Fifteen years ago...


    “P!” He could barely keep his eyes open as he heard his dad’s voice. “P, stay with me! You have to stay awake.”


    “Dad?”


    He barely managed to crack his eyes open. He could see his dad dragging him across the battlefield with gritted teeth. His dad was never a warrior. Not like his mom. The man wasn’t even a Super. Just a normal human who Fairy Queen happened to find good-looking. It had been easy for his mom to use her powers on that simple-looking man and make his father hers.


    Now that the man carried him, he realized. That man held onto him as if it were the only thing he could do. He began to wake up fully, and he looked around, groaning. Whatever city they had ended up in was gone. Only a few buildings were left standing. Most of it was just ash now.


    Heroes stood, their uniforms torn, all staring up toward the sky. The same went for any other villain. None of them were fighting anymore. They all just stared up in either horror, acceptance, or fear. Dozens were injured, and bodies upon bodies from both sides had been piled together.


    Ash rained from the sky, and the planet shook. The sun was no longer visible, swallowed up by an inky black void. It had gone cold, cold enough to freeze several people to death; then it would suddenly become hot, enough heat to ignite others. Lightning rained upon the planet, and fire swallowed up entire cities.


    As it stood, the world was coming to an end.


    No one bothered to stop his dad as he dragged his injured son out of the field of ash. They seemed to be in a desert, though the sand was now coated in dozens of layers of snow and ice.


    “Are you awake, P?”


    “Yeah.” He groaned. “I’m fine, Dad.” He pulled himself out of his dad’s arm and stumbled to his feet, shaking his head. “What happened? I remember we were on the battlefield, and the Emperor, he...”


    “He blew it up.” His dad’s voice was hollow. The man’s eyes had sunken in, filled with defeat. “He blew up the city. Not just that city. Every city. It didn’t matter who owned it. Villains, heroes, Supers, or humans. In the end, he needed a way to hurt the man he was fighting emotionally.”


    A field of gray and corpses, black hellish fire devouring any building that remained standing, and the sobbing of people. They were all dying.


    “What do we do, Dad?”


    “I don’t know.” His dad stared up at the black sky.


    The world shook with a loud rumble, and the skies began to rip apart, fire crackling down. Anyone that was near them stood and ran as hard as they could, but not his dad and not him. They stared up at the fire as something fell toward the planet. It smashed into the world hard enough to shake everything around them, sending golden lights out in all directions that cut through everything in their way.


    The gold reached them, and P screamed as everything exploded in a blast of pure power as the two legends clashed once again, shaking the entire planet. Black and gold danced together, scorching the land, breaking the sound barrier, and expanding the crater. P was flung high into the air, spinning and crashing as the wind violently twisted. His body felt like it was going to pop from the pressure.


    Just when he was certain he was about to die, that his head was going to explode, or that he would fall into a pit of black fire, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. “Are you okay?” P wiped at his eyes and stared up at the figure who held him. He wore a golden costume. One that held the symbol of a butterfly on it. A long blue cape flowed behind him in the wind, and the man floated in the air. Golden locks rained down his head, and despite the situation, he held a kind and warm smile on his lips. For the first time in his life, P truly felt safe. “You’re okay.” The man breathed a sigh of relief as he floated towards the ground, his form causing the black flames to go out, parting them for the boy.


    “Yeah, I’m fine...”


    Full Monarch gently placed the child down. “It’ll be okay.” The man’s hand squeezed the boy’s shoulder. “I’ll stop him. I promise.”


    A roar pieced the air, loud enough to shake the world, as the darkness began to claw its way towards them.


    Full Monarch turned to face it, his eyes expanding out a powerful golden beam of energy as he marched towards his enemy. It began to flicker and shimmer into a mass of harsh flames that coated him. A second later, the roaring fire grew even stronger as it shifted into a bright blue color, yet in that moment, P didn’t feel himself being burned. Instead, he felt a gentle wave of warmth that covered him. “I’ll keep everyone safe. I’ll save you.”


    And that was the last time Polaron ever truly got to see the world''s greatest hero.


    ***


    Present Day...


    Sometimes the memory of that day would come to him. It always ticked him off deep down when he thought of it. Polaron squashed it down and drew his sword. He eyed Green Wolf slowly. The man was strong, just as strong as he was, but at the end of the day, Green Wolf was just a mere human. He, on the other hand, was not. He was something more. He had been created cell by cell by the Emperor. He was a monster. A being whose power was so great it changed and twisted his body.


    “Polaron!” The villain cocked his head away from the wolf and found Demonica standing at the bottom of the stone structure she stood on. The woman wasn’t alone, though. A very familiar hero stood behind him. He knew why he had his thoughts of the past so suddenly. Ever since he had seen ‘her’, those thoughts had been infecting him more and more.


    “Stay back, Demonica.” He called out softly. He didn’t bother acknowledging the hero. Once he was done with Green Wolf, he would simply take her out himself. “I’ll deal with this on my own.”


    Green Wolf had that cocky smile on his face. He couldn’t actually see it thanks to the man’s mouth, but he knew it was there. The leader of Zoo casually tossed his knives into the air and caught them. “I honestly didn’t come here to fight you, Polaron. I wanted to talk. Though now you got me all excited, so I expect you to take responsibility.”


    “Whatever you’ve come to talk about, I’m not interested in it.” The villain raised his sword and suddenly jagged blades of metal stabbed out of the ground all around Green Wolf. The leader of Zoo dodged the attacks, jumping into the air and spinning around. Polaron flew up after him and curved his flight to the left, dodging a series of invisible strikes that cut more of the building away. He reached Green Wolf and rammed his sword into the man’s gut, unable to actually stab him thanks to the barrier Green Wolf kept around himself. “Die.”


    Despite that, he had other means of attack. His sword glowed and, with a flick of the blade, magnetic energy blasted out, shooting Green Wolf towards the ground and slamming the bad guy through rows of trees.


    “Sorry, but that won’t work on me.” Green Wolf taunted. “I can’t be hurt by weak attacks like that-” He was suddenly flung from the ground and crashed back into a car. He tried to move his body off the wreckage but couldn’t get himself to move off of it. “How did you-”


    “I turned you into a magnet.” Polaron didn’t hesitate to smash a giant truck down onto the man. “Your body might be unbreakable from normal attacks, but you still need air.” More of his metal began to pile on, as cars, swords, suits of armor, and anything else his power could infect, all smashed into the blob that was Green Wolf. The metal broke down, forming a sphere that began to dig into the ground, sinking below it. “I’ll suffocate you to death.”


    “That won’t work!” He stopped when he heard the voice. It came from Cinder. The girl was shouting at him for some reason. “He can teleport-”


    He suddenly felt the center of his ball vanish, and before he could move, he felt a wave of pain as his right arm was torn clean off. Green Wolf stood behind him, dozens of feet away, and had casually flicked his sword. Polaron grabbed his arm from midair and placed it back in place. He forced the metal to close up, and thanks to a healing factor he had due to his bizarre body, he simply reattached the limb.


    “Now, now, no cheating, Cinder.” Green Wolf taunted. “Don’t give away all my secrets.”


    “Since when can you teleport?” Polaron asked, finishing his healing process.


    Green Wolf shrugged his shoulders and flexed a bit. “Well, I’ll tell you since we’re such good friends. I can’t actually teleport. Recently, my little group has gained a benefactor of sorts. Let me tell you, he’s the real deal. Crazy and powerful, in need of soldiers. And being his lucky chosen warrior, I can use that power of his in a way. In other words, I can pretty much go anywhere. I’m not just impossible to harm and impossible to block; I’m impossibly fast as well now. Oh, but don’t go thinking I cheated or anything. I could have dodged that last attack in other ways, but it’s so much more fun to simply teleport.”


    “Well, you made the mistake of taking my arm instead of my head.” A car smashed down onto Green Wolf, shattering on the man’s flesh.


    “Good point.” Green Wolf jumped out of the wreckage perfectly fine. “I’ll aim for it this time!” He vanished from sight, and Polaron floated high into the air just in time as the trees behind him split apart. “Stay still!” Green Wolf appeared in quick moments, moving around the battlefield at crazy speeds, but no matter how many times he swung, he was unable to hit Polaron once.


    The metal-based villain wasn’t limited by things like the ground. He could fly and take his body in any direction, and by staying in the air, he had a way easier time curving in and out of the strikes, all without seeing them. Green Wolf seemed to get fed up with it and came to a stop, glaring up at the man as he reappeared on the ground.


    “How are you doing that?”


    Polaron flicked his hand, and suddenly, as if appearing out of midair, a large sword rammed into Green Wolf’s head. More blades were simply created into existence and struck out, but none of them actually stabbed the man. They did throw him around, though.


    “You don’t block all the damage.” Polaron folded his arms behind his back, and Green Wolf continued to be bombarded by blades that simply spawned into existence. The ball he had tried to suffocate Green Wolf in broke apart, and the metal shards began to disintegrate into thin air, vanishing. “You have been harmed by people like the Victorian in the past. That means there is either a limit to how much you can block or there is a limit to how much you can reduce the damage by. If I keep attacking you, even if every attack has its force reduced to less than one percent, after trillions of blows, your body will begin to feel harm.”


    “Do you think you can finish me off before I get a good hit in on you?” Green Wolf taunted and swung his knives out, sending two strikes in different directions. Polaron managed to dodge one of them, but another strike took off one of his legs. “It’s not so easy dodging while trying to stab me, is it?”


    Cinder stood on the sidelines, shooting looks from Polaron to Green Wolf. She had struggled in her fight with Demonica, and these two were on another level, destroying the forest as they teleported and flew around the battlefield. She wondered which one she should attack. They were both evil and in the middle of fighting. If she took one out, the other might just kill her.


    There was also the fact of Demonica. The villain wasn’t letting her guard down and kept shooting her glances, but she also wasn’t fighting, in case she needed to run to her master’s side and join in. If she tried to attack Polaron, Demonica would likely jump her. If she did attack Green Wolf and take him out, she’d then likely be jumped instantly as well.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    “Maybe coming here wasn’t the best idea...”


    “I’ve figured it out.” Green Wolf teleported into the air and spun his body like a twister, firing slashes out in all directions and breaking the sky more and more. The world kept shaking, and soon it would likely give out. “The way you keep dodging my strikes. You broke your metal down into dust, and you’re controlling that dust, creating blades, and using it to tell where my attack is, right?!”


    Polaron didn’t confirm or deny the attack and instead put his leg back on. A massive pillar of iron nearly ten feet wide and twenty feet long appeared on top of Green Wolf and smashed the man into the ground hard enough to crush even a durable Super. Green Wolf simply appeared back on top of the pillar, his jacket slightly torn. Another pillar appeared, but Green Wolf easily sliced it apart. As soon as it broke in two, though, both halves surrounded him and pressed together, trying to lock him in place.


    Green Wolf teleported again, and this time he appeared behind Polaron, going to swing his knives out at point blank range, but Polaron was faster and spun around, catching Green Wolf’s hands. The bone-like daggers began to break to pieces as tiny shards of iron grew off of Polaron’s hands and ate away at them.


    Green Wolf ripped his way out of Polaron’s grasp as more of his suit was torn away. Polaron raised his arm up, and the metal swirled around it, morphing into a giant barrel, which had already charged up its energy. In an instant, the railgun unleashed its beam. Green Wolf teleported away, but the barrel twisted and turned following after the villain and sliced through all the trees and island, nearly splitting it in two.


    “There it is.” Polaron’s voice announced. “The reason you’ll lose this fight.”


    It was small. It was barely noticeable, but it seemed to piss Green Wolf off. A tiny trickle of blood. It could barely be called a paper cut, but it was proof of him taking damage. And without his knives, the man was now put on the back foot.


    “I wouldn’t be so cocky if I were you.” Green Wolf held his hand out and sighed. “Now this really is me cheating, just so you know.” He then let out a loud yell. “Let me borrow the sword!”


    Every time Green Wolf teleported, a tiny ‘pop’ sound went off. This was no different. It appeared in his hands. A long white sword forged from a strange metal. All along the blade were what looked almost like runes, the things you would see in a video game, swirling across the edge as Green Wolf twirled it in his hand. Across the blade, the words ‘Story Maker’ were carved into it, and they lit up faintly with a glow.


    Polaron’s body had gone rigid when he saw the sword. His eyes were filled with shock. “That blade! So the one who is helping you is—" The villain paused. “Whatever.” Polaron lifted his arm, and the metal began to shape itself. “Fairy Queen, Hell Hound, Golden God, Princess of Life. These were the four generals of the Emperor’s army, but there is more to the story than people truly know. Once upon a time, there was a young boy. One said to have been found by a great Devil. This Devil took the boy in and raised him as his own. But the Devil didn''t want a son. He wanted a weapon. One that would obey him always and help him slaughter his enemies. He wanted something that could devour the Sun-”


    “Is this the time for stories? What the hell are you babbling about?” Green Wolf mocked.


    Polaron kept going though. “So he raised this boy up. He crafted him powerful armor and gifted him a weapon that was alive so long as the child trusted it—a partner for this young boy, and he drilled into him the image of what true power should be. Slowly, this child grew and eventually surpassed that of his mortal shell as the Devil fed him more and more. Bigger and bigger, this child became until soon only one word could truly describe him. That kid, that boy, he became a Giant, the enemy of the Gods.”


    Metal morphed into a massive shape. Large and made out of a cold black iron, the thing stood over sixty meters tall. It was in the shape of a person, though it lacked all features such as a mouth or eyes. The metal screamed out as the colossal suit raised its arm up. It was so big that the very island shook and started to sink. Then the creation unleashed its punch directly down toward Green Wolf. It didn’t matter how much kinetic energy the villain could absorb. This was like trying to stop a meteor.


    Green Wolf stared up at the creation as it came down hard. The man lifted the sword up, and then he spoke a simple command. “The metal. Get rid of it.” Instantly, all of Polaron’s constructs vanished, and the dust that he had in the air was gone. The Giant was gone. Just like that.


    “How!” Polaron asked in shock. “Not even Ears could teleport that thing away; it’s too big-” The villain didn’t even have time to react as Green Wolf appeared above him and swung the sword down.


    Even if he did try to dodge or block it, it didn’t matter. Green Wolf’s attacks traveled thanks to his power. Despite that, though, Polaron wasn’t dead. Instead, he crashed back first into the ground, and a second later, Green Wolf’s sword pressed to his throat. The man had hit him with the blunt end and made sure not to use his slashing power. He had lost, though. In that moment, Green Wolf could have killed him but didn’t.


    “I win.” The man’s sword vanished, and he folded his arms. “Any other day, I would have beheaded you and ended the game, but today is your lucky day, Polaron.”


    The world shook and began to break apart more and more, and that bad gut feeling had returned to Cinder. Demonica took off running, but Green Wolf lazily smacked the air, and the flame-based villain crashed to the floor as his fist hit the woman from far away.


    “If you’re going to kill me, then be done with it. I never stood a chance if someone ‘like that’ picked your side.” Polaron spat.


    “I wasn’t going to kill you.” Green Wolf taunted. “I told you that normally I would, but today was special.” More cracks appeared around them, and the world was on the verge of breaking. "See, I came to make a deal-”


    She rammed her fist into his face. Or at least that had been her plan, but Green Wolf crouched and ducked under her strike. He came up with his knee, raising it as fast as he could and ramming it into her stomach. She gasped as she was sent flying in the air. Polaron didn’t stay down, though, and his glove twisted into a knife, which he tried to impale Green Wolf with, but he was unable to get past the man’s barrier.


    “Will you just knock it off?” Green Wolf growled. “I think you’d want to hear what I have to say. I saved a few of your warriors after all. Like Mars King.”


    “Mars King is safe?” Polaron sounded happy for a second but shook his head. “Speak then. And make it quick.”


    Green Wolf shrugged. “Listen. You know who I’m working with, right? Obviously, since I have ‘that’ sword. So, what do you say? You go and speak to them. That’s why I came here, after all. He would love to have you in his group.”


    “Are you suggesting I team up with you?” Polaron hissed.


    “Sort of. He’s gathering some villains in Oleander, you see.” Green Wolf folded his arms. By now, the black void was starting to appear around them in all directions. They only had a few moments now. “Has a situation he wants to fix up.”


    “Don’t do it.” She hit the ground and tried to stand back up, but wobbled. “Don’t join up with them. You hate them, remember?”


    Polaron looked towards her, and for a moment, that memory came back to him. “Hope Lauren.” She felt her blood freeze as he muttered two words. “There was a small, foolish man in my group. One without powers who went behind my back and attempted to commit a crime. He and his group, however, were defeated by a brand-new Super. A young girl roughly your age, with powers very similar to yours. One of the members of that group got away and told me the name of that Super. He had apparently gotten a look at her wallet’s ID.”


    She stood, unable to move, as she felt chills crawl up her spine. Slowly, Polaron took the offered hand of Green Wolf. “Cinder!” The voice of Wasp Nest caused her to jump, and she looked up as the swirling mass of bugs dropped something down to her. “Metal Ronin built this! It’s the same thing we used to capture Mars King! Use it!”


    She caught what dropped down and stared at it. It was a weird-looking netgun.


    Green Wolf raised the sword up. “Ready?”


    “Yes.” Polaron nodded. “Let’s meet this person.”


    “No!” She threw her hand out and fired the strange gun. A glowing net blasted out and dropped on top of the two villains. It hummed with energy, but neither man seemed to care.


    “Warp us.” Green Wolf stated, and in a flash they vanished, causing the net to drop.


    “What!” The voice of Wasp Nest said in shock. “That was able to stop Ears from teleporting though! How did they do that?” She didn’t have long to consider it though, as a loud, crumbling echo boomed out and she saw a flash of light that blinded her.


    Everything broke apart, and in an instant, she stood back in the junkyard and no longer in the realm. Wasp Nest, and Whisper stood several feet away from her. Dozens of unconscious Bad Timer grunts were piled on one another, and at the very top, the burned body of Saw Head rested.


    Demonica, Green Wolf, and Polaron, though, were nowhere to be seen. Her ears still rang from the quiet ‘pop’ noise that had been made. They had gotten away.


    “There they are!” She heard the voice of BB, and the heroes began to swarm them. “Whoa! What happened?”


    She looked up, meeting Myth’s eyes. “Sir. Something really bad just happened.”


    ***


    Demonica hit the floor, landing roughly on her back. She groaned, and her eyes flickered open as she stared up at a familiar face. “Mars King?”


    The beast gave her one of his sick, twisted grins and held a hand out for her, which she took. As she pulled herself back up, she finally got a look at where they were. Mars King wasn’t the only familiar face. Intake stood with his back to a pillar, his arms folded. Also scattered about, she noticed a few members of Zoo. People like Red Ape, White Spider, or Black Crow.


    They were in a large, stone-looking room. It was dark. So much so, it would have been impossible to actually see if not for the purple fire that swirled out of her head. She couldn’t see the roof, nor could she see any walls. It was almost like an endless room that stretched out in all directions. Every couple of meters were massive stone pillars, each one going so high up that it vanished into the darkness.


    “Where are we?” Polaron’s voice echoed around the room, bouncing off all the pillars. He stood on guard, ready to fight in case this had been a trap set by Zoo. Green Wolf crouched next to him in a very casual manner.


    “I’ll let the big guy explain.” Green Wolf shrugged. “See, I was approached by this man after I got bored and attacked one of his towers. Since then, he’s been informing me of some information and things I need to know. He’s planning something big. So big, he’ll try and make Zoo and Bad Timers work together to reach his goal.”


    “And what would that be?” Polaron’s eyes narrowed.


    Demonica kept her guard up as well. The woman shot a look towards Mars King, and judging by his nod, he was also ready to strike if he needed to. With Intake here, that made them just short, though she doubted Red Ape would pose a threat, so in reality, they had the advantage compared to Zoo.


    That was when a voice boomed through the room. “Well, since Green successfully managed to gather you, why don’t I come forward and explain everything?” Footsteps echoed in the darkness as a man walked into the light created by her flame. He stood hunched over and wore a long white lab coat. Harrison Avalon, CEO of Avalon Industries and inventor of nearly every hero''s gear, gave a sly grin. “Howdy.”


    “You’re the one that gathered us all?” Demonica asked with wide eyes.


    “I was shocked at first, as well.” Mars King growled.


    Avalon gave a lazy wave, his lips twisting slightly in a sly smile. “Green Wolf pretty much told you how we met. His little group had attacked my base. That was around the time I came to Oleander to check on the damage. That was also when I noticed a grave threat. The reason why I got Green Wolf’s attention and allowed him to ‘jump’, thanks to my ability.”


    “What do you mean?” Polaron folded his arms, and for a second, the metal on his armor crackled and lit up. “What could be so big that you would willingly work with the man who attacked one of your bases and then try to force Zoo to work with us?”


    Avalon rubbed his chin for a moment, his grin growing. “Many members of Bad Timer used to serve the Emperor; did they not?”


    Polaron’s eyes narrowed, and he thought about using his power and blasting everyone but managed to hold off. “Get to the point.”


    “My point is that either way, something like the return of the Emperor would affect both sides greatly.” Avalon stated it bluntly. The room had gone silent at his remark. “No one really knows if that man truly died or not. Some say Full Monarch took him out. Others say he lived and went into hiding to recover. It truly doesn’t matter. What does matter is that in Oleander, something is lurking. Something that, if left alone, could one day spiral and become something just as bad as the Emperor. That’s where all of you come in. I’d like all of you to help me fix this mistake I helped create.”


    Meanwhile...


    Kevin opened his eyes cautiously. He could feel a slight flash of pain in his head. Blood leaked down the side of his face from where his head had slammed into the window.


    His trial had come faster than expected. He had been found guilty, and in the end, helping the heroes hadn’t amounted to much. He had been placed on a bus that morning with a few other troublemakers. They’d be dropped off at a rehab and juvie center. Or at least that had been the plan before the bus crashed.


    His eyes snapped open when he heard the screaming. The crash hadn’t been an accident. He managed to shakily stand up, his legs shaking. The bus was completely on its side. Already he could hear sirens in the distance as police, or heroes, were no doubt on their way, but it was already far too late for most people.


    Broken glass mixed with the red, and he covered his mouth, doing his best not to vomit. He wasn’t the only one who had woken up after the crash. A few other boys were wobbling to a standing position. Large tears were on what would have been the roof of the bus as someone was pulling themselves in.


    “Let’s see here.” A female voice filled the vehicle, and he got a good look at her as she dropped down onto the turned-over seats. She was a young girl. Not what he expected a supervillain to look like, but he knew in that moment that she was the one to cause the crash. She had long white hair and a set of stunning red eyes, which he felt roam over him for a second. She was dressed casually, like a schoolgirl would dress on her days off. “Eeny.” Teasingly, the girl’s hand came out and lightly brushed one of the boys’ faces.


    Screams filled the bus as the boy dropped down and began to spasm, his eyes turning bloodshot and his skin changing blue. Some of them ran to the back of the bus, but the door was sealed shut. A few of them tried to climb out of the windows that were above them, but a black shape covered them. The only way out was through the hole behind the girl who stepped past the dying boy.


    “Meeny.” The girl spoke again and moved forward, easily grabbing a boy by the throat. He screamed as he began to literally melt. His flesh dripped off his body, and his bones turned into liquid as he became a puddle. The last boy tried to throw a punch at her, but his hand broke on her face. “Miny.” Her fingers touched his nose lightly.


    He didn’t melt or choke like the other had. Instead, he grew, his body getting larger and his skin ripping, until the bones inside of him literally ripped their way out of his body, splashing him everywhere.


    “Moe.” Kevin’s eyes stared into her red ones as she finally turned to look at him. He was all that was left. He had remained rooted in place, not bothering to have moved. Slowly, her face twisted into a smile. “I pick you.”


    “What?”


    “You.” The girl said it again, reaching out confidently and placing a palm on his stomach. “I decided that you’re mine now.”


    And just like that, a new threat, one that would require Zoo and Bad Timers to work together, showed its face. The next Lord of the Land and Life had arrived.