Psycap did not look like she was having a good day. Her hand still covered half of her face, which was stained red, and the villain was barely conscious. What was left of her good eye glared up at the figure that hovered above her. Fable stared right back down with an unamused look. The gem in Psycap's forehead glowed weakly as the woman used her psychic powers to try and force her body up, but it was clear she was well past her limits.
Hope took a sigh of relief as more of the broken remains of the ship rained down on the village. She sent out some of Kevin's tendrils, allowing them to stretch out as far as they needed to, to wrap around whoever was left in the village and yank them out of the way of the falling debris, saving all the civilians.
"Which hero is that?" Kevin whispered in her ear.
"Fable." She responded, giving a sly grin. "We got lucky. He's a really strong hero."
She didn't know much about the large man. He had never been one of her favorites; that honor went to the Victorian, Lady Time, and Ocean Empress. What she did know was that the man was the younger brother of Myth. At least that's what Lois told her. It made sense he was here. From what Olivia had said, this island would be near Violet City, which was the one Fable of the Enforcers guarded with his life. She was glad to see that he made it out of the Beast fight alive.
The hero floated up in the air, his wax wings beating back and forth as he came down slowly. He held his bow at the ready, each arrow so large it'd be able to impale the Anti-Matter Gang leader where she stood. His eyes scanned the island, taking note of all the destruction and the two Supers that were down below. "I heard your little group ran into some trouble. Most people were saying you guys aren't around anymore. So, you can imagine my shock when I arrive to find two Anti-Matter Gang members on the island."
"I'm not with them!" She yelled up in panic. She wildly waved her arms and shook her head. "I'm a good guy!"
"Nice try." Fable's eyes glared down at her, and she took a nervous step back. "My eyes can see the truth of the world. I've gone toe to toe with you before, Parasite! Your aura hasn't changed a bit!" So she wasn't able to fool Psycap, but she could fool Fable without even trying? Lady Luck wasn't smiling down on her after all…
"Looks like you eating that villain was a bad idea." Kevin sighed.
"I didn't eat her; the Brightest Star did, and I swear to God if he doesn't get out here and explain that this instant-"
Psycap used the confusion to make her move. The woman struck fast, slamming her hand through the air and causing Fable's arrow to snap its way out of the bow string. The large spear-like arrow spun around and came down hard on the man, and he was forced to reach up and grab it. He grunted as the thing got close to his throat, but then he simply gave a tired grin. "Watch out." Was all he said.
Psycap sneered and forced more of her power into the air, having a mental tug of war with the hero. "Oh please! As if I'd fall for such an obvious-"
A foot came crashing down onto the top of the woman's head as, out of nowhere, Wyvern dropped from the sky as fast as she could. The dragon-themed hero kicked Psycap as hard as she could upside the back of the villain's head, and Psycap's remaining eye rolled into the back of her head. The woman stood there drooling for a moment before she fell forward and landed face first in the dirt, completely knocked out. Just to be sure though, Wyvern's backside grew a long red tail that smashed down into Psycap's back, easily burying the woman deep into the ground.
In no time at all, the two Enforcers had defeated the Anti-Matter Gang captain with seeming ease. In fact, it might have been overkill with how fast it was.
The energy in the arrow vanished, allowing Fable to gently place it back in his quiver. His feet touched down on the beach, and the wings in his back pulled themselves into his flesh, vanishing. "Good work, Wyvern. Now what do we do about the other one?"
"Hold that thought." Wyvern inhaled, and suddenly all the fire that was burning on the island was pulled to the dragon woman. Her mouth opened wide, and it flowed in like running water, allowing the Enforcer to devour it all. When the hero closed her mouth and gulped, the entire island was free of smoke and flame. The remaining people in the village all stood there, trying to figure out if they should do something, but decided against it when the hero let out a small burp, followed by some smoke. "Okay. Now let's beat her up." Wyvern declared.
"Wait-"
Hope didn't even have time to think about running as the next second Wyvern appeared in front of her, moving inhumanly fast. Wyvern's fist flew in her direction, and she tried to throw her arms out in front of her, but she knew it wouldn't work. She had been hit by the hero before, so she knew better than anyone just how hard Wyvern could hit.
Wyvern's claws stabbed out as the woman slashed out with her hand, but at the last second the attack stopped as someone jumped in front of her with their arms out. "Stop!" Wyvern came to a sudden halt, her claws inches away from the face of one of the villagers. The very same one who had seen firsthand what the young girl everyone was attacking could do. "She isn't bad." The man said quickly. Sweat poured down his face as he found himself staring into the eyes of a predator as Wyvern studied him closely. "This young girl saved my son. She fought that other freak and stopped many of us from being harmed. I don't think she is a bad person."
Hope stood there, her mouth going dry as she stared at the man's back. She felt really bad at that moment, as it was all sort of her fault. From what she gathered, if she never came here, then none of these people would have been hurt. It didn't matter if she saved him; she was the one who put him in danger in the first place.
Wyvern's eyes roamed over the man's face before her tail came out and shoved the injured guy away, causing him to tumble down. "Daddy!" The young boy from earlier ran forward and clutched at his father's side as the man looked up at the dragon-themed hero who stalked forward toward her prey. "Don't hurt her!" The boy cried out.
Hope gulped but stood her ground. She wouldn't be able to run or fight back, not with both of them being there. She felt her heart beating rapidly as Wyvern finally stood directly in front of her.
Then she suddenly let out a sheepish squeak as the young woman grabbed her by the shoulders and looked down at her. Wyvern's eyes roamed over her costume, which twitched a little as Kevin likely debated ditching her and making a run for it. Wyvern's eyes slowly closed, and the woman leaned forward, her nose twitching.
Finally, Wyvern pulled away and turned to look back at Fable. "The Victorian was right. It's Cinder."
Hope felt her body relax a bit, and she took a sigh of relief. That relief then faded when Fable punched his open palm. "I see. So, Parasite body hopped into her!"
"I'm not Parasite!"
"She's telling the truth." Wyvern noted folding her arms. The girl's tail swished back and forth lazily, almost like a cat. "Parasite might have tried to invade her body, but the villain didn't succeed."
"Thank you!"
Fable gave a nod of his head. "Oh. My mistake. Sorry about that, Cinder."
Her eyes narrowed a bit, and she stepped away, looking at them both. "You know, you guys aren't too shocked that I'm alive? It was like you knew I was here already or something."
"That's because we did." Wyvern stepped away as well, looking her up and down. "Though I didn't expect that your form would be so... Cute?" The hero looked her small form up and down.
"Please don't use that word..." She shook her head and got her mind back on track. "Wait, you guys knew I was still alive? How?"
Fable rubbed his chin, humming. "Well, after your 'death', the Enforcers sort of had a split. Some of them, like Boy Genius, Mister Man, and Lady Time, wanted to find the next Lord of the Sun right away. The Victorian, though, kept claiming that you weren't actually dead. She seemed pretty confident you'd come back."
"I can't tell if she's a fan of me or not." She muttered. Meeting her hero had always been an odd point. At times the Victorian treated her as if she were a nuisance. Other times the woman acted as if she was the next coming of Full Monarch. Witnessing and being Ruby Admiral, the hidden past of the Victorian, had only made things way more complicated. Especially now that she was discovering more of the truth of the woman's relationship to Max and the Emperor... "I saw the fake me running around. Why'd you let that happen?!"
"Do you think we had a choice?" Wyvern asked, raising an eyebrow.
"A little bit, yeah?"
"The Victorian didn't agree to it as well but went along with it." Fable tried to explain. "Sixteen years ago, after the death of her father, she made a deal with the Hero Branch. The Hero Branch of today is very different than it used to be. In exchange for following their orders, they had to meet some of her demands. The Branch might not be pure, but it exists to better the world. Even if she didn't like the fake you running around, she'll honor the deal. To break it would be spitting in the face of her father. And as long as they have her under their control, the rest of us can't really do anything about it."
"The Hero Branch was the one who came up with the idea." Wyvern stated.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! I heard all of that before." She stomped her foot down, feeling some of her anger boil inside of her. "They did it to stop bad guys from looking for the pod. Newsflash though, it didn't work as all the important bad guys already knew it was fake, and the Emperor knows I'm alive!"
"You met the Emperor again?" Wyvern asked in shock.
"Yeah! That's why I'm like this! He put me back together but did a shitty job, and now I'm small and everything sucks!" She whined. "Also, what gave the Hero Branch the right to reveal my identity?" She missed the old simpler days when she was still saving cats from trees.
Wyvern and Fabel shared a look for a moment. "The original reason the Victorian decided to go with the lookalike plan was because she was confident that you'd come back, and it'd keep you in the public image. I don't think any of us saw your identity being leaked as something that would happen. From a tactical point, it makes no sense. Did you ever make any enemies of someone in the Branch?"
"No!" She shook her head and stomped her foot down some more. "Whatever, that doesn't matter now. I need to get back to Oleander right away!"
Fable nodded his head. "The Victorian asked us to bring her there first. You go ahead and take her, Wyvern. My city is nearby, so I have some experience dealing with the locals here. I'll make sure they're alright. I'll deal with the Anti-Matter Gang leader, too." Fable rammed his hand through the ground and easily lifted the body of Psycap out of it. The villain was still unconscious and likely wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.
"Are you sure you can handle it?" Wyvern questioned.
"This small fry?" Fable let out a soft snort. "Of course I can." He threw Psycap over his shoulder, then turned to look at the other villagers who were still watching. "Worry not! I'll use my power and have your homes up in a jiffy! When I'm done, it'll be like none of this ever happened!"
Wyvern slowly took to the air as a pair of large red wings unfolded from her back. Her tail dangled down, and Hope reached out, grabbing it. She squeezed down tightly and stepped up onto one of the spikes that jutted out, using it as a footrest as Wyvern's wings flapped. She stared down at the village and its people, who in turn looked back up at her. She felt a little guilty about leaving so soon. Especially since she still considered this mess to be her fault. She was glad to know though that no one had seemingly died in the attack. By some miracle, everyone had been able to avoid any serious injury.
Wyvern's wings grew even larger, and the woman got ready to blast off but suddenly stopped as someone let out a loud yell. "Wait!"
Hope's ears twitched as she heard the familiar voice. "Ms. Olivia?"
From the destroyed forest, the dark-skinned woman ran forward. Olivia wasn't alone either. An elder man followed after the woman clutching a walking cane. He was likely the person Olivia had been telling her about. The man who had a way to get in contact with the cities.
Olivia was seemingly fully healed. The woman's skin wasn't damaged and had been restored, and she was able to stand on her own two feet again, finally back in control of her body after all the horrible things Parasite had done in it. Olivia's eyes were wide, and she breathed heavily as she looked up at the two heroes that were in the air. Then she took a deep breath and let out a yell.
"Thank you for saving me!"
Hope couldn't help the small snort that escaped her. Wyvern began to slowly fly away, and soon they'd be gone, so this was the only chance she had to respond. She stood on the hero's tail, one arm wrapped around it, but the other she held out waving. "Don't thank me! It wasn't Cinder who saved you! It was her new sidekick, Baggy!"
"Baggy?" Kevin asked, forming a mouth on the shoulder of her jacket.
"Your hero name." She shrugged. "That's what I decided to call you. Oh, also, you're my sidekick now."
"I never agreed to this-"
Kevin never got to finish his sentence as Wyvern suddenly blasted forward at her max speed, finally leaving Coral Island behind. Hope watched the island rapidly get smaller and smaller as a faint smile appeared on her face. She clutched onto Wyvern's tail tightly as they flew away.
It finally felt like she was back.
"For what it's worth, I wasn't at the meeting where Boy Genius came up with the plan." Wyvern called down to her, flying through the sky. "I wouldn't have gone along with it if I knew. By the time I found out, it was already too late." And just like that, her sour mood came back as she was instantly reminded of the situation back home and the fact that there was a second Cinder running around.
"You didn't do anything once it happened though, did you?" She asked bitterly.
Wyvern winced and shook her head. "I didn't. I'm sorry. The Victorian-"
"Victorian this, Victorian that! I get she's the number one hero, but she's just one person. She can make mistakes." She'd know that better than anyone. She had literally lived through the world watching the Victorian's mistake. Ruby Admiral was a villain no one seemed to know about nowadays. Likely something the Branch buried.
She knew that the Victorian must have changed a lot. Not just with herself but the Branch as well. Back then, all Supers were forced to work for the Branch or were dubbed as villains. Now though Supers could go about living a peaceful normal life without having to join the Branch. The Sub Enforcers had also been something the Victorian created. Kids could be dumb. Give kids powers, and they could be really dumb. Every child at one point or another likely thought about being a hero. The Sub Enforcers had been created by the Victorian to stop kids from walking down the same path someone like Sini, Nier, or Wano had to walk. The Hero Branch would force powerful kids into the war simply because they were strong. The Sub Enforcers, however, were meant to place child Supers under a powerful adult who could monitor them, help them grow, and take them on less dangerous missions. No matter what, children would try to use their powers to get into fights, so by at least creating the Sub Enforcers, it was meant to ensure they wouldn't have to be thrown into a war.
Of course, that all sort of got botched up when the Hero Branch went around the number one hero and used other groups to do their dirty work that had children on them. Boy Genius had once asked Pantheon to go after Fairy Queen. Looking back at it, there really would have been no way they'd win that fight if it wasn't for Mr. Larison. The hero would have never been allowed to ask the Sub Enforcers to do something like that, but despite the fact her team was made up of mostly kids, because they weren't technically Sub Enforcers, it was a loophole.
This was to say that much like Full Monarch, the Victorian's system wasn't perfect either. No system would ever be perfect, but she was starting to notice a core issue. One that she might need to address sooner or later.
They flew in silence as she thought all of this over. Wyvern spoke up, a bit hesitant. "Most of her credit has been going to you."
"What?" She asked, looking up.
"The Victorian." Wyvern explained. "Since that faker can't actually do anything, the Victorian has been working like a crazed beast. I don't think she's rested since she lost, and all of that credit has been going to you. Over half of her deeds, they're claiming Cinder is the one doing it. I know you don't like what the Branch did, nor of the fact that some of us allowed it to happen, but people have been looking up to Cinder. They're treating you almost as well as they treated Full Monarch."
"I'm not the next Full Monarch though." She complained.
"You're not?"
"No! I'm really not."
She might have had the Brightest Star inside of her, but it was only half of the being. Not to mention, even if she did have the full half, she wouldn't be following the same path that Full Monarch and the Victorian both did. At least not at the moment. Full Monarch created the Hero Branch as a way to ensure humans and Supers could work together and get over the fear that had been established by Lucifer. The Victorian rebuilt the Hero Branch to try and bring more order and balance in the relationship of Supers and help young ones grow and find a place for themselves. Both plans, however, were corrupted. Being the number one hero was more than just being the strongest. It meant making real changes. Changes to the system that could benefit all, and at the moment she really didn't know what she could do to help everyone.
"Don't get me wrong, it's always been my dream to be a big-shot superhero. As a kid, I wanted to fly alongside the Victorian and fight crime together with her, but now it seems like people only care about me because I'm the Lord of the Sun. It wasn't me that beat the Beast, it was the Brightest Star. Hell, if they should be praising anyone, they should all be focused on Paragon! She kept up with me when I was in that form and helped me beat it. I didn't really consider it until now, but she must be crazy strong, right?! Why isn't anyone talking about her?"
"She hasn't been seen by the public since the Beast fight." Wyvern sighed. "She vanished from sight, and no one knows where she is."
"Seriously?" She frowned and gripped a little tighter on one of Wyvern's tail scales. "Not even Poseidon has been able to find her?"
"Well, Poseidon had been looking for her but gave up after she moved to Rose."
"Moved to Rose?"
"Oh? You didn't hear about the changes that happened recently, did you?" Wyvern winced. "We're coming up on Violet City. Why don't you take a look? You'll likely see it for yourself."
Up ahead, the city began to come into view as they flew faster. She felt the air leave her lungs when she saw it. Violet City was one of the ten great cities that had been built by Sini Corp. after the war with Lucifer. The Lord had awakened a Mental power and gathered a team of other Mental power users, creating the ten grand cities. They were massive in size, made to hold most of the world's population, and scattered all over the world. Some were connected to each other, like Oleander and Lillian, but others stood alone.
Violet looked more like a massive village. Instead of skyscrapers, it had massive stone towers modeled to look like the grand Enforcer tower. Actual castles took the place of mansions, and there were hundreds of stone or wooden buildings. The people were dressed straight out of a fantasy book, wearing dresses or peasant clothes, but there was also an abundance of technology as well. Phones, cars, and other such things existed. It was as if you mixed modern and fantasy together into one weird place.
Every Enforcer member other than the Victorian and Beta had their own hero team, as well as a Sub Enforcer unit in their city. For Fable, he led team Fairy Tale, which was made up of heroes that based themselves off of stories of the past, some even being modeled after heroes that were around before the four Lords. What truly caught her attention though and caused her pulse to quicken was what roamed the city. She had seen them all too well in the memories Avalon had forced her to live through.
Giants...
There were four of them in total, each one guarding a corner of the city. They were different shapes and sizes, but all were as big as a castle. One was heavily armored, while another only wore a bit of cloth. One had a great sword, another a bow, and another a massive club. Coming out of the back of all of their heads was a long strand of water that floated through the air. It connected itself to the Giants, and each one led to the same place. On top of the castle, another familiar face stood, her hand outstretched, allowing the strings of water to touch her fingers.
Purrfect had a sly grin on her face and twitched her finger, each one sending shock waves through the cord, which in turn caused the Giants to move. They roamed the city, looking down at the people who had seemingly grown used to the beings standing there and no longer feared them.
"Why are Mr. Larison's Giant's here! And is that Purrfect? Is she controlling them? Why? How?" She asked in shock.
"You really have missed a lot." Wyvern let out another deep sigh.
"No kidding." Kevin whispered in her ear, and she jumped a bit. She had almost forgotten she was literally wearing him as her costume. He had been mostly silent and hadn't budged an inch since they left. "What the hell is going on?"
Wyvern's speed kicked up, and they flew out of the city. The hero got even faster, and in no time at all, they came across a second city. Dandelion was protected by Mister Man and his team called Mercy. It looked more like an old-timey city with old cars and people walking around in heavy trench coats. A grand battle between a previous Lord of the Sky and Weather had happened here once, and it was cursed to always rain with heavy black clouds that hovered above it, constantly pouring. On every corner a heavy-looking bank stood, and most of the people had guns strapped to them.
Once more, four Giants stood. One was heavily armored and held a massive trident. Another looked more like a large lion covered in thick black fur made of energy and stood on all fours. The other two looked more like massive knights. Just like in the previous city, a tendril was attached to the back of their head, leading to the tallest building where Purrfect stood.
"How is she here, too?"
Again, they flew past it and soon reached Wyvern's own city, Daffodil, which was protected by the Sun Eater team. Since Wyvern was good friends with Boy Genius and often worked alongside him and Beta, the city below looked like something straight out of the future. The cars hovered slightly off the ground, and every building was stacked on top of one another going up. It was all small and compressed with dozens of layers, each layer forming another mini-city on top of it. On each layer, a Giant stood and had the strands of water coming out the back of their head. At the very top of the city, lounging around on a chair being treated to an assortment of snacks from different robots, Purrfect laid her hand lazily controlling the string that connected to the Giants.
"I'm starting to get worried." Kevin murmured.
"Are you starting to get it yet?" Wyvern questioned her.
"Get what?" She asked. "Get that Purrfect apparently found a way to clone herself or something? What the hell is going on exactly, Wyvern? Why are Mr. Larison's Giants here? Actually, wait... Why did you show up to the island? That island was near Violet City, so I get why Fable showed up, but why are you outside of one of your cities? Normally only the Victorian leaves the city and protects the rest of the world. Also, now that I think about it earlier, you said something. You said the Victorian didn't rest ever since she lost?"
Wyvern didn't say anything for several seconds, instead focusing on flying out of her city and reaching the ocean. Soon they'd arrived at Oleander, which also had four Giants and a Purrfect located somewhere in the city. Finally, though, Wyvern spoke. "A lot happened in such a short amount of time. I'm guessing wherever you've been, it wasn't a place caught up on all the news."
"The last thing I heard about was that there was someone claiming to be me who gave away my identity. What else did I miss?" She demanded.
"To answer one of your questions, the reason I'm not in my city anymore is the same reason no Enforcer is in their city. All of us have been kicked out."
"What!" She felt a chill run down her spine. "Seriously? You've been kicked out? By who?"
"Who do you think..."
She glanced back at the city in the distance, staring at the Giants in shock. "N- No. You're lying. Mr. Larison wouldn't do something like that, would he? A- And if he did, I'm sure he must have had a good reason for it, right?"
"Maybe. Or maybe the Victorian was wrong, and he really is the next Calamity." Wyvern bowed her head. "It started when he arrived in Rose. I don't know the full story, but he picked a fight with the Hero Branch, which, in turn, led them to call the number one hero on him. He came to her himself though."
In the distance, Oleander began to come up quickly. That wasn't the only thing she saw either. A golden light took up the night sky. She hadn't even realized they'd flown to the other side of the planet until she saw the Victorian. The number one hero had her arms folded and floated above Oleander City, just outside its border. Four Giants stood directly in front of her, seemingly blocking her from entering. Behind them, much smaller Giants worked on the destroyed buildings. Her eyes roamed over all the destruction of her city, feeling a pang in her heart.
The golden woman's eyes slowly turned when she heard the flapping of wings. The woman's eyes seemed to ignite, and the smallest hint of a smile appeared on her face as she stared at Hope, who clung to Wyvern's tail.
"Battery and the Victorian did battle with each other." Wyvern spoke up once again. "The end result was that we now have a new number one hero. The Victorian lost, and Battery has been quick at establishing his own rules and his new Hero Branch."
Battery was now in charge.