She threw herself in front of her mom as gunfire rang out. Men screamed, and horses stomped around wildly. It was far more intense than the gang fights she had seen with Armin. There must have been hundreds of men, some in red, some in blue, some holding rifles, some wielding swords or chunks of wood, or whatever they could get their hands on. Either way, all of them had one thing in common.


    They were all out for blood.


    “Why didn’t you say we would be in the middle of a fight? Get my mom out of here!” She screamed towards Max Lightning.


    It was already too late, though. One of the men in the blue military cloak drew a knife and ran at her and her mom. She raised her arms to defend herself, but as the man swung, he passed through her. Literally, it was as if he didn’t even notice her or her mom. He ran through them and swung his knife out at a soldier in red, who blocked it with the butt of his rifle.


    “We’re not actually here, are we?” Jane Lauren asked, looking around the battlefield. She was frowning and wouldn’t stop shaking at the sounds of gunfire, but wasn’t as bothered as she had expected.


    “You catch on fast.” Max Lightning.


    “I watch a lot of movies.” Her mother bragged.


    “What are you two talking about?” She asked with wide eyes. She held her hand out towards a man and watched as it phased through his chest.


    Max Lightning folded his arms and sighed. “Think of it as all one big illusion of sorts. See, most Supers can have more than one power, especially if they’re the children of two Supers. Lords like us have two titles. You are the Lord of the Sun and the Cosmos. I am the Lord of the Sky and the Weather. We carry two titles because we have more than just our elemental mastery. I am able to control the weather as well as the wind that blows through time. Humans have evolved over the years to be able to make predictions of the weather. This is likely why my powers work the way they do. Because weather prediction is so common, and there are dozens of ways for it, the first Lord of the Sky was blessed with the ability to follow the paths of the world—strands of time. Of course, these paths are easily broken by powerful heroes, and some powers negate them, but for the most part, they give me a good idea of both the past and the future. I’ve woven these trillions of paths together to show you this scene.”


    “I don''t really get it, but sure!” She shook her head and folded her arms. “What exactly is going on?” She questioned. She really missed the good old days where everything made sense and wasn’t all weird. “First I find out that I was born from a pod, and now it turns out I have the power of Full Monarch within me, and my hair can randomly turn golden. I need an explanation now! What is this war!”


    Max Lightning rubbed the back of his neck, seemingly trying to come up with an explanation. “The Lord of the Sea and the Depths. The Lord of the Land and the Life. The Lord of the Sky and the Weather. And lastly, the Lord of the Sun and the Cosmos. Those were the four beings I showed you a moment ago. They existed thousands of years ago. With the great Shadow dead, other things would try to take its place. Nowadays we know them as Calamity level threats. People like the Beast and the Emperor. Back then, though, Supers were rare but still strong. All it took was one Super rising up and taking over. Nearly five hundred years ago, this happened with a Super. Just when it looked like he would take everything over, they returned. The four Lords. They defeated that Super and once again vanished. They would return again nearly thirty years later. Each time they appeared, they were always different people. People who had gained the power. The cycle of the Lords had been discovered. With the discovery that the Lords could come back and that they could be raised and molded by those who found them, it didn’t take long for factions to be created.”


    “I remember Whisper saying something similar. How there are always four, and they can appear. Poseidon is called the Lord of the Sea as well, so like me, she’d be the latest one. You said she wasn’t grown from a pod, though? Were you created by a pod?”


    Max Lightning raised two of his fingers up. “As of now, there are two known ways for a Lord to be created. The first is for the title of Lord to be passed down. When a lord is nearing death, they can pass down their powers and title to a Super that has similar powers. This is typically done through a parent and child. Both Poseidon and I became Lord’s this way. My father gifted me the title, and her great-grandfather gifted her the title. However, should a Lord die in battle or not pass on their title, then the second option for creating a Lord will happen.”


    “The Pods?”


    “That’s correct.” Max Lightning nodded his head. “They were first discovered a bit after the first four Lord’s died. It is believed that each Lord created them before they died. Perhaps it’s a gift from God or Alien tech; I am unsure, but they seem to all work in a similar way. They contain the power of a Lord, as well as the first Lord’s DNA, and will then mix it with the DNA of two hosts that it selects. Because of this, by all accounts, Ms. Lauren, your mom and dad really are your parents, and the Pod would serve more or less as a third parent that actually birthed you.”


    “If that’s the case, then it has a hell of a lot of late birthday presents…”


    “It gave you Superpowers, be grateful.” Her mother said, bonking her on the head.


    She nodded before turning to look at the field they stood in. Blood was constantly flowing, and screams of anguish and rage didn’t stop. All of the men used old-looking guns, the kind that were slow to reload and made a mess when it hit someone. She winced as she watched the battle. She felt sick to her stomach. She didn’t know which side was right or wrong, which one started it, or which one was winning. All she saw were men, some even young boys, charging toward their deaths, humans against humans. “Why did you bring me to this time though? Why am I seeing this?”


    “This is all a little much, isn’t it?” Jane muttered. The woman gripped her daughter’s shoulder tightly as blood splattered against the ground and men beat each other to death either with their bare hands or broken weapons.


    Max Lightning folded his arms and didn’t look away as he watched the fighting. “My power can’t take me to any point in time. I am limited. This was the closet point I had that I could use to show you ‘him’. After you see him, I’d like for you to decide.”


    “Decide what?”


    “Decide if you want to keep being a hero.”


    None of them were Supers. That was the first thing she realized. There was nothing heroic about this, nor villainous, in a sense. It was all just a hail of bullets, knives on skin, and a song of bloody screaming. Her mother looked away, but she didn’t. She never enjoyed things like this. Even fighting ordinary bad guys, she never liked hurting them. But in the moment, she felt like she couldn’t look away from either side. Men, boys, and kids fought forward for some unseen goal. Their story, at the very least, deserved to be seen. Even if she didn’t like it.


    “War isn’t new.” Max Lightning explained. “It was around before the Calamities. It was around after them. What you see now is almost the same every time. Humans. Supers. Good. Bad. None of it matters. I don’t know if the Emperor will come back. I don’t know if there will be a bigger threat than him. I don’t know if the Calamities will return or if the walls around Chrysanthemum will shatter. What I do know, though, is there will be another war like this. So, you need to decide if you can really say you want to be a hero.”


    The battle seemed to begin winding down. The blues were clearly winning. The men in the red cloaks were pushed further back. Many were shot at while their backs were turned. The few that did manage to get to cover jumped down into a trench they had built and hunkered down.


    “Battles like these. They still happen. The Hero Branch, or the common thugs of the villains. Normal humans are forced to fight against one another as well as go up against forces far greater than themselves. It can be hard to hold back. Especially on a battlefield. As a soldier, you’re left with no choice but to fight. And if you’re a Super, you see just how different you are from your common folk.”


    “What’s the point of showing my daughter all of this?” Jane grabbed Max Lightning by his wrist and glared up at the hero. “You said she’ll have to decide on whether she wants to be a hero or not, and now you’re going on and on about some war you think might happen. Explain it better. Stop with these vague answers.”


    “Mom-”


    “No. Your mother is right.” Max Lightning pulled his hand away. “I truly believe that, soon, a choice will have to be made. Whenever two opposing forces are created, the conflict won’t stop until there is a clear winner. Powers have been both a blessing and a curse. I wanted to show you this so you can see what a war looks like. The civilians you put in danger when you fight like this. Not the Supers like us, but the people. By declaring yourself a hero, you’ve selected a side, Ms. Lauren. Whether you accept it or not, heroes and villains will war until the end of time, even if they have to go by other titles. Cinder. Is she a game to you? Or do you truly wish to be her? Selecting a side will breed trouble for not just you but your family. By saying you are a hero, you are saying you are against the villains. By being Cinder, you challenge them. As it stands, you currently aren’t known by many to be like Full Monarch. Cinder isn’t well known, either. You could leave. Here and now. You could quit being a Super. Throw it away and go into hiding. But, should you stay, others like Polaron will come. The ones who won’t hesitate to go after your family. And just as I have shown you here, other humans will be dragged into the fray, as well.”


    “You’re saying that I’ll have to kill people if I stay as a hero,” She said quietly. The thought of Polaron came to her mind. She had killed him, left with no other choice. She hated it. She despised it even, but she had been forced to. Polaron was a Super, like her. A man who had killed hundreds, maybe even thousands, who could fight back, even potentially kill her. Would she be able to do that to a human? Someone who stood no chance, who was doing whatever they could to survive. Would she be able to bring herself to kill that person? With Polaron, it had been kill or be killed. With a normal person though… She felt sick in her stomach.


    “Hope.” Her mom placed a hand on her shoulder.


    A horn buzzed through the air, causing her to turn. The reds had either been backed into a ditch or near the edge of the woods, outnumbered greatly by the blues. They had been on the verge of giving up, throwing their weapons down until the sounds of the horn. They screamed out with renewed force and charged, grabbing whatever they could get their hands on.


    A horse galloped. She had seen a few horses in her life, though she never got to ride one before. From the woods, it came, carrying a young-looking man. He wore armor formed out of shifting blades of ice, all of which formed together around his head, the ice melding into the shape like an ancient warrior''s helm, complete with what looked like a large crest of flowing water along the top of the helmet. He held a mighty weapon in his ice-gloved hands. A long silver trident, water bending and flowing around it. What little of his skin could be seen showed that it was dark and filled with scars. He screamed at the top of his lungs, letting out a mighty warrior’s battle cry. Just like when she would scream, his lungs were far stronger than a human''s, and it literally caused the battlefield to shake.


    Water exploded around him, and he was raised high into the air, lifted off of his horse. He spun around and hit the center of the field hard enough to send out a wave of force that knocked everyone over. Tendrils of water sliced out of his back, taking the shape of a Kraken’s many tentacles, all of which smashed into the men hard enough to make sure they didn’t get back up.


    He wasn’t the only one that arrived, either. The wind twisted and changed as miles above, and the clouds began to rip apart as someone dropped out of the sky and rammed into the center of the field so hard they kicked up a massive dust cloud. They had slicked back blonde hair and reminded her of Max Lightning in a way, but way cleaner and younger-looking. He wore the same red soldier uniform as the other men, but a cloak of clouds wrapped around his upper body. Lightning and wind danced at the hero’s fingertips as they blasted down towards the villains and stunned dozens of them. He took his enemies down with ease.


    "Pay close attention." Max Lightning spoke up, causing her to jump a bit. She had been so focused on the battle she forgot what was happening. "Here ''he'' comes."


    “Who?”


    “You’ll see.”


    What happened next was shocking even by Super standards. The forest erupted and broke away. Trees began to collapse in on themselves as something massive came crashing out. It cast a large shadow and slithered on the ground like a snake. It was long and narrow, bigger than even a skyscraper, and just by moving it tore the battlefield to bits. It looked almost like a serpentine-like dragon. Instead of flesh, though, it was made out of vines and wood. Two small little arms, like that of a T-rex, poked out of it, which the wooden monster used to crawl forward.


    Someone in the same red uniform as the soldiers stood on top of the head of the mighty beast. She wasn''t able to get a good look at them, but she realized they were pointing at the enemy forces.


    Plants blasted out of the fingertips of the figure on the wooden dragon. Strings of roses flew through the air and began to tie themselves around the men in blue, knocking them down. The grass surged like a tidal wave and seemed to come to life, and all the trees in the forest began to rip their way out of the ground as they grew arms and legs and charged into the battlefield behind the dragon rider.


    It took them no time at all to change the tide of battle.


    “Who are these people?” She asked, though she had a pretty good idea already. She felt a little bitter watching them all at work. They were all taking the guys out nonlethally, something she hadn’t been able to do with Polaron.


    Max Lightning turned to the battle around them. “I showed this to Posiedon and will do for the last Lord, for another reason. Should you remain on the path of a hero or turn to the side of the villains, you will paint a target on your back. That said, while war will be filled with those who are weak and those who are strong, I believe that the ones who can take a life but decide not to are the ones that truly deserve being called heroes. If you want to stay as Cinder, if you want to save Oleander City, it will mean every side you aren’t on, they will be against you—those who will come against you and your family. If you want to keep them safe, you’ll need to get as strong as these ‘idiots,’ as Jack put it. So, watch closely; see what a real hero looks like.”If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    The blues crashed to the ground, all unconscious. The reds cheered out, and hats were thrown high into the air.


    The dragon came to a sudden halt a few feet away from her, and the figure on the head of it dropped down and crashed to the field below. For a moment she swore his eyes met hers, and he had a sly smirk on his lips. He was the youngest one there when it came to the Supers that had arrived. He was around her age, maybe older, eighteen at the most. He had messy, blonde hair, and his eyes glowed with a bright blue glow. The man in the ice armor came to stand next to him, as did the one cloaked in clouds.


    “Is that them?” She asked.


    Max Lightning nodded his head. “Yes. These three men are the ones. They are previous incarnations of the Lords.”


    “Oi, Nier, those men were mine; you stole all my glory.” The man in the cloak of clouds used his power to send a sharp gust of wind in the direction of the blonde boy, but the kid gave a cheeky grin, and his dragon moved faster, blocking the strike with its body.


    “Sorry. You guys were so slow. I got pretty bored, just waiting around-”


    “Your job was to stand guard over the injured.” The man in the ice armor’s voice was loud and booming. He was a large, dark-skinned man, and Hope was instantly reminded of Myth with the no-nonsense attitude he gave. The man gripped his trident as his eyes bore into the blonde kid’s. “If there had been an enemy Super here, on the battlefield, any that got past us—”


    “Eh, it all went fine.” The blonde, apparently named Nier, shrugged and threw his arms behind his head casually. “Lucky and I handled it!” The large wooden dragon shrank down in fear when the dark-skinned man shot it a dirty look.


    She frowned a bit, eyeing the three of them up. She had just learned about Lords and didn’t really understand them, but she was guessing they usually didn’t act like this. "Not what you expected?" Max Lightning snorted.


    “I mean, I guess they’re as weird as Poseidon and I am, so it checks out.” She muttered. "I like the dragon though. That thing is cool. He called it Lucky?”


    Max Lightning looked all three men up and down before his eyes finally settled on the one in the cloak of clouds. “Each of these men is currently the strongest Super of this era, though that is soon to change. You may have noticed there are only three of them. The Lord of the Sun and Cosmos, the one who would later go by the name of Full Monarch and create the Hero Branch and superheroes, hasn’t been discovered yet. The man covered in ice is the Lord of the Sea and Depth. He is also the oldest of the four Lords currently and the only one to have a kid. He is Mr. Sini, the man that would later create Sinicorp, as well as the father to Old Dog and the grandfather to Ocean Empress. Before his death at the hands of the Emperor years later, he gave his title of Lord to Poseidon. The blonde boy is named Nier. He is the Lord of Land and Life and possibly related to the current Lord of Life in our time. You likely haven’t heard his name before. Lastly, that leaves Wano. The Lord of the Sky and Weather, as well as my father.”


    “Whoa! So that’s why the Lord looks like you.” She frowned a bit. “So, what is this army exactly? You mentioned a war? What’s going on?”


    “If you paid more attention in school, you would know.” Her mom sighed.


    “Do you know?”


    “Well, no, but I don’t go to school anymore.”


    “You’re the worst…”


    “These three were called the Full Force.” Max Lightning explained. “The ones in red are the Full soldiers. They’ve been slowly getting pushed back by the blue enemy forces led by Lucifer.”


    “Lucifer.” She felt that small bubble of rage inside of her start to expand. Just hearing his name was enough to piss her off.


    “In our time, there are enough Supers to form dozens of teams and guard various places.” Max Lightning stated. “This is mostly due to the Emperor. Not only did he use the power to create his monsters, his threat was so great that dozens of Supers were created when he was gone. Supers seem to pop up most when the world needs them, and the Lords are reborn. Back here during this time, there weren''t as many Supers that existed. Maybe less than a thousand. Lucifer isn’t the strongest threat in the world. There are many Supers that are stronger than him. Still, it will be good for you to see him. After I showed Poseidon this, it steeled her nerves, and she used it to motivate herself. Should you decide to stay as a hero, you will need to work harder than ever. Most of the Lord of the Sun’s energy has been lost, unable to be passed down after the Emperor nearly devoured Full Monarch. You have a mountain to climb, one that leads to a further hellish climb if you wish to become strong enough to protect your loved ones.”


    She quietly balled her hand into a fist and nodded her head. Already she could feel her nerves steadying at the thought of Lucifer. In comics, a hero always had an arch enemy. Their equal. Full Monarch had the Emperor, and if she got to pick, then hers would be Lucifer. The man who started it all for her. The man who ruined her life. She quietly watched the legends of this time as they joked and bantered.


    “Speaking of the Lord of the Sun, where is he? I don’t see him anywhere. Only three of the Lords are here.”


    "You''ll see him soon." Max Lightning smirked.


    Mr. Sini was still reprimanding Nier, who didn’t look like he was actually listening, when Wano lightly punched Sini in the shoulder, giving a smile to his boss. “Chin up, sir. Nier got the job done, and that’s all that matters, right?”


    “The job isn’t done.” Sini looked up towards the sky, watching the rain clouds that were already starting to form. “We’ve been fighting for hours and not a single sign of the Monarch Force’s Supers.”


    “The Monarch forces?” Hope shot a look towards Max Lightning.


    “The ones in blue. Led by Lucifer and others, who weren’t happy with the Full Force’s approach to how the Lords should be handled. Lucifer is a madman who just loves chaos. Evil without a goal, he gathered the unhappy Monarch forces so that he would have an army to battle the Full force with.”


    “Oh, relax.” Wano snorted, throwing his knife up and down through the air. “We’ve been at this for months now. I’m sure we’ve gone and wiped out all of Lucy’s big hitters.”


    “It’s still strange.” Nier hummed, seemingly agreeing with Sini. “I mean, Lucifer isn’t one for doing little things. His army is immortal and doesn’t have to worry about casualties, unlike ours. I''m not bad at healing, but I''m not that good at it either. All he needs to do is stall us out, so why isn''t he doing that?”


    Sini frowned and looked like he was about to say more but was stopped when a loud bird-like screech came from above. A large red hawk came crashing down from above and smashed into Nier, knocking the man over. “That’s the same species as Destiny, isn’t it?” Hope asked, a little surprised when she saw the bird. This one was far larger than Destiny and a more orangish color, but the resemblance was striking.


    “Destiny?” Her mom questioned. Nier thrashed around as the bird cocked its head to the side and sat on his chest. It was about the size of a small child and seemed very heavy. A letter was tied to its right foot, which it held out to Sini.


    “He’s the bird that I—Oh crap, what happened to Destiny!” She felt something rustling around, and her backpack opened slightly as Destiny poked his head out, giving a loud caw before darting back into the darkness. “Oh, there he is.”


    “Destiny and that one are part of the same species.” Max Lightning said flatly. “They were created by the first Lord of Life and can link up to powerful Supers, gaining a portion of their master’s powers. Sadly, most died out in the battle with the Emperor, and since we haven’t had a Lord of Life since then, we haven’t been able to make more.”


    “Get this damn bird off of me,” Nier yelled. His dragon just rumbled and turned away from him. "I''m not picking it over you! Don''t be that way, Lucky! Help me! Sini? Wano!"


    Sini ignored his teammate and took the letter from the hawk. He unfolded it, and his eyes went wide. “Not good.”


    “What is it?” Wano asked.


    “A distraction.” Sini hissed. “We’ve been fighting non-stop battles all day against his low-level grunts because he’s been saving his real forces. As we speak, Galanthus, Snowdrop, and Daffodil are all three being attacked.”


    Nier instantly grew tense and sat up, quickly lifting the bird off of him. His dragon also grew straighter, and its eyes narrowed. “Three attacks at three different villages?”


    “Not just three attacks. Supers are there, and they’re all going wild. If we don’t hurry, they will be wiped out.” Sini grunted.


    Wano stepped forward with an idea. “If the three of us hurry, Galanthus village is the closest. We should-”


    “If we all head to one, we won’t have time to save the others.” Mr. Sini said, cutting his student off. He whistled, and his horse came galloping over to him. It was larger than an average steed, with deep red fur. He mounted the beast, and its sides twitched, a pair of giant wings suddenly sprouting out. “We’ll have to split up. Wano, since you and I can fly, we’ll take the further towns; you go for Daffodil, and I will head to Snowdrop. As for Galanthus, that’s where you’ll be coming in, Nier.”


    “I’m not going to let that village be destroyed,” Nier announced as he crouched down. He jumped into the air and spun around, landing on the head of his wooden dragon. “I’ll get there before any of you make it to your destinations, and I’ll be back before you’ve all even had a chance to fight your villains.”


    “Don’t get cocky.” Wano called up toward his friend. “As soon as I finish up at my place, I’ll come save you.”


    “Yeah right! I’ll finish first and then come and save you!”


    “Wait, there’s more.” Mr. Sini stated. He closed his eyes and sighed. “There’s a good chance that one of these villages will have Lucifer in it.”


    “You’re saying that one of us might have to fight Lucifer on our own?” Wano winced and rubbed the back of his neck. “Man, I wish I figured out how to use the Paths more. I’ll seriously need to work on that skill so things like this don’t bite me in the ass.”


    “Scared?” Nier taunted.


    “A little, yeah.”


    “That’s fair.” Nier shook his head and shot a sly smile to his friend Wano. “I’m heading out. I’ll keep you all updated.”


    Wano flew up and patted the Lord of the Land on the back. “Right. Stay safe, Nier.”


    “I always am.”


    "Make sure he stays out of harm''s way, Lucky." Wano whispered to the dragon, and it nodded its head.


    Hope watched the display of comradery and couldn''t help but feel slightly jealous. She would say she was pretty close to her fellow Pantheon members, but not in the way these three were. The dragon took off fast. It didn''t fly, but it did hover above the ground slightly. Two tiny little arms poked out of its side, which clawed at the ground and ripped it apart as it went. It reminded her of the way Mr. Larison would run. He also seemed to almost float across the ground.


    Max Lightning waved his hand, and the image began to bend and change. She gasped at what she saw next.


    They stood in the ruins of an old-looking village. Wooden huts scattered about, many on fire and burning away to ash. It was what stood at the end of the village though that caused her face to pale. A battle was going on. A very one-sided battle…


    People were screaming and running through the village, and the sounds of combat had filled the air. At the center of the village, a familiar face caught her attention. “M- Myth?” She asked, stunned.


    It was a large creature with a bull''s head and arms covered in slick black fur and massive muscles. It was decked out in heavy-looking armor and swung around a massive great sword at whoever he was fighting. “I will not let you harm anyone!” The Myth lookalike roared. “This village is not fit for you!”


    “Myth is related to this man.” Max Lightning nodded towards the raging bull. “The Thaddeus clan all share similar powers with one another. Sadly, though this member doesn’t make it far in this war.”


    That was when she noticed the man the bull was fighting. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him; every time she dreamt, he would be there. A tall, pale man with black, oily hair and golden eyes. He was dressed like a priest and even clutched a book close to his chest. She wasn’t the only one who stared at the man. She felt her mother grow tense, the woman’s eyes never leaving Lucifer’s.


    The bull howled and brought his sword down towards Lucifer, ripping the ground that they stood on apart. Lucifer’s eyes held no emotion; they were dull and bored as he moved past each swing of the blade as if it were the simplest thing in the world. Then he struck. Faster than the warrior could react, Lucifer''s hand pressed to the chest plate. Black energy crackled out of his palm, and screams radiated off his hand as the armor broke away and he touched the bull’s fur directly.


    She knew what it was right away. The very same touch her father had suffered. Her dad had taken a single finger''s worth that lasted less than a second. The man related to Myth wasn’t so lucky.


    The sword dropped from the bull''s grip, and he dropped to his knees gasping and vomited up a wave of blood. Cracks appeared across his fur, and with a simple push, Lucifer’s hand shattered past the man’s chest and ribs as the bull hero rapidly turned to ash. From the thick dust that rained, a single page floated softly to the ground, which Lucifer caught. He opened his book and gently placed it inside.


    The Dead Virus stole another life.


    “I hate him.” She seethed. “I really hate him.” The villain paid no mind to her comment or her emotions. He placed his hand on the ground, and his virus began to seep out, breaking the earth apart and forming a small crater that began to expand as he tried to fish something up. “What the hell is he doing?” She asked. Instantly, he stopped and turned to look at her, and she couldn’t help but step away.


    He wasn’t actually looking at her, though. She realized when she heard the whimpering. There were still several people in the village, and they had fallen into the gaze of Lucifer. He cocked his head to the side and then slowly opened his book. He placed his hand over a page and tore it out. Paper twisted and rose from the ground, taking shape, and suddenly the bull was back. Decked out in his armor and gripping his sword, he stood alive.


    The newly born book zombie howled. It wasn’t the kind man it had been, now all that was left was a mindless killing machine. It took off into the village swinging its sword and cleaving the remaining buildings apart. What few people remained were forced to run, and the protector of this village gleefully chased after them, ready to cleave them in two with his sword.


    The monster laughed and ran after a child, swinging its blade down. She tensed her body, about to jump at it. She knew she couldn’t stop it. It was a memory, but watching it attempt to hurt a kid was too much for her. She yelled and flew forward, throwing out a strike, but as expected, it had no impact, simply passing through the man. To them, she was unseen and didn’t exist. She couldn’t change the past no matter how hard she fought.


    Thankfully, she didn’t have to.


    A large blur smashed into the beast, and it gasped as all of its ribs were shattered. The creature was flung back, crashing through several houses, and looked like it was about to slam into Lucifer, but the man just opened his book and summoned up another one of his many zombies. This one was dressed like a nun, though her outfit was made out of metal chains, and she wore a wooden mask. Her dress came undone, and dozens of metal wires sliced out, ripping the monster to shreds. No blood flowed, though. Instead, the beast gasped, and its body suddenly turned to paper, a single page floating in its place once more.


    Lucifer opened his tome and held it up, letting the page fall gently inside, closing the book once it landed. “I was wondering if you would come.” His voice instantly reminded her of Golden God. It didn’t hold much emotion. It was flat and drawn out. As if it were a bother for this thing to even make the effort to speak. It pissed her off more than it should have.


    The wooden dragon growled as it came to a stop. Its body began to wrap around the village, and it glared at the villain down below. Nier walked forward and hopped off of his beast, landing a few feet away. Already the plant life around him began to twitch and move, reacting to his call. “I’m going to defeat you. Today is the day hope comes out on top.” He announced. He held his hand out, and a long chain of flowers crackled forth as he used the power of the Lord of Life and Land to create new plant life from thin air.


    “The Lord of the Land and Life comes to challenge me.” Lucifer taunted and held his free hand up. A black swirl of darkness seemed to drip off his palm. The Dead Virus hissed and spat as it came into existence. All the grass beneath him began to wilt and die. “I am the Ruler of Death and Rebirth. You don’t stand a chance.”


    “That’s nothing more than a title you gave yourself.” Nier snorted. “All because you’re jealous that we Lords hold real titles and powers.”


    “It was given to me by the great one.”


    “You mean the Shadow? News flash buddy, the Lords killed him. Basically, that means I should be at least one fourth as strong as your God.”


    Hope gripped her hand into a fist, feeling the fire begin to swirl around her hand. “Who wins this fight?” She asked quietly.


    “Neither really.” Max Lightning sighed. “Lucifer escapes. Later on, he is beaten by Full Monarch and loses his army and most of his power, but this fight is a draw at best. Still, it’s important you see Nier. I want you to watch him closely.”


    “Okay? Why though?”


    “You’ll see.”


    Nier was only meters away from Lucifer, the young man eyeing up the strange nun that stood next to Lucifer. “You made some new friends, I see.”


    “Not exactly.” Lucifer held his hand out, and suddenly, the nun’s body began to shake. Large cracks appeared all along her skin, and then, in a flash, she shattered. Just like the bull had, a stray page fell from her remains and into the open book Lucifer held. The man shut the tome tightly, his free hand swirling with the mass of the Dead Virus. “I’ve inverted the power gifted to me by the Shadow. I’ve conquered life and death.”


    "God, were you always this edgy-” Nier jumped out of the way at the last second as Lucifer sprung toward him. The man’s palm came at the boy, but Nier’s body hummed, and in a flash, he appeared behind Lucifer, kicking at the villain with speed that surpassed even Battery. Lucifer managed to block the strike with his arm, the one that held the book, and he shoved Nier off of him. As Nier slid away, he pulled his arm back before thrusting it forward. Wooden spikes blasted out of the ground beneath him, spinning so fast they twisted the air itself around them and broke the sound barrier.


    Then, to her horror, Lucifer did something she had seen many times. Something she had even done countless times now. Lucifer held his arm out his hand, making the shape of a gun. “Bang.”