Spoilers

The city shook. Mr. Sini quietly removed his glasses and gently placed them on his desk. He was older, sporting a few wrinkles on his dark skin and several grays in his beard. He wore a black suit, one made for business instead of combat.

All around him was destruction. His newly created lab in Rose City was in ruins. He had created Sini Corp shortly after Lucifer was truly defeated. While Full Monarch decided to follow Nier's final example and throw himself into hero work, he had settled on a different path.

Before the Calamities, they say humans stood at the top, that they were far more advanced. It had taken nearly fifty years and the work of every Super he knew, but gradually, Sini had brought the world back to its true self. Now, though, it was all in ruins once more.

His building was falling apart. Black flames ate away at the walls. Most of Rose City was already gone. "If you wanted my attention, rest assured. You've gotten it," he called out.

Outside his building was dirt. The road, the street, the buildings, the cars, the people, and even the city had been wiped clean off the map in a one-mile radius, leaving just a flat stretch of land directly outside his front door. At the very edge of this bizarre, strange new battlefield that had been created, Sini saw him—his once-long-time friend.

The thing might have been Nier once, but he wasn't that hero any longer. A twisted, jagged throne created from living flesh had been forged directly at the edge of the arena. The Emperor's proper form was blacker than even darkness itself, melding in with the wisps of night. What he could see, though, was a pair of glowing blue eyes that stabbed out of the black void that rested on the throne. He couldn't make out arms or legs or anything like that, but he could feel the thing's tremendous power. A power that was rivaled only by the other Calamity threats.

Directly in front of the shadowy throne, the Emperor's bodyguard stood. Hell Hound wore blood-red armor, something she had been gifted from her dark master. Sini traced her form as she walked forward slowly. In her hand, she gripped a jagged mace, one stained in blood—her weapon, the very same that had shattered dozens of heroes' skulls. Able to negate and cancel out weaker powers.

Sini strolled forward, walking out of his building. He stopped fifteen meters away from Hell Hound as he and the villain glared at one another. "You could have just knocked if you really wanted to speak with me. This destruction was uncalled for, Nier. I know that you're hurting, but this isn't the way. This isn't what she would have wanted-"

Hell Hound's fingers grew tighter on her weapon, and he could see her eyes narrow. "You have no right to speak as if you know who the master is or what he's gone through. He is not Nier."

"I'm the one who raised him. I have every right." Sini sighed. "But you're right. He isn't Nier. Not anymore. He's become something worse than the very monsters he creates."

"I'm going to teach you a lesson." The monster hissed, crouching low. "One you should have been taught long ago."

"Oh? And how do you plan to do that?"

"I planned on hitting you so hard your head pops, and I'd get to see the inside of your skull."

"I see." A ring of water began to slowly twirl into existence around Mr. Sini. "It's been fifty years since this old man bothered to fight. That said, I hope you don't think I've gone soft-"

Hell Hound was on him in an instant. Moving faster than most pro heroes, she swung her mace down so hard that the world had trouble keeping up, space twisting and bending to her will. Sini's water barrier barely had time to rise up and block the strike, and even then, the force of the attack was enough to send him flying back. His water struck out like a whip, but Hell Hound twirled herself around and slammed her weapon down onto the wave, sending a powerful shock wave through it that was so hot and fast it caused the water to instantly boil and turn into steam.

Sini held both his hands out and let out a loud battle cry. From the sky, the clouds were torn in two as a long trident slammed down into the ground, and he ripped it out with one hand. "Do me a favor and help this old man get back in the swing of things, will you?"

Hell Hound threw her mace at Sini as hard as she could, and he swung his trident out, smacking it out of the way. The villain dropped to all fours and darted forward like a wild beast, her armor's helmet ripping in two and allowing the wolf-shaped maws on it to lash out. Sini vanished and reappeared behind the woman, bringing a sword made of water down in an attempt to rip her head clean off.

Blood splashed down onto the floor, and Sini's sword slipped from his grip as he stared down at his stomach. A beam of blue energy had stabbed through him. His glare turned toward the Emperor, who still rested on the throne. The man's finger was raised ever so slightly, poking out of the black he had covered himself in. "Have you no shame! I was fighting her, and you-"

Hell Hound's mace smashed into the side of Sini's head so hard his neck nearly snapped as he was sent flying with dozens of his teeth flying out his mouth. He rolled across the ground, spitting up blood, and groaned. Hell Hound stalked forward, raising her weapon, but stopped when she saw her master's hand raised.

"Let me guess..." Sini slowly pulled himself back up and nearly collapsed to his knees. "Now that I'm like this, you want to fight me, huh?" Sini stalked forward, moving past Hell Hound and back to the sword he left stabbed into the ground. "You really aren't Nier anymore. You're just as bad as Lucifer." Sini screamed and ripped his weapons out of the ground. He gripped the sword tightly as ice armor began to form around his body. "I won't give up, monster! This old man has some fight left in him!"

And that was Sini's final battle.

Unknown to him, a small drone recorded the entire battle from above. Avalone watched the man that saved him, the one that raised him and helped him, fight until his final breath.

"Goodbye, Mr. Sini." Avalon said quietly. "Thank you for helping humanity out."

The Emperor lifted a white sword covered in runes up and, in a single flash, brought it down.

***

"Finish him!" The voice announced over his computer. Avalon clicked a few buttons and watched as his character in the video performed a series of combos and wiped out his enemy with a gory over-the-top move.

The man leaned back in his chair and stretched out. "Next time, put up a real challenge." Avalon snickered. He was back in his spotless room in his Oleander lab. Everything had grown so dull now, and he was forced to wait. Fairy Queen had locked off his basement and refused to let anyone down until she had fixed up Golden God. As for Green Wolf...

Harrison let out a heavy sigh as he felt a wave of thoughts rush into his head. Images of the stadium appeared. Green Wolf was requesting a teleport into the arena that would become their battlefield. "We're ready." Green Wolf's voice echoed around his head. "Send us in, boss."

"You got it." Avalon snapped his finger, and for a second his body glowed blue. "Send them randomly in groups into the stadium." The glowing grew in strength, and he could feel Green Wolf and the others all vanish and reappear somewhere in the stadium. "Good luck."

It was almost like a psychic connection. It was one of the many powers he had been granted long ago. He had used it to connect with many people. Battery, Green Wolf, even Mr. Sini, Full Monarch, and the Emperor had been connected to him at one point or another. It allowed him to use his teleportation ability from a distance. He had been blessed with many powers, most of which he got from the Emperor. His connection also allowed him to control his puppet hands.

They were small gray metal hands that floated around his office, obeying his will. He had created them from the metal he got when he studied some of the Pods. He had used the same metal to make all of Red Ape's helmets and Poseidon's trident.

His entire office was filled with various desks that had half-finished projects on them. White metallic hands constantly went about fixing everything up or finishing some of his smaller goals for the day; all the while, he got to sit back and play games.

Those same hands had built Beta, a robot that kept its eye on the Enforcers and made sure they didn't stray from the path of humanity.

He clicked a button on his computer and was about to start up another game but was unable to do so as his screen changed and one of the few other humans that were in the tower appeared on his monitor. He didn't know her name. She was some desk worker he had been forced to hire since the Hero Branch didn't want his tower to be run by just robots.

"Mr. Avalon." The woman's voice cracked a bit. "T- There's someone here to see you."

He narrowed his eyes a bit and hummed. "I don't have any appointments."

"She was very insistent."

"Well, who is it-" His wall exploded and sent debris all throughout his office. A wave of ice and water expanded out of the hole, freezing dozens of his hands in place. "Never mind. I think I know." His eye twitched a bit when he saw the large blade of ice that had impaled his monitor, killing it. A few of his hands had swarmed him and created a glowing green barrier that kept him safe. He had based it on Green Wolf's own kinetic shield. "Can I help you?"

From the hole in the wall, Ocean Empress gently floated in. She walked on a stream of water and flipped her hair casually. A chair made of solid ice grew out of the floor, and she took a seat, folding her legs. "I hope you don't mind, but I decided to drop by."

"I mind a little."

"Aw. Too bad." The hero folded her arms and leaned forward, eyeing him up. "I'd like to have a nice long chat."

"About what?"

"Oh, you know. This and that." Ocean Empress constantly changed the shape of her dress, wisps of water snaking through the air and gently splashing against the barrier Avalon kept around himself. "You're a pretty important person in our little community. Avalon Industries has worked with the Hero Branch for years. Of course, recently, Boy Genius joined us, and we haven't needed your help in quite some time. I wonder if that's why you've been doing all of this."

"Doing what?" His eyes narrowed slowly.

Ocean Empress gave a lazy shrug and shifted in her chair. It changed to accommodate her and started to look like a really fancy throne. "I don't like the guy or anything, but he told Boy Genius some interesting things, who in turn told me. You were friends with my grandfather and my dad. You've even helped my daughter out and created a weapon made just for her."

"Your grandfather, Mr. Sini, was a good man. It's a shame what happened to him. It's even more of a shame that the title of Lord of the Sea and Depth skipped over you and went directly to your daughter. With that kind of power stacked onto your already impressive powers, you might have been one of the strongest Supers. Maybe even stronger than the Victorian." Avalon drummed his fingers down on his desk, or at least he tried, but his desk was outside of his protective barrier. This was not a good situation to be in.

His eye twitched, and he let out a sigh. He was about to say something but stopped when he felt a rush of thoughts slam into him. Green Wolf needed a teleport again, somewhere behind the hero known as Cinder.

"Something wrong?" Her lips were twisted into a sly grin.

"Let's just skip the silly taunts and get to the good stuff, huh? Why'd you come?"

"Where's the sword?"

"What sword?" Green Wolf tried to reach him again, and he rubbed his neck awkwardly. There were conditions for his power. He needed to speak the command out loud to teleport them and also be able to think about the location requiring focus. The barrier he was in might be able to take one attack from her if he was lucky. But that would require him speaking faster than she could act and teleporting himself out before she broke past it and got him.

"Let's not play dumb." Ocean Empress sighed. She folded her arms and stared him down. "Battery told us everything."

Harrison felt his heart sink for a moment. "Ah. So my old partner betrayed me. Figures. I was planning on backstabbing him, but he beat me to it."

"Your old partner?"

Avalon snorted and shrugged. "It was at a time I didn't like. A time when I didn't work for the heroes. Fifteen years ago, I was approached by someone, and he used his powers on me."

"You mean?"

"That's right. Fifteen years ago, I worked for the Emperor. Just like Battery. In fact, he and I were on the same team. You'd be shocked at how many people the Hero Branch is willing to give a second chance to, so long as they can at least pretend to be useful."

"I was told you hate the Emperor though?"

"I do."

"What made you hate him though?"

"He killed your grandfather." That caused her eyes to go wide, and she stared at the man. His goofy look was gone, replaced with a serious one, and his tone was straight-laced. Avalon snapped his fingers, and the barrier around him went out suddenly.

Ocean Empress stepped back and narrowed her eyes, but Avalon didn't seem like he was going to attack. Instead, he casually placed his hands in his pockets and leaned over a bit. "What are you doing?"

He gave a lazy shrug. "I figure there is no use in hiding anything. Even if I do manage to get away, the Hero Branch will shut down all my buildings and take all my toys. Sure, I might be able to escape, but where would the fun in that be? Besides, you came all this way. I might as well show my hand, right?"

Ocean Empress tightened her grip on her sword. She placed a finger on her communication device. "I want you two as backup in case he pulls anything."

Avalon blinked as he watched more of his wall be torn to bits. Poseidon came up slowly, using her gravity control to pick herself up. In her arms, she carried Paragon, holding onto the girl tightly. Instantly, Avalon nearly buckled as he felt the gravity around him grow stronger. Paragon walked toward him and softly placed her hand to the back of his neck, ready to use her power if he tried anything.

"Don't do anything rash, okay?" The healer stated bluntly.

"I would never-" Her hand came closer to him, hovering just above the flesh of his neck. "Do you want to know why I'm working with Green Wolf?"

"So, you admit it? Just like that." Ocean Empress asked with narrowed eyes.

"Oh yes. That idiot allowed himself to be seen with the sword, and it was only a matter of time before Jack decided to rat me out. No sense in hiding anymore." He threw his arms out as wide as he could. "So, I'll go ahead and tell you now. I've been doing all of this to kill the villain known as Wish!"

Ocean Empress shot him a deadpan look. "Yeah. I sort of figured that out. It's pretty obvious. Why are you doing it, though?"

For a moment, Harrison's look grew serious. "I told you I don't like the Emperor. There isn't a person on this planet who hates that man more than me, besides maybe the Victorian. Wish is the next Emperor. The next Lord of Life. She can grow just as bad as that man did if left unchecked. And as usual, that bastard Jack failed to put her down for good. I hate him almost as much as I hate the Emperor. He's a total nobody, though. Built by the Emperor to serve as his perfect warrior. He's just some monster that got lucky to have been saved by Full Monarch-"

"That's enough."

"What? Don't like me badmouthing him? I thought you hated him as much as I did." Avalon smirked. "Honestly, I can't wait for his heart to finally give out and for him to die. It'll do the world a favor-"

"If you hate the Emperor so much, why haven't you worked with the heroes to help beat this Wish? She's the Lord of the Land and Life. If she exists, it means the Emperor can't be the current Lord. His power would've had to pass on. Why work with villains and not help us take this threat down?" Poseidon asked, cutting the man's rant off.

"Because it's my fault she exists."

Instantly, he felt the gravity hit him like a truck. It came down hard, and this time he was forced to his knees, causing him to gasp. "Oh boy." Paragon stepped back. "You pissed my sister off."

Poseidon grabbed Avalon by a handful of his hair and lifted him up, glaring at him. "What the hell do you mean it's your fault she exists? That bitch hurt my Kenny. Are you saying that is also your fault as well?"

Despite the pain, Avalon couldn't help but smirk. "My bad. But yeah. That's exactly what I'm saying."

Poseidon pulled her fist back, about to punch him as hard as she could, but her arm was grabbed by her mother at the last second. Ocean Empress shook her head. "Don't do it. We need him alive. There's still a lot we don't understand." She hesitantly let go once she was sure Poseidon wasn't going to kill Avalon and turned back to the man. "My daughter is right, though. What do you mean you are the reason she exists?"

Avalon managed to get out of Poseidon's grasp and threw his arms out. His gravity was still enhanced, making it hard for him to move, but he had the biggest smile on his lips. "I think it's easier if I show you! Follow me?"

It had the smell of a trap all over it. Heroes were made to fall into traps though and then break out of them. They debated about it for a bit but finally allowed him to lead the way, but very slowly. He took them out of the room and down to his elevator. It must have been a strange sight having the beaten-up owner of the tower escorting three heroes. In the elevator, Ocean Empress waited for him to try and pull some stunt. Paragon was still ready to use her power and shut his nerves or something off if she had to. He didn't try anything like that, though. Instead, he calmly put in a code, and the elevator opened up to a secret room.

It was a large gray room filled with dozens of weird screens all along the wall and bright lights above. There was a stand that should have held something in the center, but it was empty.

"Welcome to my viewing deck!" Avalon announced throwing his arms out. "I come here to relive old memories. You see, I record almost everything constantly. I was around when Lucifer first attacked. I was a young boy back then who had just discovered he had two powers, one of which is my Mental power that lets me make my vast tech."

"I'm guessing it was meant to hold more though." Paragon questioned, eyeing up the empty pedestal in the center of the room.

"Indeed. They took each other out." Avalon hummed. "The Emperor and Full Monarch both gave it their all, and in the end they both fell to this world consumed by their hatred for one another. On that day, two Pods appeared near each other in the ocean. I only managed to get one of them, however. The other was seemingly picked up by someone else. I took the pod and stored it in my tower for safekeeping until it was one day stolen by an old friend of mine. Doctor Blue. A famous scientist that worked with Doctor Alma. Blue broke into the place and stole the pod."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Ocean Empress frowned.

"That's easy." Avalon held up two fingers and smirked. "First. I had no idea which Pod I got. I didn't want to let the Lord of the Land and Life exist, so I made sure to keep it away from people so it couldn't get enough DNA to create a new Lord. The Pods only accept the DNA of humans, and as I said, I was on the Emperor's army, so like Battery, my DNA has been tampered with and altered, so the Pod wouldn't accept me, and I wouldn't have to worry about accidentally making a Lord if I touched it, on the off chance it was the Lord of the Land and Life's Pod. I knew that if the Branch learned that I alone had the Pod, they would want to create the new Lord themselves in hopes they could get another Full Monarch or a monster like the Emperor they could control. My second reason is that I feel like the Lords have only made this world much worse. In fact, I think they could even be the reason the Shadow came to our world in the first place. If you ask me, we're better off without them." He chuckled. "When Blue took the pod, I tried to stop him, but it was too late. He used DNA samples he had of the original Princess of Life before she was a monster, as well as his own, to create the new Lord. I sent a small force to stop him, but it failed, so now I'm forced to work with the villains if I truly want to stop the Lord." His eyes turned to look at Paragon, and he scowled. "All because you exist."

"What do you mean by that?" Poseidon asked, frowning.

Harrison looked her dead in the eye and slowly gave a grin. "Battery and Myth worked together and managed to kill Wish while they were in the pocket realm. With the help of my power, Wish's DNA was forced back into her body. It should have ended there. She should have died, but she didn't because she isn't really all there. Part of her still exists outside of her DNA. A strand that has gone on to be its own person. Why did I work with the villains? That's simple. It was just easier. After all, when I told them that in order to kill Wish, we'd also have to murder Paragon, they didn't even blink."

Ocean Empress swung her sword, and a hand tried to form a barrier around Avalon, but it exploded. He tried to jump back, but she was faster, ramming her blade into his gut and out his back. His eyes snapped wide open, and blood poured out of his mouth.

"You'd really kill me to keep her safe? Way to prove my point-" She twisted the sword, and he grunted, spitting up more blood. "It's the only way. Kill one. Then, before they recover, kill the other. Wish's body has already come back. If they can kill her, then all we have to do is kill Paragon, and she—"

"Shut up!" Ocean Empress screamed. She rammed Avalon into the wall and hung him up with her sword. "Like hell, I'm letting something like that happen! I don't care if it means Wish lives. I'll find another way to kill that bitch! I won't let you or anyone harm Sky."

"Mother of the year," Harrison grunted as he slowly began to choke on his own blood. Poseidon stood in front of her sister, who had stayed silent. "Tell them the truth." He spat out. "Tell them what happened when Wish died!"

Paragon quietly stepped forward and placed a hand on her mom's shoulder. "I think he's telling the truth."

"What!" Poseidon stared at her sister in shock. "He can't be!"

Paragon took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts. "The reason I couldn't heal Grampa… The place I went… I found myself in a world I can create. Normally I can control it, but this time someone else was there. Wish had total control over my dream world. She… She's somehow connected to me."

Avalon coughed up more blood and slid against the wall, grabbing at his stomach wound. He chuckled softly. "The Emperor… Nier… He truly died the day the Beast arrived. He used his powers to try and recreate that which he lost. It isn't wrong to say that you're a monster. One created by his love. A being that never used to exist. Forged with the power of the Lord of Life. His title should have gone to you, but it didn't. He was destroyed so badly by Full Monarch that his power had no choice but to recover in the Pod. That connection is still there, though, and through that connection, Wish's consciousness remains. As long as it does, Wish cannot be truly killed. The Pod will remain hers, and it will be able to bring her back hundreds of times. Your death is the only way to end her for good. Die Paragon-"

"Shut the hell up!" Poseidon yelled. Her gravity smashed Avalon into the ground, and he grunted.

Avalon smirked, fighting through the pain, and glared at all three women. "Maybe I should show you. Let you see just what it is that the Lords can do. Why don't I show you the terror that Full Monarch and the Emperor uphold?"

The room lit up as the monitors came to life. Then in an instant, all of them began to see things. Memories that weren't theirs. Memories of Avalon's.

He was going to show them.

Show them the dark past he had lived through.

The path of the Lords.