"Yes!" Hope cheered and threw her arms up in the air as the Victorian's sword came crashing down and rammed next to Legend, who barely jumped away. "MVP, in the house!"
"Alright, don't gas her up that much." Lightning Empress said flatly. "I don't even know if my mom is even the third strongest hero anymore."
Cracks appeared along the sky, growing larger as the Victorian forced her way into the realm. The entire world shook, and then it began to break and crumble. In only a few seconds, they all found themselves back in the fake Oleander City, standing in the middle of the street. Most of the street was destroyed and crumbled, likely from Kevin's battle, though Hope didn't see him or the others around anywhere. She hoped Kevin was okay.
The Victorian floated softly to the ground, and the woman wasn't alone either. Behind her, a golden platform dropped out of the sky, carrying three other people. Fable, Lady Time, and finally Paragon. Paragon wasted no time and reached out, placing a hand on Hope's and Lois's shoulders, healing them both up.
"Hey." Paragon smiled.
"Hey!" Hope grinned back.
The Victorian kept her gaze fixed on Legend, who remained on the other side of the street and quietly stared, not reacting or doing anything. "So that's what he looks like now." The golden woman muttered, frowning softly. "Lois, how are you holding up?"
"I'll manage." Lightning Empress flexed her shoulders, feeling her muscles pop slightly. "Especially now that I've been healed. Careful, Mom, he's strong. Nowhere near the Beast, but definitely around the same level as the Emperor, back when you fought him in the Wasteland."
The Victorian nodded, and her smile was replaced with a sly smirk. "That's good."
"It is?" Cinder made a face. "How is that good? The Emperor is tough."
"Yeah, but I totally kicked his ass." The Victorian created her sword and casually placed it over her shoulder. "I'm stronger than I was back then, not to mention I've got these two guys backing me up." She nodded at Lady Time and Fable.
Lady Time chuckled as she created her two-time swords and swung them at the two other Enforcer members, increasing their speed. "That's right. You kids just sit back and watch. We'll handle this. Leave it to us adults."
Fable didn't say anything for several moments. His eyes were locked onto the strange machine that sort of resembled his father. Legend was looking right back at him. Father and son were meeting once again. "You okay?" The Victorian asked him, giving him a nudge.
Fable hesitated but eventually nodded. "Yeah. That 'thing' isn't my dad. Not anymore. I can handle it."
The Victorian gave her teammate a pat on the shoulder, and she was about to walk forward but stopped and looked back at Lois and Hope. "You two did well. You held him off long enough for us to get here. Good job."
Hope felt her heart twitch, and she let out a giddy giggle as the three adults began to march toward Legend. "What?" She asked when she saw the look Sky was giving her.
"How are you holding up?" Sky asked.
Hope gave an awkward shrug as memories of the battle with Wish coursed through her head. "Eh. I'll manage! Don't worry."
"Really?"
"Nah, I'm lying." Hope chuckled and reached out, taking Sky's hand in hers. "I'm glad you're here, though. I was seriously starting to get stressed! You were right; I shouldn't have left Oleander! First, I got into some fight with Golden Weaver, and then I met that asshole Ward, and then Meta appeared, who is apparently a member of the Immortals; oh, and there was this Halo chick who was a total bitch! And that was all before I got dragged into this game! My dad got forced to be a player, and I got picked to guard him. And we had to battle this old villain and some other guy that had winter powers, and the entire time, I kept having to team up with all these guys I didn't know, and then I found out that the fake me was this person I didn't like, but then I learned her story, and I still don't like her, but I guess it gave me a sort of understanding on how she ended up the person she did, and it made me wonder how many other cases are like that!" Hope took a deep breath and gasped. "And the entire time all of this was going on, I kept having to remind myself that I was doing a good job or that I was following the correct path, even though at times it felt like everything was going to fall apart and- And- And... I'm glad you're here. Seriously. I feel less stressed now."
Sky pulled her into a hug, and she held the other girl awkwardly in her arms for a moment. It felt weird hugging someone besides her parents, but she went with it and held the white-haired girl close. "It's okay." Sky finally said, "I'm here to help."
"Get a room, you two." Lightning Empress said flatly before the Lord of the Sky began to lift off the ground.
"Where are you going?" Hope asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm going to go find Myth." Lois shrugged. "They should be finished with their fight now."
Sky's eyes narrowed slightly, and she gave the other hero an annoyed look. "Be honest. Is this all still going according to the plan you and Battery came up with?"
Lightning Empress just giggled. "Well, sort of. I really didn't know about any of this Legend stuff, but for the most part, I guess you could say it's all lining up the way I saw it. Beta and I had a long conversation and calculated the best way to get to something I saw."
"And what was that?" Sky demanded.
"Again, I can't tell." Lightning Empress rolled her eyes. "The more information you know, the more you'll question your actions or do something you shouldn't. And before you say that, you'll go out of your way to screw it up since you at least know there is something that's also been calculated and accounted for, so really, the best course of action you can take is to follow your gut." Lightning Empress twirled through the air and spun softly. "Just know that if this all goes the way it should, then we'll get a good ending. Does it matter how bumpy the ride is if the ending is worth it?"
"You're playing with lives," Sky growled. "You shouldn't do that."
"You're right." Lois agreed and nodded her head. "What I'm doing is pretty bad. I'd normally just let fate play out how it should, but... Well, some of the things I saw... There are so many, you know. The Loudest Thunder forced me to see them all. Millions, or even billions, of bad endings. Endings where everything goes wrong and doesn't work out. Endings where everyone suffers. Endings were hope ceases to be." Lois looked back, her eyes filling with determination. "I'll be a monster, one who manipulates people and time itself, all so we can avoid that. Of course, at the end of the day, it all comes down to one person's choice." Lois giggled and floated away. "It is their story, after all."
Hope watched the girl fly off and turned to look back at the heroes. She really didn't know how to feel about the situation. On the one hand, she didn't agree with all the secrets, but on the other hand, Lois seemed dead set that this was the only way. She'd just have to play it by ear and do what she thought was right during the moment. She smiled softly and took Sky's hand in hers. "Hey, I had something I wanted to ask."
"Yeah?" Sky turned to look back at her and raised an eyebrow.
Her grip grew tighter around the girl's hand. "After this is all over, do you maybe want to-"
"Hope!" A voice cut her off, and she and Sky turned around, finding Kyle, of all people, running toward them. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't heard Pied's song, and she realized with horror why. Pied was in Kyle's arms, bleeding out. "Pied needs help!"
"I'm on it!" Sky took Pied and lowered the boy to the ground, where she began to do her best to heal him. Her hands glowed softly, and she ran them over his body, mending and closing up his wounds. The healer let out a sigh of relief. "You got him here just in time. A moment later, and I think he would have died. It'll take me some time, but I can save him."
"Oh, thank God." Hope felt some tension leave her shoulders before she focused her gaze back on Kyle. "Kyle! What happened?"
Tears streamed down Kyle's face, and he wiped at them, trying not to break out into a sob. "It's my dad." He cried out. "My dad is here."
"What!"
Meanwhile, up on one of the roofs of the many towers, Aarush stared down, feeling a numb feeling seep through him. "Why do you look so cold?" Harrison Avalon casually took a seat next to Aarush and dangled his feet over the side of the building. "You're not the one who was chucked into space! If anyone should be freezing, it should be me!"
Aarush just grunted.
"Want to know how I survived?"
"Not really."
"So basically, I-"
Aarush tuned the man out and clenched his hand into a fist. "Is all of this necessary? All this destruction." The fake Oleander wasn't in good condition, and the fighting had just started. Streets were being torn apart, and a few were already dead. "I just want Lucifer dead. I don't care about anything else. Why can't the Emperor just do that!"
"Not yet." Avalon shook his head. "You'll have your part to play, but it isn't time yet. Right now, it's Legend's." Avalon smirked, and his eyes sparkled with amusement. "After all, there's still over a day before the true Murder Games begin. He's simply the start of this boss rush."
Aarush growled and glared at the heroes. "Then they need to hurry up and beat him! Lucifer must die!"
"And he will." Avalon nodded again. "You'll have your wish granted and more. After you deal with our other issue."
"Yeah." Aarush calmed down and nodded. "I remember our deal. The Emperor will kill Lucifer, and in return, you want me to kill the hero called Battery?"
Avalon's smile only grew. "That's right. His time will come, and when it does, it won't be at the hands of some big-shot hero or villain. Instead, it'll be you who takes him out. A total nobody. This man who declared himself the number one hero, who is so cocky that he's broadcasting all of this live, will meet his end at your hands. After that, the Emperor will slaughter Lucifer live on camera and declare himself the ruler of planet Earth. Despair will take root, and no matter what the heroes do, they'll be unable to win." Avalon chuckled and leaned back, looking up at the sky. "It'll all be so wonderful."
"And it all starts once the heroes beat Legend?"
"That's right." Avalon nodded. "As soon as Legend is beaten. I wonder if they'll be able to do it. After all, Legend hasn't even started to move yet."
"What does that mean?" Aarush asked.
"Nothing. Just watch, and you'll see."
Down in the street, the Victorian calmly walked toward Legend. While she did that, Fable and Lady Time walked directly behind her. "Hey! Legend! It's been a while!" The number one hero called out. "Do you remember me?"
Legend turned and looked toward her, no emotion showing on his robotic face. "Full Monarch?"
The Victorian made a face and wrinkled her nose. "No! Dumbass. I'm his daughter. We fought alongside each other at one point. Look, I met a guy who has the same thing you do. If there's even a shred of you left in there, you have to fight. Otherwise..."
"I am number one." Legend was gone, and the Victorian felt a powerful blow to the back of her head as the man appeared behind her. His strike rammed her face down into the ground and sent a shock wave rippling through the street. Fable and Lady Time both gasped and jumped back in shock, having not seen the Ruler move. One moment, he had been in front of them, and then the next, he was literally burying the Victorian into the ground.
The Victorian clicked her tongue, not even damaged, and she casually stabbed her sword up, impaling it through Legend's stomach, his clock exploding as the blade came out his back. "Never mind. I'm just going to kill you." The woman smashed her sword up and split the man in two right down the middle. The two halves of Legend crashed down, and both twitched, somehow still alive.
"That was shockingly easy," Fable grunted.
"I am number three-" Legend gasped before his eyes glazed over, and he stopped moving.
"I am number one." The Victorian turned and raised her sword up just in time as a second Legend appeared behind her and struck out. Her sword was able to block the strike, and her eyes glared at Legend's lifeless ones. "I am number one."
"You just had to say something, Fable!" Lady Time hissed out.
"Sorry!" Fable winced, and his body glowed; in a flash of light, he wore metal armor and a massive lance-sized spear, which he impaled through Legend's stomach. Wind twisted off of his spear and tore through the inside of Legend's gut, ripping the man up and shattering him to bits.
"I- I am number four-" The Legend managed to blurt out before his head was torn apart.
"Damn it." Lady Time hissed. Already, another Legend stood at the end of the street. "What gives? Battery said that Rulers come back when they die, but he made it sound like their bodies heal or something. The corpses are staying behind, though!"
"This is something else." The Victorian held her sword up, going into a stance. "I don't think he's actually died yet. This form of returning is different from the Emperor's and Jack's."
"I am number one." Legend stood at the end of the street.
"I am number one." Legend stood behind them.
I am number one." Legend was on the roof looking down at them.
"I am number one." Legend's voice came from beneath the ground, somewhere in the sewers.
"I am number one." Legend floated in the air, his arms folded.
Five.
There were a total of five different Legends. Each one looked the exact same, and all said the same thing over and over again. They all stared down at them, almost daring them to act. In only a moment, their three-on-one had become a five-on-three.
The Victorian sighed, slowly processing what she was seeing. "Screw it. You two take one down; I'll take the last three."
"Right!"
Legend let out a loud roar, and he held his hand out, unleashing a wave of gray light that blasted down. The three heroes barely dodged out of the way of it, and everything the light touched instantly was converted into stone and began to crumble. While he did that, another Legend tore a building in half and chucked it out. While Legend did that, Legend punched the ground, sending out a rippling shock wave that caused a mini earthquake. Another Legend to start charging forward through several of the nearby skyscrapers, busting past them all and sending the buildings tumbling down, raining debris. Lastly, not to be outdone, Legend, the one in the sewers, stabbed his hand through the floor and ran as fast as he could, causing the entire street to collapse. In only a second, all five Legends had leveled an entire portion of the city.
"Alright, I'm putting a stop to you, now!" Fable declared. The dark-skinned man smashed his way through the ground and landed in the sewers directly in front of Legend. He raised a shield up just in time to block a wave of gray light, and then he was forced to drop his shield as it began to turn to stone. His spear shifted and twisted into a massive great bow, which already had an arrow notched on it, which he fired out. The arrow smashed into the center of Legend's gut and sent the villain blasting back through a wall. "You're not my dad. Not anymore. I'm not going to hold back!" Fable declared, and he blasted forward, his bow swapping out for a massive trident, which he rammed through his father's eyes. He twisted, lifted, and ripped the head of Legend clean off. "You might look like him, but I know the truth. My dad died a while ago."
Up above, Lady Time jumped at the Legend that had been standing behind them. She swung out with her swords, but Legend vanished and reappeared behind her. He might have cleaved her in two with his strike, but her own body was being sped up thanks to her powers, so she was able to flip over him. As she was above him, she struck out with one of her swords, and instantly, Legend began to move in slow motion. He was awkwardly turning to strike out at her, taking several seconds just to follow her with his eyes. He vanished and reappeared behind her again, trying to sneak attack her, but he was still too slow, his fist barely inching forward, and she just calmly walked around him and placed her sword to his throat.
"Are you wondering why you're moving so slowly?" Lady Time asked, giving a sly smirk. "We used to be on the same team, and you likely remember my abilities not being this good. I've worked my ass off. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep up with the Victorian? After the Beast, I trained over and over and over again, and I didn't stop until I started to puke up blood. My entire Sub Enforcers team had been basically wiped out. All because impossibly strong monsters like you exist. Guys who break the rules. It's just not fair. It seriously pisses me off that just because you have some fancy title like Ruler or Lord, you're simply above everyone else. Not all of us are as blessed as you guys. We don't all get to be the children of some big-shot clan or get some awesome power-up out of nowhere. Some of us have to actually work for our powers. And work we do. Yet, in the end, it still won't matter. I know that no matter how much stronger or faster I get, I still won't be able to keep up with that amazing woman fighting three of you guys at once up there. All because I wasn't born special. Oh well. I guess it doesn't matter, does it?" Lady Time tore her blade across Legend's throat and split it open. He began to gurgle in slow motion and started to drop. "Die."
Three Legends all flew high into the air. They launched out their gray lights, but the Victorian was just too fast. Twisting her body midair, the number one hero chucked her greatsword, sending it flying out. It smashed through the stomach of one Legend, but before it could drop, she fired a golden chain out and wrapped it around her sword's handle. She twisted her body and swung the Legend around, smashing it into a second Legend so hard that both of them exploded into a shower of gears and clocks, which rained down onto the third and final one. It vanished and reappeared directly in front of her, smashing its fist into her face. It hit her again, and again, and again, smashing strike after strike over and over into her, and letting out a wild haymaker strike that she simply reached up and caught.
A small trickle of blood dripped down the Victorian's chin, and her lips twisted into a smile as her hand began to crush Legend's. "My turn." Her fist flew out and tore his head clean off his body in one strike. His corpse dropped out of the sky and smashed down next to Lady Time and Fable, who was climbing out of the destroyed sewers. "Heads up, it's still not over." The woman called out to her two teammates.
"I am number one."
"I am number one."
"I am number one."
"I am number one."
"I am number one."
"I am number one."
"I am number one."
"I am number one."
"I am number one."
"I am number one."
Ten Legends all appeared, scattered around the battlefield.
Fable sighed and lifted his trident up. "Seriously, so he for sure has some sort of cloning ability? What do we do, keep killing them all until there's no more?"
"Maybe." The Victorian frowned softly. "It's a little weird though. I know we've all gotten stronger since the Beast, but if this guy is really as strong as the Emperor was, then why is it so easy for us to kill him? No offense, but you two basically one-tapped yours."
Lady Time just shrugged and threw her arms above her head, sending out a wave of time energy that slowed most of the Legends down. "Maybe your daughter was wrong."
"Or maybe the one they fought was stronger." The Victorian flew forward and began to rapidly tear through the Legends that were stuck in place. She took out eight of them, but already another ten appeared, making for twelve in total now. "I think they're just going to keep coming after us until we're too tired to fight back or something, and then they'll send a strong one after us."
Fable face-palmed and groaned. "My dad would have some annoying power like this. I bet the real one isn't even here."
"Cinder!" The Victorian called out.
"Already on it!" Cinder let go of Sky's hand, and she closed her eyes. She tried to expand her senses and see if she could hear or even smell another Legend that was staying out of the battle, but with all the fighting going on it was impossible to focus. This felt similar to the golems. If she had to guess, the real Legend was somewhere else and was just summoning these clones to fight for him. It'd take too long to search the entire city, though. At least if she was doing it by herself. She raised her hand up and launched out a wave of fire. The flames began to take shape, and Sky made a face and raised an eyebrow as the fire turned into a massive, building-sized backpack that had arms and legs. "Lend us a hand, Baggy!"
"Seriously, I like you, but what's with the backpack stuff?" Sky asked, confused.
"I dunno."
"What?"
Hope shrugged. "I just like backpacks. I don't know why, I just do."
"You are so odd..."
"I've been told." With a grin, she flicked her hand out, and Baggy exploded. The fire flowed out and began to twist into smaller Baggys, which all rained down. Soon enough, the entire street was filled with thousands of backpacks that all flexed and showed off their gains. Each one was barely a foot high, and they all stood at attention. Now that she thought about it, she was basically doing what Legend and Golark had done, but with her backpack army instead of golems or clones. "Alright, guys! Here's the plan! All of you separate and search the city! Leave no rock unturned! Buildings, subway stations, all of it! Find Legend!" The Baggys all saluted and then turned and began to scatter throughout the city.
'As much as I hate to say this, this isn't actually a bad idea.' The Brightest Star hummed inside her ear. 'I can sense where each one is and see what they're seeing. I'll let you know the moment one of them sees something.'
"Thanks." Hope nodded and then turned to look back at Sky. "So, what do you think? I meant to ask earlier, but I should look how I used to, right?"
Sky nodded and gave a small smile. "Yeah. You look like the old Hope again. Well, I think you're a little taller, and your breasts got a tiny bit bigger, but besides that, you're still the same old you."
"Whoa, don't go checking me out like that!" Hope quickly covered herself up. "At least wait till we're out of this danger zone."
Sky just giggled and nodded. Her eyes roamed over Hope once more. The soul was, for the most part, back. That hole that had been present was gone, leaving an intense burning ball of heat. It was even brighter than it had been. It had grown just as Hope had. Slowly, she turned back to watch the other heroes who were still fighting the many Legends. The battle was intense and didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon. Despite all of that, though, Sky couldn't stop smiling. "I really am glad to see you again." She finally said.
Hope nodded as well. "Yeah. Me too."
A lot had happened. It seemed like so long ago since they had actually met for the first time. Still, it was nice to be here in the moment. "What were you saying earlier?" Sky asked.
"Huh?" Hope made a face and turned to look at the other girl.
"Earlier, before Kyle showed up." Sky shot a look at Kyle, who stood off to the side awkwardly with an unconscious Pied. "You were about to say something to me? I think you were going to ask me something?"
"Nah." Hope shook her head and chuckled. "Sorry, but I think the moment's been ruined. I'll ask you again another time when we're in private."
"Sorry..." Kyle said awkwardly.
"You should be," Sky said flatly.
"How is Pied?" Hope asked, folding her arms.
"He'll live, but he needs to rest."
"That's good." Hope nodded. "He's been through a lot. After this is all over, I want to help him settle down or something and let him make his own choice. He's earned it."
"If we all make it out of this alive, that is." Sky mused. "We still have whatever Battery's been planning to cook up. I'm guessing you still trust him?"
"Well..." Hope trailed off.
Sky just sighed and turned away.
'Baggy number six hundred and three has found something.' The Brightest Star mused.
"You gave them all numbers?" Hope asked flatly.
'I also gave them all names; that one is called Kaenkey.'
"Not going to even ask. Let us know where to go, and we'll follow your lead." Hope nodded.
She and Sky left the battlefield. They found a spot to place Kyle and Pied and left a few dozen Baggy clones behind to guard the two boys. The Brightest Star led her as well as Sky to the area where Kaenkey had spotted something. When she had first gotten into the city, she had tried to delve into the subway stations, but they had all been blocked off. Turns out she should have paid a little more attention as she walked down one of the stairs. The area was still walled over and covered in stone, but there was a small, Baggy-shaped hole at the bottom. She punched past it and forced it open more, allowing her and Sky to step into the fake city's subway station.
It looked nothing like the subway in Oleander. The stairs just kept going down and down, getting deeper and deeper, and she was sort of reminded of the weird cave-like place she had fought Wish in. At the bottom of the stairs, which took a while to reach the end of, it all opened up into basically nothing. It was kind of like going out of bounds in a video game. The floor was a pale white, and besides the stairs leading back up to the fake Oleander, there was nothing in any direction for miles.
A few Baggys were scattered around and had also stumbled across this location, but they were all frozen now that one of them had spotted something. Kaenkey was apparently further up ahead, the small clone having just picked a direction and walked in it for seemingly miles. Despite how small they were and how little time it took, the little guys were apparently shockingly fast.
"You ready?" Hope asked.
"I guess." Sky sighed and nodded.
Hope picked the other girl up and carried her. Fire blasted out from her feet, and she launched herself forward as fast as she could. Everything turned into a blur as she flew across the field of nothingness, and soon enough, she came across something. A massive crater was dug out into the ground, and at the edge of it, Kaenkey danced and posed. The little Baggy jumped up when she and Sky appeared. She set Sky down and walked over to the edge of the crater and looked into it. It went down far, and in the very center of it, a weird black orb resided that sort of reminded her of the Pod. It looked as if it was made of metal, and it twitched slightly and was about as big as one of the Lord pods. It just sat there and didn't react to her or Sky.
"Do you think that's it?" Sky asked.
"Honestly, I have no idea." Hope shrugged and held her hand out, pointing her palm at it. Fire began to swirl around. "Whatever it is, though, it's about to be turned to dust." The fire bubbled up and was just about to launch out, but at the last second, a wave of debris from the roof above came pouring down. "What the hell?"
The roof was made up of the bottom of Oleander City, and it was now starting to crack and break. A second later, a massive stone hand stabbed directly out of it, and something began to fall toward them. Something that looked a lot like a person. A familiar person at that...
"Cinder!" Intake roared and dropped toward her. "I'm not done yet!"
Cinder made a face. "You've got to be kidding me."