A Few Days Ago...


    "So, how have things been?" Myth asked. The leader of the Sub Enforcers stared down at the street below, his eyes not leaving the young girl who was attempting and failing to move soil in a mini-field.


    Sky gave a half-shrug and dangled her legs over the side of the building she was on. "I mean, nothing really happened after you left. If you''re worried about her, you can talk to her. I think that would make her happy. She talks about you sometimes."


    Myth shook his head. "It isn''t that easy."


    "It is, though."


    "No. It''s not." The man''s tone made it clear he wasn''t willing to argue.


    Sky let out a soft sigh. "Alright. So, what did you want to talk about then?"


    It had only been three days since Hope returned to Oleander City. The Lord of the Sun and Cosmos hadn''t been happy about her new job, being placed on farm duty, but Hope hadn''t complained about it either. It was in the middle of the day, and so many of the people below were working. Normally, Sky would find herself busy doing something, but she had felt prying eyes and discovered Myth standing on top of a destroyed tower, watching the streets below.


    That was where she was now—sitting next to the dark-skinned man, simply taking in the sight of her people working.


    Myth folded his arms and remained standing instead of sitting. "Red Ape is in Lillian right now. Being held in a cell. Hopefully, soon he''ll be sent to Nightshade."


    "That''s good. Right?" Sky raised an eyebrow. She had almost forgotten about the goofy villain. His monsters were still in the tunnels, and the Sub Enforcers had been removing all the bombs he had scattered around the city when he tried to blow everything up. Despite how dangerous it had all been, Red Ape was still so forgettable.


    "He''s the only one we caught." Myth pinched the bridge of his nose. The man had even more bags beneath his eyes, and his skin was littered with small bruises from a recent mission he had gone on. "The others got away."


    "Only Green Wolf, Doctor Blue, and White Lamb got away," Sky said, shaking her head. "Red Monkey and the others were already dead."


    "That''s still bad, though. Green Wolf seemingly has more lives than he or she knows what to do with, and he got a whole lot stronger. And Doctor Blue is quickly becoming a huge pain in the ass. First, he made Wish, and now this. When will it end?"


    "You know as well as I do that it never ends," Sky responded back sadly.


    Myth gave a faint nod. "We still have Black Crow as well. Unlike Red Ape, we didn''t send him straight away. It''s a good thing we didn''t either."


    "It is?"


    "Yeah. Not long ago, the Hero Branch lost communication with Nightshade and Boy Genius." Myth muttered quietly as if he was afraid the people down below would listen.


    "Seriously!" Sky felt her eyes go wide. She looked up at the sky, finding Boy Genius''s drones. They were still flying around doing what they normally did, though now it made her wonder who was truly piloting them... "I know Nightshade is important and all, but someone like the Victorian or Fable could break in and check out what''s going on, right?"


    "That''s what the Hero Branch wanted." Myth slowly shook his head and let out another tired sigh. "It''s not there, though."


    "What do you mean it''s not that? Like it''s gone?"


    "Yeah." The Sub Enforcer leader nodded somberly. "Usually, it floats above the water, but now it''s nowhere to be found. It likely dropped into the water and could be somewhere at the bottom of the ocean by now. The Victorian tried to check the ocean out for it, but she couldn''t find it. It''s possible Alien could have gotten to it first."


    Sky couldn''t help but shudder. "Alien? That''s not good."


    Mars King was bad. Alien was much worse, though. Alien was the father of Mars King. Just like Daemon, Alien was someone who could have held the position of the Emperor''s four Generals should a General have fallen. He was one of the earliest monsters created in the Emperor''s army, and it took Legend to take him down during the war. After the death of the Princess of Life, Alien, much like many of the monsters, was unable to keep control of his powers and began to change and mutate. He now lives at the bottom of the ocean, near the core of the planet. The Victorian tried to fight him once, but his massive size caused the entire planet to rumble, and it was deemed too dangerous.


    In the end, they just left him there. He was almost considered to be labeled as a Calamity level threat, but the title never got passed down to him since he thankfully never did anything. Alien would just sleep and only wake up to eat the magma around him or the other giant monsters that were his prey. His movement would cause mass earthquakes, but that was about it, so the plan was just to let him be, until a hero with a strong enough teleportation, or realm power, was found that could send Alien away from planet Earth.


    After all, the Hero Branch was more worried about Lucifer and Chrysanthemum since both of those threats were very active.


    "Is it Battery''s fault?" Sky finally questioned.


    "Nightshade vanishing and likely being eaten by Alien?" Myth closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Likely. Seems like everything crawls its way back to him one way or another after all."


    Sky nodded and balled her hand up into a fist. "You should talk to Hope."


    "Why?"


    "Because she''s planning on chasing after that psychopath." Sky hissed. "He''s dangerous. Who knows what he''ll try next?"


    "I might not like Battery''s current action, and I might be a little pissed at everything he''s done, but I can still say for certain he would never harm Cinder. That goes for the others as well. I don''t think he''d ever attack Whisper. After all, he''s left her city alone. He even took your sister in."


    "Don''t remind me," Sky said bitterly. "Speaking of Lois, though, what exactly is your plan with her?"


    "I don''t have one." Myth lazily shrugged. "I invited her to come back, but she said no, then spouted off some random future event where I would get crushed to death. That''s the tenth way she said I''d die."


    "She meant a lot to you, though?"


    "So did Battery, Cinder, and Snowdawn. But look at them. I failed them all." Myth looked down at his hand. It shook a bit, but he forced it to ball up into a fist. "I was looking forward to having Cinder back on my team, but now I''m glad she turned me down. I don''t deserve to be a team leader. I''m thinking I might give the mantle of Sub Enforcer leader to Wasp Nest soon. He''s eighteen now, soon to be nineteen, and was being groomed for it from Money Tree. With a bit more training, I think he''ll be ready for it."


    Sky frowned but didn''t say anything. She really didn''t know what to say. She had lost her mother, but Myth had lost so much more in his life. His mom, his dad, his teacher, his friend, his teammates, and now this? At least she still had her sister and Hope in her life. Myth''s life was just sad, though. She was amazed he was still able to be a good guy after everything he went through. He still refused to lash out at the world.


    Myth truly was a hero.


    Myth turned away and was about to leave but stopped suddenly. "You said Cinder was planning on going after Battery?"


    "Yeah." Sky nodded and winced. "She plans on trying to talk to him, but I don''t think it''ll end well."


    "You didn''t try to talk her out of it?"


    "Do you think you could?"


    "Good point. Cinder is stubborn like that." Myth finally let out a chuckle. His hand slid into the front of the robes he wore as part of his hero costume, and he pulled out a small brown cardboard box. The box was small enough to fit inside of a person''s pocket, and the hero handed it out. "Here."


    "What''s this?" Sky took the box and looked down at it.


    "Metal Ronin made it. It''s a gift. You can give it to Cinder yourself as a present or something. I think she''ll like it. Just open it up and push the button and toss it."


    "The button?" Sky dug a nail into the brown cardboard box and found a flap opening it up. Inside was a small-looking capsule thing. It was shaped like a pill bottle and made of metal with a big red button on the end of it. The girl took it, pressed the button, and tossed the thing to the center of the roof they were on.


    Instantly, the capsule let out a loud buzzing noise and hummed. White smoke flew out, and Sky found herself staring at something in shock, which expanded out of the smoke.


    "Oh? Metal Ronin made this... Huh. Neat."


    ***


    Present Day...


    Hope found herself openly gawking at her mom and dad. She was standing somewhere on the street, a block or two away from the bridge that connected to Lillian, and both her parents stood before her with smirks on their faces. Well, her mom sat but still.


    "You can''t be serious?" Hope finally managed.


    "We''re dead serious," Alexander said flatly. "Your mother and I talked. As I said earlier, we already had a pretty good idea you were going to leave."


    "I didn''t mean to make you run off." Jane bowed her head slightly in shame. "I know what I said was bad. I was just mad. Angry even. I don''t like you doing this, Hope. It''s our fault, though. We could have told you about your powers and the truth a lot earlier, but we never did. Instead, we hid it from you, and when you found out, you did what any kid would do when they got powers. You tried to be a hero. And why wouldn''t you? We see heroes every day. On the news, in cartoons, in stories, and in games. For almost fifty years now, superheroes have become a part of our society. I don''t blame you for wanting that. That doesn''t stop how dangerous it is, though. I just can''t let things go back to the way they were before the Beast. Even before I thought I lost you, every night was a living hell. I would stay up late, worried you wouldn''t come back or that you''d be seriously injured. And then it finally did happen."


    "Mom..." Hope felt her voice break, but she sternly balled her hand into a fist and steeled her nerves. "I understand why you''re worried. The truth is, I get scared about stuff like that happening to me or my friends every time I do hero work. I don''t want to give it up, though. Even with the danger when I''m out helping people, I get this strange rush." She looked down at her hands and found that they were shaking. Not from fear, though. "Maybe it''s selfish and wrong. Recently, though, I found out a lot of heroes are really selfish and make mistakes. I want to help people, and I want to fight crime. Because that makes me happy, it really does. And I know that you''re going to be worried that each time I try, I might not come back, but I still have to do something. I''m a Lord. I''m a symbol. I''m... I''m Cinder."


    Jane slowly, with effort, stood up. The woman''s legs were getting stronger every day, and she used that strength to walk forward and wrap her arms around her daughter. Hope tensed up for a moment but quickly hugged her mother back. "I understand. Actually, I really don''t, but I can see that you really do care about this a lot. That''s why your father and I decided that we''re going to come with you. I don''t want to sit on the sidelines wondering if you''ll return someday, so I''ve made up my mind. I''m coming with you."


    "It''s going to be dangerous, though." Hope argued. "You could get hurt."


    "That''s all the more reason we have to come with you," Alexander announced. "After all, you might be Cinder, but Cinder is still our little girl. Nothing is going to change that. Besides, both your mom and I have already survived attacks from both Polaron and Green Wolf!" The man bragged.


    "Only because I saved you," Hope responded flatly.


    "Exactly! If we get in trouble, our badass daughter will just save us!" Alexander struck a pose and pointed to the sky above. "I saw what you did to Red Ape. That was totally badass. It was like I was seeing Golden Weaver in action or something, the way you swung around the building."The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Hope let out a giggle and slowly separated from her mother''s embrace. "I was only able to do that stuff thanks to my amazing new sidekick." She grabbed the straps on her backpack and tugged on them slightly. "This is Baggy. Say hi, Baggy."


    An awkward silence filled the air as Kevin refused to create a face or say anything. "Welp. Our daughter''s insane." Jane said sadly.


    "He''s a talking backpack, I swear!" Hope shook Kevin, but the red monster refused to play the game and remained motionless, not reacting at all. "Dad! You saw him earlier! Remember how my costume ran away from me? That was Baggy!"


    "Sorry," Alexander said sheepishly. "I had some dust in my eye or something from your intense battle. One moment, I saw you dressed in all red, and then the next thing I knew, you stripped down. I just assumed you did that because you sensed Sky was coming-"


    "Dad!" Hope felt her face heat up.


    Kevin still refused to do anything and remained as a motionless backpack. He seemed to really not like the name Baggy after all... With a huff, the Lord of the Sun placed the bag over her silver jacket. Her jacket also wasn''t really doing anything and had remained motionless, simply clinging to her. She wondered if she''d get any more sentient clothing options later.


    "Are you two seriously going to come with me?" She finally asked.


    Her mother remained standing, though she kept a steady hand on Alexander''s shoulder. Both parents nodded. "We''re coming with you, whether you want us to or not," Jane stated.


    Hope nodded and folded her arms. She knew there was no arguing with her mom. Her mother was as stubborn as she was. "Okay. But if you two are going to come with us, then there needs to be some ground rules."


    "We''re your parents. I don''t think you get to boss us around." Alexander snorted.


    "I''m serious. Firstly, if I''m in costume, I need to be called Cinder. I know the Hero Branch threw my identity out the window, but I still want to keep it mostly under wraps if I can. Secondly, if there is anything that happens, which, with my luck, will happen, I need you two to keep yourselves safe and hide or something. I don''t want either of you getting hurt."


    "Your mother and I can handle ourselves."


    "Your father is right. The only thing we''re concerned with is keeping you safe. Speaking of rules, though..." Jane placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward. "I have a few of my own. Just because Oleander is destroyed and we''re leaving doesn''t mean you get out of school work, young lady."


    "Mom-"


    "Don''t mom me! You''re super far behind already! Starting today, we''re going to drill your homework into you if we have to! And when you are doing hero work, I don''t care who you''re fighting or how much stronger you are; I want you to go all out and just wipe the floor with them instantly! None of this slowly powering up crap; just take the bad guy out and make sure you''re safe! I know that being a hero likely means you''ll get hurt. I don''t like it, but I can live with it. I absolutely forbid you from dying, though! Do you understand?"


    Hope found herself throwing her hands up in defeat and stepping back due to the intense gaze her mother held. "Yeah! Understood. I''ll make sure to not die? I mean, it wasn''t really a plan I had in the first place, but I''ll for sure add ''not die'' to the bucket list."


    "Good." Jane nodded happily, the mood shifting once more.


    Alexander let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. "Now that that''s been settled, what exactly is the game plan, Hope? You''re leaving Oleander, and I''m guessing your goal is to head to Rose."


    "No." She shook her head. "Rose is the eventual plan, but there is somewhere else I need to go first."


    "Oh?"


    "It''s not too important. I''ll head to Rose eventually after. For now, I just need to get out of Oleander City first."


    "And how do you plan to do that?" Jane questioned. The raven-haired woman slowly sat back down in the wheelchair Sky gave her and folded her arms. "I mean, the bridge is still out. Can you walk on water or something?"


    "In my Lord form, I''m about as fast as Demonica, maybe even faster, and Demonica can run on water, so I probably could as well." The only real issue was that she didn''t have her Lord form anymore. She also wasn''t really sure if her strength, speed, or durability had changed at all. She knew she still had some powers, but she''d need to test out just what her new limits were, at least until she could get her connection to the Brightest Star to return. Just like Kevin, they were still ghosting her. "I was actually planning on jumping the distance." She said sheepishly.


    "Jumping?" Her father asked, dumbfounded.


    Hope let out another giggle, seeing the look in her dad''s eye, and she awkwardly rubbed her neck. "Yeah. I don''t know if I''d be able to make it or not, but worst-case scenario, I just swim the rest of the way or something. I dunno, I haven''t really thought it through, actually."


    "Well, you can''t do that with us here," Jane said sternly.


    "That''s true." Hope frowned and folded her arms. "I''ll need to think of a new way then, I guess." This was getting a bit tricky.


    Alexander ran his fingers through his beard, which was getting bigger each day. "I think I might have an idea."


    "You do?" Hope and Jane both said, taken aback.


    "Yep." Alexander smiled. "We should head down to the beach. It''ll be easier to show you down there."


    Hope shrugged. "Okay? Let''s head there then, I guess."


    She had no idea what her father wanted to show her; her mother didn''t seem to know either, and her father had one of the biggest smiles on his face. Whatever it was, he was clearly excited for it. That made her a bit nervous. He was always into weird things. After all, he was the same person who saw a metal Pod sitting out in the ocean and decided it would be a good idea to take it home.


    Her mother remained in the chair, and she stood behind it, pushing it as they headed to the junkyard where she had picked up Kevin. Eventually, they arrived, and her father looked around, trying to find a space that was open enough.


    Eventually, the man seemed to have found what he was looking for and stopped in the center of the junkyard, where there was no trash or piles of metal. There was also a large path that had been cleared out that led further from the beach and down to the waves. It was the same place she had trained with Snowdawn and Battery at one point.


    "This should do," Alexander said, placing his hands on his hips.


    "What is it exactly?" Jane called out.


    Alexander gave another large grin and reached into his pocket, fishing something out. "Catch, Hope."


    Hope quickly raised her hands up. She caught what her father tossed her and found herself staring down at a small brown box. She cocked her head to the side and managed to open it, but that just made her more confused. Inside the box was a metal object that was shaped like a weird cylinder. It was really small, like so small she could swallow it. It was made out of rusty-looking metal, likely having been built by Metal Ronin, and on the side of the strange object, the letters ''CV'' were carved in. Finally, a red button was placed at one end of the object.


    "You pull it out, press the button, and then toss it." Alexander stated. "At least that''s what Sky told me." The man moved out of the way as his daughter pulled the strange machine out.


    Hope held it in her hands and got ready to throw it. The thing was light, though she could tell it was Mental-based tech. She pressed the button and tossed the thing. It hit the middle of the junkyard and let out a loud clicking noise. Her mother let out a sheepish squeak and hid behind her as what looked like mist poured out of the device. The mist rose up and swirled together, and there was a soft buzzing. The next thing she knew, the strange mist was taking shape and forming together into a solid object. When it was all said and done, she found herself staring at... herself?


    Metal Ronin was a Mental-based Super. That meant that, like Boy Genius, he was able to create things, even if it didn''t make a whole lot of sense. Each Mental-based Super is specialized in different things. In Metal Ronin''s case, he had two main things he could do. The first was compression. He could make tech that could compress itself down into small forms. That was how he was able to make his suit pop up around him or keep so many weapons stored up. Other heroes had to actually put on their suits manually, but Metal Ronin''s was constantly shrunk down and hidden out of sight until he called it forth. The second thing Metal Ronin was able to do was create inventions out of trash.


    Actually, that was the only thing the hero could use. For whatever reason, even should it be heavily degraded, out of juice, or waterlogged, Metal Ronin was able to slap old, broken-down junk together and create something new out of it thanks to his power. But that did raise a question. What exactly counted as junk? Of course, the answer is simple. Anything discarded or scrapped can count as junk, no matter its true value. After all, one man''s treasure is another man''s trash. Usually, that saying was said in the reverse way, but not for Metal Ronin.


    Shortly after the Beast attack, Metal Ronin discovered that he could reuse and rebuild the discarded suits of other Mental-based heroes. After all, Mental-based tech was something that normally shouldn''t work or be able to function, so when a Mental-based Super died, that tech would never be able to be rebuilt or function the same way, and in other words, would become discarded junk. This included suits created by Boy Genius. It was by using these very same suits that Metal Ronin was able to create his greatest masterpiece yet.


    The Cinder Van.


    "What the hell am I looking at?" Hope asked, raising an eyebrow.


    "It''s so cool!" Alexander said with stars in his eyes.


    "It''s kind of... ugly." Jane admitted.


    It was a large red van. One that had huge-looking tires and massive pipes that jutted out of the hood and the back. The pipes blasted out a stream of fire that was so hot it caused the sand around them to bubble up and partially turn to glass. Both her mother and father even had to step back as the van roared to life, causing her ears to ring, even without her enhanced hearing. The van itself was painted with a red and golden look to it, and also on the side of the van, where the sliding door was, an image of the hero Cinder resided. On one side of the van, the image was of her in her costume. The suit Boy Genius had created for her. In the image, she held her shield up. On the other side, it was still her, but she was in the form she fought the Beast in, coated in golden fire, and even though it was a picture, it still radiated that sense of aura. The license plate on the van read out the words ''Pantheon'', which were done up in bold letters, and on the bumper of the vehicle, a massive pair of bull-looking horns came out, likely a nod to Myth.


    The entire junkyard kept shaking as the ''Cinder Van'' hummed with untapped power.


    "Where the hell did you get this?" Hope demanded. She felt pretty embarrassed about a car having her face on it. That was a bit too ego-fueling. Though now that she thought about it, she did have an action figure of herself, so she wondered what other Cinder merch existed and how she could get a piece of that pie.


    "Sky gave it to me," Alexander stated proudly.


    "And where did she get this from?"


    "Myth gave it to her."


    "And I''m guessing Metal Ronin gave it to Myth." She folded her arms and nodded her head. "Makes sense, I guess. Though I am wondering what this achieves."


    "What do you mean?" Her father questioned.


    "Honey, the bridge is still out." Jane folded her arms, letting out a soft huff. "There''s no road for us to take this abomination out on."


    "Roads? Where we''re going, we don''t need roads!" Alexander walked over to the scary-looking ride and opened the front door. "Get in, suckers!"


    Hope shared a look with her mom before slowly moving to the van. She felt a little embarrassed about grabbing the handle; it was placed right over her picture self''s chest, but she managed to fight through the shame and pull the door open. As soon as she saw inside the van, she gasped.


    Mayor Grove, or Sunshine, as he used to go by, had a suped-up car that had Super tech in it. Whisper had stowed away in that ride once and told her all about it. The girl had claimed the inside had been bigger than it was on the outside. After the battle with the Wandering Coin Metal, Ronin must have found the wreckage of the car and took it for himself as the Cinder Van followed that same logic. The inside was freaking huge. Like its own realm or something, though it was only indoors.


    She climbed into the van and used her super strength to pull her mother up, chair and all. It was as if a strange futuristic house had been placed into the car. They were in what looked almost like a front door-like area. The walls were made out of dark silver metal, the same for the floor and the ceiling, which had various lights shining down. The area they were in had a coat rack as well as a place for shoes and other such things.


    As she moved forward past the entryway of the weird house they were in, she found herself stepping into what looked like a kitchen. There was a silver countertop placed against the wall, as well as a stove, an oven, a microwave, and a fridge. A lot of cabinets were also built into the wall.


    Her mother was still in the wheelchair, and slowly, the raven-haired woman wheeled herself toward the stainless steel fridge and opened it. Jane let out a soft gasp when she saw what was inside. It wasn''t much, likely the rest of the Sub Enforcers'' supplies, but there were a few boxes of food and other such things scattered in the fridge that Metal Ronin had left them.


    Past the kitchen was a mix of the dining room and living room. It was split in half, with one side having a large table with several chairs scattered around, while the other side had a couch and a loveseat placed in front of a TV that was built into the wall. A fake fireplace also stood, with digital fire, and an inbuilt heater kept the entire place warm.


    The entire ride seemed to be almost like a traincart, simply going forward in one direction up until this point. Three hallways resided at the end, and the entire space seemed to grow even larger, opening up more. One hallway was shorter than the others, and she saw her father at the end of it. He stood in what looked like the cockpit of a plane. On either side of him were the two front seat doors through which he had entered. The seats of the van were also in this area, as were the controls that would allow you to actually drive this thing.


    The second hallway also wasn''t that long. It stretched out a bit, and at the end of it had a set of double doors. They were the doors to the back of the van, though due to the weird spatial warp going on, they were placed at the front. So if you were to climb into the back, you''d be able to get to the control room quicker.


    The final hallway was by far the longest. It stretched out, going on and on. On either side was a series of doors every few feet. Normal-looking bedroom doors. She''d have to explore and find out what else was in here, but if she had to guess, it was likely this was where the bedrooms in this weird place would be.


    "It''s about time!" Her father called out to them.


    Slowly, she wheeled her mother forward until she stood in the same area as him. It looked mostly like the front of the van should be. Her father was already in the driver''s seat. She helped her mother into the passenger seat next to him while she took a seat in the back.


    "Why the heck would Metal Ronin build something like this?" She questioned.


    "Well, you are the hero that beat the Beast." Jane shrugged. "Maybe this is your reward."


    "Great, a ride with my face plastered on it, because my reputation hasn''t become bad enough." She sighed.


    "Oh, come on." Alexander grinned. "You have to admit this thing is pretty cool."


    "Yeah... It is." That almost made it all worse. Seriously, how the heck did Metal Ronin make this? "As cool as it is, how does it solve the issue of getting out of Oleander?"


    "Sky showed me this thing a day or two ago, and she and I tested it out." Her father explained. "You know how a lot of people are still trapped in the city? Well, Metal Ronin is basically building these as the fix. He only made one so far, but apparently he has a few more in development. They''ll be able to use these to house some of the people, as well as take the people out of here. This one, however, was built for you. It was going to be a birthday gift to you, but drastic times call for drastic measures! Remember what I said. Where we''re going, we don''t need roads!"


    Her father stomped his foot down onto the gas, and the van let out a massive roar. Fire gushed out of the back of it, and it rocketed forward. It plowed through a massive wave of trash and flew down the beach, heading for the water. She let out a loud scream, as did her mother.


    They didn''t crash, though.


    Instead, at the last second, right before they hit the water, her father pulled back on the wheel, and it came forward with him as if it were the steering wheel to a plane or something, and the van suddenly drove across the water!


    Literally.


    They were driving on top of the ocean. She stared out the window with shock-filled eyes. They weren''t going so fast that it could do this; instead, it was almost like it was some sort of boat or something.


    Her father''s grin only grew. "Told you. Next stop, Lillian City."