A few weeks ago…


    She hit the ground and rolled across it, letting out a soft groan. Slowly, she picked herself up off the ground and gritted her teeth.


    “Maybe we should call it here.” Mr. Larison said casually.


    “No!” She shook her head and looked back up at her mentor. “Again!” She demanded. “I need to get stronger! A whole lot stronger!”


    It had been a full week since she and Max Lightning had gone back in time. That adventure had opened her eyes up. She was really a Lord, the real deal. Yet despite holding that title most fights she got into, she nearly lost or barely squeaked out a win. It was no wonder no one suspected she was the Lord. She was so weak.


    “Look kid. It’s fine to want to get stronger, but don’t force your body to do things it can’t.” Jack sighed and folded his arms. Golden lightning seeped out of the man’s flesh, crackling in the air around them. “The power has to come out as a need, not a desire.”


    She nodded numbly and dusted some of the sand off of her. They were back in the junkyard training some more. Mr. Larison had put up another barrier that would ensure no humans could hear or see what they were doing. He was showing her a bit more of his fighting style. Namely take down moves or other such things.


    There was one thing she really wanted to learn, though…


    “You said you were really good with a sword, right?” She asked.


    “Yeah?” The man shrugged his shoulders, and for a moment a flicker of blue danced across his aura as he created a jagged claymore forged from blue energy. He placed it over his shoulder. “As a kid, I was forced to learn how to use it.”


    “Could you teach me how to use one?” She asked sheepishly. “I think it would be so cool to have my own giant sword like the Victorian uses!”


    Jack rubbed his chin and shrugged. “I mean, I could, though I don’t know how much it would help. You do have fire-based powers and have made a sword once with your elements, so it’s possible. I don’t know if a sword would suit you best though.”


    “What do you mean?” She asked a little bummed out.


    “Some people are just better suited for different things.” Jack said, shrugging. “You’re more of a striker and have been practicing punches this entire time. Knowing different ways of fighting is good, but it’s best to master something first before you move on. That said, it could still be good to teach you a thing or two. How good at controlling your fire are you?”


    “I’ve made it take shapes before and do things that fire normally can’t.” She looked down at her hand, watching the fire swirl around. “Like in my fight with Polaron, where I made that sword. Sometimes my fire also doesn’t burn and seems almost like a physical object.” She had created a ball of fire and was able to grab and throw it in her fight with Saw Head, and her sword had seemed like a real object able to cut Polaron. It was as if she could make her fire solid and control how much she wanted it to burn, though each time had been done on instinct. “I never created something complex without having my hair be in its golden form.” She finished.


    Jack nodded his head. “Then that’s what we should work on. That form is called a Battle Mode. It’s something all Lords have. You get a huge surge of power and gain strength beyond anything most Supers can reach. That said, it’s draining and can put a mental toll on you. It’s sort of like the Lord''s version of Inverting their power. I wouldn’t recommend using it in front of people, as it’ll instantly tell them you’re a Lord. That said, if your life is in danger, then go ahead.”


    “I don’t really know how to use that form.” She admitted. “I can sometimes feel it turn on or off, but it usually lasts only a second. I’ve never gone back into it since my battle with Intake or Polaron.”


    “That could be for the best.” Jack hummed. “While the power boost is great, and your flame control seems to skyrocket, we don’t want you falling into the habit of using that power. It’s better to make your base form stronger and get better control of your powers as you are now. That way, when you do go into that form, the multiplier boost you’d get would be for a you that is much stronger.”


    “I get it.” She nodded. “It’s like using a bunch of power-ups on a level eighty character vs using a bunch of them on a level one hundred. Because the level one hundred is stronger, the boost they get from the power up is greater.”


    “That’s right.” Jack flicked his hand out, causing his burst of gold to sparkle out. “Let’s start with the basics. I want to see how much fire control you have. Come at me with everything you can, kid.”


    She balled her hand into a fist and smirked. “Alright. I’ve been working on an idea ever since I saw you create that giant hand in our battle with Intake. Get ready, Mr. Larison! I’ll show you my new ultimate!”


    ***


    Present day…


    She didn’t hesitate. In a single moment, she brought her hands up, igniting them in as much fire as she could. The air hissed and then began to spark.


    The air rippled for a moment, and Kevin brought his arms up. Bones formed out of Wish’s back and jutted past the girl’s shoulders, forming a thick barrier just in time as the entire room was suddenly turned into ground zero.


    Snowdawn dove out the window, as did Money Tree, and she was quick to follow them, her fire pushing her out as they escaped into the air. The stone of the castle began to liquify and drip as fire turned the stone into lava. Dozens of the soldiers had already made it out of the top floor, and only the villains remained, all of whom she knew would survive an attack like that.


    No way it would have actually been that easy.


    She felt dozens of coins wrap around her. It wasn’t just her either. Money Tree and Snowdawn were covered in bills that folded together into a parachute. They crashed down, breaking their fall as best they could, and hit the ground with a hard roll.


    “You, okay?” Snowdawn asked. She felt his hand on her, and he was doing his best to pull her up.


    “Yeah. I’m fine. We need to-”


    The upper floor of the castle came crashing down, the magma she had created dripping down it. The sounds of Wish’s laughter also filled the air as, moments later, the girl came sliding down the wall of magma that was pouring down towards them. The bones that formed out of the girl’s skin almost turned into jet skis, and Doc gripped tightly to her back, screaming as they surfed down.


    Money Tree sent a wave of coin blades towards her, raising his good arm up. “Let’s move!” The swords didn’t even slow Wish down, tendrils of flesh slapping out of the villain’s body and blocking them. They turned and began to run. They threw attacks back at the Lord when they could, but it didn’t really matter.


    Wish crashed into the ground, her legs bending and twisting. They grew longer, and the girl crouched down, using the force to amplify her jump and blast toward them. Whether it be an ocean of coins or an avalanche of snow, Wish met it all head-on and was quickly making gains on them.


    Their plan really wasn’t that well thought out. The gate was open, sure, but Wish would be able to come out as well. At least back on Earth, they’d be able to call for help. They just had to make it to the forest. Already, as they ran dodging past the bodies of the unconscious men down below and piles of debris, Cinder could make out the glowing gate that rested in front of the woods. They had made it to the large moat of snow that Snowdawn had filled when Wish was finally about to reach them.


    “I don’t know why you’re running! I’m faster than you all are, and you can’t slow me down.” The sinister villain called out in a mocking tone.


    “That’s true.” She came to a sudden stop and spun around, ready to meet the villain head-on. “I’ve never seen anyone heal as much as you do. You’re also pretty insane, but I think you’ve made one big mistake.” Wish jumped towards her, the girl swinging out the flesh blade she made. It never reached her, though, as fire blasted from her feet, shooting her up in the air.


    The ground suddenly shook, and Wish lost her footing. The snow they stood on—that massive pile Snowdawn had created—in an instant melted from the heat of her flame. Her two teammates had made it just past the moat and onto solid ground just in time. She herself was high in the air after launching herself up. As for Wish, the girl suddenly found herself sinking into water as the ground steamed and broke apart.


    Doc let out another yell and grabbed on tighter to the Lord. His arms were grasped around a set of large bone-like handlebars that formed out of the girl’s back, and his legs were wrapped tightly around her. Wish was scrambling to get out as more of the ice and snow broke apart, burying the two villains beneath the rapidly forming water.


    Up in the air, she flipped herself around and shot out another explosion from the bottom of her feet, sending her blasting back down to where Snowdawn and Money Tree were. Snowdawn caught her as she stumbled a bit, and they all took off running toward the woods once more, now halfway to where the gate was.


    “That was quick thinking.” Snowdawn said as they ran. “I don’t think drowning them will work for very long though.”


    “Maybe not, but it bought us sometime.” Money Tree grunted. “We need to get out of here and radio for help.”


    “What’s the plan if that girl catches back up to us though?” Snowdawn asked.


    She rubbed her chin and shrugged. “I’d just win.”


    “You’d... Just... Win...”


    “Yep. That’s my plan.”


    “Let’s just focus on getting out of here alive.” Money Tree called back toward them. He was in the lead but was clearly holding his speed back in case he needed to come help them. Destiny clutched tightly to his shoulder, the bird letting out several whimper-like noises.


    They saw the gate up ahead. They were so close to it. Less than a few meters now. All they had to do was step past it and call for help- A wave of fleshy tendrils tore their way out of the ground and began to grow over the entrance to the gate. It circled it fully and formed a gross-looking cage around the thing, blocking it off. Rapidly, a body pulled its way off of it, and Kevin folded his arms as he now stood blocking their way.


    “Sorry. I was told no one is to pass.” The man’s body was covered in dirt, and his hands were massive and mole-like, his body far bigger than it normally was.


    “Seriously.” Snowdawn sighed.


    “He dug underground and beat us here.” Money Tree gritted his teeth.


    “Move it, jackass!” Snowdawn threw a fist of snow that blasted off and flew out toward the man, but it didn’t even make Kevin budge. The man stepped forward once they reached him, and he sliced out with his massive arms, sending them scattering. The force of it was able to rip trees to bits even without him touching them. “Take this!” Snowdawn rolled under the strike and threw a punch out towards the man’s gut, only for Kevin’s stomach to rip in half as it turned into a giant mouth and opened wide. Snowdawn’s whole fist entered, and it locked down, trapping it. Kevin raised his massive fists, about to bring them down-


    She moved behind him, cutting through his upper half with a clean motion as a sword of fire formed in her hands. As Kevin’s torso was blasted upwards, Snowdawn ripped his arm out and managed to jump away with her just in time as tendrils jutted out of Kevin’s body and fused the two halves back together.


    “He’s like a mini version of the Lord.” Money Tree winced.


    “Speaking of the Lord!” They all felt a shiver go down their backs and looked up just in time to see Wish slowly landing. Large bat-like wings pulled themselves back into the girl’s body. Wish discarded what was left of the torn-up Cleanup Squad uniform. That said, she wasn’t fully naked, as bone-like joints were forming over parts of her body, giving her armor. The girl had a large cheeky grin on her face, as if this were all some sort of game. “That was so unfair, Cindy. You almost drowned Doc, you know. I healed him and put him somewhere safe, so now you can’t pull that dirty trick again. By now he’ll likely be arriving at the basement of the castle, where another gate resides, making his escape. It’s funny how close to an exit you guys were and didn’t even know it.” Wish placed her hands on her hips and began to stroll toward them. “Kevin, you keep the others busy. I want to play with her alone.” She felt Wish’s eyes on her, and her blood began to boil and heat up.


    “Yeah, whatever.” Kevin shrugged.


    “Like I’ll let that happen.” Snowdawn tried to move past Kevin, who blocked his way towards where she and Wish were, but the bully blocked him by growing his hand into the size of a small car and swatting the snow-covered hero away. “Money Tree, keep Cinder safe-”


    “I''m a little busy myself.” Money Tree called out. Chunks of flesh had suddenly blasting out of Kevin’s back, forming arms that tried to grab the one-armed hero but missed. Grotesquely, the flesh broke away and pulled its way off of Kevin. It dropped to the ground and began to bend and twist into a set of arms and legs, and then a second Kevin stood up back-to-back with the first—one for each of the two heroes.


    One of the Kevins tore off in Snowdawn’s direction, swinging out as hard as he could. Every strike tore and raised the ground in cracked ripples. His body grew larger, and his limbs stretched as he used Godlike strength to catch up to the snow-covered hero. Snowdawn tried to dodge, but even when he did manage, the debris quickly tore their way past his snow. If not for the armor Money Tree had given them, he knew he’d have already been impaled by dozens of stray rocks.


    Over with Money Tree, he was dealing with a similar issue. His Kevin had tried a different tactic. The man’s hands had sprouted dozens of new fingers, and all the fingers grew to be nearly ten feet long and bent in whatever way they needed to. Sharp nails stabbed out of them, and it was as if dozens of bladed whips danced through the air. Trees were sliced to ribbons, and dozens of cuts tore their way onto Money Tree’s body but were instantly healed thanks to the bird that rode his shoulder. Unlike Wish, Kevin’s attacks could be reversed and healed.


    “Here’s the deal.” Wish called out. Bones began to cut through the forest, further blocking the others off as she singled Cinder out. “Kevin isn’t really as good as me when it comes to stuff like this. He actually has a big weakness.” The Lord pointed at her skull, smirking. “Somewhere in that brain of his, there is something. Something that shouldn’t be there. Find it and break it, and he dies. That happens, and the barrier around the gate goes, too. Only one of the two Kevin’s has it, though, so you two will have to do your best to beat him and destroy it. You have until I’m done killing Cindy. If you can do that, I’ll let you all go. That sounds like a good deal?”


    “No!” All the heroes yelled.


    “Aw. Too bad!”


    Cinder calmed her nerves and steadily raised her arms. They weren’t on the ground. Wish had forcefully raised it up. They were about sixty meters in the air, and the girl had taken a large stadium chunk out of the ground and raised it up with hundreds of thin, bone-like pillars. The pillars stabbed out of the bottom of the woman’s foot and formed a massive cage around the land they were in. If she forced it, she likely could force the cage open, but that would mean making Wish mad, and the girl could just use these pillars she could casually grow to impale the others down below.


    Even if she did get out, she’d only have a few seconds to figure out which Kevin is the real one and blast them. Money Tree and Snowdawn were dozens of meters away from each other and moving in the opposite direction away from the portal as their Kevin chased them down. If she guessed wrong, Wish would likely kill her friends.


    Even if she did escape, and guess correctly, they’d then all have to make it back to the portal and escape before Wish followed them out and retaliated and then somehow further escaped from there and called for help.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    She sighed, shaking her head. “I’ve never been the best at coming up with crazy plans for later. I’m more in the moment. And right now, at this moment, I really, really want to punch you.”


    “Aw, that almost hurts.” Wish taunted. The field was large, and Wish was on the other side. They had about thirty meters between each other. “Why are you being so mean? We’re basically sisters, you know.”


    “So, you know...”


    “I can see DNA.” The girl’s tone changed for just a moment. Almost a flicker of emotion in it. Wish glanced down at her palm. “I see them. I see them all—every cell. I hear them, too. The way they speak. They never shut up, going on and on about the code of life and work and work and work and—God, they’re just so loud and everywhere.” Wish’s hand balled into a fist. “Oh, but don’t go thinking I went crazy from them, and that’s why I’m evil. I don’t need a lame excuse to do what I do. The fact is, I’m just free. We’re all free. We’re gods, you know. Above these people. Wouldn’t it be fun to stop being human?”


    “No.” Cinder shook her head. “I’m not the Lord of the Sun. I’m the Superhero Cinder. I picked this path because I wanted to help people. I’m doing exactly what I want.”


    “That’s a relief.” Wish let out a giggle and rubbed her forehead. “I was stressing out a bit on whether you would ask to side with me. I mean, I shouldn’t say no to having a Lord on my team, but the thing is, I really want to kill you and turn your corpse into something new, and I wasn’t sure which path I should have followed. So, thank you for making it easier on me.”


    She felt more of her blood begin to boil. “You don’t have to be evil, you know.” She hissed out. “I need your power to save my father. He has the Dead Virus and I was told the Lord of the Land and Life can fix him.”


    Wish snorted. “Oh, so you want my help to save your dad?”


    “I did.” She admitted. “But someone as sick and twisted as you would never heal him.”


    “Bingo!” Wish giggled and brought her hands together, making them into a heart shape. The girl looked through the opening in her fingers and stared right at her. “You’re pretty cute, so maybe if you did agree to join my side, I’d have healed him for you, but you already said no. That said, I think I just thought of a fun game we can play.”


    “Game? This is all a game to you?” She growled.


    “Of course it is.” Wish waved her arms around. “Just look around. We’re so far above everyone. I have to make a game to have fun due to how boring this world can be.” The girl suddenly pointed at her, and she got ready for an attack, but it never came. “Let’s play a game. Just me and you. When a Lord dies, the power they have is passed on, either going to the Pod or their child or grandchild. If you can beat me and manage to kill me, my power will respawn somewhere out there in the world. I don’t have any kids, so with my death, a new Lord will be born from the Pod, which will appear somewhere on Earth. Find it, and you can find the new Lord and have them heal your father.”


    She felt her throat grow a little dry. Killing was still something she didn’t really want to do if she could avoid it, but what other option did she really have if she wanted to save her dad? She doubted she could beat Wish into submission and force the girl to work for her due to the fact the Lord seemed to have some insane healing factor. If it would save her father, would she do it?


    “What do you get out of this game?” She asked slowly.


    Wish giggled. “You.”


    “Huh?”


    Wish threw her arms behind her head and winked. “I think I’ll use my powers on you if I beat you. Twist your body and mind and make you into my monster. The Emperor was able to turn people into wild creatures. I’d bet you would look so cute as a giant dragon. I could drop you off in Rose or something and watch you wipe out the city.”


    Her face paled, and she felt another chill go through her spine. “You’re cruel.”


    “I’m a God.” Wish corrected.


    “No. You’re just a monster.” She balled her hands into a fist, and fire erupted down her arms, igniting them as she entered a battle stance. “I’m going to save not just my dad but everyone else that you could harm. You’re a danger. One to the whole planet. That’s why I swear! I’m going to stop you here and now!” She announced.


    With no more words being exchanged, it was time for them to do battle.


    Wish crouched down low to the ground. Her legs twisting and changing, ready to launch. Cinder held her hands out in front of her, keeping her hands close together as if she were about to clap. The fire bow wasn’t the only new ability she had created in the month since she traveled with Max Lightning. She had watched Nier and Lucifer fight, and those two had bent and twisted their powers in dozens of ways.


    The advantage was in distance. Wish was strong and basically immortal. Only an attack that would reduce the villain to ash faster than she could heal would be the only way to bring her down. A hard feat in itself. It was thanks to this, though, that Cinder had her plan. Wish was cocky. More than Polaron, and more than even Green Wolf. The girl would have to reach her first to use her life powers.


    Wish twitched.


    Then the villain fired forward!


    Wish was fast, maybe as fast as Mr. Larison, and already the girl’s hand was coming at her face. Wish formed solid bone armor around her body to block any fire attacks she would create, but she had been expecting the villain to do something like that. Instead of trying to block or throw out her own attack, she plugged her ears with her fingers, then she opened her mouth, and she screamed as loud as she could.


    It exploded out of her. A wild, chaotic blast of sound as she used her enhanced lungs. For a moment she thought back to some of the training she and Mr. Larison had done over the course of the month. They had gone to the beach several times, and her mentor had practically drowned her dozens of times to enhance how long she could hold her breath. With that, plus the inhuman stamina she had, she was able to really cut loose on her sonic scream.


    The sound wave caused Wish’s bone armor to vibrate, and the girl came to a sudden stumble as it blew her eardrums to bits and popped many of the girl’s insides. She pulled her fist back while the villain was still recovering and launched her fist out as hard as she could. Fire exploded out of the bottom of it as she copied the rocket boost Demonica used and thrusted her arm forward like a jet. Her punch rammed directly into Wish’s face, and she blasted out another wave of fire from her hand, launching the deaf girl high into the air.


    She dropped to a crouch and then jumped up as high as she could. She screamed out, unleashing another Super yell and frying Wish’s brain and ears once more, keeping the girl stunned as she flew past the villain and made it into the air above them. Then she ignited her back in fire and began to focus on the second thing she and Mr. Larison had been working on.


    The fire twisted and took shape, seeping from her palm as it began to take the image of something. It was as if it were alive. She didn’t make a weapon, though. Instead, the fire gathered and condensed on her back, sliding across her shoulders to form straps holding a dense flame-construct backpack that sprouted multiple arms and legs, each one long enough to reach past her. Wish, in return, sprouted several dozen arms from her back in a pale imitation of the flaming hero.


    Several of the arms on Cinder’s back slapped at the air behind her, igniting the air and blasting the hero forward. Wish attempted to get the first strike in, but her rapid momentum carried her into the villain’s space with no time to mount any defense. She punched forward with several of the flaming arms wrapping around her own, but Wish’s extra arms surged forward as a shield, blocking the punch. But the villain had no time to gloat as a glowing orange fist slipped under her guard, sending her off further balance while they fell and forcing Wish to drop the guard she was holding up.


    They crashed down back into the platform, which began to crumble from the force of their crashing landing. Wish managed to scramble to her feet just in time for Cinder to come down with a powerful dive kick that blasted the villain through the raised stadium and them both smashing down into the forest below.


    As Wish looked down, the villain saw the backpack skittering across the ground, detached from Cinder as she rocketed forward with a flying knee that rattled the villain’s brain. She and the backpack began to slam Wish with a barrage of hits from both sides, almost circling the villain as Wish screamed with frustration.


    As she jabbed at Wish’s head, it split and formed into a fang-lined hoop that tried to slam closed around the hero’s arm. Before it could, she grabbed one of her backpack’s flaming arms and pulled that into the fanged hoop. Before Wish could release the arm, her sight was blocked by an inferno as the flaming backpack wrapped around her head and Cinder sent her flying into the air with a jaw-shattering uppercut.


    Ripping at the limbs around her head, Wish roared as the backpack rapidly superheated with a brilliant glow and detonated in a ferocious fireball that incinerated the nearby area and sent out a shockwave that bent the few remaining trees in the area.


    Cinder took a step back and looked around to take stock of the situation. “Told Armin I would just win.” She wobbled a bit but kept a steady hand on a nearby tree, which began to burn.


    Much of the surrounding area was burning, in fact. She might have gone a little overboard. The idea for the attack had come when she saw Mr. Larison do something similar, though he had created a much bigger hand out of his blue energy. Either way, Mr. Larison, and even the Victorian, seemed to be able to create various things, from massive swords to expanding and bending chains, so it wasn’t too different from how she created her bow. Besides the amount of energy it had taken, of course. She wouldn’t be pulling off something that big again.


    “I should hurry and help Armin-”


    She heard the crack, thanks to her enhanced hearing. It was too late though. She felt pain as a shard of sharp bone stabbed through the bottom of her foot and into part of her leg. She didn’t even have time to scream or fall as Wish’s body came pulling itself out of the ground.


    The girl’s laughter filled the woods, and she rose from behind Cinder. Her arms wrapped around Cinder’s body, and she pressed herself to the hero as her grip grew tight enough to shatter the bronze armor Money Tree had given the girl. “I win.” Wish whispered, her fingers tracing Cinder’s face. “Want to know how I’m alive-”


    Cinder ignited her body with fire. She burned through the bronze, revealing her costume beneath it, which managed to survive the burning. This wasn’t like catching her fist or feet on fire, though. This was like how everyone always drew Full Monarch. Every cell was on fire. Or rather, it had become fire. Bright orange, she knew she couldn’t keep it up for more than a second as she was now, but that was more than enough.


    Every nearby tree burst into fire, and in just a split second, it was as if the sun had taken shape. Even miles away now, Snowdawn felt all his snow begin to melt and drip, and Money Tree’s suit began to smolder. It was for only a single moment, though, and Cinder’s fire was put out.


    The bone in her leg was ash, as was the woman that had held her. There were no trees to hold onto now. Everything was ash, and for nearly a mile, it was just gray. Her body burned, as not even she could stand that force with how early she still was to being the Lord of the Sun. Her costume had held together as had the helmet, but her backpack was gone, and her skin had turned red-hot, steam pouring off of her.


    From the ash, Wish’s hand rose up, wrapping around Cinder’s ankle. Cinder stopped walking, breathing heavily as she slumped down. Wish crawled her way out of the ground. “Will you just let me talk?” The girl giggled. Her bone armor reformed, and she gently poked Cinder on the chin. “See. I guess your thought was a good one. I can’t heal if I’m gone, right? You’d be right. I can’t heal if you just get rid of me fully. You didn’t, though. Your brain was way too small. You thought of my powers as if I were a Super. Gave me a limit that didn’t really exist. I’m a God. I don’t have limits. All around us, miles under the ground, I reside. Outside this reality, all over the planet, I reside. Within my subjects, I reside. You might kill me if you got rid of every piece of me. Doing that, though, would require hunting every single tiny cell I’ve planted across so many worlds. Sometimes, I don’t even know where I’ll end up. I’m immortal. And not that baby shit Lucifer pretends to be. I. Am. Immortal.” Wish stopped when she heard Cinder’s laughter. “Care to explain what’s so funny?”


    She pushed herself back up, feeling her blistered skin scream at her. The image of Nier was burning through her mind. “You’re not as strong as the last Lord of Life.”


    “So?”


    “I’m not as strong as the previous Lord of the Sun.”


    “And?”


    She raised her arms up, and her skin screamed at her as the fire began to form back on her hands, but she ignored it. “The Emperor was the last Lord of Life. That’s what I’ve been told. Some say he died; others say he’s out there. Either way, even if you do have his power, it doesn’t matter. He lost to Full Monarch fifteen years ago. In other words, the Lord of the Sun is better than the Lord of Life!”


    Wish’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not fun anymore, bitch.” Her hand expanded out as she rammed it into Cinder’s stomach. The hero gasped and nearly vomited as the fingers broke past the costume and dug into the girl’s stomach. “I’ll make you into a pretty puddle of foolish hope!” Wish’s body ignited with a faint black glow, and she grinned. And grinned. And- “Wait...” She stared down at Cinder, who wasn’t changing. “Why aren’t you-”


    Cinder rammed her fist into the girl’s head hard enough to twist it all the way around. Wish allowed her neck to snap back around, and she smashed her fist forward. It grew larger and rougher, growing scales, and she rammed it into the helmet. A large crack appeared along Cinder’s helm, and the thing split in half. As it broke apart, blood poured down the hero’s face from a large cut on her forehead, but the girl ignored it, smashing her other fist into Wish’s stomach hard enough to blow a hole in it.


    Wish kept her fist going, shoving it past the broken helmet, and slammed her palm into Cinder’s face. “Die.” Black sparks danced across her palm and-


    Again nothing.


    “Why!”


    Cinder ignored the pain and focused on the flaring growth of fire that was inside of her. She felt that power. Slowly, it was seemingly tapping into the energy in the air. The energy of the Lord that Wish was. Every time the girl tried to touch her, her own powers would react, and for a small second, her entire body would shift into fire. Her very cells were changing to something that wasn’t alive to avoid being touched by Wish.


    Gradually, her hair began to change. It started at the top and worked all the way down through her roots. The black shifted into an orangish gold. Her eyes were next igniting in a fiery red glow that matched Wish’s own eyes. She had entered her battle mode. The same boost of strength that allowed her to dominate Intake began to course through her body.


    “I told you!” She called out. “I’m beating you here and now, you monster!”


    Her fist smashed into the girl’s jaw, and claws of fire grew from her fingertips, slashing Wish apart. The halves of Wish ignited, burning to ash, and the ground tore apart as another Wish came roaring out of it, swinging her arm, which had morphed into a mass of blades.


    She flipped back, using her fire to carry her. The blades caught the edge of her black mask and tore it off of her face, narrowly clipping her eyebrows. As she slid back, she used the fire at the bottom of her feet and blasted forward, ramming herself into Wish. Spikes tried to form out of the monster’s body, but they were burned to ash as Cinder flickered with fire on and off.


    Wish expanded her body and grew larger, her bones dissolving as she seemed to morph into a puddle. Water rapidly leaked out of her as she turned into a liquid-like state and tried to force the fire on Cinder out. Chains made out of fire blasted out of Cinder’s back wildly in all directions and tore the back of her costume up. They wrapped around the flesh orb that Wish had become and crushed the girl, burning her to ash.


    ‘Not all powers are equal. Some are godlike, like the Four Lords, and some are so weak you might as well not even have them. That said, I have found four main things that determine how strong you are. Body, Mind, Spirit, and Luck. The more fit you are, the more your head is in the game, the more you put your soul into it, and the luckier you are, the stronger you’ll be.’


    In this moment, while she might have lacked the body, and while she definitely lacked the luck, she more than made up for it in her mind and spirit. Myth had come up with the four ideas on what determines how strong someone could be. The story of the previous Lord of Life, whatever conclusion it might have held, Hope took her own meaning from it.


    The Sun will beat Life.


    That brief statement held no weight, yet that was all that was required to cause the seeds of doubt to begin to grow within Wish. For a while, Wish possessed the perfect body and an abundance of luck; she had never truly experienced what it was like for someone’s mind and spirit to shake.


    This had become a battle of wills.


    An ocean of bones stabbed out of the ground and began to rise up in all directions. Cinder blasted her fire down from both her hands and feet, lifting her up higher and higher, and for a brief second, she flew. Her golden hair blew wildly in the wind as she escaped past the clouds, and the bone spikes stopped, unable to grow any further, having reached their limit in height.


    Instead, they pulled themselves back down and began to expand across the rest of the battlefield towards Snowdawn and Money Tree. She dropped from the sky and brought her arms up. Flames stretched out from her hand as a backpack made of fire reformed, this time the size of a garbage truck. She began to spin, speeding up as she fell until the flaming backpack and her almost formed a solid disk of flames. As she neared the ground, she slammed the giant backpack down with all of the momentum she had generated, creating an even bigger shock wave and sending out a massive tidal wave of force and debris as all the bones were shattered. The fire blasted down through the ground, melting everything nearby, and in an instant, trillions of Wishs were wiped out.


    As the fire faded, revealing the massive crater that had formed, she landed down, breaking her fall with a roll. She only had seconds to catch her breath as, seconds later, a hand grabbed her face. Wish was nearly ten feet tall now, twisting black horns stabbing out of her head, and her eyes blazing with the same red as Cinder’s. Black scales covered her body, and a massive set of wings had formed out. She easily picked Cinder up by the face and threw the girl as hard as she could.


    Cinder crashed back miles away from where she had been, slamming through the walls of the castle and coming out the other side. The entire thing came crashing down, and magma rained, and she found herself slamming back first into an ocean of lava.


    Wish came crashing down and slammed into her. The girl’s form had grown smaller, and her black scales ignited from the fire of the lava, but Wish ignored it, grabbing Cinder by the face and shoving it down into the lava. An extra pair of arms sprouted from her back, and she pinned the girl’s arms above her head as she dunked her into the heat. Claws were stabbing from her body, but they weren’t able to piece Cinder’s skin any longer.


    Second by second, the girl was growing faster and faster, the glow in her eyes getting brighter. Wish felt her body’s strength give out as Cinder forcefully raised herself out of the lava, and Cinder slammed her face into Wish’s. Wish felt the girl’s lips on hers as Cinder unleashed a wave of fire breath through Wish’s mouth, blowing the girl’s head apart.


    Wish’s corpse crashed down into the lava, burning away to ash as Cinder climbed out of it, most of her costume still intact. She wiped at her lips, and fire flowed over them, briefly burning the cells of Wish that tried to cling to her.


    “What the hell are you?” Wish stood on a floor above her eyes, filled with pure hate.


    “Weren’t you the one going on about us being gods?" She jumped up to the floor above and shook the lava off her body.


    “I am! I am a God! I am the God! Look at me! I’m Immortal! Y- You’re just fire! Fire! Just heat! I am Life! I-”


    “Life couldn’t exist on this planet without the sun, you know.” She moved faster than Wish could react and rammed her fist into the girl’s side. “Besides. Since when can Life battle the Sun?” Despite her cocky tone, she was panicking inside. She honestly didn’t know how much she could keep this up for. She had hit empty a while ago and was just using whatever this second wind was. Any second now, she knew she was about to give out and her hair and eyes would revert.


    Unknown to Cinder and Wish, though, in Lillian, Poseidon suddenly stopped and turned to stare out the window toward the direction of Oleander. “What’s wrong?” Her mother’s voice caused her to jump a little.


    “Oh. Nothing. I... I just have this weird feeling.”


    Across the seas, further away in the city of Gladiolus, Max Lightning sidestepped a strike of glowing pink energy a villain had fired at him. He frowned a little, his eye twitching as he struck out with a bolt of lightning.


    “So, the two baby Lords find themselves up against each other. That explains this energy. I thought it was odd how her power grew when I met her. No doubt in my mind. Lords are meant to stick together.”


    The villains all looked at each other, confused, before suddenly, a massive bolt of lightning rained down from the heavens, shocking them all and knocking them all out.


    Max Lightning folded his arms behind his back as his sly grin faded. “We cause explosive growth in one another. I wonder if you knew this, Jack.”


    He knew that the man wasn’t here, nor that the man could hear him, but he still spoke it aloud. To him, the image of Jack, the swordsman, would know this all already.