A Golden Reunion

The hospital shook, rubble blasting down and crushing dozens of cars. Now that White Lamb was gone, the roaring of Intake was louder than any blast. The villain's upper body was poking out of the roof of the building, while his lower half remained buried. He hadn't even stood up fully and yet was already causing this much destruction.

Battery stared up at the sky with dull eyes as rocks barely missed him, all crashing into the floor next to him. His entire body ached. More than it usually did. His heart felt like it was going to explode.

He had only used the power for less than a second. Nick had been right. It was still so unstable.

Not to mention he could tell 'she' was here. The Victorian. The stabbing in his chest grew worse with every set of breath he took. He sighed, staring down at the pack of cigarettes he had swiped off of Green Wolf in the middle of their battle.

"This brand sucks. Still, I haven't had a good smoke in days thanks to Whisper, so beggars can't be choosers." He plopped it in between his lips, and with a snap of his fingers, a golden spark fired out, lighting the cigarette up. He didn't even get a single puff in before a glob of water smashed into the cigarette, putting it out. "Someone's gonna die for that."

Water splashed down onto his face, and he spat it out. He narrowed his eyes when she saw who stood above him. Her dress flowed around her form, and she had her hands on her hips. "Why the hell are you just sitting here?" Ocean Empress sighed. Battery slowly lifted his left leg up, and half of it nearly slid off his body, only a few bits of bone, skin, and muscles keeping it attached. "Oh."

Battery slowly sat up into a sitting position. "I got covered in holes in my fight with the Wolf, but it was my last attack that did this. I guess my body couldn't handle it because my leg nearly snapped off just from stepping forward. In a way. I'm lucky he teleported away when he did. Pretty sure my arm would have exploded the moment I punched him."

Ocean Empress sighed and nodded her head. "I came as soon as I finished dealing with everything downtown. The Bad Timers goon, Ghost, was running around, causing chaos. Not just him, but dozens of other solo villains as well. Still, I felt this was more important when I saw the state of the hospital. What happened to everyone inside?"

"Likely teleported away by White Spider. It seems Zoo and Bad Timers formed some sort of team-up. If it is White Spider, then none of the people should be hurt. She can't control where they end up. They would just appear randomly away from this spot in a five-mile radius, so they could be anywhere in the city. A good thing, too, because this place doesn't look like it's going to hold up for much longer."

Ocean Empress placed her arm under the man's shoulder and slowly eased him up. "Who was here with you?"

"Cinder and your daughter Paragon, though I haven't seen either of them-"

"Mr. Larison!"

"Never mind, I see Cinder."

Golden light seemed to shine down. The air shimmered, and any rock that got too close to the flying woman shattered apart. Victorian was just as amazing to see every other time he saw her. If not for the stabbing pain in his chest, he would likely be as giddy as Hope was.

The girl was in the arms of the number one hero, her eyes practically filled with starlight. Victorian slowly came to a soft landing. "You're here, too?" She raised her eyebrows as she looked at Battery's beat-up form. Slowly she set Cinder down.

"Mr. Larison- Battery, that one stone guy we fought became super big, and he took the drug, and the bad guys are after Paragon for some reason- Oh God, Paragon is still in the hospital!" Cinder panicked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, by the way. Thanks for asking, Cinder." Battery stated in a blunt tone. The Victorian held her hand out, the golden light washing over the red hero and causing him to grunt as his leg was snapped back into place, mending. It was like his own healing but a hundred times faster. "Thanks for that." He felt mostly better now, still sore, and his heart was currently being impaled, but otherwise fine.

"You said Paragon was still in the hospital?" Ocean Empress frowned. "I told Poseidon not to leave her side."

"It was my idea." Cinder winced. "And don't worry, I'll go get her right away!"

"I'll give you a chance to get into the building." The Victorian floated into the air and caught a massive boulder that Intake had chucked at her. "I'll take care of this guy up here. Think you can manage to stop the building from falling apart, Ocean?"

"Already on it." Ocean Empress raised her hands, and cracks all along the building began to freeze over, massive pillars of ice forming beneath floors as she created new support and replaced destroyed ones. "Cinder, make sure Paragon is okay."

"I'm faster." Battery stepped forward, placing his hand on Cinder's shoulder. "I'm mostly back in a good condition. I'll get her out of here. I think Cinder is more useful out here, where she can help. At the very least, it'll do her some good to observe the high-ranking heroes in action."

She really liked Mr. Larison. He was cool. "Wait." She unzipped the front of her outfit and slowly pulled the injured bird out. "Take this to Paragon."

"Right." Battery made sure his gloves were still on and carefully picked the bird up, trying not to let it touch him. "I'll hurry back quickly. Stay safe, Cinder."

"You got it!"

She watched him vanish into the hospital, leaving her alone with Ocean Empress. The woman was silent; every now and then, she would twitch her fingers, and her dress would shift as she controlled the ice and water she was using to keep the building held together. As for the Victorian, she was practically flawless. She floated through the air, not bothering to dodge anything Intake threw at her.

"You're a pretty low-ranking villain," Victorian said with a low hum. She floated in front of his face, folding her arms. "I think you can tell you're outmatched. I'm rather in a hurry; there are about three volcanoes that are about to destroy a few towns, so why don't you just tell me why you did all of this, and I'll knock you out swiftly and be on my way."

"You think you can bargain with me!" He pulled his fist back and smashed it into her. The entire limb shattered into a hail of debris as she remained put. He growled and began to pull himself out of the destroyed building. "You talk tough, but we both know you're only considered the best because the real legends are long since dead."

"I guess we'll get answers out of you later." The golden woman sighed. She floated towards him and gently poked his stomach, causing his upper body to be torn off of his legs. His massive form was sent flying, but before it could slam into any buildings, golden chains erupted from her back and chained the stone beast up. She held the chain, dangling him above the streets. "I got him, Ocean. Go ahead and call Boy Genius or someone else that can handle this guy. Tell them to get over here quickly."

"Just like that, it's over," Cinder asked, frowning.

"Just like that." Ocean sighed, shrugging. "Tori is used to fighting way worse things. She regularly takes on mad Monsters, whose DNA has been twisted so much they're as far away from being a human as possible, plus she deals with the Organization on a daily basis."

"The Organization?"

Ocean Empress formed more pillars of ice and finally rested her arms when she was sure the hospital wouldn't randomly collapse. "You know how Oleander has Zoo and the Bad Timers? Well, every city has its own group, and most make Oleander or Lillian's gangs look like total jokes. Rose city has the strongest hero in the world guarding it, and if it needs guarding at all, that means it has the highest threat. The Organization was a terrorist group that was created by the Emperor, when he tried to invade Earth. Made of the worst of Monsters and the worst of Humans, they were his army. Four main members stood out. His four soldiers, Golden God, Princess, Hell Hound, and Fairy Queen. The Organization no longer has any of those four leading it, and is a ghost of its former self, made up of only a few villains left, but still. Every single one of those people that reside in Rose, each villain there, could likely take out all of Zoo or the Bad Timers on their own. They're the guys that go toe to toe with the Victorian and constantly get away."

"Good thing they don't bother Oleander, then." Cinder winced. It was hard to believe monsters so far above Green Wolf, or Polaron existed out there. Even now, Intake had become something she wasn't sure she could stop anymore.

Up above, the Victorian frowned as she watched Intake's body slowly start to heal. "Regeneration? Man, what a pain. Hey, do you think you can survive deep space?"

"Why?" Intake growled out.

"Cause I think I might just throw you into outer space and let you chill out up there until I can come get you." The woman began to pull him up by a golden chain, and he hissed and began to squirm. "Come on, don't fight it, you'll be fine. Your lungs are stone, I'll just place you up there where you can't do anything and come get you when the heroes are ready to hold you."

The sound of stone on stone echoed out as the man's teeth grinded together shooting sparks out. "There was a reason he sent Bad Timers and Zoo out." The Victorian looked down at him, raising an eyebrow as he finally began to talk. "If it was just Zoo, or the Bad Timers, that were causing crimes, we knew you wouldn't take note of it. Admit it. It was pure dumb luck you showed up right. You were just going city to city, and happened to end up here sooner than we expected. Now that you're here though that means we have no reason to hold back. The only reason the boss didn't send 'him' out so soon, was because we all knew that if 'he' showed up here you would have no choice but to come. Since you're here now though... Guess we have no reason to keep 'him' held back."

"Who are you talking about?" Her chain twirled around Intake's neck, and she pulled up jerking his head and nearly ripping it off his body. "Who could be such a big threat you think I would show up-"

"I think you've already figured it out Ruby." A mechanical voice rumbled behind the woman.

Victorian froze, her eyes going wide. She tried to turn around, but a massive fist slammed into her from above, and she was sent crashing to the ground, finally moving. "Victorian!" Cinder screamed out in horror. She tried to run towards the woman, but Ocean Empress stopped her.

Within the crater, the Victorian stood up perfectly fine. A barrier of light shimmered around her form, blocking all the damage, and even the dust was unable to cling to her. "That voice caught me off guard. It's been a while since I've seen you. After all, you ran away with your tail tucked between your legs and fled our solar system when your master left. Golden God."

"Up there." Ocean Empress winced. "You were wondering about the Organization? Well, that's one of the four members that served directly under the Emperor."

Cinder felt her eyes go wide when she looked up and saw the monster that had managed to budge the Victorian. He was bigger than Intake and sat cross-legged in the air. He had hundreds of arms coming from his body, his shoulders, and his back, all outstretched, and he didn't seem to have skin, instead being forged from solid golden metal. It was like someone had tried to make a robot of the Buddha or something. It was almost divine looking.

"I, myself, am a little shocked, Ruby." Golden God spoke in a voice that wasn't human. It was like an AI trying to mimic a person. It never stopped for air, never said anything with any emotion; all of it was perfect and straight, completely flat. "When I returned to this planet, I didn't expect it to be so much worse."

The Victorian growled a bit and slowly floated into the air. The light shimmered around her, forming into a massive great sword nearly twice her size. "First of all, stop with the Ruby. Ruby Admiral was my old name. I'm the Victorian now. Secondly, I'm glad to see you. I can finally finish what my father started." She grinned. "Ocean Empress, make sure that girl next to you is taken to a safe distance. Same thing for that man in the hospital and your daughter. I'm about to stop holding back, so if you could block off this entire block, that would be great."

"Yeah, yeah." Ocean Empress grabbed Cinder by the arm and began to drag the girl back. "We need to get out of here, young lady."

"Shouldn't we help her though?" Cinder argued.

"No. We'd just get in her way. You take off to a safe distance while I go back for Battery, and-"

The chains around Intake snapped, and the villain roared, his stone wings stretching out as he took flight. Victorian turned about to swing her sword, but before she could, dozens of Golden God's arms slapped the air, sending sonic booms her way and shoving her back toward the ground. "Mister Intake, I would suggest you run." Golden God said in his flat tone. "You still have a job to do after all."

"Way ahead of you, boss!" Intake flew over the city, his tail smashing through every building he flew by.

"Change of plans." Ocean Empress yelled. She formed her board of ice, a mini-wave of water picking her up. She scooped Cinder onto her board. "We're stopping that villain! If Golden God needs him for something, then we must not let him get away, no matter what!"

"Right." Cinder tried to balance on the ice board, holding onto Ocean Empress. "I'll back you up then!"

Intake laughed as he soared through the skies, the two heroes hot on his trail. "I might have let all this power go to my head for a second there." His arm and lower half had already reformed. "I'll just need to find the leader of the Wandering Coin. Maybe I can convince them to help me kill Golden God and the Victorian."

"We're not going to let him do that, right?" Cinder asked.

"Obviously." Ocean Empress grabbed Cinder by the arm. "Go long, kid! Bring him down!" She threw Cinder through the air as hard as she could, the girl flying over Intake.

Cinder gritted her teeth and clasped her hands together as she began to fall towards the villain. "Okay. Here goes my best!" She yelled, mustering up all her power and blasting out a truck-sized beam of fire!

Meanwhile, Battery stepped into the hospital, finally getting a nice long drag on a cigarette. "Yeah, that hits the itch."

"Must you smoke next to my bird?" He cocked his head up when he saw Paragon. The girl's arms were folded, and she rested next to a wall that had somehow remained standing, seemingly waiting for someone to come and get her. Battery tossed the bird towards her, the thing squawking at him angrily as she caught it. "Whoa, don't throw Destiny!" She whined.

Battery ignored her, blowing out a bit of smoke. "So, you killed Mars King." Paragon didn't say anything staring him down. Or at least the best a blind girl could do. He didn't seem to mind though. "I guess he never stood a chance. After all, your daddy was the Emperor."

"How do you know that?"

"How do you think?" He took another drag of smoke. "I was in that bastard's army."

"If that was meant to scare me then I'm sorry to say it failed." Paragon snorted. The girl folded her arms. "After all he had four generals. Golden God, Hell Hound, Princess, and Fairy Queen. Golden God is right outside, I saw him thanks to Destiny. The other three were all women. So that means you can't be any of the big four. In other words." She stopped and her hand balled into a fist. "You're a Monster."

"Maybe. Maybe not." Battery shrugged his shoulders. "Even I'm not quite sure."

"So why are you here then? Was this all some big act for you to pretend to be a normal human, and you've come to kill me?"

"Not quite." Battery dropped his cigarette and stomped it out. "And as much as it kills me to say this, I have a favor to ask. A big one."

***

The Victorian flew through the air, dodging the hundreds of arms that tried to slap her down into the ground. "You're moving slower than you used to. And I don't remember your hits being this weak." She taunted.

Golden God floated after her, allowing her to lead him higher and higher into the sky until soon they were away from the city. She would have to make sure none of his attacks went down. Soon, they would be in space.

"Do not worry about me, Ruby." Golden God held no emotion in his voice, but it still came off as a taunt. "I know I will get away when the time is right."

"Oh and what could be so important that you would come down here yourself?" The Golden woman wondered. "Actually." A bus sized sword of light appeared above her. "I don't really care."

And with that, she slammed the sword down towards Golden God as hard as she could, cutting through space itself and splitting the clouds down below in half! Golden God made what sounded almost like a grunting noise. He had attempted to dodge the strike and managed to get mostly out of the way but lost nearly fifty of his arms, as everything on his right side was cleaved off by the attack.

The villain grunted and tried to grab the severed limbs with his remaining hands, but a blast of lightning sprung forth from the clouds below and blew more of his arms off. Floating up after them, surrounded by a bubble of air, Max Lightning slumped his shoulders. "Looks like I finally caught up." His voice was almost as dull as Golden God's.

"Max?" Victorian said with wide eyes.

"Hey, Jill."

Meanwhile, down below, Cinder gritted her teeth as she drew out every last drop of her power. "Hurry up and lose! I'm missing the coolest thing ever right now!"

When she was a kid, she had always looked up to the Victorian. The woman was strong. One of the strongest on Earth. She couldn't see the fight, but she knew that the woman was going to beat Golden God.

It was obvious, after all.

Cinder fired down onto Intake with everything she had. The fire erupted from her hands, as big as a bus, and it slammed down into the back of the villain, shaking him. He began to fall towards the ground and roared. Despite that, though, he remained in the air, the stone on him already starting to heal, and with another flap of his wings, he lifted back up. The force of the wind smashed into her, and she was sent tumbling up and away from him. "Uh oh-"

She fell through the air but was quickly caught by Ocean Empress, who continued to surf on her ice board. She landed in the older woman's arms and gritted her teeth.

"I can't hurt him with my fire." Cinder winced.

"My turn, then." Ocean Empress set her down on the board and brought her hands up. The water began to bend and twist around her, forming into what almost looked like a bow. Ice began to grow solid like an arrow, and with a snap of her fingers, it blasted out like a bullet. It slammed into Intake's tail, blasting the thing off and causing him to smash into the side of a building.

He slammed into the ground, his feet shooting debris out in all directions. Bubbles of water began to flow out, covering any person that was down on the street, as well as cars, keeping them all safe. The water tried to spread over the villain as well, but he sprinted out, his massive feet leaving craters in the road.

"He's heading to the mall." Ocean Empress muttered.

"Why's he going that way?" Cinder asked.

"That's where the other villains were. They had broken into several teams. I came to the hospital because my daughter called and told me the mall was under control and that I needed to get Paragon." Ocean Empress threw her hand out, and shards of ice blasted toward the villain.

"Right!" She pointed her fingers out and fired beams of fire alongside the woman.

Intake growled when he felt the icy shards impaling his back and the fire that started to melt him. He came to a sliding stop and sliced out with his hand, ripping a chunk of building out. He turned around and threw the stone block as hard as he could at the two girls who rode the water. "Leave me alone! I'll deal with you after I'm a God!"

Ocean Empress sliced her hand up, and the water shredded the chunk into small debris before it could reach them. "Think you can perform that big blast you did earlier again?"

"Yeah, but only one more time. I don't have a ton of energy, sorry." Cinder blasted shards of rocks that threatened to fall on the people down below.

"Got it." Ocean Empress frowned. "In that case-"

Intake's tail grew back, and he cut the woman off by suddenly whipping around and slicing out with the limb. A bubble of water formed around the two just in time, but the force was still strong enough to slam them through a building and destroy the wave that they rode on. Cinder could feel the older hero wrap her arms around her, defending her from the fall. They slammed down into the road, leaving a crater in the ground.

Ocean Empress groaned, her back having taken most of the damage. "Are you okay?" Cinder pulled out of the woman's arms and set up. She felt perfectly fine. The woman had kept her completely safe during the crash.

"I've been hit by worse." Ocean Empress managed to push herself up slowly. She wobbled slightly and shook her head, clear of her messy thoughts. "I'm not as durable as some other heroes and usually rely on my barriers to tank the hits for me. One more swing and something in me will break for sure."

Cinder balled her hand into a fist. "Okay then, I'll go on ahead and let him swing at me while you attack him, then!"

"That's a stupid idea." Ocean Empress snorted, and suddenly, Cinder understood who Paragon took after. "You're a kid, and besides, we don't have to beat him. We just need to stall him long enough for another Enforcer member to arrive. They'll be on their way soon, I'm sure."

"Actually," A voice piped up, causing them to jump. They saw a blur, and slowly, Battery came to a stop in front of them, carrying Paragon on his back. It was Paragon who had spoken, Destiny resting on her shoulder. "I think I have a way to beat him."

Intake laughed as he jumped over a building. He was so much taller, filled with way more power, and his body healed faster than the heroes could hurt him. The flesh beneath his armored form constantly grew back and recreated the armor he now had. His power allowed him to absorb things and then recreate what he absorbed, which was how he could heal in the first place.

That drug, whatever it had been, he would have to thank Red Ape before he killed the idiot. Thanks to his power, he was constantly recreating it. What should have had a time limit had become endless within him. His blood had practically changed into the substance.

He roared as he took to the air again, and his stone face twisted into a smirk when he saw the mall. It was still standing, though it had clearly been torn apart by several fights. Down below, he could see the crowd that had been rushed out. They stared up at him in horror.

He grinned and landed. He had no idea which one was the leader of the Wandering Coin or if they were even still in the crowd, but it didn't hurt to look. He opened his mouth as wide as he could. He would just devour everyone below him until he felt his power grow. It was the only way to be sure.

The crowd screamed, and he towered over them, about to fall face first onto them, when suddenly something rammed into his ear, blowing it off. He clutched at it with a growl. It had been a beam of golden energy.

"Ah! So, I've finally found you." He turned around and, sure enough, was the man he wanted to kill as much as Cinder. The janitor wore a red costume now, but he could tell it was the man.

"Yeah, it's me." Battery taunted. Standing next to him was Paragon and Cinder. Ocean Empress was nowhere to be seen. "What are you going to do about it!" Intake growled and turned away from the hero. He raised his arm up, trying to grab at several of the fleeing people, but a golden chain suddenly wrapped around the limb. Cinder and Battery tried to pull his arm back, both gripping onto the chain. It wasn't the only one, either. Dozens of more chains began to stab out of Battery's back and fly through the air, wrapping around the villain's legs and arms.

"You think this can stop me?" Intake said, letting out a great booming laugh that shook the parking lot.

"I think you forgot who was at the mall!" Battery yelled.

Intake grunted when he felt a massive amount of weight surrounding him. He was forced to drop to his knees as Poseidon glared down at him from on top of the mall. She wasn't the only one either. Diamond dust began to surround the golden chains, hardening them and giving them more power as Money Tree gave a wide grin and tipped his hat.

Myth transformed into his bull form and had already made his way over to Cinder and Battery. He took hold of the chains and began to pull, dragging the villain away with the other two heroes. "Sorry if I don't have all my power." Myth winced. "Had to get some sense knocked back into me by Poseidon."

"I'll heal you as soon as we're done here," Paragon said. "Do you think you can keep him held down for a bit on your own, Myth?"

"I'll do my best." The bull man said, nodding.

"I'll kill you all!" Intake roared. "All you heroes will be my prey to slaughter! I cannot be stopped so easily." It seemed he spoke the truth, as even now, he was already pulling himself back up to his feet and began to snap the chains off of him.

That was when Ocean Empress struck. The sewer lids exploded as massive amounts of water rose up. It was a mini tsunami, and it crashed down onto the villain and began to freeze his lower body and bind his arms up. He thrashed around with his head as the Enforcer floated down on a new board she created. She forced more water to hold him down, and when she was sure he couldn't move, she gave the command.

"Now's your chance." Ocean Empress called out.

"You're sure this will work." Battery grunted. The chains that came from his back faded, leaving only a single one that had come from his hand, which he let go of, leaving Myth to keep all the weight held down on his own.

"It will." Cinder nodded. "Paragon's plan. I saw it for myself when I fought Intake."

"That was before he turned into that." Battery shook his head and shrugged. "Whatever. Let's finish this before my heart gives out. You two ready?" Cinder nodded and slowly picked Paragon up, holding onto the girl in a bridal carry. Battery then grabbed Cinder by the back of her costume, picking her up off the ground with one hand. "You're not going to use the 'you know what' on him, are you?" He asked Paragon.

Destiny flew off of Paragon's shoulder and landed on Myth's, now that the bird was fully healed. The hero snorted and shook her head. "One of these days, I'm going to seriously need you to tell me how you know all of this. Anyways, no, I'm not going to use 'that power' on him. I already used it earlier and can use it once every few days only."

"What power?" Cinder asked.

"Don't worry about it. Good luck, you two." And with that, Battery spun his body as fast as he could, a golden light shining out and then switching to a shimmering blue for a single heartbeat. Cinder felt something close around her and realized that a giant hand had formed out of Battery's body. It was the size of a car and forged from crackling blue energy coming out of his wrist and clutching onto her and Paragon as if they were some sort of baseball.

Then he let go.

Cinder blasted through the air faster than she had ever moved fire gushing out of her feet, as Battery's blue energy vanished, and the giant hand shrunk back down. A golden barrier, the last of Battery's energy, barely clung to her and Paragon to keep them safe. She held the girl close and hoped the barrier would hold strong. As soon as it was gone, any average human would basically die from the sheer speed they were moving at.

As she flew through the air, she twisted her body around, her fire getting so hot that for a split second, it turned white and mixed with the gold around them, and she smashed into Intake's gut feet first. Just like the Victorian had done, the blow was so strong that it ripped the man's upper body off of his legs, and he went flying, going over the mall and past most of the city, slamming down into the ocean. Cinder's feet were literally embedded in his chest, and when they finally hit the waters, the barrier around them cracked.

The stone skin on Intake shattered around the spot she had rammed into, revealing his human skin. The stone was already starting to creep back up, and he was beginning to heal as he roared and ripped his arms up, about to squish them.

"Now's your chance, Paragon!" She dropped the girl and raised her hands, catching the palm that tried to crush them. She gritted her teeth, feeling light-headed from all the power she used, but she refused to falter.

Paragon pulled her glove off and then lightly placed it on the man's skin. "We win."

"No!" Intake screamed as loud as he could.

The plan had been simple, in theory. Just get some of his armor off for Paragon to touch him. When she fought Intake, she had seen the skin beneath his armor several times, and he would have to form new skin each time it broke. That meant that there was still flesh, which was good, as that meant Paragon could infect it. The first time she saw the girl in action had been at the hospital that night. The girl had touched the thug and forcefully evolved his body to be immune to drugs.

This was basically the same. Purging this stuff from the villain and ensuring he could never get this strong again.

"My power! No!!!" The man shrunk down slowly, his stone skin shattering away fully until he reverted back to his normal height. She collapsed into the ocean and struggled to stay upright. A flaw in their plan had been she never actually learned how to swim, something she quickly regretted as she began to go under the water. When the man was fully cured, Paragon removed her hand, and she slipped her glove back on.

Intake growled and threw her off of him. He could feel the drugs leave his system, his body cured of it, evolved to a state of not taking impure substances. "I'll kill both of you." He grabbed one of the rocks that had broken away during his body reverting, and his skin began to change. He still had his powers, after all. "You two are-" Ice erupted from the water he swam in, and in an instant, he was frozen in a cube.

Cinder gasped, spitting out water, as she felt a floor of ice lift her up out of the ocean, and she dropped down to it, breathing heavily, as Paragon grunted and slowly pulled herself onto the board as well. Up above, Ocean Empress watched, floating on her own ice platform, a small smile on her lips. "Not too bad."

"Did we do it?" Cinder winced. She waited for Paragon to answer, but the girl didn't. "Paragon?" She turned to look at the girl and felt her blood run cold. A stream of red poured down Paragon's body, all coming from under the girl's mask. "Oh my God!" She pulled the girl's mask off and watched in horror as blood was oozing from the girl's eyes, nose, mouth, ears, everything. Ocean Empress flew towards them with her own eyes wide, but it was too late. Paragon collapsed forward into her arms. "Sky!"