Legend, a member of the Enforcers, held his hand out toward the Lord of the Sun and Cosmos. He was a short, dark-skinned man who wore what looked almost like ancient robes over his frail form. Despite his appearance, he was considered to be one of the strongest non-Lord Supers on the newly built hero team known as the Enforcers.
Full Monarch let out a strong, hardy laugh as he grabbed the hand of his teammate. "Ah Legend! It's good to see you! Oh, but could you just call me Full Monarch? I'm in costume after all!"
"Yeah, but everyone knows who you are." Legend snorted. "You're the soldier that defeated Lucifer. Hard to believe that was nearly fifty years ago now. My grandfather also fought in that war, and I was born a few years after it ended, you know." His smile faded as he looked toward Ruby and Mermaid. "So, how is she?"
"What do you mean?" Full Monarch raised an eyebrow, though he was bad at lying and obviously knew what Legend was asking him.
"Don't give me that. You know what I mean. How has it been raising her?" Legend questioned.
"Oh." For a moment, the hero's ever-present smile vanished. He had to reach up and use his fingers to put it back on his face, and he grinned once more. It was part of his brand deal. He was required by sponsors to always have a smile present on his face whenever he was in a city. "It has been interesting being a father! It is something new I didn't think I would get to experience!" He announced with fake joy.
"Have you actually been raising her? I hear you've been all over the world." Most heroes were placed in a single city that they guarded, determined by the Hero Branch. Not Full Monarch though. The entire planet was under his protection. That meant when something went wrong anywhere, it was ultimately his fault for not stopping it. At least that's what the Hero Branch would tell him when he didn't arrive on scene quick enough.
"We don't have enough heroes that can protect the smaller places like towns or villages." Full Monarch explained, giving a shrug. "Someone needs to be there for them. Still, I try to take time off every now and then for Jill. She likes reading, so I try to find new books to bring back when I can. I don't think she likes any of the ones I get her though."
Legend nodded his head, but the small frown that was on his lips didn't leave. "How long has it been now? Seven years? That's it, right? It was seven years ago that we got the call about her. I remember it because it was around the time you decided to fully go through with your little plan. You and Sini created the Hero Branch around that point. All Supers felt it. A strange nervous sensation in the back of their head. A new Super had been found. That girl over there. It was like a new species of predator had been discovered. They tried keeping her in all sorts of places, yet she kept breaking out. Then a year later, we all found out why. Turns out she was your kid."
"I was shocked as well when I learned that fact." Full Monarch said quietly. Currently his daughter had managed to flip Mermaid over and was now stomping the water-themed hero into the ground, stepping on her. "I had been in the middle of trying to stop an island from sinking when Sini called me and informed me of the fact that there was a child that matched my genetic code in one of their labs."
"None of us ever expected you to be the kind of person that would have a kid." Legend smirked. "You were always so focused on other stuff ever since you took down Lucifer. I was a young boy during that time. Now here I am with my second kid on the way. He won't ever be as strong as your kid, though, will he? Not even my first son will amount to anything when compared to your kind." His smirking slowly faded, and the man turned away, lightly punching Full Monarch in the shoulder. "Even amongst Supers, you Lords are freaks..."
Full Monarch stood there quietly as Legend walked toward the exit and left the building, likely going back to his own city. A low buzz came from his belt, and the Lord looked down to find that his pager had gone off. "Jill." He called out.
"It's Ruby Admiral!"
"I'm going up stairs, please don't do anything too crazy."
"No promises." Ruby shrugged and finally stepped off of Mermaid. Her father shot her a look, so she gave him her best innocent smile. "I'll behave, daddy!"
Finally, after some time of studying her, Full Monarch stepped into the elevator and made sure his cape wasn't caught in it as it began to go up. No one had stepped in after him, so he had it all to himself. Cheesy elevator music rang through his ears, and he stared at his reflection in the metal of the doors. He brought his fingers up to his mouth and did his best to tilt them up, trying to smile. It was important to try and practice smiling. Humans were just now starting to get used to the way things had been before the war with Lucifer. Thanks to Mr. Sini and Avalon, Sini Corp was able to recreate large cities that held the world's population in them. It had taken a little over fifty years, but humans were back to being on top. Many still feared the Supers, though.
He still had so much work to do.
"You can't be serious?" A voice yelled out as the doors opened. "I get that you two care for their kind, but this is starting to get to be too much! You're bending over backwards for them!"
Full Monarch stepped out of the elevator and looked around. Mr. Sini had lots of buildings that had been made just for him. Rose, though, took the cake. It was a stone tower, one that had been standing since before even the war with Lucifer. The first floor was layered with dozens of statues of previous Lords that had fallen in combat, but most people didn't know about it as Sini had covered that floor up and lowered the Tower further into the ground, creating a new floor that had served as the lobby where he and his daughter had been moments ago. Sini had forced the tower to operate with his technology. Besides being a Lord of the Sea, Sini's powers had further evolved, and he had become a Mental-based Super that was focused on travel basics such as elevators and the like.
This ability is what allowed them to create so many cities so quickly for humanity. It helped that Avalon was also by their side and managed to gather up dozens of other Metal-based users.
The top of the tower was where Sini's office resided. The man was the head of the Hero Branch, and his office showed it. Dozens of desks were scattered all about, filled to the brim with paperwork. Maps of various cities lined the walls, and dozens of TVs all playing different news channels hung up. It was a mess. In the very back, still trying to get through some of his work, Sini rested. In front of his desk, Harrison Avalon stood, glaring down at the Lord, whom he had once called his mentor.
Sini had aged a lot. His hair was filled with grays, and his beard was always messy. The man had been old enough to have a son during the time of the great war with Lucifer. Sini had always been the oldest of the current Lords, and an extra fifty years meant that the man was now in his early one hundreds. Supers tend to stay youthful for longer than normal humans, staying in their prime until they turn seventy or eighty. Lords went above that, not only living for longer but staying youthful. Because of this, even though Sini was so old now, he still held some of his power and muscles. He certainly didn't look like an old man who would croak over dead at any second.
Avalon's eyes turned to glare at Full Monarch, who stepped out of the elevator, when the scientist heard it open up. "Jackson-"
"It's Full Monarch."
"Whatever!" Harrison hissed. He pointed at the number one hero, then at Sini. "Can you try to talk some sense into him? His plan is utterly stupid! He wants to step down as the head of the Hero Branch and put all the humans in charge of it with no Supers on it at all!" Avalon was also well into his seventies yet didn't look a day over thirty, with slick-backed brown hair neatly combed. Avalon was just a normal Super, yet had seemingly been blessed with slower aging. "This entire plan is doomed to fail!"
Full Monarch nodded. "I'm the one who suggested it."
"Why!"
"Humanity suffered enough." Sini sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. "Lucifer managed to wipe out nearly forty percent of the human population with his army of Supers. The world still hasn't fully recovered from that point. Right when things were looking up, a new threat showed up and ruined it all."
"There was no way any of us could have foreseen something like the Beast showing up." Avalon said through gritted teeth.
"Expect it or not, the thing showed up. Even after beating him, he still managed to take an entire city out with him. Then a few years later he showed up once again." Sini shook his head and nearly snapped his pen. "Supers have caused enough issues for mankind. Over and over, it seems like Supers and humans always end up at each other's throats, and over and over again, Supers nearly wipe the human race out. We need to show them that it'll be different this time. I trust humanity. I trust that if they are in charge of the Hero Branch, it will finally allow them to stand on equal footing with the Supers. It's their turn."
"That's bullshit." Avalon turned to stare down Full Monarch. "So long as someone like him is alive, there is no way humanity would ever come close to standing on equal footing. Every human and every Super in the world could team up, and I doubt we'd win. He could destroy the planet a hundred times over, and no one could stop him. You don't want the humans to be equal to us. You just want them to think that they are, so they won't realize just how dangerous this guy really is."
"Avalon-"
The scientist walked toward the elevator, ignoring his mentor. He shoulder bumped Full Monarch, who didn't budge. "I saw Nier recently." The scientist said quietly.
Full Monarch's eyes flashed with surprise. "You did?"
"Yeah... He had some pretty neat things to say regarding Supers." Avalon stared down at Full Monarch's hand, which wrapped itself around the scientist's arm in a death grip. "You're starting to hurt me." The man winced.
"What did he say?" Full Monarch demanded. "I… I haven't seen Nier in years. Not since he…" Both Sini and Full Monarch looked down for a moment as horrible memories resurfaced.
"I don't have to tell you shit. It was just a personal talk he and I had." The Super forced himself free from the Lord's hold and began to head for the elevator once more. Avalon turned back to look at Sini once he reached the elevator. "You're so scared that if things don't change, Supers could wipe out humans, but I think there is something you're not considering. No matter how many times it happens, no matter what Super it is, somehow the humans keep on living. Calamity after Calamity, no matter how many of their numbers are wiped out. Ask yourself this. Who are really the freaks?"
Sini never had a chance to answer, as a second later the elevator door closed shut. The Lord of the Sea just let out another sigh. "Sorry about that. He doesn't agree with some of the plans we've set up. A few Supers don't like the idea of us handing the keys to our kingdom over to beings they view as lesser than us."
"I noticed." Full Monarch took a seat in front of the desk and folded his arms. "Avalon is right, though. In a way, some of this has hindered Supers. I don't fully agree with everything you've done. Whenever a Super is found, their only option is to either join the Hero Branch and be used either as a superhero or a worker or be labeled a villain. There's got to be a better way."
"Don't get cold feet on me this deep into these plans." Sini said sternly. "Since we've taken over, the only Calamity level threat that has appeared has been the Beast, and now we've figured out how to fight and beat it. There hasn't been another Lucifer in years."
"Yes, but Nier-"
"Nier wasn't cut out for this. He's already lost too much and couldn't stand to lose more." Sini cut his friend off. "I gave him and Wano the same out. Neither of them wanted to be superheroes or use their power for the betterment of mankind. I allowed them to go into hiding and lay low so long as they didn't use their powers. Even after what Nier did… I couldn't bring myself to take him in."
"About that..." Full Monarch looked down at the ground and shook his head. "I think... I think Wano might be dead."
"What!" Sini stared at his friend in shock. "What do you mean he's dead?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure my daughter saw the next Lord of the Sky and Weather."
Sini felt a chill go through his spine. He looked down at a picture that rested on his desk. One of the Full force. Jackson, Nier, himself, and Wano all stared at the camera with a happy smile on their faces. They all looked so young and innocent. Jackson was barely twelve when the picture had been taken.
"My God." Sini felt his shoulders slump. "It's moving too fast."
Meanwhile, back downstairs, Mermaid had managed to flip herself back over and had Ruby in a chokehold, forcing her arm into the Super's throat. "Say uncle!"
"I- I choose death!" Ruby gasped with an increasingly blue face.
"So be it."
Before Mermaid could land the finishing blow, the elevator door opened. The man that stepped out instantly caught her eye, and she dropped Ruby to the floor. "Is that Harrison Avalon?"
"Who?" Ruby asked, looking up. A man with messy brown hair wearing a dirty lab coat with a pissed-off scowl on his face was the only person she saw stepping out. "That lame ass? Is he important or something?"
Mermaid kicked her friend in the side, shooting the girl a dirty look. "He's one of the Supers that fought in the war alongside my grandfather and your dad. He isn't a Lord, but he's still a war hero. Instead of becoming a superhero like my dad, he followed in my grampa's footsteps and works for Sini Corp helping bring humanity forward. In only a few short years, they were able to reach beyond our planet and would have turned Earth into a spacefaring colony if not for the Beast."
"Cool." Ruby said flatly.
"I hate you."
"No, you don't." Ruby jumped back up to her feet right as Avalon walked past them, heading for the exit. "Yo, Avalon dude! Sup." She said, waving her hand. Avalon stopped in his tracks and shot a look toward her and Mermaid. Mermaid was dressed up in her hero costume, which was made to look similar to a bathing suit. Like Ruby, her hair and eyes changed color when she was using her powers, so she never needed a mask. Avalon studied the young woman before looking Ruby over, noticing the lack of a costume.
"You're Full Monarch's sidekick, aren't you?" The man mumbled.
"I'm not his sidekick!" Ruby huffed.
"Yeah! She's my sidekick!" Mermaid announced.
Avalon shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "I saw your father earlier, but I wasn't really thinking straight. I didn't bother asking why he came here, but if you're here, I'm sure it must be something important, right?"
"I guess?" Ruby lazily shrugged her shoulders and threw her arms back behind her head. "I took down a big shot bad guy all by myself. Bastard stepped up on my turf and had to be taught a lesson."
"Weren't you on his boat..." Mermaid asked flatly.
"There was this other boy also." Ruby hummed. "He was kind of a jerk but sort of cute. Had lightning powers or something-"
"Lightning powers?" Avalon cut her off and suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders. "Did he tell you his name?"
Ruby blinked a couple of times, taken aback by the man's suddenly urgent look. His eyes were wide, and he stared down at her. "Yeah, I think so. He said his name was Max or something. Why?"
"Damn it." Avalon cursed and turned away, marching toward the exit. "Of course he'd turn up now."
Mermaid shot a look toward Ruby. "What was that about?"
"No clue... Wanna follow him?"
"I'm down."
***
Max groaned and spat up some water as he woke up slowly.
"Take it easy, kid. Your lungs are recovering thanks to my power, but your body is still a little messed up. I guess a villain on the level of a Prince is still too much for you."
"It- It wasn't the villain-" He barfed up more salt water and sand, feeling sick. "I got sneak attacked and thrown into the water. I used my power to take out his bird in one shot, but I'm still not fully immune to lightning yet and nearly fried myself."
"Your body hasn't adjusted to the power of a Lord yet, I guess." The voice hummed. "I'm not too shocked. When I became a Lord, it took a bit of time for my own body to get ahold of all that power, and I ended up messing myself up a bunch as well. Things like this happen."
Max sat up fully, looking around. He expected to be in some back alleyway near Oleander or on the beach, but instead he found himself in an even stranger location. It was an endless field of white. Not snow, just pure color. The sky and the floor were just pure white with no color. He didn't see any walls, the strange field stretching on as far as the eye could see. The ground was soft and a little bouncy. Almost like when he would use his powers to make solid clouds that he could fly on. He still hadn't fully figured out how to fly freely like his father, Wano, could.
Next to him crouched down was an older man. One with messy blonde hair and a bit of a beard that was growing in. The man had tired-looking red eyes and wore a dirty suit that was filled with tears and cuts. On the tip of the man's finger was what looked almost like a fly, but as Max looked at it closer, he realized that it was actually some small drone-like robot in the shape of a bug.
Max rubbed his head, easing the unconscious feeling away. "Mr. Nier, where are we?" He finally asked.
"I was hoping you could answer that." Nier, Lord of the Land and Life, said letting out a soft chuckle. "I felt your life force fading and rushed over to try and save you. There was so much energy spilling out of you, and then the next thing I knew we ended up here."
Max looked around some more at the endless field of white, trying to find any sign of something, but all he saw was nothing. "How long have I been out for?" He demanded, standing up.
Nier shrugged his shoulders. "A few hours. Assuming time works the same as in here as it does out in the real world."
"Why wouldn't it?"
"Your father didn't just have control over the weather, you know." Nier flicked the bug off of his finger. "Just as the Lord of the Sea contains a deep creature within, the weather is often a tricky and mysterious thing. Humans conquered it and can predict it, and so that somehow led to the creation of a future sight-based power, which your father discovered. As far as I know, he was the first Lord of the Sky to have such an ability. He never really figured out how to use it, though. It's possible that yet again the power could have evolved and changed within you."
"Seriously? That's something that can happen."
Nier nodded his head. "I think it's best to view it this way. Being a Lord doesn't mean you're a Super. A Super is someone who is no longer human and has gained supernatural powers. A Lord is someone who is no longer Super and has gone even further beyond the limits of humanity and started to step into the realm of Gods. I've noticed each Lord has shown powers that the previous couldn't. No other Lord of the Sun has come anywhere close to my little brother Jackson's level of power. I believe that the Lords are something else but can also be a Super. Sini is the best example of this. He gained a Mental based power. In other words, I think the reason Lord powers evolve and change is because current Lords all awaken other powers previous Lords didn't by also becoming a Super. Just as humans can become Supers, Lords can as well."
"So, wherever the hell we're at, it's because I've gained some new ability by nearly dying, right?" Max placed his hand down on the ground, pushing it in deeper. "If my dad had a power based on time, maybe I gained something that goes along with that and can make a new space or something? I know some powers can create pocket realms. If that's the case, I should be able to cancel this."
"Give it a try." Nier encouraged.
Max closed his eyes and felt the spark of energy that was his core of power. It came surging out, and he felt his skin grow warm as lightning danced across his flesh. His hair stood up, and he could feel clouds begin to swirl around him. A blank, endless landscape was all around them. One in which he had somehow created. He was the master of his own power, though. Most of the Lords constantly used their battle mode, but not him. He didn't like it. He was the one in control.
Just him. It was the only way for him to ignore the voice. The one in his head that was constantly barking orders at him.
With a pull, he forced it all back in, drawing in the energy that had escaped him. The white field around them shook and crumbled. Cracks appeared along the floor and in the sky, and then the next thing he knew, he was dropping. He crashed down face first into the sandy floor of the beach as water splashed against him. Nier landed on his feet and let out a low whistle.
"Good job, kid."
"Thanks, teacher." Max winced and pushed himself up. "It's not enough, though. I need to keep training and get stronger. Or else I won't be able to catch up to 'his' level." He growled.
Nier held his hand out to the younger man and smiled. "Let's go grab a bite to eat. You've earned it."
Max slowly reached up and took the hand, letting himself be pulled up. He followed after his teacher as they headed for Oleander's docks. The moon was up in the sky, but there was bound to be a restaurant or two that was still open. He was lucky to have someone like Nier. The man had been there for him when he lost his father. The Hero Branch had been so busy they didn't even notice what had happened to his father. They wouldn't have been able to do anything about it, though, even if they knew. There was only one person who would stop that monster...
It was going to be him.
"So, how did the mission go?" Nier asked slyly.
"It was just as you said, teacher." Max nodded. "Water Prince was shipping something to this city. I wasn't the one who beat him, though. Some other girl did it." He sighed.
"There was another Super on the same level as you?"
"If you can even say we're on the same level." Max said bitterly. He glanced down at his hand, watching as the sparks of lightning danced across it. "I think she was stronger than me. A lot stronger than me. She had hair that lit up like a Lord, too."
Nier nodded his head and let out a hum. "The Lords' hair changes when they enter their battle mode. They aren't the only Supers who can change their form, though. The Thaddeus clan are all born with an ability that allows them to transform. Most children of Lords also seem to have the ability to change and evolve their power. The important thing is that you made it out alive and got stronger. People like us are able to endlessly grow and evolve. Now that you possess the power of Wano, it is only a matter of time before you reach his level as well."
"Then I can kill that damn bastard that stole my father from me." Max hissed out, his lightning crackling around him wildly.
Nier looked up at the moon above as they walked. "The Emperor."
"Huh?"
"That's the name of the villain that stole the life of your father away." The man explained. He reached into his pocket and tossed something over to Max, who caught it. The boy looked down at it, finding it was a flip phone that had the picture of a familiar-looking villain on it. One with glowing, fiery blue eyes cloaked in black armor. The villain was looking up at three other villains. The other Princes. "I was able to get this picture thanks to one of Avalon's drones." Nier stated, holding his finger up once again and allowing the little robotic bug to land on it. "That villain is calling himself the Emperor. He's a powerful threat, but so far, the Hero Branch hasn't realized he exists. He'd have to be strong to take on a Lord."
"I already know that." Max gritted his teeth and glared down at the tiny picture of the man in black armor. "I was there the night this bastard killed my dad. To take down my father, this guy must be on the same level as the Beast or something."
Nier took the phone back, flipping it closed, and placed it back in his pocket. "I no longer work with the Branch. Like your father, they threw me out when I didn't want to play ball with them. For the past year and a half, I've been training you and sending you out to fight these villains in order for the Lord's power within you to evolve. As it stands right now, you're still not as strong as Wano was, and until you are, I'm afraid fighting this villain would only result in your death. Luckily for you, I already have your next target in mind."
"Who is it?" Max asked, punching his fist into his open palm. "I'll do whatever it takes to get stronger. No matter what, I have to reach that villain and beat him with my own two hands!"
"The Emperor has seemingly killed off most of Oleander's villains but left one alive. Fire Prince." Nier turned to look back at Max and gave a sly smile. "You lost to Water Prince, and Fire Prince is even stronger. Do you think you can handle it?"
"I will!"
"Then hunt him down. Beat him. Evolve. Grow. Become the Lord of the Sky." Nier announced. "Reach the same level as your father. Only then will I allow you to face the Emperor."
Only then would Max truly be useful… After all, now that Wano was dead, Nier found himself forced to wait.
He'd have to make sure this Lord grew properly. He'd sharpen his weapon until it was ready.