Fate

"What do you mean you know Hope is alive?" Kyle asked, stepping back. He stared at Sky in shock as the girl's head cocked to the side.

"I guess you wouldn't know, would you?"

"Know what?"

The hero reached into the pocket of her lab coat and fished around for something. Slowly, she pulled out a small metal ball barely bigger than a golf ball. "Do you know what this is?" She questioned him.

"No?" He looked around at all the other people that moved around the underground station Paragon had forged into her base, but none of them seemed to be paying any mind to the conversation that was going on. "I'm guessing you're going to tell me that it's something really important, though?" He asked.

Sky raised her hand up and brought the orb closer to her face, staring into it. The thing was extremely shiny and clean, bouncing her reflection back and humming with a strange blue light. "This is... Well, I really don't know what you would call it." She admitted sheepishly. "The point is this thing belonged to Wish. It was how she kept coming back to life. I don't know how much Cinder told you, but Wish respawned no matter how many times she was killed. It was thanks to a connection she had within me, due to me being an offspring of the previous Lord of Life. This Pod sort of works as a connector, I think. It holds the power of the Lords within it, and it used to be a lot bigger, but I guess it shrunk when I wanted to carry it around. When a Lord dies, the power has two places it can go. The first is to a descendent. My sister got her power from her grandfather. I never met the man, but Mr. Sini had his power passed down to my sister. Originally he wanted it to go to my mother, but she wasn't close enough."

"There's a range limit?"

"Yeah." Sky nodded. "I think that's why the Victorian didn't become the Lord when Full Monarch died. When a Lord dies, and they don't have someone in their bloodline, they can pass the power down to the power and will instead go into one of these Pods where it will later birth itself up a new Lord. My father wanted his power to go to me when he died but wasn't able to reach me fully. Only a sliver of his energy found itself within me. This is mainly due to the Prettiest Flower though. She had been looking for a body she wanted to take over for years and used her host, the Emperor, to create me."

"I have no idea what you're talking about..."

"The long and short of it is I was too far away from the Emperor when he died, so I couldn't become the next Lord, and that power went into this metal orb I'm holding that later created Wish," Paragon explained. "When Wish died, though, that power was finally able to fully pass back down to me, and in turn, her Pod now became my Pod. Just as the title of Lords can be passed down so too can these strange machines." She tossed the orb back up into the air and caught it, repocketing it.

"How does that tell you that Hope is alive, though?"

Sky's smile faded a bit, and slowly, she began to walk in the direction of a series of tents that had been set up. Kyle slowly followed after her as she began to speak once more. "My sister also has a Pod. All Lords do. Her Pod had been gifted to Harrison Avalon back when he was pretending to work for the Hero Branch. That was how he got his hands on the strange metal he used for a lot of his inventions, like my sister's armor and weapon or Hope's shield and helmet. Though Battery made those... They're all created and forged from the metal that belongs to my sister. Do you know what this means?" She asked, reaching one of the tents.

"Not really?"

"It means Cinder; Hope also has a Pod." Sky moved the cover of the tent off allowing him to see inside of it.

He had seen Hope's mother a few times. Jane Lauren was a slim woman with tangled hair and heavy bags under her eyes. She was always working hard, taking up long shifts, and always seemed tired. Somehow, though, she looked even worse. The woman's hair was being brushed by her husband, who rested in a chair next to the mattress she was on. Her skin had become extremely pale, and she looked like she hadn't gotten any proper rest in days. She was even more thin, and her blonde hair was scattered with grays. She barely looked like she was paying attention to the world, and she was seated on the mattress, her body wrapped around something.

It took him a moment to figure out what it was.

It was made out of the same sort of metal Sky had been showing him. It wasn't in the shape of a ball, though. Not anymore. It looked almost like a living liquid, forming large tendrils that waved back and forth and wrapped themselves around Jane, hugging her tightly. She was as much wrapped around the strange machine as it was of her. As if both of them were trying to comfort one another.

Alexander looked down at his wife, with dozens of emotions coursing over his face. His hand moved back and forth in slow motion as he brushed some of the tangled knots out of her hair and did his best to wash her. "I used to be a fisherman." He explained quietly. He hadn't looked up when they entered but didn't seem surprised by them either. "Not for any big company or anything like that. It made enough to get by, though. One day... One day, I was out at sea, and I saw something floating there in the water."

"The Pod?" Kyle asked quietly.

"Yeah." Alexander gave a slow nod. "I couldn't figure out how to open the damn thing, so I just loaded it in the back of my truck and took it home. It was there that it opened, and we finally saw 'her' for the first time." He gave a slight chuckle and wiped at his eyes. "The smart thing would have been to tell someone, I'm sure. We didn't, though. Hope was kind of hard to take care of in the beginning. We knew right away she was a Super. She went and blasted a hole in our roof. Still, she was ours. Just by looking at her, I saw Jane and I in her. We didn't want to give her up. I had a friend named Marcus who knew a guy, that knew a guy that- Well, you get the picture. Marcus was able to get his hands on some old tech the new up-and-coming hero, Little Genius, had made. This was before LG had taken up the name Boy Genius and joined the Enforcer. LG had made this glass that worked really well at masking a Super's power. I always knew it wouldn't be enough. I knew that eventually, something would happen, and she'd discover who she really was. Still, part of me prayed that a day like this would never come. I never wanted her to be a Super. I just wanted her to be normal..."

"If your daughter was born as a Lord, then I don't think there was ever a chance for something like that to happen." Kyle winced and shook his head a bit. "Even if she wasn't, though, even if for some reason Hope had been as a normal child, and she never gained powers, I don't think she'd sit on the sidelines and do nothing. I think, somehow, she'd have found a way to be a hero. She was just amazing like that. Jumping in to save people was never even a consideration for her. Also, for what it's worse, I think your daughter was normal. Powers and all. She laughed, she cried, she had fun... She was a good friend."

"Don't speak as if she's gone." Sky cut in. "That Pod is proof that somehow, someway, Hope has to still be out there."

"It does?"

"It never created a new Lord," Paragon explained. "When the Emperor died, it took a bit of time before Wish was created because Harrison Avalon went out of his way to hide her Pod and make sure it didn't get the DNA it needed. The Pod has to look for humans it can 'borrow' from in order to create the child. I don't really know how it works, but it hasn't tried to make a new Lord of the Sun."

"Because Hope isn't dead?"

"Exactly!" Paragon nodded. "She has to be out there somewhere!"

"If she was, don't you think the other heroes would have said something?" Alexander asked quietly. "Everyone knows she has the power of Full Monarch now. Someone would have-"

"Mr. Lauren!" They were suddenly cut off by a loud yell. They all turned and saw an older man rushing toward them with a shocked look on his face. He was covered in sweat and looked like he had just gotten done running a mile. He nearly collapsed, breathing heavily. "T- The news- Did you- See?"

"See what?" Sky asked.

The man's breathing slowed as he calmed down and handed his phone over to the hero. "I went out to the streets—I found a spot with internet, and this was broadcasting." He gasped.

Sky stared down at the screen and felt her eyes go wide. It was a video, one that was stuck in an endless loop of buffering now that the phone was outside of Boy Genius's drones. On the screen, it showed a hero standing up on a stage with a smile on her face and her hands on her hips. Cinder stared out into the camera...

***

Hope felt the vibrations of the various monitors as her back pressed up against the screen. She had never really been all that scared of Harrison Avalon before, but now she could barely get her heart to settle down.

Her form was so much smaller, and her muscles felt underdeveloped. He towered over her even on his knees, and his eyes were wild and crazy looking. It didn't help that she felt even more exposed in the hospital gown he had her in. Red Ape had been at the top of her list for creepiest scientist, but Avalon had somehow dethroned the Zoo member.

She didn't get long to process what he was saying. A second later, something grabbed the man by his hair, and he was suddenly thrown across the room, smashing into his monitors and shattering them, sending glass and sparks flying everywhere. Avalon slumped down and winced, a little banged up but mostly fine. "What was that for, boss?"

She stared up, feeling her legs shake more. Things had suddenly gotten so much worse. The Emperor stared back down at her, his fiery red eyes glaring at her blue ones. His armor was so black it almost blended in the darkroom as the lights flickered on and off. His hand slowly came down toward her and she couldn't help but let out a whimper and squeeze her eyes shut. Even with her power at its max, she doubted she'd beat this thing in a fight. He was almost as vile as the Beast and nearly as strong as it.

An attack didn't harm her, though. Instead, she opened her eyes to find she was now dressed in a different outfit. Black robes hung off of her, covering her up much more than the gown had. The Emperor turned away from her and began to stalk toward the exit of the room which had opened up. He stopped and looked back at her. "Follow."

"W- What?"

"I won't ask again."

Quietly, she followed after him. She stopped and looked back down at Avalon who was still sprawled out on the floor. He looked up at her and winked. Slowly, she pulled her foot back and used all the strength she had to kick him right between the legs. The last thing she heard before the door to the room sealed shut behind her was his screams of agony.

She didn't know where she was, and looking around didn't help. The Emperor walked at a simple pace, but thanks to how small her legs had become, she struggled to keep up with him. They were in a strange metal-looking hallway. The walls, roof, and floor were all forged out of a golden substance, and the entire place vibrated constantly, a 'hum' hanging in the air.

There were many other hallways and turns, but she saw no windows or doors anywhere. Everything looked the same, and it was hard to figure out which way was truly which. It sort of reminded her of Nightshade. Not once did the Emperor speak, nor were there any other people in the halls. The only sounds were his metal boots and the pair of slippers she now wore, slapping against the floor.

Eventually, the hallway expanded, and they finally reached a new room. Like the other parts of the weird building they were in, this room was also made of solid gold, but it actually had some things in it. There were two large round windows on one of the walls, as well as a massive dining table in the center with two chairs at either end. A few portraits hung on the walls showing off pictures of Sky, though they were all things the girl would have hated, like showing her horseback riding, wearing a princess-style dress, or standing atop a mountain of skulls with the Emperor watching as the world around them burned. A large screen also hung on the wall and showed the news, though the volume was all the way down. Finally completing the fancy look was a large chandelier also forged from gold that hung up top.

She risked a look out of one of the windows and raised an eye when she realized it was a view of sharks swimming around. They were somewhere underwater. "Where are we?" She finally asked.

"Inside of Golden God."

"Huh?"

The Emperor didn't bother explaining further and walked to one end of the table and took a seat. He gestured for her, and she stared at him for a moment before finally climbing into her seat. Her head barely went above the table, and she stared down, finding several plates of steak, shrimp, lobster, and other rich food scattered about, along with at least a dozen other spoons. The armor of the Emperor bubbled and twitched and then vanished. Instead of the modern-day devil, she found herself looking at an old, tired man with bags under his eyes and messy blondish hair.

He took his fork and knife, slowly cutting into his steak, and took a bite out of it. "You know," he said, finally swallowing his bite. "I forgot how much I liked the taste of food. I was up in space for years, and let me tell you, they don't have meals like this on Jupiter."

"J- Jupiter?'

"Oh, it's where my corpse ended up after I died. Full Monarch hit me really, really, hard." The man said, shrugging. "Well? What are you looking at me for? Dig in." He snapped. "It's not real food; we're miles under the ocean, but with Fairy Queen's power, it might as well be the real thing."

"I'm not hungry-"

"I wasn't asking." He took another bite, swallowing it. "Eat. Now. How else do you expect to grow big and strong?"

She picked up her fork and knife and silently cut into the food. She had never really felt this helpless before. Part of her wondered if it'd be best to rebel against him and die. It'd at least get it all over with quickly. "H- How am I alive?" She asked after finally taking a bite of her steak. She hated to admit it, but it was pretty good.

The Emperor wiped his mouth clean and grabbed a cup filled with what she was assuming was wine. Her own glass had milk in it. He took a swig and swirled it around, letting out a satisfied 'pop' with his lips. "I thought Avalon told you?"

"I was told my body rebuilt itself like the Beast?"

"Sort of." The man placed his glass down and folded his hands on the table, leaning forward to look at her. "That's what makes the Beast so dangerous, you know. I've been telling those dumbasses not to take it so lightly for years, but they never bothered to listen to me. Hopefully, they'll take my warnings more seriously now. Full Monarch would always fight the Beast in space. When it thinks it will lose, it always takes the coward's way out and blows itself up."

"So, it's not dead?"

"Nope." She felt that wave of despair grow. Everyone had fought so hard, and yet it hadn't even mattered. What a bad joke. "The Beast will take a bit to reform, but soon it'll be back. You did better than I thought you would, though. You getting caught in its blast wasn't part of my plan though. If you were to die I'd have to wait another fifteen or so years before I could do my plan." The man sighed, rubbing his chin. "You actually did die. It wasn't for very long, but it happened. I'm a bit worried about if the powers of the Lord remained in you fully or not. If not, I'll have to find where the other half of the Lord of the Sun ended up. I bet Full Monarch thinks he was clever, splitting the power in two to make sure both wouldn't end up in the same place. The final laugh to be had, though, will be me. Oh, and do tell me if your body is feeling okay. I had to put it together with whatever pieces I could."

"You put me back together?"

"Partially. The blast blew you to bits. I was only able to grab an arm and part of your skull." That made her feel very sick to her stomach. "As I said, you died. Luckily for you, Rulers are good at cheating death. I might not be the Lord of Life anymore, but that control remains inside of me. Your Ego would have shattered and broken, fading away, but it seems the Brightest Star did its best to mend and fix you. Even with my power, though, I wasn't able to restore you back to full. That's why you're so small. Don't worry, though. If you eat plenty of food, your powers and your body should eventually come back. It might be a few months, but you should return to the old you."

That was the first good news she had heard all day. She let out a relieved sigh. Then she remembered who was in front of her. "Why did you save me, though?"

"I had to." The man shrugged his shoulders. "After all, when I called the Beast to Earth, you blowing to bits was never part of my plan."

Her chair fell back as she stood up. She glared at the man, feeling pure hate run through her body. She still didn't feel any of her powers flare up, but that didn't stop her. She grabbed the knife and threw it at him as hard as she could. Lazily, he caught it in between his fingers. "It was you? You did all of that! You killed all those people! You killed Mr. Larison! Wasn't he your son?!" She screamed. "You should have taken care of him! Why would you-"

"That traitor isn't dead."

"Huh?"

The man let out a sigh and snapped his fingers. Suddenly sound blared out of the TV and she jumped a bit looking up at it. "Introducing the newest members of the Enforcers!" Three people stood in front of the camera. "Pretty Face, Battery, and a new favorite, the daughter of the Victorian, the one and only Lightning Empress!"

"W- What the hell?" She asked, stumbling back. Battery stood in the center, staring at the camera with his typical emotionless face. The one next to him also shocked her, though. It was Lois. Only the girl looked a little different and was covered in lightning. Pretty Face also stood next to them, and all three of them were in front of the Enforcer tower. "I- I saw him die? He's alive?" She couldn't help the slight smile that found its way onto her face. Of course, he was alive. Mr. Larison was amazing like that. If anyone could escape death, it would be him.

"He did die." The Emperor stated in a blunt tone, making her head snap back over to him. "Just like you, he had to be revived. Unlike you, though, he's a Ruler. See, I revived you using my own Ego and my own powers and was only able to do so thanks to you being a Lord. His power simply revived him all on its own. I wonder how much it took, though. Half? Maybe more? I wonder how much of him is still Alpha. After all, this is his second death."

She looked back at the TV, watching as the camera showed off all three heroes. A second later, though, it changed, suddenly showing off a new scene. One that shocked her. A hero in a red outfit with the symbol of a butterfly across her chest stood on a stage, staring out at the camera that was pointed at her. She wore a metal helmet that covered her face, and fire flicked around her. Cinder, the hero that had taken down the Beast, had just gone live. She wasn't alone either. Standing next to her was a large older man in a suit who was shaking her hand, the Hero Branch director of Daisy, and on Cinder's other side was Dean Ward, the Lillian director. He had his hand on Cinder's shoulder and smiled at the camera.

"T- That's me!" She said in horror. "Oh God, am I a clone?"

"Yo!" The girl dressed up as Cinder announced. "My name's Cinder, but I'm sure many of you knew that already." The fake hero flashed a smile at the camera. "I know some people were wondering where I've been. Well, to tell you the truth, I've been busy. As many of you likely know by now, I am, in fact, the next Full Monarch. I'm the newest Lord of the Sun and Cosmos. The Hero Branch and I have been working hard trying to clean up the disaster that was the Beast fight. I sort of messed up space." The girl gave an innocent giggle before suddenly growing serious. "There's more to it than that, though. I want to be honest with everyone just as Full Monarch was." Slowly, she reached up and took off her helmet. "My name, my real name that is, is Hope Lauren." The girl stated. "And I'm proud to say that I'm working alongside the Hero Branch-"

"What the fuck!" She started stomping her foot down. "Oh, this is bullshit! Why would other me do that? My identity! I hid it so well!"

"Did you?"

"Well... I still didn't want it to come out like this!" She whined. "Why is other me doing this?"

"Skin Walker." The Emperor said, taking another bite of his food. "That's her name. She was a monster I created during the war. She can shapeshift. When I was beaten, she joined the Hero Branch and now is their pet. She takes on the form of people the Hero Branch wants to use."

"Why is she me, though?"

"They don't want it to be known that you're dead." The man explained. "See, the public all knows that when a Lord dies, they're reborn. Some of the villains, though, know that when a Lord dies, the Pod is created. Villains always go looking for them. Hell, that's why I was drafted into a war when I was a kid. To stop Lucifer from getting his hands on a Lord Pod. By making it look like you're alive, they can try to buy themselves more time to look for your pod to bring you back. Of course, none of them know you survived."

"The heroes wouldn't let something like that happen, though, right?"

"Sure, they would." The man snorted. "In fact, I bet it was Boy Genius's idea. They need the time as well. They need to replace you, after all. Sure, some of them would be against it, but what can they do? They could prove it wrong, but doing so would cause panic and harm and risk a villain getting their hands on the Pod. They tried the exact same thing when Hell Hound killed Sini, though back then, they didn't have Skin Walker. Now it's all too easy."

"People will notice I'm not doing anything, though!"

"Will they? Full Monarch was constantly up in space. Sure, he did help out on Earth, but it was never for long. All they have to do is give some of the good deeds the Victorian does to you, and thanks to how fast she moves, no one will be any the wiser. She'd go along with it, too. She's the type to do anything to live up to the shadow of her father in which she's trapped herself. As it stands, the whole world thinks you're dead."

"Then I'll show them I'm still alive!"

"You'll have to get stronger first," the man snapped, and the TV went silent once more. "No one would believe that you're the Lord of the Sun in the state you're in."

"Luckily, that's where I come in!" A voice announced. Harrison Avalon stood in the entrance to the room, flanked by hundreds of his floating metal hands. He gave a sly grin and walked past her, putting her chair back and taking a seat. He began to eat the food on the table. "I'll be doing my best to give you the quick power-up you need, so you catch up to where you were."

"What? Why? How?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

The mad scientist looked back at her and smirked. "Did you know I was a monster? I was in the Emperor's army, after all. Don't you find it a little odd? Why do I look human?"

"I guess I never thought about it before? Mr. Larison was a monster before as well, and he's human now."

"That's not true, actually." Avalon snorted. "I'm sure he thinks that's what happens due to his memory issues, but he was never a monster. Nier couldn't transform him. Just as how the Lord of Life can't use her power to change other Lords easily, he was immune to the change." For a moment, she thought back to Wish. Wish was never able to pop her or alter her like the girl could do to everyone else. She had always guessed it had something to do with her being a Lord but never questioned it more. "He got his memory issues from being a Ruler. However, all other monsters actually lose themselves when they change. Did the Brightest Star tell you about Egos?"

"A bit?"

"Good. So, you know the basics, then. Think of them sort of like a soul, I guess." The man hummed. "Supers have their soul, and then the reflection which is their power. Monsters are different, though. They're created with the Emperor's power. His ability wipes the human ego, leaving only the superego. And for normal humans it forces them to convert into a Super Ego. The body isn't able to fully handle it, though, and ends up twisting and morphing as the power goes out of control. Normal Egos need the human half to keep them in check. Without it, all that's left is a wild reflection that goes mad and mutates the form. This causes memory issues. That's where I come in." He waved his hand, and suddenly she heard a buzzing sound as something landed on his finger. It looked almost like a small fly. "Before I became a monster, I was a Super who had a few powers under my belt. Supers can have more than one Ego inside of them. This is one of the reasons I was able to keep some of my sanity. I had a Mental power that let me make stuff, as well as a power that gave me control over my own memories, which I could then put into people. Those two powers working together allowed me to record things and then shove those recordings into people's heads. Earlier, you experienced it. I have my little drones all over the place, recording nearly every event. Thanks to that, I was able to give you a taste of the life of sweet Ruby."

"Thanks to Avalon, we can put you through layers of stress without actually having to put you in danger." The Emperor spoke up once more. "Sini, my daughter, and even myself were all Lords that also had another power besides the Lord's Egos. My power is the one to make monsters which has also managed to snatch a piece of the Prettiest Flower. This power is also what allowed me to take up the mantle of Ruler. By putting you through layers of stress, your body could become a Super once more and gain new power. This will, in turn, also jump-start the Lord's power within you. Not only will you return to your old self, but you'll also be able to fix the damaged state the Brightest Star was left in and become a true Lord again. Maybe even on the same level as Full Monarch."

She glared back at the man. "Earlier, you said you caused the Beast attack, and that's why I'm in this situation. Why did you do that!"

"I needed Battery to become a Ruler once again."

"What the hell is a Ruler? You guys keep bringing it up!"

Avalon smirked and finished eating the last of the steak. "Just as there are four Lords, there are four Rulers. The Devil, The Angel, The God, and the Giant. The Dark and the Void, Death and Rebirth, Ash and Ruin, and Creation and Destruction. These four powers belonged to an entity long ago. One that called itself the Shadow. Upon its death, it split itself into pieces. The Rulers are almost like a crude copy of the Lords in a way. The Lords did kill it, so I guess the Shadow decided to steal their gimmick." The man snickered. "When a Lord dies, that power is passed down, but when a Ruler dies, their power forces the body back together, taking over much of the Ego and using it to bring itself back stronger. Alpha was taken in by Nier to be a weapon that could slay Full Monarch. When he became a Ruler, he lost in his battle with Full Monarch, and in turn, the Lord of the Sun somehow sealed the power away. That was why Nier here needed the Beast. After all, he can't kill Alpha himself or-"

"That's enough, Avalon." The Emperor slowly stood up, pushing his chair back. "I first died in my fight with Lucifer. That was when I discovered who I truly was. I was born special, you see. I was both a Lord and a Ruler for a time—the only ever person to hold this title. I had planned for my power to go into my child; however, in the final battle with Full Monarch, I discovered too late that Alpha betrayed me. He had sent my daughter away. By then, it was too late, and I died once more, this time not recovering in time to hold onto the power of the Lord. I spent years waiting for that bitch, to mature to the point where she'd bring the power back to what it should have been. I even had to team up with a disgusting human and wait for my precious daughter to get close to that ugly freak calling herself Wish, all so I could fix Alpha's mistake and turn her back into what she was always meant to be. Now that she's a Lord again, I need the Rulers to return. Legend, Lucifer, myself, and my son. The four of us, and the four Lords. Once you're back to full strength, my plan will finally be possible." His black armor twisted and formed around his body once more. "I waited over sixteen years, but alas, the race is about to start. I hope you enjoyed your meal, Ms. Lauren. Soon, we'll be putting you back through those memories of Ruby."

She felt Avalon's hand on her shoulder, and slowly, the man began to guide her toward the hallway once more. She stopped and looked back at the Emperor one last time. "What is it? Your plan? Why are you doing all of this? What could be so important that you'd risk letting me get stronger? You know I'll do everything to stop you, right?"

Those red eyes glanced back at her as the Emperor studied her. "Didn't Avalon already tell you, dear Lord?" He placed his hand up to his chest. "Your power is something that must return to you. After all, you're the one that will kill me."