A Few Days Ago...
"It's so hard running a business." Nick let out a hiccup and slammed his glass down, placing his head on the table. "You broke people wouldn't get it."
"Well, fuck you too." Laps took a sip from her own glass.
Nick just let out a quiet moan and turned his head. Laps had invited him out to drink, and they had the bar all to themselves. The two of them quietly sat at a table, listening to fine music and drank their problems away. "I'm serious." Nick let out another hiccup. "Running what's left of Avalon Industries is hard. I'm practically running it into the ground trying to keep up with Jack's demands. Long-term, it isn't going to last. I miss the old days when I was just his roommate and could gamble all my money away."
"In a way, you're still gambling," Laps said flatly. "Just as I am as well. I lost my future and position as head of Oleander, all so I could follow behind Alpha."
"His name is Jack." Nick sighed and closed his eyes. "He doesn't like being called Alpha."
"Why are you following after him?" Laps asked quietly.
Nick gave a lazy shrug and took another swig from his drink. "He saved my life. What about you?" He shot the older woman a look.
Laps calmly sipped from her own glass and placed it down. "Full Monarch believed in him."
"Do you?"
"I believe in Full Monarch." The woman closed her eyes and took a calm breath. "Full Monarch saved the world hundreds of times. I'm willing to trust his word."
"You know, the two of you don't even know the full plan." Nick jumped when he heard the voice. The air shimmered, and her invisibility wore off as Lois came into view. "Yet even so, you're still willing to trust a man who hides so much?"
"How long have you been there for?" Laps calmly asked, not seeming caught off guard by the Enforcer members' sudden appearance.
"Long enough." The girl giggled and casually took a seat next to Nick. "I've been using my invisibility to check places out. It's kind of funny. Back in the day, it was my main power, yet now I view it as little more than a small party trick." She reached out for Nick's glass and drank from it.
"Aren't you a kid?" Nick took the glass from her. "You shouldn't be drinking this stuff."
"I'm twenty," Lois whined.
"Like I said, still a kid." Nick snorted and flicked her on the forehead.
Lois huffed and folded her arms. "Whatever."
Nick's smile faded, and he frowned as he looked at the girl. "So, I take it you and Jack finished your talk." The man hummed. "After he somehow got Beta to work with him, he took the robot to see you. What did you talk about?"
"We talked about the future." Lois casually flipped her hair back. "And before you try and ask, I won't be telling you. There's no point. I didn't even tell Jackson everything. Just the basics. The less everyone knows, the better. I just need to say enough to keep us on track and walking the right path."
Nick nodded faintly. "I understand that, and I get that you can't tell me everything, or even anything, but I still want to know something." He bit his lip, his thoughts coming to a crawl. "I- It's about Jack... Look, he's my friend, but I don't really like the sort of path he's been walking recently. I'd like to know or at least be assured that he's okay. This path that you saw, you said you're doing it all so everyone gets a happy ending. Does that include him?"
"Nick..." Laps reached over and placed a hand on the man's shoulder, but he knocked it away.
The dark-skinned man shook his head and gritted his teeth. "Please. I just want to know. He saved my life. I know he's not the greatest person, but he's tried. He's done his best, and there are people who are there for him. I don't want him to end up on a path that harms him."
Lois let out a low whistle. "A happy ending is something that's different depending on who you ask." The girl said after a while. "For me, my ideal happy ending would be settling down with someone like Myth and ending the cycle of heroes being bad parents." The girl gave a lopsided grin. "For someone like Hope, her happy ending would be a bit more childish. She saves everyone and keeps the world going, doing what she wants, when she wants." Lois lifted her hand up, and mist began to fill the air and swirl around. With the power of the Lord of the Sky and Weather, she could tap into the Paths and bend space and time. Just like how Jack would do, she created a small portal. Nick gasped when he looked through the portal. "Then you have someone like Jackson." Lois's smile faded. "He is most happy when he is getting rid of the people he hates and doing something that will repay the debt he owes. He's the kind of person who doesn't get happy easily and despises himself above all else. What do you think the ending for him would be?"
The portal showed Jack at work. It wasn't just one image either. Nick watched in silence as it would flip and twist, showing everything Jack had done recently. The man looked tired and drained, going from city to city, fighting villain after villain and throwing them in his giants. He could go to different islands checking on the people and bringing them medical aid or food, zipping off before anyone could see him. Then the image would change to a different day, and Nick would watch as the man who declared himself the number one hero attempted to fix a damaged city block, piece by piece, trying to put it all back together. He dropped off clothes, food, and even toys for various starving kids all over the world and threw dozens of different villains in his makeshift prison, but it still wasn't enough.
It made Nick wonder when was the last time he had actually seen Jack. Being in the same room with the man wasn't even enough anymore. That was just an image of Jack, one created from how fast the man was moving. Jack was always active, always out in the field, leaving dozens of afterimages behind from just how fast he truly was. Ever since he had beaten Victorian, he hadn't even properly sat down, slept, or eaten.
Full Monarch used to do the exact same thing. That was the thing, though... Jack wasn't Full Monarch. He wasn't a god. No matter how hard he tried to be. He wasn't a deity that could hold the world on his shoulders.
He was going to try, though. He had to. Because Jack was only ever happy when he thought he was doing the world a favor.
Laps closed her eyes again and sighed. "He's not planning on reaching the end of the story, is he?"
"On the contrary. He's planning on being there at the very end." Lois stated. "He wants it all to end with him."
"You can't let this happen." Nick shook his head. "He's becoming a martyr or something, isn't he? That's why this has all happened. He isn't concerned with his image or making the world view him as the number one hero, and he doesn't want them to see him succeed; he wants them to see him fail. He isn't trying to be the next Full Monarch; he's trying to set up the mantle to be passed on. That's it, isn't it? The end of the story. He's trying to create a world that will be in safe hands. Hands that aren't his. That's his happy ending."
"It is never as black and white as you make it sound." Lois squeezed her hand shut and forced the portal to close. "Does it matter, though?"
"Of course it does! He's my friend!"
"So then stop him." Lois shrugged and stood back up and stretched, letting out a yawn. "Everyone seems so concerned with what he's doing, but I don't think anyone has actually tried to talk to Jack or asked him if he's okay. It's hard for someone like him to change his mind; it's even harder when he finds himself alone."
"How can I talk to him? He closes everyone out, and the only person there who he'll listen to is you, and you're the one putting these ideas in his head!" Nick yelled.
Lois shrugged again. "I need to be taking my leave, but as I said, it isn't as black and white as either of you think. Just so you know, though, you're dead wrong. Jack has no intention of dying. Just because he's ending the story doesn't mean he plans to fade away." The girl giggled again, and her body shimmered and began to fade. "Have a little faith like you did. Jack's the most important person in this story, after all. It's up to him to make the choice. The path needs to be paved by someone. Either he'll do it, or he'll force us all on a different road entirely. From the moment he and I talked, the world became held in his hands. If he goes through with his choice, we all get our happy ending. If he doesn't, well... I guess he lived the life of a villain and never found redemption."
Lois faded, leaving the two adults alone. Nick collapsed in his chair and knocked his glass off the table. He didn't feel like drinking anymore.
"Do you think it will be alright?" Laps asked quietly.
"No." Nick snorted softly. "Because I know Jack. He hates himself more than anyone. If he truly is wiping out all the villains, I'm sure he's the first person on his list."
"She said he wasn't going to die."
"Yeah." Nick's hand clenched around the table so hard his knuckle turned white. "Because he has something much worse planned for the person he hates so much."
***
Present day...
The whole world was watching...
Battery hadn't just gone into Chrysanthemum with his newest team. He had worked with Nick and Beta, creating a series of cameras, which he had attached to everyone's costume, including the new costume he had created for Cinder. The cameras were broadcasting the footage to the whole world, but the footage was ten minutes behind. This was to allow Beta to do on-the-fly editing. The machine would swap POVs and show off different shots, using that as a way to hide the moments where the good guys were losing or take out some of the longer speeches some of the bad guys had been doing.
Even from the world between worlds, Beta was doing this. In other words, the entire world was currently tuned into what might be the greatest show ever going on.
The world watched as Cinder, the hero that had battled the beast, defeated a copy of herself and watched as heroes like Myth and Money Tree fought tooth and nail to keep the people safe from the zombies. They also watched Lightning Empress and Cinder keep up and go toe-to-toe with Legend, a Calamity-level threat, and everyone was tuned in when the Victorian single-handedly defeated Legend. The world cheered and cried for their heroes, watching them battle.
The world also felt the first sign of despair when it all turned, and the Emperor arrived. Widespread panic was kicked off when it appeared that the Emperor and Lucifer were going to win. That the good guys were going to lose. Riots appeared in the streets, and villains from all over the world surged forward, but just when all hope seemed lost, two heroes appeared.
In the real world, Boy Genius arrived, riding on a literal golden throne, piloting thousands of robots that began to wipe through the villainous hordes, teaming up with the other heroes like Wyvern and Mister Man. Meanwhile, in the realm, the hero who had gained the most attention in the shortest amount of time had arrived. Battery, or rather Full Monarch, as he was now calling himself, appeared at the last possible moment, saving the day, pointing to the sky above.
Hope wasn't done for.
Not yet.
Magnolia Tree looked exactly like Oleander, save for the fact that it was made entirely out of white stone. It was the same size as the city and was built to house millions of different people. It was easily one of the biggest cities in the realm that had been created, and then, all in a flash, it was gone.
Blue fire washed across the ground and expanded out, reaching miles past the wall and all the way to the clouds. The dome of hot energy burned all to ash, destroying every building, street, and bunker. Nothing was spared in Battery's explosion. The blast was so large that once the energy finally faded, the only thing that was left was a crater over a thousand square miles, going so deep into the planet that it touched the white void that Cinder had explored earlier.
Magnolia Tree, the city that was built by Wish to look like Oleander, was gone. Reduced to less than ash. Not even the atoms themselves remained.
Cinder felt herself drop to the ground, and she gasped, sucking in air. She wasn't the only one, either. The Victorian crashed down next to her, followed by Myth, Fable, and even Cora and Nikos. Alexander stood up on wobbling legs, his eyes wide.
Everyone in Magnolia Tree was alive. The ground was covered with hundreds of blue portals that spat out the people who had been trapped in the city. Not a single innocent person had been caught in the explosion. Faster than he had detonated, Battery had also teleported everyone thousands of miles away to safety, getting every hero or citizen out of harm's way.
"Where are we?" Cinder groaned. Her eyes adjusted, and she looked around. She had popped up in a familiar-looking village. One that was sloped and awkwardly angled. It was extremely crowded now, as every citizen in Magnolia was suddenly dropped off in the middle of the village.
"Pine Tree Village," Cora said softly, also looking around in shock. "We're home? How did we get here?"
"You can thank Full Monarch for that." Everyone jumped when they heard the voice, and Cora looked up, finding herself staring into a red eye. She jumped back, letting out a yelp. It was a metal man, one forged from black steel, who had a single glowing red orb in the center of his head and was covered in various cameras.
"Beta?" The Victorian rubbed her head. "What the hell happened?"
"Sorry we're late." The machine gave a nod. "We were stuck somewhere but finally managed to break out."
"Sky!" Poseidon pushed past Beta, looking around. "Are you okay?"
"I'm here." Sky stood up in the crowd of confused people. She looked a little banged up and stumbled, falling into Cinder's arms, who appeared by her side. A second later, though, Sky felt herself get dragged into her sister's arms. She let out an awkward chuckle and hugged her sister back. "I'm fine. I was taken by Fairy Queen, but then I... Well, a blue portal appeared, and I fell into it, and now I'm here."
"Thank God you're okay." Hope felt tears running down her face, and she whimpered, remembering Kyle. So much had happened in such a short amount of time; it made her so mad. She felt her father's hand on her shoulder, and she looked up, meeting his gaze.
At least for now they were all okay. Battery had moved them all to safety so the real fight could begin.
The entire village was bustling and in panic, but Beta paid them no mind. Neither did most of the heroes. Instead, they were all focused on the machine. As he lifted his hand, a blue glow came out of it. It was a projection, and he cast it on a nearby wall, showing off the image of what was left of Magnolia City. The smoldering crater was all that remained.
"Paragon." The Victorian called out. "Hurry up and heal Cinder and me so we can rush over there and back Battery up."
Paragon nodded and attempted to muster up some energy. "Right. It'll take a bit. I'm pretty drained."
"We don't have a bit of time!"
"It's fine." Beta grew the projection, his voice coming out of a soft hum. "This is going the way we wanted it to. Like Full Monarch, Battery works best when he's alone. He won't have to worry about holding back."
There was nothing in the crater. No debris or destroyed buildings, literally nothing. It was like in a video game if you were to simply just delete an entire portion of the game world. The crater stretched out for miles and dropped all the way to the white ground, which was still smoking. Then, something appeared...
Paper began to twist and form into the air, coming out of nowhere. "Did you really think I would let you die so easily? I didn't say you could die yet. Rise, my Ruler. My Death. My Rebirth. Wake up, my Angel." It shaped and, in an instant, formed the body of Lucifer, his golden eyes opening as his clothes formed back over him and his wings expanded out. He wasn't the only one, either.
Darkness jutted up, the shadows twisting and taking on the form of a suit of armor. "Rise, my Ruler. My Shadow. My Void. Wake up, my Devil." Fiery red eyes ignited out of the armor's helm, and the Emperor stood tall.
The crying of a baby, followed by the ticking of a clock, was next, and the air shimmered as the ground began to reform, as if someone had hit a playback on a movie. Cell by cell, atom by atom, a withered corpse of a child was forced back together. "Rise, my Ruler. My Ash. My Ruin. Wake up, my God." Legend sobbed loudly and rolled on the ground.
Lastly, space twisted and bent, blue energy sparking out, as a new form began to get built. Black lightning mingled with blue fire, and in a roaring blast, Battery folded his arms as he faded back into reality, his cape flowing behind him. "Rise, my Ruler. My creation. My destruction. My little Alpha. Wake up, my Giant."
All of planet Earth was currently tuned into what was about to be one of the most important and biggest fights of the present day...
"Didn't see that coming, did you?" Battery called out. His eyes sparked, one black and one blue, fire and lightning swirling around at the tip of his finger and forming into a small ball. "I caught you off guard, right?"
"Blowing yourself up. What a barbaric tactic." Lucifer grunted. "You know we lose parts of ourselves when we die. Are you willing to do that a few dozen more times?"
Battery chuckled. "Perhaps."
Lucifer growled. "Nier, watch your brat. He thinks just because he's got a new outfit, he's suddenly important and stronger than he is."
"The outfit makes the man." Battery stated, pointing his thumb at himself. "Right now, I'm going to do what Full Monarch couldn't. I'm going to put an end to the cycle. I'll kill you all, and none of you will be coming back." His eyes roamed over Lucifer, then the Emperor, then Legend, and then finally he looked down at his own hand and squeezed it. "It ends here." All of planet Earth had their eyes on his back. Jack placed his hands on his hips and used his power to kick up a small windstorm, making his cape flutter in the wind. "One last time. Full Monarch will save this planet!"
Stories of the old world have been passed down for generations, mostly due to the Thaddeus clan, which recorded all of the information. In tales, an Angel was an entity of a holy light that was created to help humans. By contrast, the Devil was something twisted and dark, meant to swallow the despair of mankind. God, then, was above that, a being of power who truly stood at the top. The Angel, the Devil, and the God. A trio. A trinity. So where did the Giant fit into this?
A Giant also existed throughout legends and tales. It was a warrior. A mighty creature that stood against all. It would battle the Angels, it would rage in the hells belonging to the Devils, and it would defy the Gods. The giants stood tall, and they stood proud. The Giant was no exception. He was an entity, a being of creation and destruction. It was his ultimate duty to stand in opposition and defy.
Battery did that better than anyone else.
"Bang." Battery pointed his finger like a gun and cocked it back. The fire and lightning swirled together into a massive dark orb of energy, which launched out. Space twisted and was pulled in as he created a miniature black hole. And with that action, the battle began. A lone Giant, standing against the union of an Angel, a Devil, and a God.
Golden armor formed around Legend, creating his suit, and he stood up, safely tucked away. "I am number one!" A gray light appeared in his palm, and he launched it toward the orb of energy. It met the attack head-on and crumbled the attack to dust. Before Legend could do anything else, though, a glowing portal appeared behind him, and Battery rammed his fist through the chest of Legend. His hand wrapped around something, and he ripped out the baby inside, swinging it around by the ankle. The real Legend cried and screamed as Battery began to violently slam him into the ground over and over again. Battery was forced to let go, however, when something sliced into his neck, cutting it slightly.
Battery dropped Legend and jumped back, turning to see the Emperor. The armored villain remained silent, not bothering to speak to his former son anymore, but he did point out with his finger and sent out more invisible slashes. They danced along Battery's body, slicing and cutting into him, but none of them were deep or serious cuts. "Stealing Green Wolf's power now?" Battery taunted. "I thought you were better than that." An aura of blue morphed around him, twisting into a large blue arm, which struck out and slapped the Emperor away. The villain cloaked himself in the shadows and began to sink into the ground as he was blasted back by Battery's attack. A moment later, Battery's energy arm crumbled and shattered as Lucifer came flying in, carried by his wings, and sliced out with a claymore forged from the Dead Virus.
Battery created his own claymore and raised it up, blocking Lucifer's attack, but Lucifer's sword ate through Battery's energy. He nearly cleaved the hero in two, but Battery opened a portal beneath himself at the last second and vanished, reappearing behind Lucifer. He rammed his feet into Lucifer's back, coming out of a portal, and as soon as he smashed Lucifer into the ground, he grabbed the man by the wings and pulled up. Lucifer grunted and opened his book, summoning out the gray bull, which punched Battery so hard its arm exploded. Battery lazily dropped Lucifer's wings and punched through the bull, blowing it to bits. It did the trick, though, and Lucifer rolled out from beneath the man and stood back up.
Battery jumped through another portal, and Lucifer took to the sky, flying around. Battery's portal opened, and he reappeared in front of the Emperor, catching the villain off guard. He rammed his fist out and dented the Emperor's helmet. The Emperor sliced out, sending rows of slashes in all directions, but Battery was gone again, another portal appearing behind Legend. He grabbed the tiny villain by the ankle and dragged him into the portal, the two vanishing.
"That portal is annoying," Lucifer grunted and landed next to the Emperor.
"He got lucky." The Emperor nodded.
The Rulers all shared a few powers. For one, they could all come back from the dead. The other power they all shared was they had soldiers they could summon. The Emperor had his shadows, Legend had his clones, Battery had his giants, and Lucifer had his zombies. The last thing they all had was a means of transportation. Legend could skip through time, jumping to a place he would end up at instantly, so long as it was a place he could reach, while Lucifer had his wings. Both Battery and the Emperor, however, could teleport. The Emperor traveled through shadows, but Battery was simply punching through reality, tearing open wormholes with his sheer strength, allowing him to go anywhere.
Now that he was here in the moment fighting against it, the Emperor was starting to feel a little bad for Full Monarch. After all, the number one hero had also struggled with Battery's portals.
The portal appeared in the sky, and Battery came crashing out, slam dunking the baby Legend into the ground as if he were a ball. As Battery did that, he created another ball of energy and blasted it out toward Lucifer and the Emperor.
"Good luck." The Emperor began to sink into his shadow. "I need to grab something."
"Bastard." Lucifer hissed as he was left alone, and the attack swirled his way. He blasted out with a wave of the Dead Virus, and it began to eat away at the attack. As soon as it faded, though, Battery came crashing out through the other side. Battery's limb expanded, wrapped in a blue energy as he formed his Giant-armor, and he swung out with it, wrapping his hand around Lucifer's waist. He picked the Angel up and began to squeeze. "Unhand me," Lucifer grunted and flexed, shattering the hand. As he dropped to the ground, he kicked out, smashing his foot into Battery's side.
Battery grunted, feeling several of his ribs shatter, and before he could recover, a fist smashed into the back of his head as Legend appeared in another golden suit. "I am number one!" Legend rammed his hand down, hitting Battery so hard he knocked a tooth out. Lucifer shoved Legend away and coated his hand in the Dead Virus, attempting to punch through Battery's stomach, but Battery coated himself in energy that regenerated and mended faster than Lucifer's virus could break it. Lucifer twisted his body away, his wings launching out a wave of feathers that impaled Battery.
Battery hissed as he was stabbed dozens of times, and his energy flexed and burned them all away. He zipped forward with inhuman speed, and his body began to twist and vibrate so fast and hard he phased right through Lucifer's grab and appeared on the other side of the man directly in front of Legend. Battery punched, and Legend went to block it, but at the last second before his attack landed, Battery opened up a small portal directly in front of him. His fist flew through the portal, and another one opened in front of Lucifer's face, allowing him to punch the Ruler. Legend dropped his guard, seeing he wasn't the focus of the attack, and kicked out, but Battery opened another portal, and Legend's foot flew out, and he kicked himself in the side.
Lucifer spun around and grabbed Battery by the hair and took to the skies, flying rapidly into the air. He threw Battery up and let go, and right as Battery tried to open up another portal, Lucifer launched his feathers out. The feathers moved as if they were alive and twisted through the air, blocking the portal off and giving Battery no way of escape. So, instead of trying to avoid Lucifer, Battery just fell toward the man and formed his armor. Blue fire gushed out, forming a sixty-meter-tall warrior around Battery's body, the energy armor smashing its foot down onto Lucifer and dropping back down in the crater. The Giant then brought his foot back, grinding Lucifer.
Paper erupted up from beneath the Giant's foot, causing Battery to stumble back, as Lucifer was brought back from the dead once more. "Enough!" The Immortal yelled in rage. His Dead Virus ignited and launched out, taking on the form of a snake, which wrapped around and began to crush the Giant, causing cracks to appear all along it. Battery opened a portal in his armor and dropped through it, ditching his energy avatar, and appeared behind Legend, slicing out with a claymore. His blade split Legend in two, and he raced toward Lucifer, about to cut into the man as well. "I think I have someone you might want to see," Lucifer said in a dull tone, and he opened his book up, pulling out another page.
Battery gasped and felt a chill go up his spine as his stomach was torn open and a wave of bladed ice jutted through him and came out his back. All the way in Pine Tree village, Cinder, Lightning Empress, and Myth all let out loud cries as they watched what happened. Someone new was in front of Battery, someone who had actually made Battery pause.
Snowdawn's face was blank, holding no emotions, a pair of icy claws held out, which stabbed directly into the body of Battery, who was caught off guard and had paused for a single instant seeing his old teammate.
"Armin... So this is what happened to you." Battery's energy zapped out, melting the ice, and he rammed his hand through Armin's stomach. "Sorry." The energy tore through Snowdawn, ripping him to bits and scattering him to the wind. A page fell out of his corpse, which Lucifer grabbed before Battery could stop him. Lucifer resummoned Snowdawn, the icy warrior's corpse putting itself back together, and Snowdawn smashed an ice hammer down onto Battery's head. Battery gritted his teeth and growled. "You just made a bad choice."
"Did I?" Lucifer's face remained blank.
"Yeah. I'm pissed now." Battery tore through Armin, ripping the boy in two, and punched a fist through Lucifer's stomach. Lucifer grunted, and Battery expanded his arm, morphing it into the limb of a Giant while it was still inside of Lucifer. It caused the man to explode, his chunks flying everywhere. Already, though, he was reforming. Battery's large hand came down, crushing Lucifer and Snowdawn, but he suddenly howled in pain as Legend appeared behind him. Legend grabbed Battery by the gut wound and pulled, ripping part of Battery's stomach apart.
The Giant hand then exploded as Lucifer reformed. Lucifer formed a sword and stabbed up, impaling the blade straight through Battery's neck. Battery gurgled, but before he could stop it, Legend yanked him to the side, forcing his neck all the way through the blade, decapitating him. His head dropped, and Legend caught it, squeezing it and bursting it to bits.
An explosion of blue fire ignited in the air, swirling over Battery's corpse. "Rise, my Ruler. My creation. My destruction. My little Alpha. Wake up, my Giant." Battery stood back up, fully healed, and punched Legend's head clean off, sending the suit flying back. Then he twisted around and unleashed a wave of energy, reducing Lucifer to ash.
The ticking of a clock and the sound of twisting paper filled the air as Lucifer and Legend began to rise back up, fully healed as well. "None of them are dying." Cora watched the fight with mild interest. "They just keep killing each other over and over again?"
"What was the point of him even bringing us?" White Wolf sighed and nudged Beta. "I didn't need to come here at all, did I?"
"Of course you did." Lightning Empress called out, clapping her hands together. "After all, the battle is hardly over. We need you the most, White Wolf."
Cinder frowned softly and glanced back at her old friend. "Lois, the future that you saw... Is this it? Are we living out the good path? Is this all still going according to your plan?"
Lois raised her finger to her lips and let out a shush. "The story is still going on. Just watch. We're nearing the climax."
Back in the crater, Battery rubbed his neck and grunted. "Geez, fighting you two is annoying."
"You should give up now." Lucifer folded his arms. "You can't beat us. Again and again, we'll simply revive. We do this an infinite number of times. You though, you're limited. Your sanity and memories are finite. I've become a true Ruler, but you're still being held back by your humanity. Should you die enough, that bit that's left in you will die and fade away, and you'll be left broken like I am. You'll even willingly join our cause. We have unlimited lives, but you... We just need to keep doing this dance till you run out."
"You're right." Battery nodded. "In an endurance round, you Rulers have me beat. I still haven't fully accepted my power, and my shift hasn't changed. I honestly don't know how many deaths I have left. Less than ten, I'm betting." Battery grinned, his eyes igniting as the dual color mixed. "I don't plan on losing, though. See, I have something I was wanting to bring out when all three of you were here, but old man Emperor ran off like the coward he is." A blue portal shimmered out, and Battery reached through it and pulled out a thin black shortsword. The same kind he had used to beat the Victorian. "Do you know what this is?"
Lucifer took a step back, recognizing the weapon. "Shouldn't that be a mace?"
"It got broken." Battery chuckled and twirled the sword. "See, this belonged to my wife. She had an ability. One hand crafted by the Emperor, forced on her for a single purpose. She could negate powers. Her ability was so great it was able to even reside in objects. Her mace was truly a powerful weapon. Even now it still holds the power to shut down abilities no matter what they are." Battery held the sword up, looking at it almost lovingly. "I tested it out in my fight with the Victorian, and it shut off her Galaxy Dress. Coming back to life over and over the way we do might seem godlike, but at the end of the day, it's still just a superpower." Battery pointed the sword in Lucifer's direction. "Tell me, what do you think will happen when I kill you with this sword?"
Lucifer hissed, and his wings expanded. "I'll kill you and take it from you and use it myself."
Battery opened a portal and appeared behind Lucifer. "Die." He swung out with his sword as hard as he could.
"Put that blade in my hand." Battery's swung through, only he wasn't holding a sword anymore. Battery's eyes went wide, and he glared up, staring into a pair of fiery red eyes. The Emperor was back, and he wasn't alone. In one hand, the Emperor held a white sword gleaming with runes. Story Maker, the teleporting blade, and in the other he held Battery's short sword. "Put me behind him." The Emperor appeared behind Battery and sliced out with his sword, ripping into Battery's back. Battery jumped through a portal to escape. "Bring him back." Battery suddenly reappeared next to the Emperor, teleported back by the blade. He formed a barrier around himself, but the Emperor swung out with the sword, easily deleting the shield and carving out a chunk of Battery's shoulder. Battery fought through the pain and punched out. "Move him twenty meters away." Battery appeared further away, and his punch hit the air. "It's not so fun when you're not the only one with teleportation, huh?" The Emperor asked.
Battery scowled and made a face, rubbing some of his blood away. His eyes scanned the Emperor. Things just got a whole lot harder. Now, he'd have to get rid of Story Maker and then reclaim his weapon. He was confident he could do it in a one-on-one, but fighting all three? Battery smirked, and his energy began to bubble up around him. "Guess I need some help." A twenty-meter-tall Giant appeared behind him, drawing its sword. It wasn't the only one, either. Dozens more dropped out of the air. Soon, the entire crater began to get filled with them. Now, it didn't matter what the Emperor did. Each Giant was different, and Story Maker could only teleport things it had touched at one point, and since it had never come in contact with any of these Giants, it couldn't move them. He was also confident he could survive any sneak attacks, so if he was suddenly teleported, he knew he'd be able to counter faster than the Emperor and yank the sword out of his hands. And if the Emperor tried to teleport him away, he could just counter with a portal. He just needed to get close, and this battle would be his.
"Second only to Lucifer, you alone could make the most soldiers." The Emperor nodded. "I can't make as many shadows as the two of you. Still," The man lifted Story Maker up. "I have my own tricks. Bring him here."
Battery got ready to be teleported, but he didn't move. Instead, someone else appeared on the battlefield. It was a dark-skinned man with only one hand. Aarush Brenner had arrived on the battlefield.
"Are you ready?" The Emperor asked.
Aarush nodded. "Yes. I'll do this for my son. So that Kyle will be safe. Anything for him."
"Excellent." The Emperor stabbed out, impaling the black sword into Aarush's stomach. The man gasped out, and his eyes went wide. Next, the Emperor placed his palm on the man's head. "With your consent, the transformation will be much stronger now, and thanks to having a relic of Hell Hound, I can finally recreate 'that' power. Or at least one close enough. Now evolve. Morph. Break out of your shell. Become something superior to a human!"
"No!" Battery screamed and launched himself forward through a portal.
He was too late, though... In an instant, Aarush twisted and morphed, letting out a loud scream, and the crater shook. A new monster was born.