Dread...


    It filled her as she watched. Images and sights that shouldn''t have been seen flood through her mind. Was this how Whisper or Max Lightning felt? Was this what drove Wish insane? Every detail, every strand, all of it massed together like some sort of cancer.


    Alive. It was alive.


    The Prettiest Flower was still alive. They needed a new body, just like their siblings.


    Colors rained from above, covering the planet in a mass of lights that swirled together. But when all the colors merged, all that was left was black. A deep void of nothingness spread out from the planet, reaching toward the sky, the sea, the land, and the sun and swallowing them all up. It was an endless rain of whispers and yells.


    Then it all ended.


    Sky''s eyes snapped open, and she suddenly found herself wide awake. Her eyes gradually adjusted, and her head felt like it was pounding as her thoughts settled back down and her connection with Destiny formed. Slowly, she set up groggily, rubbing her forehead.


    She had just experienced a fever dream—the kind that doesn''t make sense and is caused by your brain overheating. It was all over the place, and already she was having a hard time remembering anything from it. The pain hadn''t left her, though. Neither had the sense of dread.


    Her powers had been pushed to the limit, trying to reverse the Dead Virus. In the end, she failed. That didn''t mean she was ready to give up, though. She had gone further than anyone else, and for the first time in a long time, she actually thought that maybe she could save Hope''s dad. After all, this first attempt had helped him out a lot. A few more tries, and maybe she could cure him.


    She just needed to get stronger.


    Her thoughts were broken suddenly when Destiny landed on her shoulder. The bird lightly nuzzled her face, and she scratched under its chin. "Where are the others?" It only occurred to her how quiet it was in her manner. She had no idea how long she had been out for. A day? Two? Maybe a week?


    She was out of her costume and had been placed in her nightgown. Her sister or mother had likely changed her. She felt hungry, but not like she was starving, so it couldn''t have been for that long.


    Quietly, she stood up and pulled the curtains. Instantly, her face paled. The device Boy Genius had installed around the manner not only stopped people from seeing their home for what it truly was but also blocked off most sound from the outside world. As her curtains moved, she saw what Lillian had become.


    The streets were flooded with cars, and a Hero Branch soldier was at every corner. People were piled up on the sidewalk, and it looked like a riot was happening. Whatever was going on wasn''t good.


    She grabbed a lab coat and a spare mask and left her room. She got a few steps out of the hallway when she saw them. "Ah. Paragon. You''re finally awake. Please, take a seat." Her eyes locked onto the man who was now in her house, and Destiny hissed a bit and stood up straighter, glaring at the intruder. "No need to give me that look. I''m here to keep you safe."


    The Hero Branch would never leave her unguarded in a moment like this. Several of them were in the hallway, all dressed in heavy gear, and a man was seated in her living room. He was dressed in an expensive black suit, and he had dark skin and slicked-back hair tied into a ponytail. Dean Ward was the leader of Lillian''s Hero Branch. In other words, he was an equal to someone like Laps—a human who was tasked with making sure the Supers didn''t get out of line.


    She looked at the armed soldiers. There were a few of them, and likely even more outside. The entire city seemed to be filled with them. She quickly made her way out of the hall and took a seat in the chair across from Mr. Ward. "Where''s my mom?"


    "Oleander." Was Ward''s cool response. He seemed to have made himself at home and was drinking from one of their mugs, which he had filled up with her mother''s favorite brand of coffee.


    "What''s going on in Oleander?" She asked. Her gut was telling her it obviously wasn''t good.


    Ward stirred his cup with a spoon, making sure it had enough sugar. He took a slow sip and let out a dramatic sigh, seemingly happy with the taste. He placed his cup down on the table and took his time getting comfortable in the chair. Her eye twitched as he began to mess with his coat. As she stood up to leave, he finally answered her. All he had to do was say one thing. A single word caused her to collapse back down. "Calamity."


    Her eyes widened, and her face paled. "Which one-"


    "The Beast."


    She managed to stand up again, though on shaking legs. "I have to go-"


    "No."


    "No? What do you mean, no?!"


    "I mean no." Ward took a sip from his coffee once more. "It''s too dangerous."


    "That''s why I have to go!"


    "And what happens if you die?"


    "The others are all risking their lives, though! My mom''s in trouble! My sister nearly died once before! I had to sit on the sidelines through this once, two years ago, when I didn''t have powers! I''m not doing that again!" Destiny landed on her head and folded his wings together as if crossing his arms. He stared down Mr. Ward.


    Ward didn''t seem phased in the slightest, even knowing what this girl was capable of. "Two years ago, our planet found itself visited by the Beast once again. This time, unlike any other, we no longer had the help of Full Monarch to keep us safe. Instead, we relied on the power of the Victorian. She lost. All of the Enforcers lost. The Beast was only driven back by a strange, powerful force. One that came out of nowhere and managed to defeat it. After this incident was when your sister was nearly killed, correct?" Her lips turned into a thin line as he spoke almost in a mocking tone. "It was the hero Legend that did it, was it not? Father of Myth and Fable. The man had been injured but could have possibly been saved. We often say the Beast isn''t the worst part about its visit. It''s the things it leaves behind. You should never, ever mess with anything in a city the Beast has visited. Myth couldn''t help himself, though. He wanted to find his dad. Make sure the man was alright. He had already fallen into the Beast''s trap. Legend had been reduced down to bone yet still clung to life. That life begged for death. Pleaded for it. Out of mercy, Myth killed his father and, in return, unleashed something far worse-"


    "Can you just stop talking-"


    "Chrysanthemum had to be completely closed off, and it was taken over by the newest Calamity-level threat, which used the hero Legend''s corpse as its starting point. During this incident, your sister nearly died. Yet by pure chance, your powers awakened, and you were able to heal her."


    "I didn''t heal her," Sky spat out, shaking her head. "If I had healed my sister, then none of this would be happening. She''d be strong—stronger than anyone else. I ruined her, though. I changed her. You want me to be kept safe because you think I can save the heroes who will get out of the fight alive, right? You''re mistaken. I''m not a healer."


    "Either way, we need you," Ward explained. "We can''t afford for you to go to the battlefield right now. The Beast can kill most heroes simply by standing next to them. And as I just mentioned, whenever it leaves our planet, we''re always faced with a nasty new surprise. Your power is needed to deal with that. We''ll need to use you to fix the other heroes the best you can. I don''t care what you have to do or what state you leave them in. My job is to keep you here and keep you safe."


    "Keep me safe?"


    "Villains don''t play by the rules. Some may feel a strange sense of justice and try to fight the Beast. After all, they lose everything if their city is destroyed, just like the heroes do. Most, however, will use this as their chance to strike. The Beast is basically the world''s greatest distraction if you think about it. Nearly every hero is needed to stand against it and hold it off, and that allows for ample opportunity to do whatever you want while they''re busy. You''ve gotten quite a bit of enemies yourself, Paragon. I''d hate for anything to happen to you while the heroes were away. I saw you on the news the other day. You got into a fight with Yellow Kobold alongside the current Lord of the Sun. You nearly died during that fight when Kobold grabbed you. If some weak villain like that can put you in harm''s way, then you wouldn’t make it on the real battlefield. I’m saving your life by keeping you here. So be a good little girl and sit down and shut up.” He took another sip from his drink.


    She slowly sat back down and ran her fingers through Destiny''s hair. "I can''t just do nothing."


    "Then don''t do nothing."


    "What?"


    Ward stood up and held his hand out to her. "So many people are injured—innocent and scared civilians. The hospitals have already become flooded, and any hero who can no longer fight would need you. You can help us. Let''s be heroes, Paragon."


    She stared down at his hand, frowning. He was playing her. He wasn''t the kind of person who would actually care about people. Despite that, though, it was her job to help others—"on one condition."


    "What?"


    "I''d like to find some people I think are in this city. If the Beast really is attacking Oleander, they''d likely be flown here."


    "Who?"


    "A family called the Lauren''s. More specifically, a man named Alexander Lauren. I''d like to find where they are."


    ***


    The entire city seemed to shake—at least the block that all of them were on did. Dozens of weaker heroes were thrown high into the air, and so were many cars. Buildings began to tumble down, and some did their best to hold them up or blast them to pieces to stop people from being crushed. And all of this was from just a single attack from the Beast.


    It only got worse when the Victorian struck out. A massive wave of wind exploded out, shoving all the shattered buildings further back and splitting the sky above directly in two.


    One swing of her sword had caused this. The number one hero, the Victorian! She wasn''t holding anything back, using more power than she had in her fight with the Emperor. Her golden blade was the size of a car, and golden armor swirled around her, forming a much longer cape. And this mighty attack that was able to shake an entire city did something, right?


    Yeah.


    It caused a drop of blood to stream down the Beast''s arms.


    The Beast still didn''t bother to look at any of them. It stared out in a direction, looking through buildings and towards its true target. The reason it had come so far. Its massive and lanky arm had risen up and bent back on itself, the wrist being used as a shield that blocked the Victorian''s sword. Her blade dug into it slightly, and black liquid dripped from the shallow paper cut it received. The Victorian gritted her teeth and shoved down on her sword with all her strength, but the monster held on strong.


    The Beast flicked its hand out and sent the number one hero flying. She smashed through an already destroyed skyscraper and brought the entire thing crashing down, kicking up a mile-high dust cloud.


    That pretty much set the tone for this battle and caused several heroes to simply nope out of there. Battery jumped back a bit as the dust rained down on them, blinding them all. Beams of hot fire blasted through the clouds, ripping through even the strongest hero as if it were cardboard. His golden energy was already swirling around him as he began to build up his power.


    Nearby, a young man in a dark gray jumpsuit stood in front of an older man in a stage magician outfit, holding up a chunk of concrete as a shield against one of the beams of fire. Heavy Iron grunted as his powers activated, rapidly increasing the density and weight of the makeshift shield until it was as hard as diamonds. As the beam slammed into the chunk, Heavy Iron looked back at the older man behind him, Street Magician, and grimly smiled.


    “Tell Light Iron that I’m sorry we couldn’t do our combo.”


    Before Street Magician could answer, Heavy Iron slammed a foot into him, sending the older man out of the way as the beam of fire blasted through the concrete chunk, devouring Heavy Iron.


    "Are you going to enter your blue form?" Ocean Empress yelled out toward Battery. “I can try and cool you off and make sure you don’t fall apart!”


    "I''m working on it! I need to get to a certain energy level first! There''s a reason I''m called Battery! I need to charge!"


    A stream of lightning fired through the cloud, and Battery watched as it curved in his direction, causing him to curse. He was too focused on building up his power and didn''t have time to dodge anything like that. It never reached him, though, as Myth, already in his lion form, jumped in front of the attack and took it head-on. Myth''s feet dug into the stone, and he held on strong, flexing even as his fur began to burn and turn black. He let out a roar and, with his claws, tore the attack in two.


    "I''ll keep you covered, Battery! Charge! I''ll be your shield!"


    "You sure?"


    "As sure as I can be!"


    "Good enough for me!" Battery slammed his hands together, and golden lightning blasted out of his body, whipping around the battlefield as he gathered up all of his power.


    As the dust cloud fell, the Victorian exploded out of the tower that had buried her and threw her sword as hard as she could. It flew through the air and smashed into the finger of the Beast, causing it to turn slightly and miss the hero it was attempting to melt with a beam of fire. That beam instead washed over a different street, turning it to ash but luckily not killing anyone. A woman in a bright green coat covered in lucky talismans nodded to the heroes in the street behind her. Shamrock wiped a stream of blood from her nose and watched as all of the charms and totems of luck on her coat rusted and dropped to the ground, every drop of her power to twist luck and fate used up in one move.


    “Out of luck, eh?” Shamrock muttered as the ground under her feet cracked and flames gushed out from broken gas lines.


    Every step the Beast took caused the road beneath it to break and melt, lava gushing out. Lightning rained from the sky in unnatural ways, and the plant life that covered its modesty grew more prominent as orbs of light kept firing out in seemingly random directions. It still never even bothered to so much as glance at any of them, focused on a single goal, which it marched towards slowly. Several heroes collapsed and began to vomit up blood as waves of radiation smashed into them on a microscopic level, undoing their DNA and killing them almost instantly.


    Other heroes that were durable enough to take that found themselves bursting into fire as their blood boiled or freezing in place as ice crawled up their bodies. Some were also just split in two as water wheels fired off of the Beast, cutting through the city for miles. Millions of Hero Branch drones from all around the world filled the sky, but they were all fried and exploded, stopping anyone in the outside world from seeing what was happening in Oleander City.


    One hero, a woman wearing simple leather armor and wielding a curved sword, ignored the blood that dripped from her nose and eyes as she watched one of the orbs of light fire towards her. Sword Swinger let out a cry and slashed, perfectly slicing the orb of light in half and sending the two halves flying over the small crowd of people behind her. She smiled faintly as she collapsed, watching the lava rapidly approach as her limbs refused to work. Despite it all, she felt a sense of accomplishment knowing that she, a normal human without powers, could reach this level. Before it reached her, the street shimmered, changing as the lava disappeared, replaced by soft waves on a beach, the sun shining down. Across the city, a man in a bodysuit covered with geometric shapes, Glamour, tapped his swirly glasses with a finger, placing illusions onto every dying hero, hiding their pain and fear. The man sighed, raising a hand to flip off the Beast, which had been under one of his illusions, seemingly with no effect.


    The entire world knew that the city was under attack, but now they would have no way of knowing who died and who survived until this battle truly came to an end. One thing was for sure though: there likely wouldn’t be an Oleander city anymore.


    A magnitude five earthquake spread out as the Beast walked forward, and a category five hurricane formed around the entire city, pouring rain, ice, and lightning down across all of Oleander. Even the heroes that weren’t in the center of the city, fighting the Beast, were struggling as everything around them came undone and fell apart. Earth Worm, a hero wearing a long trench coat, raised a fist and let out a strange, warbling yell. Three giant worms burst from the ground, smashing through crumbling buildings that had begun to fall towards people.


    Bad Wolf, of all people, was the first to reach the monster after the Victorian. Clouds danced off of her fur and formed into a solid platform, which allowed her to bounce up and stand on them, avoiding the lava. She got about twenty feet away from the Beast and slashed out with her claws, sending wind blades at the strange creature. They simply bounced off of its skin and didn''t do any damage to the villain.


    Before she could even try to come up with a new plan, a powerful bolt of lightning rained down from the sky above and smashed into her. Bad Wolf let out a loud howl and dropped from the sky, badly burned, and began to fall toward the lava down below. Victorian flew forward and caught the monster, but the leg of the Beast kicked up and smashed into the hero, throwing her high into the air and causing her to let go of Bad Wolf, sending the body of the hero flying in a random direction and smashing through more buildings.


    "Bad Wolf!" Backup threw his shield like some sort of disk, which smashed uselessly off the Beast''s head. He turned, running in the direction of where Bad Wolf had crash-landed, which was thankfully away from the approaching disaster and all the lava. “I’ll save you!”


    Roulette raised his palm toward the sky, causing millions of his bullets to swarm together and compress down. All of them began to smash into one another and merge, forming a single thin bullet that held the compressed firepower of an entire nation. Duplicity was already in her transformed state, and she used her magnetism to take control of the heavy bullet, launching it forward at breakneck speeds.


    It could never be that easy, though. The Beast lazily caught it, two of its fingers closing in on the bullet at the last second and halting it. Its arm twisted and jerked in a funny way as it threw it back toward them, and Roulette dropped the rifle he used as a walking cane and threw his hands out in front of him, using all of his power to take control of the bullet and halt it. The thing stopped inches away from Duplicity''s face and smashed down into the ground. It was so heavy that it broke the floor and fell toward the sewers, ripping more of the street up, which was starting to flood with lava.


    Roulette crashed to his knees, breathing heavily, and blood flowed down his chest as he began to vomit. Duplicity lifted off of the ground and wrapped her arms around him, picking him up and flying away. At least, that was the plan. An orb of golden light formed above the Beast and fired down, nearly splitting her in two and causing her to scream as she smashed into the street below.


    The Beast was tall and lanky and had a twenty-foot radius of pure molten lava that followed it. Despite its slow walks, each step it took covered a vast distance, and that lava was beginning to burn the downed heroes even if they weren''t near it. Some people even began to grow weak as the fumes flowed out. Thunder Shaker, a hero wearing a bright yellow outfit with lightning bolts, leapt forward while clapping his hands to send out a shockwave that pushed the lava and fumes back, though only by an inch. The hero kept clapping, keeping the lava at bay. When the hero stopped clapping, smoke and blood poured from his hands, lava burst from a nearby sewer grate, splashing up onto him. Thunder Shaker collapsed to the ground as the lava rushed forward, giving one last futile clap.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Before the lava could swallow up Duplicity and Roulette, a thin line of water wrapped around them both, and they were yanked to safety, being dragged fifty feet back to where Fisherman stood. He was a member of the Reservoir team—the second strongest member, in fact. He was dressed like a typical fisherman, complete with overalls and a cap. His rod had a string forged out of water, allowing him to control how it moved and how far it could go.


    "Don''t think you can just go and do whatever you want," the hero announced. He threw his reel out, and the water line spun through the air, going over the vast distance and wrapping around the throat of the Beast. The air shimmered around Fisherman, and suddenly, three twenty-foot-long great white sharks appeared out of nowhere! "You''re going to have to get through me first!"


    The sharks roared and swam through the air, opening their jaws as wide as they could!


    They then promptly died the moment they flew over the lava, which caused them to black out and collapse into it, being burned to death. The Beast stepped on the corpses, walking over them, and casually tugged on the water string, causing the Fisherman to have to let go of his pole, which was dragged away and burst into flames when it entered the lava.


    "Well, I''m useless now.”


    Sea Monkey, a blue monkey guy in a deep-sea divers'' outfit, handed Fisherman one of his soggy bananas out of pity. "It''s okay, man. You were useless before—Oh shit!"


    The Beast raised one of its long fingers, and the spinning masses of water that circled its body took off. They spun like a saw blade, hissing through the air and cutting anything in their way to bits. "Oh no, you don''t!" Ocean Empress channeled all of her power and attempted to take control of the water disk, changing its direction away from Sea Monkey and Fisherman and toward her instead. The Beast simply twitched its finger and instantly overpowered her in terms of control. It took everything she had to cause the disk to fly a little towards the left.


    The disk flew past her, missing most of her body but sliced through part of her right hand, taking off three of her fingers. As she collapsed back, the Beast caused their blades to smash down, ready to rip Ocean Empress in two. The Victorian flew forward at top speeds and threw herself in the way, using her body as a shield and blocking the water disks, which broke to bits on her flesh, only managing to rip a bit of her costume up. The shrapnel of the water still stabbed into Ocean Empress, downing her though.


    Boy Genius crashed down onto the street in front of the Beast and swung his sword out. He finally got to play with one of his favorite toys. A thirty-foot-tall giant robot. It was made out of white metal and covered in red and black streaks, and it wielded a giant sword and shield. His blade shattered on the head of the Beast, and the monster walked through him.


    Literally.


    The metal of his robot twisted and broke, shattering to bits as the Beast stepped forward. Shoving its way through the machine as it refused to walk around it, the lava swamped its way over the robot, melting it and causing it to blow to bits. In fact, since the battle began, the Beast had only been walking in a straight line, heading for its target. If something got in the way of it, the thing simply walked through it, and that thing ceased to be.


    "Boy Genius!" Wyvern screamed out in horror. Wings had formed out of her back, and she was up in the air watching as her teammate perished. What was left of the robot exploded and sank into the lava, vanishing. “No!”


    "I''m okay!" A twenty-foot-tall blue robot with jet wings flew down from the sky and floated next to her.


    "What? Were you not in the robot?" She asked with wide eyes. She landed on the head of the machine as it raised its arm, which folded out into a large beam rifle that blasted the Beast with a purple energy wave. It ignored the energy walking through it, even as some of its flesh burned off.


    "Nope. I''m not even on the battlefield." Boy Genius explained.


    "What?"


    "I''m back at Nightshade, watching this entire thing play out." The child threw his hands behind his head and propped his feet up on the table as he stared at the monitor, watching his robot battle the Beast. "What kind of idiot would put themselves in the giant robot when I can just remotely pilot it from my base? I’m not some dumbass like Avalon. I’m way too important to risk dying.”


    Wyvern sighed and jumped off the robot''s head just in time as the Beast caught the purple beam, somehow took control of it, and blasted it back in the direction of Boy Genius''s drone, blowing its head off. Already, a new robot, this one a fifteen-foot one that was bright green, was falling from the sky.


    Wyvern allowed her wings to fully expand out and flew past the Beast, growing a tail that attempted to stab into the eye of the monster. Its eye was too strong, though, and her tail bounced off of it. She spun through the air and opened her mouth wide, blasting out a powerful stream of fire at the back of the Beast''s head. The Beast didn''t even need to do anything. Without even looking, it took control of the fire and caused it to explode. Wyvern''s head jerked back, her neck nearly snapping as she dropped out of the sky and crashed head-first into a building.


    She landed in the lava, which hissed and began to drag her down. From above, Drake flew down. He was a member of Wyvern''s personal team and had powers very similar to hers. He landed in the lava and, thanks to his fire resistance, didn''t instantly die. This allowed him to wrap his arms around his team leader, pull her out, and take her back off into the air, getting above the Beast and wincing as he glared down at it.


    "Is there actually anything any of us can do, sissy?" He asked. He was young. He shouldn’t have come to the battlefield since he was only seventeen, but he ignored that rule since he was almost as strong as Wyvern, his older sister.


    "We never expected to win," Wyvern winced. "We just need to slow it down, even if it''s a tiny bit."


    A fifteen-foot-tall hot-pink robot Boy Genius had built when he was going through a phase landed behind the Beast. It ignored the lava, which began to melt it badly, and pulled its fist back. The Victorian flew forward and appeared in front of the Beast, also pulling her fist back. Both Boy Genius and the Victorian launched their attacks at the same time and actually managed to make the alien twitch and pause for a moment. For a single second, its eyes glanced down at the arrogant woman before it.


    Those same eyes then erupted with a wave of intense lightning that smashed into her and drilled her through the lava and into the ground, sending her deep beneath the city. Rows of jagged wooden spikes then blasted out of its back, ripping Boy Genius''s drone to bits, then pulled themselves back into its body. It stopped its laser vision and turned to look back at its destination, blasting a few of the pesky buildings that had gotten in its way down.


    Ocean Empress managed to push herself up slightly and used her remaining good hand to craft a long stick of ice. Doctor Kraken''s tentacles wrapped around it, yanking it out of her hand, and he tossed it into the air, where Hydro Cannon caught it. She wore metal armor and had a backpack with large cannons on it that fired out water so intense it allowed her to fly. Using it, she landed down next to Fisherman, handing him the ice stick, which now looked more like a fishing rod.


    "Yeah, I''m still not going to be able to do much in this fight..." Fisherman said dryly.


    A beam of fire blasted towards them as the Beast tried to snipe them both. Sea Monkey rammed his hand into the ground and caused the street around them to change into a beach-like area, the sand rising up and forming a mini barrier. The sand exploded into a hail of glass as the fire rammed into it and blew all three of the heroes back. Above the Beast, another orb of intense fire began to form, about to launch another beam, but a gunshot rang out, and the orb shattered.


    Standing just outside of the twenty-foot ocean of lava that followed the Beast, Mister Man dodged with superhuman speed, avoiding streams of lightning and water that were launched at him. He held two revolvers, which he twirled around and fired. His bullets weren''t regular ammunition, though. They shimmered and phased into the Beast before rematerializing and actually causing damage to the monster, black blood dripping down its body from the tiny holes that formed into it. With his phasing power, he could negate durability and deal damage, even if it was just a little. On top of that, his guns had been built by Avalon and were able to fire their bullets near the speed of light. It basically meant he had durability negating, fast-moving bullets that could harm anything. And thanks to his sidekick, he didn''t need to worry about being hit.


    A building-sized beam of light rained down, nearly swallowing Mister Man whole, but his body glowed and vanished, reappearing two hundred feet back next to his teammate, Slinger. Slinger wore a long green cloak and went for a riding-hood vibe. He wielded a bow and was able to teleport people with his arrows, but only people who had an arrow, and only to places his arrows landed. His quiver was nearly empty as he had been using a lot of arrows to move dozens of heroes, but mostly Mister Man, out of danger; all the while, the Enforcer used his phasing power to deal tiny, near-insignificant damage to the Beast.


    "Aim for its head or something!" Lady Time yelled out at him. She wielded two blades shaped like the hands of a clock. One was small, and the other was long. Each slash of her blade sent out a wave of gray energy that didn''t actually cause any harm. The little one would cause things to slow down and move at half speed, which she used on all of the Beast''s attacks when she could, while the big one caused things to double in speed, which she used on her fellow heroes, giving them all a speed boost and allowing them to dodge more of the Beast''s attacks.


    "I have!" Mister Man called out. "I''ve aimed for this thing''s brain, heart, and lung and tore holes all the way through it. It''s like this thing doesn''t have organs or something! I''ve even aimed for its joints in an effort to slow it down, and nothing! It doesn’t seem to matter how much its body is damaged, it just keeps moving forward!”


    "This thing is such a cheater!" Lady Time yelled out. She had hit the Beast at the start of the battle with her little hand, and it had been moving at half speed this entire time, still taking great steps and moving forward unbothered.


    The Victorian burst out of the ground, going through the lava, and rammed her fist up into the jaw of the Beast. Lady Time swung her sword and gave the woman a double speed boost, allowing the number one hero to unleash a barrage of punches, which actually managed to stagger the Beast and cause fist-sized dents to appear all along its body. She forged a sword of gold and went to swing, but fire swirled into existence around her and exploded, launching the Victorian four hundred feet away into another torn-down building. She came back, but this time the Beast twisted a beam of lightning around and smashed it into the woman’s gut. The beam blasted the number one hero up, and she kept going up higher and higher until she was literally thrown out of the planet, and she smashed into the moon, shaking it.


    All of Oleander shook, and the entire city actually sank down a bit, falling further into the ocean and causing mass flooding. The Beast turned its head about to fire out a stream of lightning once again, but a massive arrow rammed into its head, causing it to jerk from the force of the impact and its laser to be launched into the air, going all the way up to the moon and tearing a chunk of it off, barely missing the Victorian and the body of Full Monarch.


    Fable stood tall, ankle deep in the lava, seemingly not bothered by it. He was nearly half the size of the Beast and had a look of pure hate on his face. His lion cloak almost seemed to come to life and roar, and he drew another arrow. His arrows were the size of a small child, and his bow was as big as he was. His father had the ability to take on the form of gods from legends, his brother could twist into the monsters of myths, and he channeled the power of heroes from fables long forgotten! Whether true or not, it did not matter, for in that moment, he wielded the power of Hercules! A hero said to have once shot at the sun!


    His arrow screamed out through the air, being launched with so much force it shattered every window that hadn''t yet cracked and tore more of the street apart. It didn''t have to travel far, and it rammed directly into the eye of the Beast. The creature didn''t make a single sound; not an ounce of pain seemed visible. It did, however, take a single step back. The arrow had moved faster than light and stabbed through the Beast’s eye. Lightning danced across its fingers, and it fired back at Fable.


    Electricity caused the lava around them to rubble and explode, but a second later, the lava began to cool rapidly and turn into rock. No... Not rock. Stone. The lightning itself changed and hardened in the air, falling to the ground now transmuted as stone as well, and Fable launched forward. He now wore the armor of an ancient military''s warrior and held a spear nearly fifteen feet tall. On his other arm was a shield with the head of a snake imprinted upon it; everything that touched the metal was turned to stone instantly, and in no time at all, the lava around the Beast had vanished, and the monster found itself trapped up to its ankle in hard rock.


    Still, it did not yield. It took a mighty step forward, breaking most of the stone around it and cracking more of the ground. Fable jumped into the air and kicked off of the stone as he dropped, launching himself forward and ramming his spear into the stomach of the Beast. As he did that, though, the Beast struck back and lazily slapped him, sending the man flying. He managed to block part of it with his shield, though it only changed a sliver of the monster''s finger into rock. Fable kept flying back and soon crashed out of Oleander City, being launched somewhere into Lillian, where he crashed through a building and stopped falling.


    Several people were running around, and many stared at him in shock, but he didn’t bother explaining or saying anything. Instead Fable whistled, and from the skies a massive winged horse appeared dropping down in front of him. He got onto the horse, and it flew him back to Oleander City.


    Back in the center of the rock the Beast was trapped in began to give away, and lava bubbled out once again. Before the sea of magma could restart, though, two heroes ran forward at inhuman speeds. Lancelot wore thick black armor shaped like a knight, and he swung out with a pitch-black blade that was so thin and sharp that it could cut even the Victorian herself. His weapon cleaved into part of the Beast''s ankle as he passed. He wasn''t the only one trying to take the foot out, though. Vampirica wore gothic black clothes and a robe, and her mouth opened inhumanly wide, allowing her to rip a small part of the Beast''s other ankle out as she flew by, her face coated in black blood.


    They kept running after they dealt their tiny amount of damage and got away just in time as the twenty-foot radius of lava managed to restart. A ball of lightning flowed out from behind the Beast''s head and fired in their direction. Before it could hit the two sidekicks, though, Max Lightning crashed into the ground and caught the orb. His hair shimmered and changed, turning into a grayish black color, and clouds twisted around his body as he took on the form of the Lord of the Sky and Weather. His eyes ignited with a fiery red glow, and he became the second strongest Super on the battlefield, the first still being the Victorain.


    He couldn''t see the Paths. Not just his own but anyone else’s, too. All of them could die at any moment, and there would be nothing he could do to see it coming. That didn''t mean he was going to give up, though. This creature was strong, but humanity had to live on! Max Lightning used his power and did what the others couldn''t. With the title of Lord and now powered up to his limit, he beat the Beast in terms of control and stole its lightning. He then rammed his hand into the back of his sidekick, Bolt, unleashing all of its power into the young man.


    Bolt was a younger hero who wore a skin-tight blue suit with the symbol of lightning across it. His hair stood up wildly, and he smirked and let out a yell as he felt all of the Beast''s lightning enter him. "Alright! This is what I''m talking about!" He screamed. "I feel like I can do anything, now!"


    The two heroes went on the offensive, combining their control over lightning and blasting into the Beast with everything they had. The monster''s back cracked a bit as the barrage of attacks rammed into it, but still, it kept walking.


    Max Lightning appeared in front of the Beast, and he held his hands out. Lightning formed together and swirled in his palm, then sparkled, forming into a mass of sparkling colors. A baby universe seemed to form between his palms, and it shattered and collapsed as he unleashed a wave of spatial-time-lightning. It blew across the city, washing over everyone, and caused all who were hit by it to be healed and aged by a full hour, while it collapsed matter and space around the Beast, crushing part of its body.


    It didn’t last long though, as the Beast still walked through the attack, some of its flesh being torn off, and it rammed its finger into Max Lightning, blasting the hero back for hundreds of miles and sending him flying out of Oleander. Max Lightning felt himself crash down somewhere on the other side of the planet, and he groaned before slowly floating back up and flying back to the battlefield.


    Shimmering clones of Pretty Face charged forward and most instantly burned up and exploded into shimmering light as they reached the lava. There was a clone for every color of the rainbow, all dogpiling forward and using their bodies as a makeshift bridge, and managed to actually reach the Beast, if even for a moment. Pretty Face yelled out and charged forward, running over the back of his clones and letting out a single punch to the Beast''s damaged eye before he then created more clones and bounced off of them, getting away from the creature. It didn''t even bother to attack him, as he dealt literally no damage to it and didn''t so much as slow it down.


    "I got one attack off!" Pretty Face called out. "I''m done! That''s all I came to do! Good luck." Some of the heroes then stared dumbfounded as the pop star took off running in the opposite direction. This was the same stunt he had done during the last Beast fight as well.


    Off to the side, Beta kept his arms folded. He stood on top of a mostly destroyed building that wasn''t in the way of the Beast and recorded the fight that was taking place. Next to him, Brobot stood. Brobot, like Beta, was a robot, though he wore a black leather biker jacket and blue jeans. Both of them seemed content to just watch the fight and watched how the hero Golden Weaver had formed hundreds of webs in an effort to trip the Beast, only for the alien to plow through them.


    "How are they doing?" Brobot questioned.


    "I estimate that they''ve managed to slow the Beast down by nearly ten minutes so far. It would have taken him half an hour to reach the bridge, but it will now take him forty minutes to reach it."


    "The bridge?" Brobot hummed. "That''s where the Beast is heading for?" The Beast had landed down in the center of the city and was plowing its way through towers and streets, marching in a single direction. "That is where most of the humans are. Logically, it makes sense that the creature would head that way first."


    "I don''t believe it is after the humans." Beta''s eye glowed as his computer processed the idea that was forming in his circuit board.


    Brobot cocked his head to the side. "Does not compute. Please explain, fellow machine."


    "Do you still have the memory of when we were first created in your databanks?" Beta asked. "Humans cannot remember their creator. They are not like us. We, as machines, can remember and recall the first words ever spoken to us. The first thing all life hears when it is first born is the name of our creator."


    "The Prettiest Flower."


    "Enemy of the Rulers." Beta recorded more of the fight, watching as many heroes were snuffed out by beams of destruction launched by the Beast. Most weren''t strong enough to take more than a few blows from the alien. "I think I may know what this thing is. I''d like to watch for a little longer and confirm my theory."


    "Sure," Brobot nodded. "We don''t have to worry about anything. After all, only stupid humans are being killed."


    "Yes... Only humans."


    The Beast took another step forward and swung out with its arm, ripping a building in two and sending debris raining down. It was beginning to near a layer of the city that hadn''t been fully evacuated yet. Soon, hundreds of people stuck in traffic would find themselves meeting an end. The number one hero was determined to stop that from happening, though!


    The Victorian flew through the air as light swirled around in her fist. It had taken her a few moments to fly from the moon back to Earth, but she was back and ready to keep fighting. With the speed boost she got from Lady Time, she sent herself flying forward and rammed her fist directly into the spear that was hanging in the Beast''s gut. She used everything she had, putting her back into it, and hit the weapon so hard it tore its way through the Beast''s gut and out its back. This time, the Beast actually fell back, and a large stream of black blood rained down it, hissing and burning up in the lava.


    The Victorian didn''t stop there, though. A massive greatsword formed in her hands, and she swung it up as hard as she could, cutting into the monster''s gut wound and splitting it open more. Wires and plants spilled out of its stomach, and its hand came up, cupping its inside and stuffing them back in. It dropped to its knees, and for the first time since all the fighting began, it could no longer take a step forward.


    Cheers rang out from below as dozens of the heroes fought on with renewed vigor. Beta raised his arm, which twisted into a loudspeaker that rang out across the battlefield. "Dodge."


    No one moved in time. The entire city block suddenly went from being an intense wave of heat to a deadly chill. The lava froze, and the Beast plugged up its gut wound with ice, and from beneath every hero, water appeared and froze into a large spike that impaled them. Mister Man was teleported out of the way just in time, but Slinger was impaled through the gut and lifted off of the ground.


    Wyvern and Drake were both in the air and stared down at many of their teammates, who either outright died or screamed in agony. Lady Time was raised up by her leg as a spike clipped up and impaled her by the foot; Sea Monkey got one through the lung and began to choke on his blood, while Fisherman had one of his arms torn off. The spikes rose up ten feet off of the ground and carried the heroes up, freezing and breaking parts of their bodies.


    The Victorian roared, but then suddenly the intense heat flooded back, causing the ice to melt, and pools of lava appeared underneath the heroes, which dropped them into it. At the last second, the Victorian used her powers to create waves of golden chains that yanked people out of the way, but as she did that, the Beast''s fist rammed into her, and for the first time since the battle began, it didn''t just swat her out of the way but actually hit her, unleashing a world-shaking punch and ramming her into the lava that appeared around it once more.


    She smashed down into it, and it brought its foot up, trying to stomp her out. Max Lightning rocketed forward and landed under it, raising his hands up, trying to block the foot. He was no match for it though and stomped down into the ground on top of the Victorian, the two of them sinking deep into the lava.


    It was no longer a twenty-foot radius. Now, it had grown to nearly forty feet, and with Lady Time no longer focusing, the debuff that slowed the Beast vanished. Its speed doubled, and from above, lightning poured from the sky like rain, smashing into the back of any hero that was flying and bringing them down. A sharp blade-like vine then stabbed out of the Beast''s back, impaling anyone that wasn''t in the air before they could move. Everyone was dragged forward, and dozens of heroes were dunked into the lava, bursting into flames.


    Fable found himself also impaled on a branch and tossed his shield down just in time, turning the lava into stone once more as he and his winged horse were dropped. More lightning rained down, however, and rammed into them, downing many of them and killing several of them.


    Ocean Empress tried to block it with her water, but it tore right through and blasted a small hole into her stomach, causing her to cough up blood and crash down into the street.


    The Beast once again began to walk forward, leaving almost all the heroes either dead or too injured to fight behind it. It had learned a new lesson, though. It shouldn''t play with ants. And so, this time it''s good eye glanced down at the two heroes that were still standing. The two heroes had been avoiding getting into every fight and had stayed out of its radius the entire time. The two heroes were right at the edge of the center layer and crossing into the district where people were still being evacuated.


    Battery''s energy was beginning to shimmer with a faint blue light. It wasn''t done yet, though. Blood was pouring down his chin, and his heart was on the verge of exploding. He had pushed his body too far in the past, and now, just building up the energy required to enter his blue form was too much.


    Myth stood in front of him, crouched low, still in his lion form. His eyes burned with rage, and he stared up at the face of the monster that had ruined everything. The thing that had taken his position, his life, his father, his world.


    "It''s over." Battery winced. "I wasn''t fast enough." Hundreds of people stood behind him, staring in horror as the Beast approached.


    "It isn''t over!" Myth stepped forward and let out a powerful roar. "I''m still standing!"


    "You can''t fight that thing by yourself!"


    "I''m not here to fight it! I told you! I''m here to keep you safe!" Myth launched himself forward. This was it—his redemption.


    He would do it all on his own if he had to.


    All he had to do was single-handedly take down the Beast...