“Are you guys really going to be okay?” Jane Lauren asked.


    Whisper gave a casual shrug. She was dressed in her hero costume now and had led Hope’s mother out of the stadium. Dozens of other people were also being escorted out, and many tents had been set up by the Hero Branch workers. “I’ll be fine. Staying out of trouble is sort of my entire thing. As for Cinder... Well, I’ll have her back.”


    Jane nodded slowly. “You’ll make sure she’ll be safe?”


    “Well, duh. What sort of superior would I be if I let my junior get harmed in the line of duty?”


    Whisper got her gear ready and was about to head back into the stadium where the villains were showing up, but she stopped when she felt Jane’s hand on her shoulder. “You stay safe as well, okay? That goes for all members of that little team of yours. If you guys are all friends of my daughter, then I expect you all to hold to the same standard of rules I set for her and come back alive.


    The invisible hero let out a snort. “You don’t need to worry about me. I know I’m coming back alive.” She looked back at the stadium, watching the many twists and turns in the Paths. For a moment, she wondered how the others were doing.


    Battery came to a sliding stop as his golden lightning crackled out in all directions. He set a shaking Snowdawn down who clutched at the ground about to throw up.


    “Sorry.” The red hero grunted. “Didn’t have time to slow down. Had to get us here fast.” They were at the stadium now, after he ran at roughly mach fifteen.


    “I’m good.” Snowdawn groaned, clutching his gut. "Damn, you’re fast.”


    “Could be faster.”


    “Damn.” Snowdawn shook his head and looked around. They were at the food concession stand of the stadium. A lot of people were running for the exit in panic, and many were trying to shove each other over. “Stay in line,” Snowdawn called out. He was coated in his ice form and had created dozens of ramps of ice, allowing people to get down quicker. He had even made large cushions of snow to catch people when they fell. “So, are you going to help or what?


    Battery wasn’t paying attention and instead reached over the counter and grabbed a bag of chips, tearing it open. “I haven’t eaten anything since Old Dog died.” He swallowed a fistful of the chips and wiped his hand on his suit.


    “That long? How are you alive?”


    “Superpowers.”


    “Of course.”


    “I was worried no one would be able to get out thanks to that White Spider girl whenever Zoo started its attack,” Snowdawn stated. Everyone was seemingly able to leave the stadium grounds without any issue and were being escorted to a safe place by the Hero Branch members.


    “Nah.” Battery shook his hand and stood up, finally full after eating a hotdog. “Her power can’t cover a massive place like this. She had a hard enough time covering a small hospital. Even if she could, it would probably hinder her own team since they need to come in and out as well. If Zoo attacked that boring ass museum we were at, then maybe that would have been an issue for us.”


    Then the two of them heard it. A familiar ‘popping’ sound.


    Snowdawn sent up a wave of ice in front of him and Battery just in time as a sea of jagged blades stabbed out. “Looks like it isn’t just Zoo.” Battery said, cracking his knuckles.


    “Zoo Timers,” Snowdawn growled when he saw the two villains.


    “I thought we agreed Bad Zoo sounds cooler.” Battery grumbled.


    Standing in front of them were two villains. One was a large, big-bellied man who wore a bloody apron. Where his face should have been was a circular saw, which spun and buzzed. Jagged shards of blades stabbed out of his flesh. Saw Head. Next to him was a ten-foot-tall blocky man. He was made out of solid stone and had a square-shaped body and head. Stone Face. Both were members of the Bad Timers who served under Polaron.


    “I was kind of expecting Demonica to show up,” Snowdawn admitted. “She doesn’t like you, right?”


    “Yeah.” Battery nodded. “I guess you can say that. Looks like we got the two fodder members.”


    “Fodder!” Stone Face growled, and his body tensed up. “Funny. I was thinking the same thing. Neither of you are our target.”


    “Why are you guys helping Green Wolf out?” Snowdawn asked, raising an eyebrow. “Wasn’t the previous Lord of Life your boss and creator? I would have thought you guys wouldn’t work for someone like Green Wolf and team up to kill Wish?”


    “Ha! You really think Green Wolf is leading us? No! He isn’t even leading his own team anymore.” Stone Face cracked his knuckles and took a step forward, shaking the platform they were on. “I was hoping that if I didn’t appear near the target, I’d at least show up near Myth. I’d like to pay him back for what he did to Demonica. Guess I’ll just take my anger out on his two-”


    Battery heard enough. His fingertip blasted out a golden beam that slammed into Stone Face’s chin and threw the man back. Saw Head tried to send his blades toward Battery, but they were blocked by a shield of ice, which Snowdawn forged and used to protect himself as he jumped in front of Battery.


    Battery jumped over Snowdawn and kicked off of the shield, launching himself at Stone Face and ramming a powerful gut punch into the villain. It was Battery that winced and gasped though, feeling the bones in his knuckles cry out as he failed to dent the monster''s flesh. “You’re not normal stone-”


    Stone Face gave a large grin, and his body began to change. He became lankier and stretched out as he went from a solid into a liquid. Like living mud, he swirled and twisted in strange ways, sliding past Battery and reforming himself to his solid form just in time to ram a massive fist into the back of the hero’s head. “Who’s the fodder now?”


    Battery rolled over a few seats in the stands and caught himself. He flung himself higher up and latched onto the edge of the railing leading to the top floor. “Meet me up there. We settle it, man to freaky monster.”


    “As if I’d fall for such a pathetic attempt at-”


    “How’s Demonica’s arm?”


    Stone Face roared, and his body began to change again. This time it broke down into a gas. Gray and foul-smelling, it was like a cloud that flowed up into the air and began to slowly crawl its way toward Battery, who went up higher into the stadium until he reached the very top.


    Stone Face’s body reformed into a solid as soon as he got above Battery, and he came crashing down, attempting to slam his elbow onto the smaller hero. Battery was fast, though, and casually dodged it with ease. Before the villain could even stand back up, his body was smashed into by Battery, who used his full weight to tackle Stone Face.


    Battery rammed his fist into the villain’s stomach over and over again, golden lightning crackling off his arms as they moved like a blur, unleashing hundreds of powerful strikes in an instant. All of them bounced off of the monster''s stone-like skin, though, and the villain laughed and rammed his hand down. He missed the speedster who shot backward with inhuman speed. As soon as Stone Face’s strike ended, Battery was back on him, attacking over again.


    That was how it seemed to go for several moments. Battery would ram his fists into Stone Face’s stomach, hurting his own hands in the process, and then would dodge Stone Face’s strikes at the last moment only to run back in and do it all over again.


    “What are you, some sort of idiot?” Stone Face snorted. “You can’t hurt me even if you wanted to!”


    “I’ve been aiming for the same spot with every strike.” Battery smirked. “Take a guess, big guy. What do you think will happen if enough of these blows land?”


    Stone Face growled, and slowly, his eyes went down to where a single tiny crack rested on his stomach. “S- So what? Your hands will give out long before me.”


    “You’d think so.” Battery held his hands up, revealing the fact that they were undamaged. His golden light flowed out of them, fixing and mending them faster than he could break them. “I think it’s time I turn this up a notch.” He flexed his wrist, and instantly, a pair of knuckle dusters formed around his hands, coming out of his costume. He gripped them tightly and smashed a powerful punch into Stone Face’s body so hard the villain actually gasped and slid back, the crack growing bigger. “Oh yeah. I’m going to like these!”


    Stone Face roared and tried to punch Battery, but the hero hit him first. The crack grew bigger and began to expand, and lightning coursed through the villain’s body, making him scream and shake as he felt his nerves go haywire.


    In an effort to escape, Stone Face’s body changed and broke away, forming into a wave of gas. Battery stumbled through it, unable to hit the villain, and Stone Face reformed behind Battery, slamming his fist into the hero’s back. Battery took the punch and spun with the momentum, allowing him to turn around and kick out, but again, Stone Face escaped the blow with his mist form.


    “Not so talkative now, are you!” The villain mocked smashing another strike into Battery’s back.


    Battery formed a golden chain and swung around, slicing it through the air. Stone Face went back into his gas form, but Battery didn’t let up. His chain bounced off the roof and floor, going back and forth and cutting through the air as he attempted to hit the gaseous villain. None of it worked, though, all passing through Stone Face. The monster was unable to turn back though, as he’d no doubt be smashed by the chain the instant he got a normal body back.


    It seemed like they got into a strange stalemate, neither able to harm the other now. At least, that was the assumption Stone Face had.


    Battery smirked and began to twirl his chain in a circle. The effect became instant. The golden energy was swirling around so fast it began to pull the wind in towards it like a reverse fan. The fog cloud began to break and tear, and Stone Face screamed, forced to transform back to avoid being torn in two. As soon as his feet touched the solid ground, the chain smashed into the side of his face, taking a chunk of stone with it.


    Stone Face’s body changed again, this time into his liquid-like state as he dropped to the floor like a gray slime-like monster. He rose up and bubbled the chain going through his body and not hurting him. He was also far too heavy for the wind to tear him in two this time. So, instead of trying anything fancy, Battery just swung his fist out and smashed it into the liquid monster''s stomach.


    The goo twitched and seemed to laugh at the hero when Battery’s blow had no effect. Like quicksand, it latched onto the man and began to try and pull him into its body. Battery didn’t seem phased though and simply opened the palm he had within the liquid. A golden orb began to appear in his hand, causing the liquid to come to a sudden halt.


    “You really want me to blow you to bits? I’d let go and turn back if I were you.”


    Rapidly, the villain’s body pulled away and reformed into its solid form. “You damn hero! If I were fighting anyone else on your team, I’d be fine-”


    Battery’s fist once again rammed into Stone Face’s gut, causing the villain’s eyes to bulge and his jaw to snap open. “Maybe.” Battery admitted. He twisted his fist, breaking past more of the stone and smashing the monster into the wall of the stadium. “I doubt it, though.” His energy began to expand, and in a flash, Stone Face was wrapped up in a golden ball.


    The villain might have been strong enough to break out of it if he had been at full power. Now though the monster just crashed face-first into the ground stuck in the orb.


    Down with Snowdawn, he raised his arm up his new icy armor, easily blocking the blades Saw Head fired at him. The villain formed a large, jagged greatsword out of thin air and swung the thing as hard as he could. The blow landed and threw Snowdawn back but didn’t cause him any harm.


    “I’d say I’m about as durable as Cinder now.” He noted, staring down at his hands. Saw Head brought his sword up and smashed it down onto the head of Snowdawn, but the blade shattered. He didn’t stop though, claws forcing their way out of his fingertips, which he slashed out at the gut of Snowdawn with. “Want to know why Battery went ahead and left?” His question actually managed to make Saw Head pause for a moment. He grinned and crouched down, placing his hand on the floor. “It was the only way he could avoid being hit by this attack!”


    Everyone else had already evacuated their floor by now. That caused a single thought to go through the villain''s head. The hero he was fighting didn’t have to hold back. Snowdawn could cut loose.


    Saw Head jumped away, blades stabbing out of his feet in an effort to raise himself up higher. It was too late, though. He kept his eyes on Snowdawn, ready for the attack-


    Snowdawn was gone. Faster than Saw Head could even realize it, the hero had simply vanished, leaving behind a frozen statue of himself in his place. It wasn’t just super speed. He had seen Demonica enough to know what true speed was. It must have been some form of teleportation, then. In the end, it didn’t matter, though. He knew he had already lost.


    Snowdawn’s hand was on Saw Head’s back. He had appeared behind the man the instant he vanished. So quick, the villain never stood a chance at dodging his attack. Ice flowed out of his palm, and the area around them began to snow and freeze.


    Saw Head twitched and shook, shaking his head. From the neck down, he was encased in solid ice that had attached itself to the floor, forming several layers. The cold bit into his flesh and did its best to eat away at him, but he tried to hold his ground and keep a cool head.


    Snowdawn walked in front of Saw Head and created a large hammer made out of his ice. “Thanks for staying put. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to need you to chill out for a bit, okay?” Saw Head let out the closest thing he had to a groan, and then Snowdawn slammed his hammer down, knocking the villain out. As soon as the villain was unconscious, he sighed as dozens of cracks began to appear in his armor, which started to break. “Looks like I still haven’t fully figured it out just yet. Got a full second there, though, so that is a lot better than last time.” He clicked a button on his radio, turning it on. “Snowdawn here. Took down a villain quickly using my new combo. I’ll need about a minute for my power to come back, and then I’ll head down and help whoever needs it out.”This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    “Copy that.” The voice of Myth responded. “I’m almost on scene.” Up in the sky, a large flying boat appeared in the stadium, and from it, Myth dropped toward the ground below, landing near Pretty Face. “I should be fine, maybe help Cinder out.”


    “I could use the help!” Cinder said sheepishly over the radio. “Got a bit of a situation over here.”


    “Roger, roger.”


    In the field of the stadium, it had mostly cleared out. A few people remained who wanted to see the heroes and villains in action, but they were currently being dragged away by Hero Branch workers. The music had cut out, and Pretty Face leaned over the side of his stage and sighed. “Man. The moment you showed up, everyone made a break for it.” He grumbled. All his ghostly forms were pulled back into his body, and he flipped his silver hair back. “Ah, well. Can’t say I wasn''t expecting it. Green Wolf is always pulling stunts like this.”


    Myth didn’t respond and instead kept looking around the stadium. There was a ton of open land on this section. If he got someone like Green Wolf or Demonica, he’d be at a bit of a disadvantage due to how much range they would have. He was ready to transform at a moment''s notice.


    “I’m honestly shocked that you, of all people, came up with this plan.” Pretty Face called out. The man was putting his music equipment up and didn’t seem bothered by the screams around him. “I mean, it was pretty risky using all these people as bait, you know.”


    “No matter what we did, you would have held a concert here.” Myth responded in a huff. “You held one here two times already, and both times, you saw how Green Wolf responded to you. The money this thing makes is enough for the higher-ups in Oleander to look the other way and let it happen. Even if I didn’t come, an attack would still happen. I can at least make sure the damage is kept to a minimum, thanks to my team, and ensure no one is harmed.”


    “Yeah. I’m sure there is a part of you that cares about that for real. There’s also a part of you that wants to do your job more than it does wanting to save people.”


    “What do you think my job is? I’m a hero. Saving people is my job.”


    “Yeah, right. We know the real reason you’re doing this is for a promotion. You want back in the good graces of the Hero Branch after you went and got cast out of our group.” Pretty Face taunted. “If you really cared for the protection of the people, you would have brought the Sub Enforcers and would have also come as heroes, making it clear this place had a ton of protection. Instead, you deliberately made it look like this place was slacking.”


    “Do you really think it would have changed anything? Green Wolf would have attacked no matter what.”


    “Maybe. That could be how you really think it is.” Pretty Face clicked his tongue casually. “Oh yeah, heads up.”


    Myth turned his head as two people began to walk toward him. They appeared out of thin air. One was a tall woman wearing a white suit. A cow mask blocked and covered her face. The second wore a black suit and had a black shark-like mask that covered his head. White Cow and Black Shark.


    Myth felt the muscles in his body expand, and his bones popped as he grew into his bull form and roared.


    Up above in the bleachers of the stand, Cinder stared down Red Monkey, who had his gun pressed into the mayor’s face. “Don’t just stand there! Save him!” Brenner yelled at her.


    “I’m fast, but not that fast.” She grumbled.


    Red Ape was too close to the monkey. If she tried to strike him, the mayor would die. If she attacked Monkey himself, the mayor would die. If she did nothing, the mayor would die. She needed to think of something, and she needed to do it fast.


    “Looks like we got lucky.” Red Ape smirked and twirled his second helmet on the tip of his finger. “We got sent near the target. You’re a hard man to find, Mr. Mayor. You went and stayed in your manner for a full week, keeping it guarded and protected with all your little monsters. We didn’t think you’d ever come out and give us a chance to get you. I bet you thought you’d be safe here. Thought that Green Wolf would do what he always does and screw around. Luckily for us, though, someone else is in charge now. The mayor would have to make a showing at this place. Got to show the public it’s safe, after all.”


    “If you’re going to kill me, then go ahead and get it over with.” The mayor said flatly. “I’m not really interested in hearing the ramblings of a madman.”


    “No one is dying.” She argued, shaking her head. “I’m going to get you out of this.”


    “You better!” Mr. Brenner barked.


    “You’re not helping!”


    Red Ape turned to look back at her. His grin faded when he saw the look in her eyes. He stepped behind Red Monkey, using the man as a makeshift shield. “I wouldn’t screw with Red Monkey if I were you. There are three members in our group you just don’t mess with. Red Monkey, White Cow, and Black Shark. All three of them are the real deal. I don’t know where Green Wolf got them from, but they’re the strong, silent type. You’ll have an easier time taking Green Wolf out instead.”


    Red Monkey cocked his head to the side and stared at her. She had to admit he was giving off a pretty intense aura. Call it bloodlust or something, but she could feel it coming off of the guy. A need to kill. Almost as strong as her need to save. Still, it was this bloodlust that made him fail to notice one thing.


    “So, he’s really that strong?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.


    “I won’t say he’s stronger than Green Wolf because he isn’t. The power Red Monkey, Black Shark, and White Cow have isn’t what makes them scary. It is their resolve. I’ll tell you here and now, rival, you won’t be making him stand down or anything. You lost the moment we got our hands on the mayor.” Red Ape taunted. He and Red Monkey were slowly backing away from everyone, keeping their hostage held in front of them. “Go ahead and let us go, and we’ll let the mayor live. We still need him for something, after all. Get in the way, though, and I guess we’ll tell the others that Monkey’s finger slipped, and he ‘accidentally’ killed our target.”


    The other cops all looked back at one another. She rubbed the back of her neck and shrugged her shoulders. “Wait. I have one more question.”


    “Yeah?”


    “Is Red Monkey taser proof?”


    “Huh? Taser proof? Why are you asking if he is-”


    Red Monkey figured it out in an instant. He spun around and raised his gun up, firing blindly behind him. The shimmering form of Whisper appeared, and she casually dodged the bullets. For that moment, though, the gun wasn’t aimed at the mayor''s head. Cinder struck fast. Fire blasted out of her feet and hands. A beam hit the gun in Red Monkey’s hand, causing it to explode. A human would have had their hand blow off, but it just burned the villain a bit. The fire from her feet sent her forward, and she reached them, throwing a punch out. Red Monkey was forced to jump back to dodge it, letting go of the mayor. Red Ape let out a panicked yelp and turned his barrier on, but she ignored him.


    She wrapped her arms around the mayor and jumped away before either of the two Zoo members could strike back. She placed the mayor down and turned away from the cops who were grabbing him. “Get him to safety. Whisper, and I will deal with these two.”


    Brenner nodded. “You heard her! Underground parking, go!” He stopped for a moment and shot her a nod. “Good work.”


    The mayor and his bodyguards made a break for it, the cops forming a shell around him. Red Monkey managed to fish out a second gun and fire on them, but she threw herself in front of the men and blocked the bullets with her shield. Red Ape lowered his bubble and was about to blast her with a beam, but he screamed out in pain when, out of nowhere, he was tased. Whisper stood next to him now, her electric tonfas buzzing as she rammed them into his side.


    He tried to take a swipe at the invisible girl, but she easily dodged it by tilting her hand to the side. “I’ll handle your rival, Cinder. You take the bigger one down.”


    “He isn’t my rival!” She called out, but she was already charging toward Red Monkey. Her shield blocked his bullets, and as soon as she reached him, she swiped out with her arm, attempting to bash the man in the head with it, but he casually ducked under it. “What the heck?” His movement wasn’t fast. He didn’t move like a Super. Instead, he moved like Whisper. Dodging it at the last second. She tried to hit him again, and just like Whisper, he leaned back just enough to dodge her strike. “Hey Whisper, you have a brother or something I should know about?”


    “Maybe?” She called out, shrugging. “My dad divorced my mom a little after the war with the Emperor. I was four then. I guess he could have had more kids, but I doubt it.”


    “Well, this guy is doing your shtick.” He moved like a normal human and dodged her strikes by a hair''s reach each time. She could have maybe cut loose and hit him with a massive explosion or something, but she didn’t want to damage the area much if she could help it or get any of the civilians caught in the blast. There were still people running around the stadium, after all.


    Red Monkey struck out, twirling his gun and switching which hand held it. He seemed to have a form of super strength and durability, at least a minor amount, as he was able to smack her and shove her back. A normal person would have broken their hands doing that. Unlike Whisper, who only had the stats of a normal human, some of Red Monkey was Super. His attacks didn’t hurt that much, though, and his bullets did even less damage to her.


    “I don’t think a gun is the best weapon for a Super-” Red Monkey fired the bullet, sending it into the metal armor that covered her mouth. His own way of telling her to shut up. She gagged and nearly choked on the metal before spitting it back out. “Okay, rude!”


    Whisper swung her weapons out, but they bounced off of the bubble Red Ape had. She couldn’t see his face due to the goofy ape mask he wore, but she knew he had a sly smirk on his lips. She swung again and again but it didn’t matter. His barrier was just too tough for her.


    For a second, it came down as he switched the knob on his helmet. She didn’t have time to capitalize on it though, as the Paths told her what was about to happen next. She jumped to the side just in time, dodging the beam. Her body vanished from sight as she used her power to turn invisible, and Red Ape simply turned his switch again, and his bubble came back.


    Whisper reappeared a few feet away and fired a stun gun, but that also bounced off. “Looks like you’re a bad match-up for me.” The girl noted. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Cinder?”


    “Way ahead of you!” She yelled back.


    She jumped back and felt her back crash into Whisper’s. She used her momentum to swing herself around, and Whisper did the same. She stared down Red Ape as she and Whisper switched enemies.


    Whisper grinned and eyed Red Monkey up. “Let’s see how this one goes.”


    Red Monkey took a swing at the invisible girl with his gun and fired it, but she already saw it coming. Whisper ducked under his swipe and twisted her body, causing the bullet to narrowly swing past her. She took a swing at him, but he stepped back just in time, causing her attack to brush the tip of his mask and nothing else. Her eyes narrowed, and both of them moved away, getting extra ground.


    Whisper dropped to the ground, avoiding another bullet he fired, and he raised his foot up, causing the taser fangs she shot to miss him. Red Monkey easily ripped one of the seats out and hurled it at her, but she was already using another chair to jump over it, allowing her to flip past it. She landed directly next to him and swung out as hard as she could, but he leaned his body all the way back, causing her swing to go long. He tried to kick out at her, but she jumped over his leg.


    Whisper watched the Paths around him constantly twist and alter. It reminded her of Myth in a way. Myth was someone who should have died two years ago in the Calamity attack with the beast. Instead, Myth lived, at the cost of his own father''s life. Myth was someone who, just by existing, seemed to change his own flow of fate. Red Monkey was very much the same. It wasn’t so much as he was seeing the Paths like her. Instead, it was more like every time he was destined to lose his Path would change to a situation where he dodged.


    The Paths kept swirling and changing, both around her and Red Monkey, and yet his eyes never followed them. She could see them just past his mask, and they constantly stayed on her. That was what told her he wasn’t actually seeing the Paths. She read them, and it was what allowed her to get in the right spot at the right time. He was doing something else, though. Something else that was changing time or fate.


    “I think I sort of get how your power works.” Whisper grinned. “I’d like to try some more stuff out, though.”


    The hero’s words caused Red Monkey to stiffen, and he charged at her with renewed vigor. She engaged in another flow of hand-to-hand, neither of them able to hit the other, but she wasn’t aiming for any of his vitals. She had a different plan. She ducked under a punch, and her hand snaked its way around another handgun he had on his belt. In total, he had brought eight, switching out instead of reloading. She ripped it out of his belt and dodged another bullet.


    Red Monkey tried to stop her from getting distance, but she caught him off guard by throwing herself over the side of the railing, about to fall off the edge. She didn’t fall far, though, as less than a second passed before a wave of ice exploded out of a section of the stadium below her and broke her fall.


    “Why would you do that?” Snowdawn yelled from down below. “Are you insane!”


    “I knew you’d catch me!” Whisper stood on the pillar of ice she now had. There wasn’t any room, nowhere to dodge, and Red Monkey realized the same thing as her. They both pulled their guns up and fired. Her bullet slammed into his midair and deflected it right into his shoulder. Red Monkey let out a yell for the first time and stumbled back. “I win.” Whisper took a step forward, and the ice pillar expanded and grew, allowing her to walk back up towards the section of the stands she had jumped off from. “You see, I don’t know how your power works fully, but...”


    Red Monkey jumped up and tried to dodge, but she casually fired without even looking. Her bullet once hit a wall and deflected back into his foot, downing him. He crashed to the floor below and took another shot at her, but she met his bullet head-on with her own, sending it back into the hand that held the gun, causing it to fall out of his grasp.


    “Let me talk, big guy.” Whisper twirled the gun on her finger and stared down at him. She was still a few meters away, ready to blast him again if he tried anything. “You don’t see the future. Not exactly. Your Path keeps changing. This means you are doing something that changes it, right? Your dodges are sort of sloppy. They get you out of danger, but that’s it. On top of that, they only let you avoid danger. If you could really see the future, you’d never have let me take the gun and put you in this situation. I think it’s something else. Time travel. Or something close. You’re seeing everything that happens and experiencing it, but then sending your memories and consciousness back to a past self. Only issue is that you can’t send it back very far, right? Maybe a second tops. I think it’s this because I was able to hit by having two attacks happen across two seconds. My bullet fires. If you go back a second and block it, then it goes into your body. If you try to go back in time and dodge it, then it reflects off of something and goes into you. All I needed to do to take you down was have an attack that can go two different ways based on how you react. I figured it out because of how you got into this mess in the first place. When Cinder called out to me, you spun around and fired. If you hadn''t, I would have tasered you and downed you. Because you did that, though, Cinder was able to blow up your gun and hit you. When you hop back, you only get one chance, or maybe there’s a cooldown? I don’t really know how it works; it’s all a guess, but either way looks like I beat you.”


    Over with Cinder, she raised her shield up, easily blocking the beam of energy Red Ape sent at her. She began to push her way through it, walking slowly toward him, and he let out a panicked yelp and raised his barrier. She swung out toward him with her shield and cracked his force field in one attack. The spare helmet he held in his hand changed and twisted, looking almost like a gun, and he raised it. For a second, a small hole appeared in Red Ape’s barrier, and he fired his energy beam directly into her stomach.


    She stumbled back but quickly stood back up, mostly unharmed. “Take that! I’ve discovered a way to keep myself safe and attack at the same time! Pretty cool, right-”


    She charged at him with her shield once more, and he fired his energy through his mini-hole. She blocked it with her shield and rammed into his barrier as hard as she could. Fire blasted out of her feet, shoving her forward, and gradually she began to break through. His energy shield broke to pieces, and he let out a fearful cry, raising his handheld helmet gun up just in time to block her shield swing. Her attack shattered it to pieces, and then, with her free hand, she flicked the air as hard as she could, doing what she had learned in her fight with Wyvern and blasting out an air bullet that broke the helmet he wore.


    Red Ape dropped back, no longer having his gear. “You give up yet?” She asked.


    “I still have other tricks up my sleeve! Literally!” He raised his arm, and from the sleeve of his outfit, a burst of centipedes blasted out. They had been hiding in his costume and were nearly ten feet in length and thin enough that dozens of them had swarmed together. They wrapped around her and began to squeeze down. “Did you forget what my power was? I evolve and control animals with science! I-”


    Her body ignited with fire for a brief moment, burning the bugs and killing them instantly.


    “No!”


    “Yeah, I don’t know why you thought that would work. I literally have fire powers.” She shrugged. “Fire beats most animals.”


    Red Ape growled and reached into his pocket, pulling out a bottle of what looked like spray-on cologne. He sprayed it on himself and proudly stood back up. “Do you know what I just did?”


    “Put on perfume?”


    “Nope!” He folded his arms and stared her down. “I am using the power of pheromones! Similar to how a queen bee, or queen ant, uses them to turn her workers docile and prevent them from attacking her, this spray is made to cause people attracted to the gender it is sprayed on to be unable to attack them. You can’t hurt me, now-”


    She punched him in the face, causing him to crash to the floor and groan. Blood dripped down his mask, indicating he had a broken nose now.


    “But how!”


    She pointed at the metal that covered her face. “Dude, I’m wearing a mask. I couldn’t smell the pheromones even if they did work. Also, I think I’m a lesbian, so I don’t think they would have worked in the first place. Sorry.”


    “Aw, man-”


    She pulled her backpack off and bashed the scientist over the head, finally knocking him out.


    “Man, backpacks are still super handy.” She hummed, clutching her bag. “Who knew.”