Hope took several steps back, keeping her eyes trained on the girl in front of her. She had no idea who this person was, but if they were in Hell Land, then that meant they had to be a villain, and that was enough for her.


    "Are you okay?" The girl with gray hair asked, cocking her head to the side.


    "I''m fine." Hope spun around and was about to run off once again but stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked down, finding the girl looking down at her, directly behind her now. "C- Can I help you with something?"


    The villain''s face remained blank and held little emotion. Despite that, Hope could tell she was being sized up. "You look familiar." The villain finally said. "Who are you?"


    She opened her mouth, about to speak, but closed it. Thanks to the Hero Branch, the entire world got to see Cinder without her mask on and even learn that her real name was Hope. She''d have to seriously remember to beat the crap out of the guys that threw her under the bus like that. Her real name was basically out of the question, so she came up with something else.


    "Ruby. My name is Ruby Larison."


    The gray-haired girl''s muscles seemed to relax a bit, and the girl nodded her head. "I see. My name is-" The girl stopped and frowned, rubbing her chin. "Meta. You can just call me Meta."


    She was willing to bet money on the fact that Meta was in fact not this girl''s actual name, but she couldn''t really question it since she was also using a fake name. "Well, if that''s everything, I think I should head out before those guys wake up." She gestured to the knights, who were all out cold. "Wouldn''t want them to catch me again, right?"


    Meta adjusted her hat, her face remaining blank still. "You were caught stealing." The girl questioned, though the answer was obvious as her eyes scanned Hope up and down, taking in the Hell Land jacket. "You shouldn''t walk around by yourself. It is dangerous for kids to be here. Is there someone you came with?”


    "Nope! Totally alone!"


    Meta gave a small nod of her head. "I see. That complicates things. In that case, I should join you. You won''t be bothered so long as I am with you."


    That gave her serious goosebumps. Was this girl some sort of powerful villain or something? There were hundreds of evil groups all throughout the world. Oleander alone had three big ones in the form of Bad Timers, Zoo, and the Wandering Coin. Most Supers tended to be on the side of evil since it was so much easier. "N- No thanks." She quickly shook her head. "I might not look it, but I''m pretty strong." That wasn''t really a lie. She was the one who killed the Beast after all. As soon as she found a way to revert her tiny body, she''d be golden once more.


    "If you''re sure." Meta didn''t seem bothered by her blunt response.


    "Yep! Totally sure-"


    She jumped a bit when Meta suddenly reacted to something. Faster than she could blink, Meta''s hand soared into the air, grabbing something. The villain slowly brought it up to her eyes and stared down at the squirming robot that was shaped like a fly. One of Avalon''s drones had found her. It didn''t live for long as Meta squeezed down and crushed it. Meta didn''t stop there, though. In a fluid strike, the girl drew her rifle and sent out waves of slashes through the air.


    Green energy spilled out of the blade and sliced more of the drones down from miles away, cutting through hundreds of them in an instant. The villain spun her sword back around and sheathed it.


    "How odd. Avalon''s drones seem to be looking for something. He should be more careful, though. He could anger the Owner. I don’t want him reading my thoughts though, so I guess I’ll just keep destroying them if I sense them nearby-" Meta glanced down suddenly when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her elbow. Hope stared up at her with wide eyes.


    "I change my mind! You''re just the kind of person I need!" She put on her best puppy dog look and pleaded with the villain. "Big sis Meta, please help me get out of Hell Land!"


    Meta blinked. Slowly, the girl placed her hand on the young child''s head. "Cute."


    Meanwhile, on the other side of Hell Land, Avalon let out a string of curses and kicked a nearby puppy. The dog flew forward, crashing into a woodchipper as the other villains all cheered. "That''s ten points!" Someone called out. "Step on up to our attraction! Prove how evil you are by killing the cute pupper in the worst way possible! Top scores win a prize!"


    Avalon let out a grunt and adjusted his tie, giving a sly smirk. "Still got it." Though kick the puppy wasn''t the game he was best at in Hell Land. That honor went to Club the Baby Seal. He won top spot for that game after he beat a baby seal with another baby seal. "Maybe I should go play a round or two of burn the house down, or a good old-fashioned rob the baby of its candy?"


    They weren''t real animals or people in any of the games. The dog he had just kicked was thankfully just an animatronic created by the Owner. Every ride in Hell Land was all handcrafted by the Owner, who had a Mental based power made for creating twisted rides. Somewhere down the line, the Owner thought it would be funny or interesting to make a lot of twisted games with life-like robotic models, such as Grandma bowling, where you used a truck to run over as many old women crossing the street as possible.


    The scientist stepped away, now holding his prize. It was a life-sized Victorian body pillow. The Owner also thought it was funny to steal hero merchandise and offer it up as prizes in his games, so the heroes wouldn''t get any profit. Not like they needed it, though. Those ‘good guys’ were rich enough.


    "My drones should have found Hope by now." He tucked the pillow under one of his arms and pulled his phone out. His smug smile faded when he saw he had no signal. "How the hell did she destroy them all? Her powers shouldn''t be back yet." He typed something in, and the screen changed, showing off the last thing they saw before they were all destroyed. "Oh crap! Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" He dropped the pillow and took off, running at full speed toward the Owner''s tower. “Why the hell is ‘she’ here!”


    The woman in the picture, the one who had seemingly found Hope before him, was someone he knew very well. Someone very dangerous… One of the few Mental-based Supers that could give even Boy Genius a run for his money.


    In the crowd of villains, Meta and Hope walked. She clung to the villain, feeling pretty good about herself. If this girl was able to casually destroy Avalon''s drones, then she didn''t have much to worry about. Those bugs had been her biggest worry. As long as she stuck near Meta, the girl would be able to wipe them out if the man threw any more at them. The way Meta acted also was a good sign. She was pretty confident she could get the girl to protect her from Avalon if it came to it.


    Come to think of it though, that was a little odd. After all, she was sure this girl was a villain. She didn''t recognize the name Meta or the girl''s appearance, but that didn''t mean anything. New villains appeared every day.


    "You''re not really what I was expecting." She finally said.


    Meta glanced down at Hope, still having no emotion on her face or in her voice. "What were you expecting?"


    "I guess for you to not be so nice? We''re in a place called Hell Land." She snorted. "I mean, I look around, and it just sort of dawns on me that every person here is evil, you know." The crowd kept going in many directions. Some people stopped at food stands getting overpriced meals, others got onto rides. Some of the people were in costumes or suits of armor, but most looked like normal people. There were some that even looked like your typical family walking with their children. It sent chills down her spine knowing there were kids here.


    "Not everyone who is here is evil." Meta also looked around the crowd, taking the sight of it all in. "Many of the supervillains that come here do so to trade info or goods amongst each other in the Owner''s tower. While they do this, their teams are left to run around. My own boss is here, and soon I will be asked to join him. Most of the people you see here are henchmen. People without powers. More still aren''t even in a gang and are instead family members of villains or grunts. They just happen to know the right kind of people. Then you have the rich folk who work directly with the Owner. They fund this place and, in return, can take their people and family here as well as get to work personally with many villain groups. The elites of the world and the villains all go hand in hand. That said, does that make this a place of evil?"


    "If it''s filled with a bunch of villains or people who want to work with villains, then yeah." She said firmly. "I''d say so?"


    "Are you against villains?"


    "Uh! Well-" She winced a bit. She forgot that she was the only superhero in Hell Land. A superhero without any powers trapped in a child-like body. It was probably weird to not be into the villain life if you were visiting such a place.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    "It''s fine." Meta squeezed her shoulder as they kept walking through the crowd. She tried to read the girl''s face but couldn''t. Meta was the kind of person who would be good at poker. The girl never gave anything away. "I''m sure you have your reasons for thinking that way. That said, Hell Land is a place for villains. Not a place for evil. I won''t deny that there is evil here and that it was built on top of evil. Being a villain doesn''t mean you''re evil right away, though. At least that''s what I think. There''s a whole planet out there. Despite that, though, the only person who protects it is the Victorian. The other heroes have left everyone else behind and stay in their ten cities. They''ve built walls and closed off the world. Villages, towns, and even other smaller cities still exist that the heroes never come to because it isn''t in their part of the world. The Supers that run around in this land are called villains because they don''t want to work directly with the heroes or the Hero Branch. Many of those people are here now, staying in the hotels or looking for work to provide for their family or village. I wouldn''t say they are evil. Of course there are evil villains; in fact, I dare say most are evil, but I''d also like to say that I wouldn''t really call any hero a good person either."


    She didn''t really have anything to say to that. The ten major cities of the world had closed themselves off. They had left the rest of humanity behind. The humans that didn''t live in the ten cities only had the Victorian to look after them. The lone hero who was strong enough, fast enough, and more importantly, kind enough, to go out of her way to check up on them. But she couldn''t be everywhere at once. Just as Full Monarch had failed, there was no way the Victorian could keep every place in the world safe at all times.


    The Hero Branch had walled everything off and turned the outside world into a place they called the Wasteland. A place where the giant monsters from the Emperor''s army still roamed, or the undead zombies of Lucifer''s forces walked. She had gone most of her life assuming that there was no one who would be able to make a living in a harsh land like that, yet the memories she had seen had shown her otherwise.


    That little village that Wano had moved to. How many more existed like it? Scattered all over this planet. How many places didn''t have a hero that could protect them? Not even a hero. Anyone that could protect them. When you considered just how many people must be in danger or struggling to live, it really made her consider if you could call the Hero Branch good.


    She looked around at the people in the crowd, watching many of them laugh or smile. Despite that, though, she still couldn''t help but remember how most reacted when she had been grabbed. No one had stepped in besides Meta to save her. Did that mean Meta was good despite being a villain? Did it mean that everyone who stood by and did nothing was evil? If that was the case, then every hero who could help but didn''t was evil. Then again, what could the people have done? Could any of them have stopped those men from taking her? If a person didn''t have the power and knew they didn''t and did nothing, were they evil for not trying at all?


    "Man, my head really hurts thinking about all of this." She winced and rubbed at her forehead. "Can everything just be black and white, and the good guys always win while the bad guys are mustache-twirling levels of evil? Is that too much to ask for?" That was when she noticed something else. They were going in a complete circle. The entire time she had been debating morality, Meta had walked them around a ride over and over again, the villain''s eyes never once leaving it. She followed the girl''s gaze, finding it was one of the spinning teacup rides. The kind where they crashed together and bounced around a large field. This one had been made by a Super, though, so it was much bigger, and the crashes looked way more chaotic and crazier. "Do you want to go on that ride, Meta-"


    "I thought you would never ask." Meta''s voice didn''t rise, nor did her face change, but her eyes seemed to have a brief flicker of excitement to them. “I mean…” The girl cleared her throat. “We can go on it if you want, Ms. Larison.”


    “Right…”


    That was how Hope found herself boarding one of the large metal cups. The ride was set up like an arena, with each teacup able to hold four people. It was just her and Meta, however. The other cups had other groups in them, and in total there were nearly twenty. The field was almost a mile long, and once the ride started, it was like a massive earthquake went off, and the cups began to spin so fast, they kicked up tornadoes. She had to do everything she could to hold onto Meta for dear life and not be sent flying off.


    That wouldn''t be the last ride Meta would take her on, as they walked toward the exit of Hell Land...


    Meanwhile, at another spot in Hell Land, the knights Meta had knocked out began to groan and shake as they were finally waking up. They were all handpicked by the Owner and given suits of armor that matched Hell Hound''s. The Owner hadn''t been one of the four warriors but had been a monster in the Emperor''s army who had been placed directly under Hell Hound, and so he had modeled his forces after his former boss.


    Each of the Owner''s knights was a Super able to rival the strength of villains like Green Wolf or Polaron. Despite that, they had all been knocked out in a single attack from a lone woman. It was enough to humiliate them and wound their pride.


    "Wakey, wakey, it''s time for school!" The knights jumped to their feet when they heard the mocking voice. They found a lone Super standing at the other end of the alleyway they were in. One dressed in a fur coat with a hat that had the symbol of a butterfly on it. Michael tipped his hat in their direction, giving a smile. "How''s it going, boys- Actually, don''t answer that I can tell- Oh wait, is that rude? Should I let you answer- Ah, who am I kidding. You''re all going to be dead soon- Wait, should I have said that?"


    One of the guards stumbled back, staring at the blonde man in front of him. He shook, and the two other guards behind him shot him odd looks. "What''s wrong, brother? It''s just one Super? We can take him."


    "No. We can''t." The man through gritted teeth. "I know him. I''ve seen him before. Look closely, you fools! That man is the legendary villain, Arch-Angel Michael! Member of the Immortals! He''s only rivaled by his leader, Arch-Angel Lucifer!"


    "Aw, looks like I got a fan club!" Michael gave a cheery smile and stepped forward, causing the three armored men to step back. "Still got to kill you though. Boss''s order- Lucy was all like- Again, why am I telling you? You guys will be dead soon- Though I guess if you''re going to die soon, it doesn''t matter, does it- Okay! I''ve talked myself into it! I''ll tell you what''s going on- Only because you keep pulling my leg- See, the thing is Lucifer doesn''t like how the Owner is taking the side of the Emperor in their little game, so he asked me to cut down your guy''s numbers, so to speak." Michael held up a bag that he casually tossed down in front of the armored men.


    The men stared down, finding several heads of their fellow guards piled up in the bag. One of the guards drew their weapon, a large mace, which they swung out while jumping toward Michael with inhuman speed.


    Michael just gave a sly smile and dodged the swing with ease. "Let''s play a game. Ever heard of freeze tag?" He placed his hand on the guard''s stomach, and in an instant the man was covered in ice, becoming a frozen corpse. Michael shoved the man over with his fingers, causing the frozen body to shatter into a million pieces. Another one of the guards turned to run, but Michael stopped him by speaking. "A new game. Simon Says. Simon Says smack yourself in the head as hard as you can." The guard''s arm moved on its own, gripping down on his mace and swung it up into his helmet, flattening it. His body collapsed next to the final guard, who hadn''t run.


    The last guard stood there gripping his weapon. Unlike the others, it wasn''t a mace and was instead a large battleaxe. He was the one who was tasked with cutting off the arm of the girl they caught. He didn''t run or try to fight. He simply stared Michael down as the young man reached him.


    "Tag." Michael casually slapped the man on the shoulder. "Looks like you made the cut. Enjoy your life, man- Oh, hey, can you clean up these corpses- No hard feelings, I hope- You know how bosses can be right? Anyways, I need to go find my sister- Take care, bro!"


    Large wings stabbed out of Michael''s back, expanding out with a flutter. They looked angelic in nature, consisting of hundreds of golden feathers. Michael took off into the air, leaving the black-armored knight standing in the alleyway, surrounded by his dead men.


    The knight looked at the two corpses and then at the bag full of severed heads. "I really need to take my PTO soon."


    Back over with Hope, she nearly collapsed to her knees, clutching her stomach. "Never again." She whimpered.


    "Are you okay, Ms. Larison?" Meta asked, cocking her head to the side.


    "No... No, I am not..."


    They had just finished riding a massive rollercoaster, and much like the teacups, it had been built to push Supers to their limit. She had no idea how so many normal people enjoyed it. The ride had moved so fast it caught the air on fire and went up so high that if they had been on Earth, she was sure they''d have reached space.


    Meta had taken her on three more rides before that as well. She was happy the girl was seemingly having fun, but it was seriously starting to cause her body to ache. "Let''s get you something to drink." Meta stated.


    "I''m fine-"


    Meta ignored her and began to drag her to another part of the park. They were in a large, crowded area miles away from the beach, where the exit was. Meta ordered them some sort of soda and she quietly took hers.


    "Are you enjoying yourself?" Meta asked.


    "I guess." She took a sip of her drink. "As much fun as this is, though, I''d like to leave. I asked you to take me to the exit. It''s good you''re having fun and everything, but there''s something I really need to-"


    "You''re being followed." Meta said it in such a blunt way that she almost thought the girl was joking. She jumped a bit and almost spun around, but Meta kept a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. "Stay calm. I noticed that they were following us a little while before the teacups. At first, I thought they might be after me, but it isn''t anyone I recognize. They''ve also kept their gaze on you. I haven''t noticed any of the guards. I''ve kept us moving with the crowd and at popular places so they wouldn''t be able to strike."


    "That''s why you took me on so many rides?" She had just assumed the girl really liked theme parks.


    "I''m telling you now because he''s approaching." Meta explained quietly. "If he tries to attack, I''ll take him out."


    "What does he look like?" She asked.


    "He''s a red monster."


    "A monster!" That caught her off guard. She had been expecting it to be Avalon or Fairy Queen. Both were monsters but looked humanish. Neither were red either, so it couldn’t be them. The park was full of monsters, many of them having no choice but to live here since the outside world would attack them. That meant there was a good chance this monster was part of the Emperor''s group and dangerous. He also could seemingly bring his dead monsters back like what he did with Polaron or Demonica, leaving them in that weird shadowy form. At least she was assuming Demonica was dead if the girl was in that form. With that in mind, there was no telling who it could be.


    "He''s here."


    "Hope." A voice asked quietly. She felt a shiver run down her spine and she slowly turned around. It was a voice she recognized. "You are Hope Lauren, right?"


    He stood at eight feet tall and was covered in red skin that looked like living muscle. He wore a black jacket and blue jeans to cover up his form, and he was bald. A pair of devil horns stabbed out of his head as well as a tail that came from his rear, which flicked back and forth. In other words, he looked exactly like Mars King.


    She looked the monster dead in the eyes as he stared down at her. "Kevin?" She asked in a whispered voice.


    "Yeah.” The boy nodded. “It''s me."