Sirens cried out, and lights flickered from red to blue and back as Ruby sat on the corner of a rooftop, looking down at the horde of twisted creatures that were being loaded into cages. Hero Branch members stood by on the sidelines with tranquilizers in case the creatures sprung out. Mermaid and Legend were both loading the former humans into the back of a large Hero Branch truck. It was one of the kind that had a built-in lab onboard so more workers could study the monsters and see about finding a way to change them back, or if that was even possible.


    From what her father once told her, though that was impossible. Even if they could somehow revert the bodies back, the soul within had been destroyed and merged with the new power that was forced into its flesh.


    Many of the officers and several policemen had their weapons trained and stared at the sleeping creatures in horror, waiting for any of them to act up. She doubted the things would be waking up any time soon though. Not with what Legend had done to them.


    She remembered how he had transformed, this time into an olive-skinned man with wings sprouting from his back and forehead, holding a dripping tree branch. With just a wave of the branch, almost all of the creatures had fallen into a deep sleep that would last for days. He’d left enough to fight, though, and Ruby took her time to clear out the gunk from under her fingernails.


    She didn’t bother to look up as she felt a flutter of wind and ignored Max as he sat down next to her on the rooftop. He stared down at Legend and Mermaid, watching them enter the dead Building and come out with more of the knocked-out monsters to load onto the truck.


    There was a brief pause before the young man spoke up. “You two are crazy,” He finally said, running a hand through his hair. “Has anyone ever told you that? You and that Legend guy. Even Mermaid. All of you are straight loony.”


    Ruby turned to the hero, raising an eyebrow, and gave a sly grin. “What do you mean? I’m completely sane.” She was covered in black blood and in serious need of a shower, but other than that, she felt fine both physically and mentally.


    Max chuckled. “Seriously? Legend just decimated that Building guy with one of the apparently hundreds of abilities or something that his power has. And you? I’m sorry, but ripping a monster apart with your teeth is not ‘sane’ behavior.”


    “Hey, in my defense, both of my hands were full.”


    “With two other monsters, which you were choking out! Then you proceed to rip the throat of another monster out with your teeth! What part of that sounds sane!”


    “Being sane is for the weak.” She shrugged, turning away from Max to look back down at the cages and Hero Branch workers. “Got to challenge yourself if you want to get stronger. I think anyone strong enough to take another life has a few screws loose at the very least.”


    “Yeah.” Max sighed, “I need to stop being so weak.”


    The blonde man turned as he heard Ruby snort. She shook her head, laughing. “You got it all wrong, zapper."


    "Zapper?"


    "It isn''t about not being weak,” She proclaimed. “It’s about being strong!”


    Max raised an eyebrow and gave her an odd look. “What’s the difference?”


    “The difference? The difference is the method.” Ruby explained in her best teaching voice. “Trying to not be weak is like trying to not be scared. Weak people are always scared, so they try to make up for being weak with tricks and contraptions. You go up against real strength, those tricks and gadgets are going to get blown apart. They’re not worth acknowledging.”


    “And being strong?” He asked, watching as Ruby stood up, one hand reaching up to the sun as if she wanted to grab it.


    “Being strong…” Ruby stared into the sky. “Being strong isn’t just not being scared. Not just trying not to be. No, you’ve got to have no fear in you at all. Not of dying or losing. If you’re afraid, you’re already weaker. You start thinking, ‘Will this asshole hit me with this next hit?’ and ‘Will it hurt?’. That’s when you get hit, and it will hurt. You just have to assume no attack will ever hit you, and if it does, who cares? You can just plow right through it and kick the guy who hit you in the junk or something as payback.”


    “Sure, but you’re practically invincible. Of course nothing’s going to hurt you!” Max exclaimed. "I mean, even with the power up I got from being a Lord, your strength is like night and day compared to mine. It''s unfair. If I didn''t know any better, I''d think you had two Lords for your parents. You''re kind of a freak..."


    Ruby stomped her foot, a piece of the rooftop breaking away and tumbling to the street below, causing several of the workers to glare up at her. “That’s because I decided that I''m strong! Nothing freakish about that! I just told the world that nothing in it’s going to hurt me. No villain, attack or weapon is going to make me scared. I’m going to take my place as the greatest villain, and there’s nothing that can stop me! Especially not that cool-looking armored guy! I’m going to climb all the way to the top, and the whole world will look at me as the greatest threat on this planet! I’m going to be number one!”


    “That’s why you want to beat the Emperor?" Max asked, giving a heavy frown. "Because he’s in your way to the top. You know that means you’ll end up fighting Full Monarch, right? As in, your dad?”


    Ruby’s hand dropped to her side, and her smug look faded. “Yeah," She said quietly. "I know.”


    “And you still want to be a villain, knowing you’ll probably end up fighting him? If you really do become so powerful, the Branch will likely order him to stop you, or they’ll send Legend or someone after you.”


    “Do you know how much time I spend with him?” She asked, staring into Max’s eyes, not pausing to let him answer. “He’s been away for days already. Even before then, I hadn’t seen him in weeks. Always fighting some villain or taking care of some disaster. The last time he said he’d be able to spend an hour with me, he got a call after ten minutes about some villain firing a nuke.”


    Max stood, dusting off his pants. “And what, you want to fight him to spend more time with him?”


    The woman sighed. “If I get to the top, I can tell everyone to calm the hell down. Get the heroes and villains to both deal with their own problems. Then, maybe, I can have one goddamn day with the man that calls himself my dad. When he''s focused on me. When he''s so worried that I might turn out evil, he has to spend time with me. And when he does that, he isn''t overworked. He finally gets a break. That’s why I’ve got to be strong. I have to reach him. He needs to rest. I’m going to be the villain that defeats him and force the world to see that he isn’t some perfect Godlike machine that can do it all. Maybe then he’ll finally be able to quit and give it all up. Because the truth is, I’ve never seen anyone fail more than my dad at being the perfect hero. Not with the amount of mistakes he’s made.”


    There was a quiet pause as Max took the words he was hearing in. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by yells from the Hero Branch workers down below. He looked down to see shimmering energy appearing over the street. He knew what was coming instantly and felt his eyes narrow.


    A blue portal ripped its way open around the area. More twisted monsters began emerging from them and leaping at the Hero Branch workers around the cages. “I guess someone wants their pets back,” Ruby stated, a grin lighting up her face. “Good, this ‘being strong’ talk got my blood pumping.” The woman leaped off the rooftop, belly flopping onto a monster that exploded into a splash of goo.


    Max laughed to himself and stepped off the rooftop, too. He hovered in the air for a moment, wind swirling under him. “Yeah, she''s definitely insane. Then again, I guess I’ve always been a little weird myself.”


    A monster jumped at the boy, but with a wave of his hand, he split it in two, putting the creature out of the misery it had no doubt been forced through.


    ***


    In the Enforcers Tower, in a sparsely decorated room, seven heroes gathered around a large, circular table. The room was dark, with all the windows covered by a curtain, and a few Hero Branch officers stood at the ready, bringing supplies to the heroes of today.


    On the table, a puddle of black liquid shifted and contorted, forming a three-dimensional map of Lillian, with several blinking red dots across the map. At the head of the table, Young Dog sat with a bundle of papers in his hands. “Thank you, Ferros.” He stated, nodding to the person next to him, a woman with startlingly pale skin and black stains around her eyes and mouth.


    Ferros nodded in response and held her hand out. The black liquid on the table gathered together, forming into an orb that hovered a foot off the surface of the table and into the shape of the planet they all lived on. "Happy to help." Ferros said quietly, speaking in a dreamy voice as her body wobbled back and forth.


    She jumped a bit as a fist slammed down onto the table. “How have we not caught him yet?" Across from Young Dog, standing by the table, a man was fuming. Although most wouldn’t be able to tell they were a man. They had sleek, androgynous features and piercing blue eyes peering out from under hair that shifted through colors and lengths. Their clothing also changed from fancy suits to expensive gowns and dresses. Their name was Gorgeous, and they spoke in a high, clear voice that was borderline cute and sounded very feminine. "This amount of activity should be leading us directly to this new villain. What did you say his name was again?” The femboy demanded.


    "The Emperor." Young Dog sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. It was hard keeping all the Enforcers in check. He didn''t know how Full Monarch and Legend managed it. "He''s been behind a series of vanishings, and that’s the name that’s been connected to it all."


    “What? Some pipsqueaks going missing? Bah, that doesn’t mean nothing.” A large man chuckled to the side. Huge, both in height and figure, his name was Feast, and he was dressed in what looked like braided leather armor that creaked and strained but never broke. From under a horned helm, dark brown hair cascaded down his back. In his hands, he held a tray covered in dozens of meals, from pancakes and waffles to sticky toffee pudding and fried plantains.


    Gorgeous shook his head, cringing as Feast crunched into a bone, eating it piece by piece like candy. “Whatever he’s doing, it involves the missing gangs. He must be building an army, right, Hands?”


    Dressed in a sharp, dark blue suit that matched his glowing eyes, Hands nodded his head. He looked almost normal, save for his right hand, which was made out of pure metal and had what looked almost like runes that swam across the surface. He tapped on the black orb Ferros created, rippling the surface with his powered hand. “Without a doubt, my friend. If the Emperor was simply killing these gangs, we would have found their bodies by now.” Hands stated, looking at a map of glowing red dots on the orb.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    Young Dog spoke up. “Not if he’s transforming them. Legend found something—some storage place with more of those things. Tamer, any progress on turning them back or at least healing their minds?”


    A woman shifted in her chair and sighed. Her long coat rattled with dozens of tiny cages, all filled with various critters and animals. In one, what appeared to be a miniature lion scratched at the cage. Tamer felt bad for it, but she knew that no one in the room would appreciate the big cat being loose and in its full size. It was bigger than most trucks after all. “No progress, sir. They’ve resisted my abilities completely. Whatever they have become, there’s no trace of sentience left. Just pure instinct. There’s no mind for me to tame, and all of the labs have reported that they cannot be transformed back.” Tamer explained, stroking the lion’s cage as if asking it to wait a little longer. “I’ve put a few into these cages, but they’re basically just animals at this point. You can’t even tell they used to be humans.”


    “What if we asked the public to watch out for him?” Ferros questioned dreamily, sculpting a statue of the Emperor from black ooze that dripped from her eyes.


    A silver hand rapped against the table, and a distorted voice, almost auto-tuned, spoke out. “''Aint gonna work, bub. Public ‘aint about givin’ a mankey arse about ‘im.” Everyone at the table turned to look at the speaker. Omega was a short, dark-skinned man, half of his head covered with what looked like computers and wiring. Under a baggy shirt, those wires and computers continued to cover most of his right side, even his right arm was completely robotic and metal. He shook his head. “Don’t care about ‘im, the public do. Ain’t a concern for those folks.” He explained.


    “Hey buddy, not to be rude, but I have no idea what you’re trying to say." A voice called out, and everyone looked to the ceiling. Golden Weaver dangled from a thread, looking down at the orb. Dressed in a white and gold, skin-tight outfit, Golden Weaver released the thread he was hanging from, landing lightly on his feet next to Omega. “Mind trying to speak clearly this time, man?” Golden Weaver asked.


    "Fawk ya self." Omega stated, leaning back in his chair. “I speak how I wanna. E’s not armin’ em. Only goin’ for them normie pricks, aye Dogo?” Omega answered, and everyone turned to Young Dog, who rubbed his forehead.


    “He’s only going for the gangs. He hasn’t harmed the public yet.” Young Dog translated. “At least, not in a big enough way to threaten the general public. We’ve had some reports that he’s been involved in trafficking, which is what Legend is investigating at the moment.”


    Tamer frowned. “I still don’t get it. The level of power in this transmutation ability. I thought only Nier had that kind of juice. After all, he did something like this seven years ago. That’s why we kicked him out of the Enforcers. Isn’t he the obvious one behind this?”


    “Full Monarch claimed he saw Nier and the Emperor in the same place at the same time.” Young Dog explained. “He was able to do this thanks to the new Lord of the Weather’s power. Nier could still be behind some of this, and no doubt has a part to play since this matches the same thing he was doing seven years ago, but at the very least he wasn’t the Emperor that attacked Wano.”


    “So another guy suddenly appears on the same level of a Lord able to alter life and create new souls the same way Nier could?” Golden Weaver asked, raising an eyebrow. "Sorry, true believers, but I don’t buy that.”


    “We must have been wrong, then. It seems this new player is changing the rules.” Hands muttered, clasping his flesh hand with the runed hand. “Gorgeous, you’ve been getting some fans who offered to be your eyes and ears, right? Think you can get word to them? Tell them to watch out for the Emperor?”


    “By the gods, don’t call them my fans,” Gorgeous grimaced in disgust. “I don’t know why they’re all treating me like some popstar. At this rate, they’re going to start stalking me or my newborn son.”


    Young Dog shook his head. “We need to at least tell the solo heroes to watch out. Ferros, give out orders to be on the lookout for a villain with this description: Black armor, some kind of transmutation ability, red eyes-”


    "I thought Sini said it was blue eyes?" Ferros asked.


    "Okay then, blue eyes! Get the word out!"


    "Yes, sir!" The dreamy girl squeaked out.


    A shrieking alarm interrupted the hero, and everyone stood at attention, looking at the orb above the table. Dozens of red dots appeared across the map, and Feast audibly gulped. "Don''t like the sound of that."


    Golden Weaver ran to a window overlooking the city and peered down. Even from so many floors up, he could see countless blue portals ripping open in the city below. “Looks like he’s coming to us,” He stated, opening the window and leaning out, turning to the rest of the Enforcers. “Don’t stick around, guys.” He gave a salute then jumped out, swinging away on a thread.


    Everyone leaped to action as well. Young Dog leaped out after Weaver, firing off a grappling hook while Omega''s legs ignited, and he took off like a rocket flying out. Feast, on the other hand, slammed himself through the wall and allowed himself to drop out of the sky from fifty stories up and smash down into the street below. The rest of the Enforcers didn''t have flight or durability that good and were instead forced to take the elevator...


    Legend, Mermaid, Young Dog, Ferros, Feast, Golden Weaver, Omega, Gorgeous, Hands, and Tamer. These ten were deemed the strongest heroes of this era and led by the mighty eleventh member, Full Monarch! They were the first Enforcers! And today would be a fight that would forever change history.


    Several floors down, Sini ran through the halls as he ordered people to grab weapons and supplies. He was making his way down to the front lobby in a bit of a hurry. "What''s the status?" He demanded.


    One of his agents walked next to him at a fast pace, looking down at their tablet. "Sir," She began. "We have at least a few dozen portals opening up all over Rose, Oleander, Lillian, Daisy-"


    "Everywhere?" He cut her off.


    "Pretty much, sir." She nodded.


    "Get as many heroes as you can to head toward where Max is."


    "Sir?"


    "From what the kid told us, the Emperor went after his father in an attempt to absorb the Lord. Director Ward sent Full Monarch into space without me knowing until it was too late. I had planned to make Max stay next to the hero at all times, but with him gone, the next best bet was to have him stay close to Ruby and Legend. I put him on a team with Legend and Mermaid, knowing she would bring Ruby along. I just hope it''s enough." Sini sighed and rubbed his forehead. “It has to be enough.”


    "Each Enforcer member is heading back to the city they protect once Rose City is back under control. We''re also sending the news out to every hero we can reach. More of those monsters are flooding out of the portals." His assistant explained as they moved through the halls. “All ten cities are under attack. This is going to be considered a Calamity level threat if it isn’t handled soon.”


    Sini bit his lip as he reached the lobby floor, allowing him to see the streets of Rose. All above the sky more of those blue portals began to open up, causing a mass outbreak of monsters to come spilling out. The monsters came in all sorts of shapes and sizes, all having different powers, and they howled in pain as their very DNA was mutated and changed. "How long has he been gathering a force like this? It shouldn''t be possible. And how is he making so many portals at such a wide distance? Just who the hell is this guy?" Sini demanded. He hadn''t seen anything like this coming. There was no way the Emperor had gathered a force of this size this quickly. Something else was going on. Something that was worrying him. "What the hell happened after Full Monarch killed the Beast? What''s the new Calamity?"


    "I think I can answer that."


    Sini growled a bit when he heard the casual voice behind him. "Get back to work, you idiot! We don''t have time for-" He turned to give them an order but stopped as he came face to face with a red-haired man flickering with blue energy. This wasn''t one of his Hero Branch workers... "Who are you?" He asked, stepping protectively in front of his assistant.


    The man had messy red hair and a bit of stubble that covered his face. He wore a long black trench coat, and he lazily lifted two fingers up. Sini heard several of his men scream, and he spun around, finding more of those glowing portals had appeared, this time under all the workers in the building sucking them in. When they closed it left just him and the stranger. The Hero Branch tower was now empty besides the two of them.


    Sini’s eyes narrowed, and he felt his power flare up. He might have been old, even by Super standards, but he was still a Lord. “Move an inch and I’ll kill you.” He spat out. “Now. Who the hell are you? This is your only chance, bastard.”


    “Relax. I’m just here to talk.” The man said lazily.


    “You just want to talk?” Sini asked, growling.


    “Yep," The man said in a cool tone, cocking his head to the side. "There’s some stuff we need to talk about. The name’s Alpha. It''s good to meet you, Lord of the Sea.”


    ***


    Max spun around as wind twisted off of him and cut into several of the monsters around him. He did his best to non-lethally take them out, but it was getting harder and harder to manage while also keeping several of the Hero Branch workers safe. He knew there was no way to actually save the monsters, and they were in a lot of pain, so killing them was almost a mercy, but some looked a little too human to him and would make sad whimpering sounds or grunts.


    More of those portals began to open up in the sky above them, raining down a horde of the creatures. He knew the Emperor had been kidnapping people, but he didn''t know how the villain had this many. There must have been hundreds, maybe even a few thousand of them. And that was just from the ones that were attacking the city they were in. From what he heard over the radio chatter this was happening everywhere.


    Some of the monsters looked like large lions covered in human flesh, others were like a strange mix of a bird and a car. Some looked so far away from human you''d never even be able to tell they once were the same species, and some looked very human-like, but still attacked as if they were in a mad trance, biting the throats of Hero Branch workers and tearing them out. One thing they all shared though was the brutal way they attacked. Each monster heard it in the back of their head. A voice, the voice of the new Ego that had been forced into their body. It demanded that they kill and slaughter no matter what. All humans must die!


    The creatures flung themselves forward, not seeming to care if they were hit or even if some of their own kind got in the way. They had all sorts of powers, shooting out beams of fire, ice, or wind, or causing the ground to become bouncy or explode.


    It was utter chaos.


    The Hero Branch agents and the police officers tried to fall back while maintaining a barrage of gunfire, but almost every monster had a form of enhanced durability or had strange bodies that could shrug off having holes in them. As Max rapidly fought through the ever-growing horde, he spotted Mermaid and Legend, who were back-to-back. Legend took a clawed hand to the gut and went down as a swarm of the creatures piled on him and began to tear into the man.


    He hoped that, like before, the hero would be able to come back to life and have a strong form that could take all these things out in one strike.


    "We need back up." He shouted, shooting out an arcing beam of lightning that spread out across the street, causing several of the creatures to howl and drop as they were tased.


    "I don''t think that''s going to happen!" Mermaid yelled toward him.


    "Why the hell not!"


    Mermaid created a massive wave of water, slamming some of the monsters back and giving them a moment to catch their breath before even more of those creatures poured out of the portals above. "This isn''t the only place that''s being attacked." She explained. "I just got word from my grampa that each of the ten great cities is under attack."


    "How?" Max yelled. "That shouldn''t be possible! I know people were going missing, but he shouldn''t already have an army this big. He''d have to have kidnapped over a million people and turned them into monsters! There''s no way we wouldn''t notice something like that."


    "I think I know what it is." He jumped a bit when he heard the voice of Ruby. The girl''s smile was gone, and she eyed one of the monsters up as it dropped from the portal. This one looked almost like a giant monkey. She launched herself forward, and the monkey roared at her and struck out. Her fist flew up and slammed into the Monster''s, blowing it apart in one strike. "Just as I thought." She said quietly as she stared at its corpse.


    "What is it?" Max questioned.


    Mermaid''s face went pale when she noticed it. "N- No! That''s not possible! H- He''s dead! He died in the war!"


    "What is it!" Max asked again. The sick feeling in his gut was back.


    Ruby pointed at the corpse of the monster, then at the other corpses. They were slowly piecing themselves back together... Shards of paper filled up their insides and began to grab at their broken pieces, reattaching them. Black demonic energy hissed from their wounds as their undead bodies fully restored. In no time at all, all the dead monsters that had come from the portal were back up and fully healed.


    "The Dead Virus." Mermaid said in horror. "These things are zombies."


    "Wait! That would mean-"


    "Yep." Ruby finished grimily. "Somehow, some way, the Emperor has gained the forces of Lucifer''s army. In other words, he gave up on kidnapping so many people and instead turned an entire army of undead immortal soldiers into his monsters."


    "That is so unfair! Zombie Monsters! Seriously!”


    A loud crackle of energy hissed out of the sky, and another portal began to rip its way into reality. This one was far bigger than any of the others, and what came out of it made a shadow fall over the entire city block. It was as bigger than Building and forged from solid gold with hundreds of arms that slapped the air. It was cross-legged and floated, staring down at them with a blank look.


    "Of course it''s unfair." Golden God, one of the four great leaders of the Emperor’s army, announced in his robotic tone. "We''re evil after all."