He claimed himself as God.


    A Calamity Level threat that nearly wiped out the world fifteen years ago, the Emperor was a powerful villain who had conquered nearly every villainous gang in the world and forced them to work under him. He created a group known as the Organization and declared war on all of mankind. Using his power, he was able to twist and change people into powerful monstrous beasts. Of his beasts, four generals stood above the rest. Four that followed him into battle, betraying the world.


    Golden God, a world-destroying machine. Princess of Life, who carried the heir to his throne. Fairy Queen, a trickster able to mess with even the strongest minds. And of course, his faithful Hell Hound, who would follow him to the underworld and back.


    The four of them served the Emperor, and with the help of the Organization, they would have wiped out all of humanity. A hero, however, saved the day. Full Monarch. The newest Lord of the Sun and Cosmos. He would give everything, even his life. A battle that would shake the planet itself was said to have gone on for three days and nights. When it finally ended, both Full Monarch and the Emperor no longer drew breath. And on that very same day, despite all the chaos, a small fishing company found something in the waters near Oleander…


    Just a few hours after the death of Full Monarch, Hope Lauren was born.


    Now the world is in a new age. One where the heroes must hurry to get stronger. After all, you never know if a threat of his level could come back...


    That is why it’s important they grow.


    But what of the villains? What of the people who viewed the Emperor as their hero? Where are they now?


    White Spider stalked into the abandoned subway station and ripped off the stupid-looking cartoon spider mask that the idiot forced her to wear. She was a rather pretty girl at one point, maybe. Now her brown hair was messy and wild, her eyes were bloodshot, and heavy bags rested underneath them. Like most members of Zoo, she wore a suit, hers being pure white.


    “This is so dumb!” The woman yelled, throwing her mask to the ground.


    Their base was hidden away from the public, beneath everyone’s very nose inside an underground railroad. Green Wolf had opened it up, removing all the tracks and giving it a large open space. His ability to manipulate and convert kinetic energy through blades allowed him to easily slice apart anything that needed to be removed. White Spider had also helped, using her power to put up walls and floors, giving them an almost mini bunker with various rooms. All held together thanks to her webs.


    “Don’t be such a spoiled brat.” Green Wolf snorted as he walked down the hidden staircase they used to enter their base. Behind him, White Lamb followed, clutching a brand new portable TV. “So, you got beat up by a kid. Big deal.”


    “It’s not that.” White Spider gritted her teeth. “It all went to hell because of that bitch!”


    “Aw, what’s wrong, little Spider?” A mocking voice echoed above as Black Crow dropped from the sky, his black wings flapping. He had his arms folded, and his bird-like mask stared down at her.


    White Spider could feel blood drip down her hand as she balled them into a fist, but she dared not attack. In Zoo, your name determined where you stood in the hierarchy. Everyone had a name based on a color and an animal. The second part of the name was determined by your power and animal mask. The color part, though, signified your role.


    Anyone with the color white was based around Support. They were used to maintain the base and back up main teams. People like herself, White Lamb, or White Cow. The color black meant you were part of the front-line attack team. The main go-to fighters of Zoo. Black Crow and Black Shark were in this category. Red meant you were a solo member. Either you got this color because you were strong, or Green Wolf had no desire to deal with you and would just have you do your own thing until you died. Red Ape and Red Panda were part of this group. Finally, of course, was the color, Green. Only one member held that color at a time. Given to whoever previously killed the leader of Zoo.


    “So, what’s got Spidey’s panties in a twist?” Crow asked, landing with a thud.


    “She’s mad I forced her and Lamb to come on a job with me.” Green Wolf shrugged.


    “I am not!” White Spider screeched. Her voice would have boomed around their hideout, but Lamb’s powers caused the echo to stop in its tracks.


    “Went playing at one of the Wandering Coin’s bases.” Green Wolf explained. “Got jumped by the Sub Enforcers, which is what I wanted. Was looking to pay them back. I dueled an epic six-on-one. Spider over here got cocky just because she hadn’t been seen yet and let herself get bodied by Poseidon.”


    “It’s not fair!” White Spider growled. “I hit that girl with everything I had, and it didn’t work. My threads snapped, and her power crushed all my babies!” She held her hand up as a tiny spider began to jut out of her flesh. “I’m down to only a few left.” She pouted. “How can someone be that strong? She’s a freaking kid; it’s such bullshit!” She kicked her mask across the room.


    Green Wolf sighed, rubbing at his chin. “You’re more right than you know. I’ll need to have a conversation with our new friend.”


    The leader of Zoo placed his hands in his pockets and moved past the others in his little group. He stepped into his room and looked around. They all had their own place to stay at his base. His room was the way he left it. Lots of posters covering every wall, dozens of pizza boxes, and video games scattered about. He threw a knife at the wall, where a small black wasp had tried to hide from him.


    Lazily, Green Wolf dropped down onto his bed and stared up at the roof. “Did you find anything out?”


    A hand floated out of his pocket, lifting into the air. It was the very same kind Red Ape had used. A voice hummed out of it. “Yeah. We should meet up again. I have something you’re going to want to hear in person.”


    Green Wolf smiled and began to take off his mask. This was turning out to be such a fun game.


    ***


    “So, how are you holding up, man?” Money Tree leaned against the van that he and his team had arrived in.


    Myth was seated in the back of it, several Hero Branch members doing their best to patch up the gaping slash he had across his gut. “I feel like hell.” The dark-skinned hero finally said, letting out a heavy sigh.


    The battle had just come to an end. Demonica and Polaron had managed to escape, and now the Sub Enforcers came in far too late to be a good backup, and the Hero Branch arrived seconds later to throw all the knocked-out goons in a cage.


    “We could have used your help a while ago, you know.”


    “I know, I know.” Money Tree winced. “Look, man, the entire city saw the crazy light show and the explosions. You guys weren’t quiet. The only reason we didn’t come sooner was ‘cause Zoo pulled off some stunt at another Wandering Coin base. Let me tell you, these druggies aren’t going to last long like this. They’ve gone and pissed off the two biggest Super gangs in the city.”


    Myth nodded his head, frowning. “Think Zoo and Bad Timers have teamed up?”


    “You think either Polaron or Green Wolf can play nice?”


    “I doubt it. I’m sure they’re not actually working together. It must have just been bad luck on our part.”


    One of the Hero Branch members cleared their throat and shot Money Tree a look. “Ah. Right.” Money Tree took off his hat made of cash and tipped it. “Listen, Myth. The Branch wants me to talk to you, buddy to buddy. See, officially, your team lacks a sponsor and doesn’t have anyone backing you. You also didn’t register it, and it’s filled with unregistered heroes besides Whisper. I’m supposed to give you a warning.”


    “Really?”


    “Yeah. But honestly, I don’t care enough to do it.”


    “Sir!” One of the Branch Members hissed out.


    “Oh, shush it.” Money Tree pulled out a ball of cash and shoved it in the worker’s face. “Go buy yourself something pretty and leave us be.” He turned back to Myth, giving a sly grin. “I heard that the head of the Branch, Laps, came and spoke to you.”


    Myth shivered his mind, flashing back to the car that had pulled up. “Yeah. She had a few words with me.”


    “I don’t know why you don’t just leave Oleander. You know as well as I do that the Hero Branch here hates your guts for what you did two years ago. When you got-”


    “That’s enough.”


    Money Tree nodded slowly. “Sorry. I got carried away. I’m glad you decided to stay, though. As it stands, things could have been bad if you hadn’t shown up.”


    “Things are bad.” Myth grumbled. “The warehouse is a mess; so many people died, and the villains got away.”


    “Hey now, don’t feel too bad. We fought Zoo, and they also got away. Also, sure, a lot of people died, but you guys saved some. More would have died without you. That’s got to mean something, right?”


    “Not really. We saved less than half, and the entire building, along with the drugs, are gone.”


    “Not all of them.” Money Tree reached into his coat and pulled out a jar of orange liquid. “The same happened at our location. Zoo destroyed all the drugs. It seems the villains want to get rid of it as quickly as possible. Luckily, you guys managed to save this jar.”


    “We did?” Myth frowned. “But Cinder’s bag was destroyed in the fire. Don’t tell me it was somehow kept safe.” The young girl had pocketed one in her bag, but then when she used her fire blast which had melted the bag and all its contents.


    “Nah, that one was toast. Got this one from the civilian you guys saved. Think his name is Kevin. He was taken out of the blast range by Whisper and apparently held onto this for you guys when he saw the others were getting destroyed. Nice kid. Had a long chat with him. We’ll see about getting him a light sentence.”


    Myth stared at the jar and smiled. “Maybe we did better than I thought.”


    “Yo Myth!” Wasp Nest buzzed over, his body taking shape. He didn’t have a costume like other Supers. Kind of hard when your power broke down every one of your cells into a bug. He changed back into his human form, giving a smirk. “Man, your team looks cool. Metal Ronin managed to hack into the camera systems, and I watched the whole thing. Who’s that red guy? Is he related to the Victorian or something like Whisper?”


    “Who knows. Men like him prefer to keep their secrets close to their chests.”


    “Yeah. Still, not every day you see someone with a power so close to the number one hero pop up. That sword thing he did was cool! Metal Ronin got a little jealous.”


    Myth let out a small laugh. Off to the side, Snowdawn and Whisper were chatting with BB and Metal Ronin. Oxide stood on the curb and was talking to that Kevin kid, who was on his back in an ambulance. It was who Battery was talking to, though, that got him curious.


    “So, are those two part of your team now?”


    Money Tree turned and saw who he was looking at. Poseidon and Paragon were talking with Battery. Or rather, Paragon was rooted in place by Poseidon, who was arguing with Battery. “Let my little sister heal you!”You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    “Pass.”


    “You have a hole in your stomach! Let her patch it up!”


    “Pass.”


    “Your lungs are probably ruined from smoking. Let her fix them up!”


    “Pass.”


    “You keep clutching at your heart; let her heal it!”


    “Pass.”


    “Why are you like this?”


    “Pass.”


    Money Tree snorted, watching the exchange. “It’s kind of hard to explain. Ocean Empress has been busy in Lillian. She’s bringing the top members of her team with her and decided Poseidon and Paragon should take a break, so I guess we’re busy taking care of them now.”


    “Meh. It isn’t so bad.” Wasp Nest smirked.


    “Of course, you think that.” Money Tree said, rolling his eyes. “You’re dating one of them. You know how long Poseidon spends in the bathroom putting on makeup. And now the other girls are copying her.” He shuddered, shaking his head. “I’ve had to expand the manor just to fix that issue.”


    “Still better than what Metal Ronin does. He got stuck with babysitting the new police chief’s son.” Wasp Nest smirked.


    “Ah. Kyle Brenner?” Myth asked. “The one being targeted by Lucifer.” Lucifer was the leader of the team known as the Immortals. Wielder of a strain of the Dead Virus, he was almost becoming as bad as the Emperor had been.


    “Yeah.” Wasp Nest nodded. “Damn, kid keeps sneaking out at night to hang with his friends, despite how much danger he could be in. Metal Ronin finally managed to get Kyle back home, but by the time he showed up, Green Wolf had already escaped.”


    “Kids can be dumb.” Myth agreed.


    “Amen.” Money Tree chuckled.


    Over with Kevin, the boy stared up at the roof of the ambulance and let out a sigh. “Look. You don’t have to worry. I haven’t told anyone who you are.”


    Oxide, aka Ashley, aka Kevin’s ex, folded her arms. The metal costume swished across her body. “I wasn’t going to bring that up.”


    “Oh yeah?” Kevin smirked.


    “I was worried for you. I knew you were going to do something stupid like this. Why on Earth would you come to a place like this?”


    “You said it yourself. Needed a new high.” Kevin closed his eyes, feeling the pain medication one of the Hero Branch members gave him course through his body. “Stay safe, Oxide. I’m rooting for you.”


    Oxide stepped away as the ambulance door shut, and Kevin was carted off. The girl’s frown grew larger, and she balled her hand up into a fist. “Right.”


    Slowly Oxide eyed the others up. None of the Sub Enforcers seemed eager to speak to her, more interested in this Pantheon. Even the backup members in the form of Paragon and Poseidon were ignoring her. Gradually, her eyes drifted over to the one person who was as alone as she was.


    “Here.” Cinder nearly jumped when she heard the voice. She turned, finding Oxide standing beside her, holding out a water bottle. “I wanted to thank you for coming to our rescue the other day. The others didn’t bring it up, but I saw how you saved both Poseidon and Paragon from Red Raptor. You didn’t get the credit you should have.”


    “Oh, um, thanks?” She took the bottle hesitantly. She was seated in the back of Whisper’s van, a blanket covering her from the neck down. She had been quiet and didn’t move much. The events of today kept coursing through her mind. All the mistakes she made. “You’re Oxide, right? You’re new to the Sub Enforcers, aren’t you?”


    Oxide nodded. She got a strange sense from Oxide. The girl’s voice sounded familiar to her for some reason. “Yeah. I haven’t heard of you, though, so it’s nice to meet you.”


    She gave a small smile. “Thanks. So, what is it like being in the Sub Enforcers?”


    Oxide shrugged. “I don’t think the others like me too much.”


    “Ah. Sorry to hear that.”


    “You didn’t do anything wrong.” Oxide chuckled darkly. “Either way, it seems our teams are going to be working together more. It seems our bosses are friends.”


    “Seems like it. Hopefully, next time, we can actually take down the villains.” She muttered, leaning forward. So many people had died that didn’t need to, and even the ones that were alive were badly injured. She would have to get stronger to stop something like that from happening again. A lot stronger. Someone who wanted to fight alongside the Victorian could never be as weak as she was. The fight today showed her just how intense the scale could get. Shaking buildings with a punch wouldn’t be enough for her.


    “Don’t beat yourself up so much, kid.” Oxide and her turned when they heard the voice of Battery. His arms were folded, and he had managed to escape Poseidon. Paragon stood next to him now. “You got injured in the fight, right, Kid? The others have already healed, thanks to Paragon, so you should as well.”


    “You didn’t let her heal you,” she argued. Battery’s body was filled with holes. The man had been stabbed, blown up, set on fire, drowned, and so much more. She was shocked he was even alive. Most Supers weren’t built as sturdy as Battery was.


    “I have an actual reason. You don’t.” Battery shrugged. “My body can take it. One of my powers makes sure that as long as my heart keeps beating, I won’t die. I could likely have my head blown off and be just fine.”


    Paragon folded her arms and huffed. “Look, if you don’t want my healing, I won’t offer it. I’m just doing it because I owe you one for earlier.” Once again, her enhanced senses were on. She had been monitoring Mr. Larison’s heart, but now all she could hear was Paragon’s beating heart. It had sped up.


    She frowned but finally nodded. She held her hand up, and Paragon’s bird flapped its wings and landed on her palm. Instantly all the damage Polaron caused faded, and she felt good as new. Paragon stumbled forward a bit, and Destiny let out a squawk. On instinct, she reached out and caught the girl.


    “Whoa! Hey, are you okay?” She asked, holding the girl in her arms. Paragon’s heartbeat began to beat even faster. She couldn‘t see the girl''s face due to the mask, but she did notice the healer was squirming a bit.


    “I- I’m fine.” Paragon pulled themselves out of her arms and stumbled away. “I just used more power than I normally do, that''s all. Goodbye.” She stood there a little dumbfounded as Paragon left her.


    She sheepishly scratched at her chin. “Why’d she agree to heal me if she was so low on energy?” Paragon hadn’t healed any of the others after all. The girl had only used her power to ensure none of them would die and did nothing more.


    Battery just shrugged. “She just wanted to heal you, I guess.”


    Oxide snorted. “Paragon is a little strange from what I’ve seen.”


    “Don’t be too hard on her.” Battery sighed, rubbing at his chest. “She’s had a hard time, what with who her dad is.”


    Oxide seemed taken aback. “Oh, you know who her dad is? The others don’t even know.”


    “Oh, did I say that? It must have been a slip-up. I meant to say she’s had a hard time with who her Grampa is. You know. Old Dog. He ain’t a nice hero, from what I hear.” Battery shrugged.


    “Oh. Okay.” Oxide nodded. “Well. It was nice to meet you, Cinder. It looks like the Branch members have finished gathering all the Wandering Coin members up, so I suspect my team will be taking its leave.”


    “We’ll be leaving shortly as well.” Battery nodded. “No use sticking around here. I need a good rest after my battle with Demonica.”


    “I’m glad your fight went so well, Battery.” Hope stated.


    “Hey now, you did good, too, kid.” Battery placed his hand on top of her helmet and gave it a flick. “We’re all still alive. So, what if the villains got away? Polaron has been able to escape the Victorian. Only so much you can do to a guy that crazy strong.”


    “I guess.” She pouted a little but nodded. “Do you think I can get stronger?” She stared down at her hands, picturing the fire flickering around it. She didn’t know how she did it, but she had created fire somewhere other than her mouth earlier in that battle.


    “Well. I knew someone like you once.” Battery looked up towards the night sky, staring up at the cracked moon.


    “Huh? Who are you talking about?”


    “No one.” Battery shrugged and turned away. “Hey, do you remember when we first went to talk to Myth after the Green Wolf attack?”


    “Yeah.” She nodded. “You asked me that weird question, right?”


    “Yeah. Your answer didn’t change, did it?”


    She shrugged. “I guess not. Why are you asking?”


    “No reason.” Battery’s mind recalled that conversation.


    ***


    One Week Earlier...


    “Do you think that went well?” She asked as they stepped out of the library.


    “I think it went about as well as it could have gone,” Jack said, putting a cigarette in his mouth and lighting it up with his powers. “He told us to come back after all.”


    “Yeah.” She nodded her head.


    It was just after the Green Wolf event, and they went to visit Myth to ask to join his team. The man had asked them to come back at another time, so she and Mr. Larison began walking back home. Her house was closer, so he would drop her off there and head back to his own home.


    “We did pretty badly for our first mission, right?” She asked quietly, rubbing at her stomach. She could feel the bruises. The pain from White Lamb was one she wouldn’t forget anytime soon.


    “I think we did about as good as we could have, all things considered.” Jack took a drag on his cigarette, letting out a large puff of smoke as his mind raced through dozens of thoughts. Finally, he settled on a question. “Your parents Super?”


    That caught her off guard. “Uh, no. Not as far as I know.” She almost giggled, imagining her mom or dad blasting fire out. They were way too normal for that.


    Jack gave a nod. “Typically, it’s more likely a child of a Super will awaken a superpower. Of course, there are cases of normal parents giving birth to a child who develops powers later down the line. Neither of my parents had powers. I turned out with them, though I was just curious if your mom and dad might’ve had them since the children of Supers tend to have powers close to their parents.”


    She rubbed at her chin in thought. “Like Poseidon and Ocean Empress, right? Both can control water.”


    Jack gave a small nod. “Sort of. Though Poseidon can do a lot more than her mother can since she is the current holder of the Lord of the Sea and Depths title. She can control gravity and other things. She truly got lucky with her power. It’s pretty rare. Only power I know of that’s about as rare as hers would likely be yours.”


    “Seriously!” She stared down at her hands with wide eyes. She could feel the faint embers beneath her skin. “My power doesn’t feel that rare...” Demonica had fire-based powers as well and could do way more than she could. Honestly, she never really viewed her powers as being all that great. “How rare are your powers, Mr. Larison?”


    The man gave a lazy shrug. “Guess I never ran into anyone with the same power as me.” He looked down at her for a moment, considering something. “Do you know how Supers are made?”


    “What do you mean?”


    “I mean, do you know where Supers come from? It isn’t anything special. A man and woman get together and boom. Just like a baby, a Super is born like normal. They tend to start off as normal humans and then, around puberty, start to awaken their powers. There is another way for a Super to be made, though. One most people don’t know about. In fact, only the higher-ups truly know.”


    “And you?”


    “And me.” Jack snorted. “You see… There is a metal. One that is special. I don’t know when it first appeared, but it can do many things. Most notably is when it is whole. It sort of takes the shape of an orb. Or I guess you could call it a pod. There are only ever a few of these ‘pods’ at any given point in time, but they do something special if in the right hands. They can create a brand-new Super.” Unknown to either of them, on Spider Street, the storage locker the Laurens used was filled with a blue light as a certain large ball of metal hummed softly.


    “Whoa seriously! Do I know any heroes created from one of these things? I know a lot of heroes from constant studying, so I bet I’ve seen one or two right! What about you, Mr. Larison? Do you know anyone?” She asked excitedly. This was like something straight out of a comic. A device that could just create Supers. No wonder it was kept secret. She wondered for a moment if he was actually pulling her leg and lying. It seemed a little too unreal after all.


    Jack dropped his cigarette down on the floor and stopped walking. She looked back at him, and he seemed to be deep in thought. “Let’s say we knew where a really powerful Super was. Stronger than any other Super. But that Super had a chance to be evil. What should we do about it?”


    “What do you mean?”


    “I mean, would it be good for that Super to be sent to the Enforcers, where he or she would be turned into a weapon for the side of good, or would it be best to leave them alone and risk a villain finding them, either killing or converting them?”


    “What’s with the weird question?” He was acting a little odd now. First the random speech about a magical Super-creating pod, and now this?


    “Just answer. What do you think I should do?”


    “What ‘you’ should do?” She scratched at the back of her head and winced. “Well.” She stopped for a second as her enhanced senses kicked in and heard something. Her eyes went wide, and she turned, taking off.


    “Whoa, wait a sec!” Jack ran after her, making sure he didn’t push his heart too badly like he did earlier that day.


    She was shockingly fast. She wasn’t using any of her enhanced strength, but even so, she was ahead of him. Jack debated tapping into a small portion of his power to catch up, but before he could decide on it, she finally came to a stop inside of a gas station. She looked up at the building for only a second and then ran into the building’s front door.


    Mr. Larison was right behind her, and his eyes went wide when he saw what was happening. The cashier had his hands on the register and was shaking in fear as he unloaded it. In front of him was a man with a ski mask clutching a gun. The man with the gun jerked when he heard the door bang open.


    “On the ground!”


    She leaped up on the counter, almost moving faster than a human should be able to. The man tried to point his gun at her, but it was too late. Her fist smashed into his face. She held back so as not to show off since they weren’t in costume, so the attack didn’t knock the man out.


    It sure as hell hurt, though, as the front of his ski mask was stained red, and he dropped his gun. The man screamed and stumbled back but froze when he felt himself bump into someone. He looked up just in time to see Jack slam his elbow down into the man in the mask, knocking him out.


    The cashier stood there with wide eyes, staring at the two of them. “We take self-defense classes real seriously.” Jack shrugged.


    The man’s head nodded, but he wasn’t listening in far too much shock at what he had just seen. She stepped off of the counter and landed on the ground, moving over to Mr. Larison as the two of them began to quickly leave before the cops showed up. “I think I would let them decide.”


    “Huh?” Jack turned his head to look at her.


    “Your question. You asked if a Super should be turned over to the heroes or be left alone. I think it should come down to them to decide. It seems like it’s their life that is being affected after all.”


    Jack rubbed at the back of his neck. “Okay. I don’t hate that answer, I guess.”


    “Is there a reason you asked, Mr. Larison?”


    “Nah. Let’s get you home, Kid.”


    ***


    The memory slowly faded as Jack shook his head back in the present day. He eyed all the heroes up and rubbed at his chest for a second. Everyone was all talking amongst themselves. He wasn’t paying any attention, though. Too focused on the pain in his chest.


    “Look what’s here!” Snowdawn called out. Everyone looked up when the boy pointed toward the sky. Dozens of Hero Branch drones were descending upon the scene now that they were sure Polaron wouldn’t be able to break any of them. Lights flashed as they began to snap shots of all the heroes and record what was happening.


    “Look alive, everyone.” Money Tree announced. “Pose for the camera. We need to show them how cool we all are.”


    Battery turned away, ignoring it, and clutched at his arm, wincing. The others were busy waving at the drones that approached them. “Mr. Larison?” He turned to look back down at her. She was staring up at him. “You okay?”


    Jack was silent for a moment and squeezed his arm tighter. “No.”


    “Huh?”


    “I don’t think I’ve been okay for a while.”


    “What does that mean?”


    “Well.” Jack let out a soft hum. “I think my heart stopped beating a couple of seconds ago. Pretty sure I’m dying-” He crashed to the floor face first, blood gushing from his nose and mouth.


    “Mr. Larison!”


    And with that, Pantheon’s first real mission came to a sudden and shocking end.