Once upon a time, there was a young boy. One said to have been found by a great Devil. This Devil took the boy in and raised him as his own. But the Devil didn''t want a son. He wanted a weapon. One that would obey him always and help him slaughter his enemies. He wanted something that could devour the Sun.


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


    Of course… This is just a story.


    Right?


    “I will defeat you!” Ash rained upon the Earth, pillars of black fire rose, and the planet itself shook! The Emperor’s form had changed. His body was larger and covered in black scales. A tail flowed out, smacking the ground, splitting it in two, and with every flap of his wings, the wind tore apart the land. He had become a dragon. A mighty beast able to fight even a star. The Dragon roared loud enough to kill any human that heard it, their heads exploding. Hellish black fire gushed out of his form. “Full Monarch! Come out!”


    P tried to stand his ground, but there was no use. Their forces had been slaughtered, as had the humans. This mad beast was destroying everything that got near him without a care. P yelled as he felt himself be thrown high into the air by the force of the wind that bent and twisted wildly through the air.


    “The only one that is going to lose is you, Emperor!” A loud voice cried through the darkness. Blue chains of energy blasted out and began to wrap around the monster. Jack gripped them as tightly as he could, his red hair flowing in the wind and his eyes shining with the blue light of hope.


    “You!” The Emperor screamed when he saw his creation. “You bastard! I’ll kill you-”


    Black feathers rained, and the Emperor found his entire body being shoved down as a palm smashed into his snout. Lucifer’s hair was swept up wildly as the man’s palm began to glow with a hideous black energy, and he forced every drop of the Dead Virus into his former rival’s veins.


    “Go ahead and die, you damn mutt.” The immortal hissed.


    Black fire gushed from the Dragon’s eyes, and his tail slashed into Lucifer, nearly tearing the man in two. “You betray me as well, Lucifer! Fine then! I’ll devour this planet and bring it all crashing down!” His scales began to turn a nasty gray, and his body seemed to almost start to melt as he struggled to his feet and tried to rip his way out of the blue chains that bound him. His fiery eyes glared into Jack’s. “I’ll start with you! You, who I promised the world to. You, whom I promised to turn into a God. You, who I called a son once! I will devour you-”


    Jack jumped at the man and raised a sword into the air. It wasn’t made from his powers; instead, it was a physical object lacking color. It was pure white and seemed to bend and twist in his grasp, the blade was covered in hundreds of lines that made it up. He brought the sword down and impaled it into the monster’s stomach! The Emperor roared, and Jack screamed back, tearing the sword down and splitting the beast open.


    The land was coated in blue light as the man pulled his fist back and rammed it into the stomach of the Emperor. The villain’s body was growing in size, glitching out and spasming as his very cells rejected his life. With gritted teeth, Jack grabbed onto something and, with all his might, ripped an unconscious young man out of the monster’s gut.


    The blacked-out Max Lightning, current Lord of the Sky, crashed into the dirt face first, not moving. The Emperor grabbed at his torn stomach, dozens of blades impaling Jack through his arms and legs. The red-haired man was raised off the ground, but his eyes burned with pure hope. Jack raised his blade high and then brought it down into the skull of the monster.


    “Now, Full Monarch!” Jack screamed as loud as he could. “Let’s end this nightmare!”


    Blue fire burst out of the ground as Full Monarch literally flew through the planet. The flames whipped off his skin as the number one hero rammed his fist into the Emperor’s gut, tearing a hole through him. The two took off for space, getting higher and higher, soon vanishing beyond the point of the world. The white sword fell from the skies and stabbed into the ground, meters away from Jack.


    Jack felt his chains fade, and he nearly collapsed, breathing heavily as blood poured down his body. “I have to go help him.”


    “No.” The voice of Lucifer made Jack pause. “You’ve done enough, little Giant.” Jack turned around and felt a sharp stabbing pain. Blood gushed down his chin as he stared at the hand that stabbed into his chest. Lucifer’s eyes stared into his, coldly. “I’ll be giving you this.” A golden glow was seeping out of the hole. “It’s from Full Monarch’s daughter. A shard of her blade. My Dead Virus would kill you too quickly. I want you to suffer. I want you to live in agony, begging for death but unable to die. I want you to beg the Shadow to behead you when the time comes, false Ruler.”


    Jack gasped and struggled to speak as Lucifer ripped his hand away. He could feel it. The golden shard inside of his chest. Burning and eating away at him already. Lucifer stared down at the young man and cocked his head to the side. He watched as Jack’s eyes went from a glowing blue to a lazy brown, and the boy’s holy blue light began to leave him replaced with something else. Jack dropped to his back, gasping.


    He shot a hand out for Lucifer, but the immortal dodged past his grip. “Sleep well, little Giant. Oh, and don’t worry about Sky. I’ll take good care of her.” Lucifer chuckled as he left the Emperor’s failed creation on the battlefield.


    “No...” Jack could feel tears in his eyes as everything began to quickly go dark. He felt his skin start to turn cold, and his lungs felt like they were about to explode. “I don’t want to die. Not yet. I still haven’t paid for my sins. Avalon, save me.” He gasped, reaching for the sword that was buried in the ground next to him.


    The sky slowly parted, and Jack felt a pair of arms wrap around him. His eyes struggled to remain open, but he stared up at Full Monarch. The man’s fire had gone out, revealing the human beneath. His costume was stained, torn, and covered in his own blood. His messy red hair fell awkwardly, and the hero looked like one of his eyes had gone totally blind. Despite all of that, he still managed the giant smile that was on his face.


    “Don’t worry... It will all be okay...” The man spoke softly and reached up to his chest. “I... I don’t have much time left. I can feel it... So thank you for letting me save you.” And with that, the number one hero drove his fingers into Jack’s chest.


    Once upon a time, there was a young boy. One said to have been found by a great Devil. This Devil took the boy in and raised him as his own. But the Devil didn''t want a son. He wanted a weapon. One that would obey him always and help him slaughter his enemies. He wanted something that could devour the Sun.


    But in the end, they all died.


    At least that’s how the story should have gone…


    ***


    After Lucifer''s fall, Mr. Sini, the Lord of the Sea and Depth, stepped up as the leader of mankind. And with this new responsibility, his power somehow evolved. He had become a Mental-based user.


    His mind was expanded, and he was able to break the laws of the universe through a form of creation he specialized in, like all Mental users. His concept of creation was the ability to ensure humankind''s continued survival. Long ago, before the Shadow, humanity had been said to be close to reaching the stars. With his newfound power and the fame he gained during the war with Lucifer, he created Sini Corp. Their goal had been simple. Escape Earth.


    And he succeeded.


    Through sheer will, alongside the help of many of the planet''s greatest Mental Supers, they created a series of towers based on the Enforcer Tower. The first of these towers was built on Earth. The second one was built on the Moon. They formed a connection with one another and created a bridge of sorts. Something that could connect to others and allow mankind to escape to another planet. With the power of the Lord of the Sky and Weather on his side, Sini created a tower on every planet in the solar system, building a series of bridges. Each tower would allow someone to move to another one instantly in the solar system—a means of instant teleportation.


    The end goal would have been to use the Lord of Life''s power to make each planet a place where humanity could thrive. It was when they reached Mars, though, that disaster struck. They woke something up—something that might have existed since the dawn of time, something left behind by the Shadow, or maybe even something else that had been recently created. It was unknown truly what it was.


    It was given the name the Beast from Space.


    Even the combined power of the Lords was barely able to slow it down. It came down to Earth and fought until the city it landed in was utterly destroyed. Then it simply left. It went back to Mars and seemingly faded away. They lost much that day, but the most brutal blow was the loss of Nier. With the loss of all that he loved, he collapsed in on himself. This would only worsen when the Beast returned a year later to destroy another city, then simply left for the stars once more.


    That was the day the Emperor was born.


    The hope to terraform planets had been erased with the Lord of Life no longer on their side. The towers became forgotten relics, made worse by the fact that the Emperor stole them for his own and moved his people to the moon. With the loss of Sini during the war and the threat of the Beast from space, the towers were left behind, and humanity moved on, looking for a new solution to survive—one that Avalon brought them in the form of pocket realms.


    This tower on Earth, though, wasn''t entirely forgotten. It had been used one more time after the fall of Full Monarch. Once a hero, turned into the next version of the devil, the Emperor had fled to the stars just like Golden God. That was until he seemingly returned.


    Cinder felt her legs give out. She collapsed to her knees and instantly felt all of her power leave her. She wasn''t the only one. Poseidon''s back was pressed to the wall, and the hero''s body shook. This was so much worse than Wish, worse than Green Wolf, Fairy Queen, or any other bad guy they had seen.


    He wore pitch-black armor that almost seemed to breathe as if it were alive. It was rough and full of cracks and dents from his battles. Jagged demonic horns stabbed out of the side of it, and a pair of slits in his helmet oozed a fiery red glow that lit up the darkness of the tower. His cape flowed up, and he took a single step forward, echoing throughout the building.


    Her mind raced as she stared at the demon before her. He should have been dead. The title of Lord passes down when one dies. That power had been split between Paragon and Wish. For that to happen, the Emperor had to die. He couldn''t live; it was simply impossible. He died in his fight with Full Monarch. The battle had ended with both of them taking each other out. At least, that''s what the Hero Branch told everyone.


    Yet, despite the fact that his body should have been reduced to less than ash, he stood before them. This broke all the rules she knew about the Lord. Wish was the Lord of Life. If the Emperor was here, then what did that mean?


    Mayor Grove didn''t look at the villain. His eyes were cast downward. "I''m sorry it came to this." He said softly. "You heroes kept getting in my way. I had no choice but to bring him here. I''m trying to create a new and perfect world. One where we won''t deal with the Beast. He gave me Wish. He told me how my fate would end, and I still tried to go around it. We don''t get to control how our story goes. We don''t get to defy them all. Fate is set in stone from the start." The man''s arms trembled. "I really am sorry."


    The Emperor didn''t say anything. He stood there silently. His eyes slowly roamed around the tower as if taking everything in. He didn''t even bother looking at them. She debated attacking, but her body refused to move. She couldn''t stand up or even muster any fire. Paragon was the same. The blind girl''s arms were wrapped around herself, and her bird shivered on her head. Wish was still in a corner and couldn’t look this thing in the eyes either.


    Cinder knew what she needed to do: run. Grab Paragon and Poseidon and make a break for it. Escape. Run. Flee. But no matter how much her mind screamed at her, she couldn''t. She just couldn''t.


    It was almost like a powerful weight was pressed down on them. She wanted to cry, to scream, to run; she wanted to do everything but fight this thing. This was a real Devil. A dragon. An apex predator that stood above all others. This was the might of the Emperor.


    Poseidon was the first to recover. The girl was breathing heavily and on the verge of having a panic attack, but she still managed to raise her trident. The Emperor still didn''t even bother to look at them. His hand was placed on the wall, wiping some of the dust away. "C- Cinder." Poseidon spat out. "Grab Sky and run-"


    The red eyes finally turned to look at her, and Poseidon''s weapon dropped from her hand. Cinder mustered up everything she had left in her and managed to stand up, but it was too late. They didn''t even see him move. The cape flew past them, and his hand was already wrapped around Paragon''s throat. She tried to turn, but he was already outside of the tower and gone, taking the blind girl with him. Not just Paragon, but Wish as well.


    "Sky!" She screamed.


    Outside of the tower, a few miles away, Battery stared down at Fairy Queen''s frozen body. "Should I just kill her?"


    "Can you?" Ocean Empress asked, cocking her head to the side. She had trapped the unconscious villain in as much ice and water as she could. "Fairy Queen seemed to always pop back up no matter what we did to her. It was why we eventually gave up on trying to kill her and threw her into the Nightshade. Even the Victorian wasn''t able to keep her dead for long."


    Battery hummed and shrugged his shoulders. "As far as I know, she doesn''t have a healing factor, but she''s always been able to escape death. It''s like the universe is on her side. The moment I attack, the ice could break, and she might wake up. I''d have to go for the head and take her out faster than her brain wakes up. If you''re willing to risk it, I can try."


    "Can you do it, though? No offense, you''re in a bad state."Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "You can say that again," Battery snorted. He rubbed at his chest. "The next fight I get into is going to be my last."


    "I can get my daughter to heal you-"


    "I''m going to die. I don''t want to look for any more solutions." He sighed and grumbled a bit. "I''m tired. Really tired. I just want this day to end."


    "So, you''re just giving up?"


    "Yeah."


    Ocean Empress frowned and balled her hand into a fist. "Whatever. Next time, I won''t be there to get you back up anyway. I couldn''t care less. You can go die if you-"


    It landed directly behind them. Battery felt his entire spine shiver, and he saw a glimpse of black and red. He didn''t even have time to turn around. The Emperor''s fist smashed through the ice and wrapped around Fairy Queen. He was gone again in a single heartbeat, faster than Battery, Demonica, and any other person on this planet could ever hope to react to.


    Ocean Empress was still in the middle of turning by the time he took off running. He ran at full speed, his golden aura crackling around him as he headed for the others.


    Near the base of the tower, the others stopped what they were doing and watched Myth. The hero dropped back down to the ground and reverted back to his human form. Golden God quietly floated over, covered in thick dents and cracks all along his form. "Looks like we got the guy on the ropes," Myth called out. “Between all of us, we should be able to win!"


    "Don''t jinx it!" Snowdawn yelled out.


    "Please!" BB let out a snort and folded her arms. "What else could possibly happen-"


    In an instant, one of Golden God''s hands buckled and shook as something landed on it insanely fast. Everyone froze when they saw the black cape that flowed in the wind. Instantly, all hope vanished. The Emperor placed Fairy Queen down and slowly stood up, his other hand holding Paragon by the throat. Wish was at his side, still on her knees and sobbing.


    Even Golden God was in shock. The once emotionless voice shook as the robot stared down with wide eyes. "M- Master."


    Not a single soul moved. Everyone was frozen in place, just staring at the scene before them. Then, suddenly, laughter filled the battlefield. Backup clutched at his stomach and nearly fell over from laughter. "Oh, man. Damn, she really got us. I was actually having a freakout moment." He cleared his throat and pointed at the figure in black. "Guys. It''s an illusion."


    "A- An illusion." Myth''s tone broke for a moment, and he didn''t look very sure.


    "It''s got to be! Come on, guys! There is no way the Emperor is actually alive! Obviously, Fairy Queen put us all under an illusion to freak us out-"


    Despite his confidence, no one budged, not even Golden God. It was Paragon who broke the silence once more. She was clutching at the hand around her throat, gasping and shaking. "I—It''s not an illusion! R—Run."


    A golden flash broke past all the heroes, and in an instant, Battery appeared in front of the Emperor. He swung the mace he had used on Green Wolf down as hard as he could, smashing it directly into the Emperor''s helmet. "He''s real!" Battery screamed out. Golden lightning danced over him, gushing out of his weapon. "This is the real deal! The Emperor is alive!" His swing didn''t even cause the Emperor to budge, and in a flash, Battery was sent smashing past everyone as an unseen force rammed into his stomach.


    "Battery!" Whisper used her power to see where he was going to crash and jumped out, opening her arms and catching the hero as he rammed into her.


    That kicked everyone off. Attacks flew out in the direction of the threat, but Golden God raised his other hands up and shielded his master. Myth grabbed Backup, shaking the man. "Your flying boat. Get it down here now. Put all the kids on it and run."


    "But-"


    "No buts! Run! Get as far as you can into the city with the kids and call for the Enforcers and every other hero team. All of them! The rest of us will buy you as much time as we can-" Golden God struck out his hand, ramming through the ship and blowing it to bits. "You have got to be fucking kidding me!"


    In the palm of Golden God, the Emperor held Paragon and looked at her, cocking his head to the side. She gasped and shook, and her bird hissed, but the creature ignored them. Then he set her down. She stared up at him in confusion, but he ignored her and instead grabbed Wish by the throat.


    The white-haired girl thrashed around and screamed, throwing her fist into the helmet of the Emperor, but that only managed to break her own bones. They were encased in the hands of Golden God, which twisted and formed a protective barrier around them. She thought about fighting but instantly knew it wouldn''t work. She was just so weak.


    "I''ll kill you." Wish grunted and screamed, still trying to get out of the hands that gripped around her throat. "I''ll turn you into slime-"


    The Emperor twisted his hand and snapped her neck. His eyes never even bothered to look down at Paragon. Slowly, Wish''s corpse began to change and twist. It swirled around and broke away, turning to dust. When it was all said and done, only a single thing remained in his palm. She could tell somehow that it was Wish''s power—the girls'' title of Lord of Life. It was a lump of energy the size of a small golf ball. Glowing and crackling with power.


    She shivered as those red eyes turned to look down at her. His hand came down, and she shrank back. There was no use in running, though. They were trapped within a shell forged by Golden God''s hands. She could hear the others screaming and throwing everything they had, but Golden God refused to budge. She accepted her fate. Destiny did as well. His hand grabbed her by the head, and he lifted her up. His other hand, the one that held the lump of power, pulled back, and he rammed it into her.


    She gasped. It didn’t hurt. It didn’t actually stab into her. Instead, it phased into her body. When he pulled his hand out, her body suddenly began to shiver and shake as she felt the power forcefully mold its way into her body. Something was happening. He just gave her the power of a Lord? Instantly, she felt it. Something was changing her. The effects of the power seeped into her, and she gasped and shook. All the injuries she had gained from him and Wish faded away. She was healed. Not just healed, she was-


    A beam of golden energy blasted through Golden God''s hands, breaking past them. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her as Battery flew in. He held onto her tightly and blasted into the air, whipping around and swinging with massive golden chains that flew out of his back.


    "Cinder!" He swung himself around, and Paragon let out a yelp as he threw her.


    Poseidon and Cinder jumped out from the tower''s entrance, and Paragon felt herself crash into Cinder''s arms. They dropped to the ground beneath Golden God, and Paragon stared up at Cinder. "Are you alright?" Cinder asked.


    "Yeah." She nodded. "I-"


    "Are you sure?!" Poseidon asked.


    "I''m fine!" She cut both girls off and looked around. "I''m better than fine, in fact." She looked down at her hand and balled it into a fist. "I can see."


    "What?"


    "He fixed my eyes?" She wasn''t looking through Destiny''s eyes anymore. She wasn''t blind anymore. It wasn''t just that. Her entire body felt way stronger. The Emperor had done something.


    Battery landed down on the ground next to them. "Kid! Are you okay?"


    "Yeah, I''m fine; what about you-"


    Battery nodded his head and shoved the mace he held into Paragon''s arms. "I want to make a trade." He grabbed the sword she was still clutching and yanked it out of her hands, then jumped back into the air, leaving the mace with her. He landed in the palm of Golden God and pointed his sword at the Emperor. "How the hell are you alive? Actually, it doesn’t matter! Here and now, I''ll kill you!"


    The Emperor didn''t look at Battery. Golden God''s hands had moved away, allowing the devil to stare down at the other heroes. His red eyes roamed over them.


    "Look at me." Battery ordered. The Emperor stepped off of the hand and dropped to the ground. He landed on it softly and turned to look back at Cinder, Paragon, and Poseidon. "I said, look at me!" Battery jumped off of the hand as well and landed in front of the Emperor. All the heroes remained still, all staring at the Calamity level threat. He hadn''t attacked anyone yet, nor had he spoken. "I''m in front of you! Look at me!" The Emperor''s eyes skipped past Battery and instead turned to judge Myth and Roulette. Both heroes were ready to act at a moment''s notice. "I''m right here! You made me! Look at me!" Next, he stared at Money Tree, Snowdawn, BB, Whisper, and Oxide. All the kids shivered and stood behind the adults. "Fucking look at me!" Last were Backup, Bad Wolf, Metal Ronin, and Duplicity. "You did this to me! You created me! I won''t let you pretend like I don''t exist!" Battery roared and blasted forward, swinging his sword.


    The Emperor was gone. Far faster than Battery was, the villain appeared in front of Money Tree. Money Tree didn''t even have time to create a barrier or act. The Emperor flicked the hero on top of his head, and Money Tree''s neck nearly snapped, and he was blasted back.


    "Money Tree!" BB screamed. She blasted her wind forward, causing all hell to break loose as the battle really started. The wind smashed into the Emperor, and he didn''t even budge as he walked through it.


    Golden God snorted and floated higher up, getting out of the blast zone. "Seems he wants to play a bit. I guess after fifteen years, he''s grown soft. After all, he allowed Money Tree to live instead of blowing his head off."


    The Emperor appeared behind BB and elbowed the girl in the gut. She vomited out a wave of blood, and he grabbed her by the hair, holding her out in front of him and using the girl to block a wave of Roulette''s bullets. At the last second, Roulette held his power back and stopped his attack from hitting BB, and the Emperor swung the girl by her hair and threw her, sending her ramming into Roulette hard enough to shatter the man''s ribs.


    Oxide tried to jump away, but he was on her, reaching for her face, jagged claws seeming to form out of his gauntlet. Everything became black and white, and time itself froze as Snowdawn used the last of his energy to freeze time once more.


    "You''ve got to be fucking shitting me! The Emperor! As in the actual Emperor! What the fuck! I know I said I wanted to deal with a calamity-level threat, but this is so BS-" He went silent when he watched the Emperor''s head turn to look at him. "No fair! I stopped time-"


    The Emperor grabbed him by the throat, and time restarted. Snowdawn grunted as the Emperor swung him like a weapon and smashed his head-first into Oxide''s stomach. He smashed them both into the ground, breaking it and creating a large crater.


    A second later, the Emperor let go of them and raised his palm just in time to block Myth''s fist. Myth charged forward using everything he had in his bull form but couldn''t even get the thing to budge. "This isn''t my first Calamity level threat! Compared to the Beast, you''re nothing!" His form changed into his lion mode, and he roared.


    The Emperor held his fingers out and thrust them forward, impaling their way past the lion''s unbreakable fur and spilling Myth''s blood. His fist rammed forward into the face of Myth, and the hero was sent crashing back to where Money Tree had landed.


    Bad Wolf and Duplicity both charged forward. Duplicity flew forward as fast as she could, but the Emperor easily dodged past her and kicked up with his leg, splitting her in two. Her form flickered and changed back into its child form, all the damage healing, but she crashed to the ground, and before she could get back up, he placed his boot on her head and pressed down. She screamed as her skull nearly exploded, but before it popped, the Emperor jumped back, avoiding the claws of Bad Wolf.


    The Emperor''s head cocked to the side as he stared at her. She was a monster and had likely fought in his army. She hissed and swung out, but her claws shattered and broke on his armor. He grabbed her roughly by the ears and pulled back, lifting her up, and then rammed her down into the ground so hard he shattered her snout.


    "Come on, come on, hurry up!" a panicked Metal Ronin yelled out. He and Backup stood in the very back, trying to quickly combine their tech and make a quick upgrade to stall the Emperor. Backup was using the supplies of his destroyed ship and attaching wires and metal to the arm of Metal Ronin''s suit.


    "It''s done!"


    Metal Ronin flexed his hand, and the downed ship roared to life. The thrusters screamed and blasted out a wave of hellfire, but the Emperor walked through it unharmed and swung his palm out so hard the air twisted and snapped, ramming through what was left of the ship and blowing both of the metal-based users back.


    Slowly, the Emperor''s eyes turned to the last hero. Whisper raised her arms. "I give up."


    He turned away from her and lazily held his arm up, blocking Battery''s sword as the hero came crashing down. Golden lightning flowed off of Battery, and the man glared at the Emperor, but the villain didn''t even bother to look back at him. "I know what I have to do." His lightning glowed, getting brighter. "I''m going to build up as much energy as I can and turn myself into a human bomb!"


    "What!" Whisper jumped away in shock. "You''re going to self-destruct! Won''t that kill you?!"


    "Fate is set in stone." Battery spat out, glaring at the Emperor. "That''s what you told me once. You were a real shitty dad, you know that!" A golden barrier formed around him, and the Emperor''s glowing became brighter. "This might not kill you, but it''ll hurt-"


    Instantly ice coated Battery, and the man was frozen in place, his light cutting out and the barrier dropping as he was trapped in a block of ice. Ocean Empress breathed heavily as she flew down, finally catching up. "I''m not letting you blow yourself up." She formed a sword out of her ice and held it up. "Whisper. Get the others out of here." She stared at the monster in black armor. Instantly, she remembered the horrors of the war. The screaming, the pain, the ash, the death. The Emperor still didn’t bother to look at Battery and instead stared directly into the eyes of Ocean Empress. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?" The hero said softly. “I took your name after your death. Called myself the Empress. I still don’t really know why I did it. What motivated me to take up that mantle, but I did. I won’t let you take it back so easily, monster.”


    The Emperor appeared in front of Ocean Empress and threw a punch at her, but she managed to duck under it. She swung her sword, but he caught it between two of his fingers and broke the tip of the blade. He rammed the ice shard forward, broke past her costume, and impaled her on the blade. She stumbled back and reformed another sword, swinging it out, but he ducked under it and stepped forward, using the horns on his helmet to stab her. He easily lifted her up, impaling her on his horns, and her blood flowed down his body. He twisted his head to the side and sent her flying.


    In less than a few minutes, he had taken down the Sub Enforcers, the Watch Dogs, and Pantheon, all by himself, all with just his raw strength. Not even a single use of his Lord''s powers was required.


    Gravity compressed and slammed down on him, but he didn''t even budge. Poseidon rammed her trident forward, but it bounced off of his armor. She used her power to create a black hole and launched it at him, but his fist rammed through it and broke it, being too strong for the force of pure gravity to control. As Poseidon fell back, she twisted her water and shot a compressed beam of it into him, but he backhanded it and rammed himself forward with so much speed he shattered her helmet and most of her nose when he head-butted her.


    Golden fire slammed into him as Cinder came crashing forward with her shield. She didn''t hold back, hitting him with everything she had. He buckled a bit but forced his way past the fire and punched. She blocked it with her shield and grunted as part of the metal twisted and cracked. She shoved his fist off and raised her hand up, catching the mace that Paragon threw at her. She brought it down on top of his head and raised it again, but he grabbed her wrist and squeezed down, snapping it. Her hand dropped the mace, and he caught it, swinging it up, and smashed it into her chin so hard she was sent flying into the air.


    He watched her land and slowly stalked forward. Paragon ran to her mother and began to heal her. "Mom! You need to get up." She placed her hand on the woman''s face and channeled her power out, feeling her mother''s damaged body and mending it.


    Ocean Empress groaned and managed to open her eyes up and stare into her daughter''s face. "Y- Your eyes are-"


    "I''m not blind anymore."


    "Why would he do that..."


    "I don''t know, but you need to get up." Paragon waited until she was sure her mother was healed enough to stand. Then she ran over to her sister and began to heal the girl.


    Over with Cinder, she hit the ground and slowly tried to push herself up. She spat out a broken tooth and some blood and rubbed at her jaw. The straps to her helmet broke away, and it fell off of her head, allowing the rest of her golden hair to spill out. It was still short, and she still had that nasty scar across her forehead, even after being healed by beating Wish, those wounds hadn’t faded. She looked up just in time to see the Emperor swinging the mace down directly onto her face.


    It stopped inches away from her and softly pulled back. His red eyes stared into her own, and quietly, he traced her face with his eyes, taking her in. "I''m going to stop you." She dug her fingers into the ground and pulled out a wave of sand, trying to blind him. She threw a punch, but he easily caught it. Her golden flames roared out, but it didn''t seem to bother him.


    "The Brightest Star." She froze when she heard him speak. His voice was old and rough, twisted and broken. It held almost no emotion—nothing but a small flicker of recognition. His eyes bore into hers. "You’ve awakened.”


    She felt something. Her mind ached, and she gasped. He was doing something. He was invading her mind. Memories flooded her. They twisted and swirled around as her life flashed before her eyes. He was forcing her to relive it all. Every embarrassing moment and thought—the good and the bad, her talks with her mom and dad, her looking up to Mr. Larison, being a hero, her feelings for her team, her thoughts of her friends—all of it was pulled out of her. One memory stood out, though. The state her father was in. The Emperor was using his power to force her brain to tell him everything there was about her.


    "Hope?" He spoke her name, and she shivered. He knew everything there was about her now. Most of it, at least. All her dark secrets and private thoughts. She felt gross both with herself and him, and her mind still reeled as it finally stopped coming to the ground. He let go of her hand, and she dropped to her knees, gasping. "I came when I felt the power of the Brightest star. To think my daughter would be here. It was almost too perfect.”


    "You''re insane." She groaned.


    "Yes."


    "Why are you telling me all of this?"


    "You saved her life." The Emperor stared deep into her eyes and cocked his head to the side. "Pick."


    "What?"


    “I am a Lord of Life no longer. I have changed. After my battle with Full Monarch, I lost my right to be the Lord of the Land and Life. Now I am a Ruler. With this power, I can save one. So, I''d like you to pick. The one you call Jack Larison, or the one you call Alexander Lauren. Which would you like me to save?"


    Her face paled as his words rang through her head. A choice. He was offering to save one.


    Her father or Mr. Larison...


    It was pretty obvious what her answer was.