A War In The Present

So, time would pass...

The village they called home wasn't anything special. It had been turned into a makeshift military base and had hundreds of large tents scattered all across the road. The people that still lived in the village had mostly gotten used to it and were glad to have the protection.

Avalon held his finger out and allowed his drone to land on it softly. The thing was small and shaped to look like a fly. If one were to look at it closely, though, they'd realize that it was a silver color. He used them to spy on the battlefield for Mr. Sini. He himself wasn't in the Full force and didn't wear a uniform. Instead, he had taken to wearing a lab coat he found. It made him look cooler. At least he thought so.

"Hey! You're that scientist person, right?" Avalon turned his head when he heard the voice. He found himself face to face with the talk of the town. A young boy with fiery red hair. The current Lord of the Sun and Cosmos Jackson. The boy had a large, goofy smile on his face. "We made it back from our mission! We got a bunch of rations as well, so here you go!" Slung over his shoulder, he held a bag of bread, though it was quickly running out. Despite that, though, Jackson pulled out a slice and handed it to Avalon.

Avalon didn't take it. Instead, he swiped his hand through the air. A screen appeared floating above them and showed off something his drones had caught. In the image, it showed Jackson handing bread out to every person in the village. "You're running low on food, and you're one of the strongest Super's we have. It isn't smart for you to feed others. You should be building up your own strength."

Jackson gave a shrug. "What's the point of me hogging all the food for myself? It won't matter how strong I am if you all starve to death."

"You're a soldier, not a hero."

Jackson placed his hands on his hips and gave a large grin. "Nah. I'm not just any normal soldier. I am a future superhero!"

Their country's biggest hope, the current Lord of the Sun and Cosmos, the only one with the power to defeat Lucifer, turned out to be an idiot.

Jackson tossed the bag of bread over to Avalon, who caught it on instinct. "Why don't you finish handing that out to everyone else? If there's any left, save me a slice, okay?"

"What-" It was too late to say anything to the weird boy as he turned and began to walk away, giving a lazy wave of his hand. Avalon sighed and swiped his hand once more. His screen changed. This time it shifted to a live view showing him what was going on inside of Mr. Sini's office. "These guys are all weird."

"Good job on your mission, Nier. You and Jackson showed up just in time to save the day." Mr. Sini took a sip of his coffee and sighed as he dropped a stack of paperwork onto his desk. His office was messy, filled with stacks of half-done documents or notes, as well as a few blueprints for things he had been working on for when this blasted war finally ended. "How is Jackson, by the way?"

Nier rubbed his messy blonde hair, his eye twitching a bit. "Well, he's not that whining baby I found fifteen years ago. I can tell you that."

Thirty-three years... The war with Lucifer had been going on for over thirty-three years now. They were just fresh off their fight with Gargoyle, the villain Jackson had taken out. It had been fifteen years since Nier found the current Lord of the Sun and Cosmos. Since that time, the child had grown.

In the old days, the passing of time was always something people would take note of. Here, though, fifteen years had come and gone in the blink of an eye. Nothing had changed, really. At least in terms of the war. He had gotten taller and was a full-on adult now, with a messy blonde beard. Mr. Sini was getting a few grays, years of stress catching up to the Lord of the Sea.

Sini managed to give a small grin. "You're dedicated to the growth of this child, aren't you? It seems to be working out. The two of you so far haven't failed a single task I've sent you on."

"I can't take any of the credit." Nier clasped his hands together and stared down at the ground, letting out a sigh. "I always heard that the Sun had the most growth out of all the Lords. That it would become the strongest and the fastest. I never imagined it would be this fast, though. Every day, it feels like I blink, and I've been left in the dust just a little bit."

Sini let out a low snort. Slowly, he stood up. "You know, when I was younger, I used to think that same way when it came to you. Follow me for a second."

"Okay?"

They made their way out of the office and out into the base. They had dozens of tents scattered around, and men in red ran back and forth carrying ammo and weapons as they got ready for a new expedition. In the center of it all, the wooden dragon was curled up and snored softly. Jackson, as well as a few other kids that were forced to travel with them, played with the beast.

"Father!" A voice called out. A man in his early thirties moved toward them. He had mixed skin and silvery hair tied back. A belt filled with various knives hung over his coat. Adam Sini is the man who, in the future, would go by Old Dog and be the father to Ocean Empress.

"Adam." Sini nodded towards his son. "Is something wrong?"

Adam shook his head. "No. I just wanted to let you know that we've heard back from Wano. As of now, he hasn't found any sightings of Lucifer."

Sini nodded as thoughts of the current Lord of the Sky and Weather filled his head. "I was afraid of that. We're all spooked, wondering where he could end up next. At every mission, he could appear, and we're forced to wait and see."

"He couldn't have gotten far," Adam announced. "No way that man has just vanished. He's too prideful and stuck up for that! I'm sure he'll turn up soon." After receiving a fatal blow from Nier and being unable to use his power on the Pod, Lucifer had seemingly vanished and gone into hiding. Nier was confident that he'd run into the man soon, though. It was only a matter of time.

"Maybe, but we don't have long." Nier chuckled, folding his arms. "We're running out of supplies." His eyes traced the soldiers and the little amount of tents they had left. "Every day, it feels like we show up too late. We don't have nearly enough Supers on our side to keep every squad safe. Meanwhile, it feels like Lucifer managed to get every other Super on his side, either through the use of the Dead Virus or simply by appealing to their chaotic nature."

"Don't give up yet." Sini shook his head. He had resorted to using his trident as a cane, and now his knuckle turned white from how hard he gripped it. "Hope will come out on top. I'm confident in that. It's our job to stack the deck and ensure that it does."

"Easier said than done." Adam snorted.

Mr. Sini nodded his head faintly. "I have a job for you, Nier."

"So soon?"

"I'm afraid I don't have much of a choice. Monarch's forces are advancing dangerously close to Rose City. In the morning, I'll be taking the troops and heading there myself. We can't let that place fall. Besides the army, however, scouts have given word of something trailing behind the forces. Perhaps it's a means of late-game support, or maybe it is just carrying supplies; we're too weak to risk it. Your job will be to find this thing behind the main army forces and take it down before it reaches Rose while we battle the main forces. Wano is still overseas, so you're one of the only Supers we have I can trust with this."

"Yeah, I got it." Nier waved off the concern and gave a sly grin. "I'll head out immediately and take this thing down before you guys even start your battle." He cupped his hands to his mouth and hollered. "Oi! Jackson!" The wooden dragon's mouth was locked around the head of the young boy, nearly devouring him. Despite the situation, Jackson managed to pry it open with ease and had a sly grin on his lips. "Get your shit. We're heading out."

"Alright!" The boy cheered. "Finally!"

Off to the side Harrison Avalon watched them both with dull eyes. He let out a sigh and turned his screen off and got to work, handing out the bread. Neither Jackson nor Nier noticed the small little bug drone that landed on their shoulder.

So, time would pass...

"So what exactly are we looking for, bro?" Jackson yelled over the roaring wind as they blasted high into the air.

The wooden dragon was a life created by the Lord of Land, Nier. Able to fly far faster than even the quickest jet, even strong Supers had a hard time staying on it, a wall of wind slamming into them. Part of the wooden beast was hollowed out a bit, allowing for Nier to sit at the base of the neck and grip the horns, as well as Jackson to stay crouched down behind him.

Water soaked them down to the bone as they flew through black clouds and used the mist to stay hidden. The sun had set around the time they left. They weren't far from Rose City, which was where Mr. Sini was camped. They had to travel with the cover of night to avoid being seen.

All along the airways, dozens of flying-based Monarch forces darted back and forth, and the further they got, the less ground they were able to see a massive army of raging Supers down below, ready to raid a city in only a few hours.

"Our target is an airship," Nier called out. He pulled the dragon back and rose higher into the air. "It's been trailing nearly three hours behind this force and hasn't come down since we've taken note of it."

"Well, how high up could it be for us to only notice it this late into the game?"

"Pretty high up!" Nier called back.

The water that clung to them rapidly froze as they got higher and higher. Most planes stayed above the troposphere but a little below the stratosphere. That was typically the 'safe' part of where you could fly. The air dropped to nearly below freezing, and oxygen got thinner and thinner, nearly fading out. An average human would have blacked out in seconds. Even a strong Super would have their lungs on the verge of exploding from the rapid air change, but for the two Lords, they pushed on with ease and reached the Mesosphere.

They were practically in outer space now.

That was when they saw it. Their target was a massive airship. It was nearly a mile wide and a mile long, forged from a glowing silver metal. It didn't look like it had wings or even an engine. Instead, it was likely some Super's power allowed the entire thing to take flight. It was shaped almost like a massive cube. A literal flying box.

Down below, the planet was covered in a thin veil of snow and mist as the thing floated—clouds twisted around it, masking it so high up. Mountains were tiny specks beneath them.

"Look out!"

Nier jerked and brought the horns of his wooden dragon up at the last second. He moved just in time as the floating silver box glowed with a hint of blue light, and then a massive shard of ice, taller than a skyscraper, blasted out towards them. It barely missed them and went flying out of planet Earth, reaching outer space, where it drifted away, never to be seen again.

"Guess they saw us," Jackson yelled.

"Guess so! You ready, kid?"

"Hell yeah, I am, bro!"

Part of the metal cube unfolded, and dozens of Supers now stood on the surface of it. Some blasted out bolts of thunder or lightning; others sent blades of energy and some psychic forces. The dragon weaved in and out of the way of the assault and flew even higher, getting above the massive cube and nearly reaching space itself.

They didn't have time to go through a mini-army. They were skipping right to the boss.

Jackson's fire blasted out of his palm and swirled around the dragon, and they dropped towards the cube like a meteor. The enemy Supers barely had time to scream and duck. They rammed into the metal box and blew through it, crashing past its layer of armor. They were met with layers and layers of metal floors and ceilings, which they shattered past, going deeper and deeper until they finally stopped in what looked like the command room.

It was the sort of room just asking to be a final boss arena. Large and spacious with almost nothing in it, save for a massive metal throne where 'he' rested. "I thought you might have been here." Their dragon broke apart and began to shatter due to the force it had to take. Nier could just make another one later, though. "They said you've been in hiding, not showing your face, yet the first time I went looking for you, I ran into you. What are the chances of that?"

Lucifer gripped his book and silently stared down at them, not bothering with a single word.

The final battle had arrived far quicker than any of them expected.

Meanwhile...

"Think the walls will hold?" Avalon asked.

"No, but it will put some of the people's nerves at ease." Sini said, shaking his head.

Galanthus village—the place where the final battle would take place. He watched as his soldiers finished the large stone wall that surrounded the run-down village. Past the village would be the ocean. Past that was Rose City. They wouldn't let this city fall. Rose City was special. It was the final battleground of the Shadow and the Four Lords. The place where the tower that would one day become the Enforcer's base stood.

The four Lords had once again appeared: Lord of the Sea, Lord of the Sky, Lord of the Land, and Lord of the Sun. If they didn't stop Lucifer here, they'd lose.

A few mountains lined the distance. Already, he could hear the sounds of marching. The Monarch force was quickly approaching. They'd have to hope Jackson and Nier could stop whatever trailed behind the ship.

"When the fighting begins, I want you to stay inside the village, Harrison."

"I can help though." Avalon argued. "I'm smart."

"Exactly. That's why you must live, young man. No matter what." Mr. Sini stated. He rested on the back of his horse, dressed in heavy metal armor and wielding a long silver trident, the very same weapon that would one day end up in the hands of the next Lord of the Sea. "There weren't many Supers who stayed on the side of mankind. Someone with your talent is still needed. Far more than someone like me."

"Father!" A voice called out. Sini turned and saw his son Adam, also known as Young Dog, moving his way through the crowd of soldiers. It was almost half of their forces, all scattered about either in or out of the village. They had some planes and tanks set up as well, but for the most part, the soldiers knew they'd be nothing more than cannon fodder. They were only humans, after all. "Still no sign of Wano?" Adam questioned when he reached his dad's side.

"No," Sini said, sighing. "Wano might have run into trouble. No one has been able to reach him."

Adam winced. "So, then the only Supers we have are you, me, the Thaddeus clan member, Avalon, and the Princess of Life."

"The odds certainly aren't good, are they?" A sly voice questioned. She appeared out of thin air. She was dressed in her robes, and her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She held a metal pipe, which she smoked something out of to deal with the stress. The Princess of Life. A daughter of a previous Lord of Life stood. "There is a good chance we all fail and die today." Her smile never faded.

"You shouldn't be out here!" Adam whined. "You should stay in the village and heal anyone that needs it."

"If you're looking for Nier, he isn't here." Sini didn't bother looking down at her. He tightened the straps on his helmet and stared back at the mountain, listening to the marching. "I sent the man and the boy on a mission."

"Were you scared they'd be wiped out?" The girl asked, cocking her head to the side. "Afraid it would really be the end. The way things go, even if we lose those two, would they still live and maybe be able to pull a comeback? Is that how you thought this would all go? Well, sorry to say, but you're dead wrong." She smirked.

"Avalon, please take her to the village," Sini grunted out.

"Sure thing." Avalon nodded and grabbed the Princess by her arm. "Come along, lady. Let's go."

Silence rained as Adam and his father stared out at the battlefield. "Be honest," the mixed boy asked, pulling a few of his knives off of his coat. "Can we win?"

"We have to try." Sini raised his weapon, and all his warriors stood tall. The water rose off the ground and began to swirl around everyone. It formed a thin, almost unseen barrier around every soldier, covering their weapons and armor—something that would ensure they could take at least one hit from a Super. "Last moment to get ready!" he called out.

Tanks began to roar to life, cars started, and weapons were grabbed. There were nearly three hundred of them. Three hundred squishy weak humans and four Supers going up against an immortal undead army of Zombies. Despite the setting sun and soft fall of snow, everything was bathed in a warm glow as the mountainside lit up. There were nearly one thousand Monarch warriors in total. Some were ordinary humans, those who had decided to side with Lucifer in hopes of a better world; most were Supers, though. Some had blank, unseeing eyes, now turned into zombies; others smirked, knowing they were on the winning side. Some carried torches and others flashlights; some walked, some ran, some crawled, and some flew.

Sini slammed his trident into the ground. It was the Full force that attacked first. Their tanks blasted into the air, raining down heavy gunfire, and with that, the battle began.

The Monarch force had just reached the bottom when the first shells struck. The shells knocked some Supers over and might have even killed a few of the weak ones, but the majority pushed forward, shrugging through the explosive rounds. They were Supers, and there was nothing any mere human could do to stop them.

Despite that, though, they made one mistake.

They were fighting a Lord.

Sini's horse moved faster than any car could hope to reach, wings jutting from its side as it took flight. He left his army behind and took the skies, heading straight for the enemy side all by himself. He wouldn't have to hold back if he was in the middle of the army.

Attacks bounced off of a barrier of ice and water that formed around him, and he stood up on his horse. A few flying Supers crashed towards him, but they were all torn out of the sky by blades of ice. One in particular managed to dodge, however. A Super whose arms were large wings, the feathers blasting out and exploding. One of the very first Super's he had ever killed the day he met Avalon and saved the boy, brought back from death due to Lucifer's Dead Virus.

"I must admit, you're the last person I expected to see." Sini hummed. He jumped off his flying horse and rammed his weapon into the body of the winged Super. Gravity grew heavier around him, and he came down like a tidal wave, a tsunami of water forming around him as he rammed right into the middle of the Super army. His tidal wave of water smashed down right behind him and instantly froze, catching hundreds of Supers in it and holding them all in place. "Well! Come on, then! An army vs a Lord! Surely you can all do more than this, right?!"

Sini tore his way through the Supers, each swing of his weapon causing stronger waves of gravity and water to smash down. Ice fired out in all directions, forming walls that blocked attacks. Near the bottom of the mountain, the rest of his soldiers were finally starting to arrive, bullets filling the air. His son, Adam, moved with inhuman speed and chucked knives so hard they caused sonic booms to go off and split through the enemy forces like it was nothing.

Despite all of this, though, there was one big issue...

No matter how many Supers they killed, the army didn't stop. The dead stood back up, their bodies healing and mending together. Those who stayed dead didn't remain that way for long, black energy coating them and raising them back up. Some of them began to smash their way into the frozen bodies of the trapped Supers, shattering them to bits and freeing them when the Supers' bodies healed back up.

Sini didn't let that stop him, though. He fought harder, breaking through more and doing his best to freeze every Super he could and trap them. He could hear his own forces being destroyed and torn apart as the sky was filled with dozens of powers.

The flying Super he had taken out earlier slammed into him, and all its feathers exploded in a massive fireball, throwing him through waves of Supers that all clawed and slashed at him with mad actions—more like wild beasts than actual warriors. Full force planes took to the sky, dropping massive bombs onto the mountain and causing waves of avalanches, but that barely slowed the undead Supers.

It was utter chaos.

Sini tore through another Super, this one a massive ogre monster, as he kept pushing for the top of the mountain. There was indeed only one way to win battles like these. Either outlast the undead, who would eventually fade and cease to exist when Lucifer's energy ran low, or go for its source. Lucifer's undead, on their own, could go anywhere he told them to, but the more he summoned, the more effort he needed. He wasn't a bottomless well of energy, and if there were so many that respawned so much, that meant one thing.

The villain was somewhere.

Despite his power, he was quickly swarmed. A literal ocean of the dead that didn't stop running. Their attacks barely hurt, but hundreds of them piled on, shoving him back. "Move Sini." He jumped out of the way on instinct when he heard the voice. From high above it came. Crashing down with massive force. A powerful bolt of lightning that burned hundreds of the dead warriors into ash.

Sini fell back as steam rose up at the spot the lightning had hit, a smirk on his lips. "Finally managed to make it, eh?" He called out.

The clouds twisted and broke apart as something floated down softly. A man, one with his blonde hair tied back and golden lightning twirling off his fingers as the wind carried him down softly. "Sorry," Wano called out. The Lord of the Sky and Weather had arrived. I would have come sooner, but I was busy dealing with something."

"What could you have possibly been so busy with?" Sini snorted out as his old friend landed next to him.

"I met a girl," Wano shrugged. The man's eyes traced the air, seeing something only he could see. Dozens of twisting and constantly altering Paths.

"That's what you were so busy with!"

"Yeah."

"Whatever. Now that you're here, how about we take it seriously?"

"Let's show them the power of the Lords!"

Despite holding the title, both Sini and Wano had been holding back. A Lord had the level of strength of a normal Super, and in order to access more of their Lord power, they needed to transform into a higher state. At that moment, both Sini and Wano did just that. Wano's hair changed into a dark grayish black color, and clouds began to swirl around his body, forming a scarf that crackled with lightning. Sini's hair changed into an aqua blue color, and jagged ice armor formed around him, and everything dropped in temperature. Both also had one thing in common. Their eyes were a fiery red.

High above in the sky, Nier and Jackson stared at the man who rested on the throne.

"So that's him?" Jackson asked slowly, his eyes tracing the enemy. It was the first time he had actually seen the master of death.

"Yeah. That's the current worst Super in the world. This mission just jumped up in terms of difficulty. No matter what happens, don't let him hit you or touch you. Follow my lead, and don't hold back." Nier grunted out. The metal beneath him began to twitch and bend and almost seemed to come to life and obey his command. Sparks of blue danced off his fingertips as the power of the Lord of Life surged through him. Jackson followed suit, fire twirling around his arms and legs.

Lucifer sighed, quietly stood up, and dusted his clothes off. He hadn't changed how he looked in the fifteen years since he had last been seen. He had stopped aging a while ago. As soon as he was out of his throne, the cube they were in began to shake and spin, and both boys gasped and nearly slipped as it began to fall out of the sky.

"You couldn't have just died on that night, when we first fought?" The man bemoaned as black, gross energy began to swirl around his hand.

"Dodge, Jackson!"

Nier bolted out of the way with godlike speed, and Jackson blasted away with fire just in time. The ground they stood on exploded into a hail of the Dead Virus, which began to eat away at the ship they were in, causing it to jerk and shake further.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, destroying your own place?" Jackson asked. "Not cool! Aren't some of your people on this thing?!"

"All things come to an end, sooner or later." The floor didn't just break away to nothingness. That would have been easy and simple. Instead, the virus caused it to shake and jerk, rising up as if it were a living liquid. Nier felt his blue life energy crackle out like lightning, and it allowed him to stick to the wall, avoiding the blast, as he caused the wall to form out handles for him to hold onto, but Jackson wasn't as lucky.

The floor swept up like a wave and crashed down onto the boy, wrapping around and binding the Lord of the Sun and covering him from head to toe. Nier slashed out with his leg, and his flesh tore apart, causing a jagged blade of bone to stab out and split the metal open, allowing Jackson to break free. The boy did just that, a massive burst of flame blowing the rest of the floor apart and turning the floor into a hot white color that burned part of Lucifer's robes.

The fire transformed into a giant bird made of embers and took to the air. Jackson stood on the bird and punched out with his fist as hard as he could. The fire that blasted off it roared like a beast and transformed into a lion. Lucifer raised his free hand, and a barrier of the Dead Virus formed around him, blowing the lion of fire to bits when it tried to devour him.

As the smoke settled, Nier was already on Lucifer and struck out with a powerful kick, only for the man to dodge the fast attack as if it were nothing. He was even faster and stronger than he had been fifteen years ago.

Lucifer's book opened, and a page spilled out, taking shape, as his virus gave birth to one of the Supers he had taken out. This one looked like a giant shark-like man with large arms and legs, and it roared and swung at Nier. The Lord of Life brought his arms up just in the nick of time and managed to block the swing, but the force of the attack sent him crashing back, and he slammed back first into a wall.

While the dead monster charged at him, Lucifer went after what he thought was the weakest link. He was on Jackson in a single second and went to grab the boy. Jackson let out a yelp, and the flame bird vanished, causing both him and Lucifer to drop. They hit the hot floor, and Lucifer hissed, feeling his skin burn. Jackson broke his fall with a roll and was back on his feet, throwing a powerful right hook as hard as he could. His fire flowed out and began forming into an even bigger fist, which allowed him to send Lucifer crashing back.

Lucifer flipped himself through the air and slammed his fingers into the floor, ripping it apart and causing his Dead Virus to fire out like blades. The energy broke everything it touched and crawled its way toward Jackson, but the boy quickly created another bird of fire, which grabbed onto his shoulders with its talons and lifted him up just in time.

Over with Nier, his arms ached from the full force of the creature's attacks. It struck out hard and fast, clawing at his face and trying to tear him in two. No matter how much he damaged it, the thing didn't seem like it wanted to stay down. Its wounds would close up soon after, and it would be fine. It had gray, tough skin that hurt his hands when he struck it. He was glad real sharks didn't have arms or legs, as this thing was quickly becoming a pain.

The fist of the shark-like monster slammed into Nier's face and managed to knock out a few teeth, causing the man's head to jerk to the side. "Okay, then." He spat out a glob of blood. "Since you can heal, let's see just how good you are, buddy." His palm smashed into the gut of the monster, and he shoved it back. "Begone." It went to take a step, but instantly, its back was blown to bits as dozens of flowers and vines began to pull its way out of the monster's flesh. "I doubt you can recover from something like this," Nier smirked. The monster's flesh changed and twisted as wood began to replace its skin, and it started to turn into a large oak tree. "Maybe you'll grow some good fruit one day," Nier stated, patting it.

Nier didn't have time to feel too cool, though, as seconds later, the room exploded and the floor broke to bits, causing all of them to fall to a further floor below—an engine room, which whined and howled as the airship was still falling to the ground.

"What the hell happened?!" Nier yelled with wide eyes.

"My bad! Tried making a small sun!"

"Jackson?" Nier turned just in time to see Jackson crash into him, and they slammed down into one of the red-hot engines, breaking through it and causing it to explode. They both groaned and tried to stand up. "You still alive, Jackson?"

"Somehow, bro!"

"Well, then, let's get back out there!"

"Hell yeah!"

Lucifer elegantly dropped onto one of the other engines. There were dozens of them in this room, each bigger than a bus, though dozens were blown to bits by now. The wielder of the Dead Virus stared them down, his golden eyes glaring into each of them.

"You Lords are nothing compared to the power I have." He clutched the book closely to his chest. "I saw it. Death itself. The bringer of the end. Total darkness. The Shadow. The thing that nearly wiped the human race out and took your four Lords to take down. That is the power I wield. The God I worship, and the blessings I give." He dropped down to the ground, meeting them at eye level. Black energy crackled down his body, and a sword forged from the Dead Virus formed in his hand. "Last time, I let you go due to foolish feelings I held for the past. I had watched you grow up, Nier. Raised you even. In a way, that would make me your father, wouldn't it?"

"You're nothing but scum." Nier spat. "Are you ready, Jackson? This is the final push."

"Yeah." Jackson nodded. "We'll beat him! No matter what!"

Both of them screamed out, and their power rose and reached its peak. Nier's hair changed into a snow white, and a pair of horns stabbed out of his head. Jackson's hair shifted from a red to a golden set of locks, fire twirling through them, and his eyes became a fiery red much like Nier's. A sword of fire formed into his hands, large and bulky, a claymore of embers.

Lucifer blocked with his sword as a wave of fire was launched at him. He cut through it and dodged scythes of bones that stabbed from the floor. Fifteen years ago, this power had pushed him to the edge. Now, though, it was nothing but a weak trick.

Jackson stomped on the ground, and from his foot, fire stabbed out of the floor and rose up in a wave, trying to impale Lucifer. Black feathery wings tore their way out of Lucifer's back, and he took off into the air. The villain twirled his body, flew through the wave of fire, and swung out with his sword, meeting Jackson's blade. Jackson's sword broke to pieces, and he had to duck beneath the blade at the last second.

Lucifer's leg slammed into his gut and blasted him back, and the now blonde teen rolled across the floor and clasped his hands together. His fire blasted out into the shape of a dragon, but Lucifer easily split it in half. Nier tried to ram his fist into Lucifer, bones swirling around his arm, but the strike was easily blocked by one of the black wings that came out of the man's back.

The other wing came out and stabbed into Nier, causing the man's eyes to widen as his gut was torn open. He fought through the pain and rammed his fist into Lucifer's gut and winced as his arm nearly snapped in two. Lucifer swung out with his bible and rammed it directly into Nier's face, downing the boy.

"Watch now, dear boy, as I cause your world to break apart." From his book, the nun reformed. Her metal chains wrapped around Nier, pinning him down and trapping him.

The man stalked toward the young boy. Jackson was getting back to his feet, his red eyes glaring into Lucifer. He charged and recreated his sword and met the monster head-on. They engaged in a series of clashes, but it slowly became clear that Jackson was outmatched. He was just a young boy, fifteen years of age. Every strike of his sword broke, and his flames only managed to leave Lucifer's body a little red.

He screamed and ignited his body in full fire, but not even that affected Lucifer anymore. The man's sword slashed across Jackson, and the boy screamed as he was nearly split in two. Cracks began to seep across his flesh, and he gasped.

Nier roared, and his power surged out like an ocean and shattered the chains. He moved faster than he ever had before and rammed his fist through the nun. He fired an air current so strong that it blew all the remaining engines to bits and shot Lucifer back. He came to a sliding stop in front of Jackson and placed his hand down on the boy's gut. Golden light seeped from his wounds, and Jackson gasped as his gut eased back together, and he began to heal.

The Lord of Life slowly broke down the Dead Virus and saved the boy. "You're fine." Nier let out a sigh of relief. "You're-"

Blood erupted from his chest as Lucifer's sword rammed into Nier's back. Nier screamed and gasped as he felt his body be invaded with the virus.

"No!" Jackson screamed.

Nier kicked out with his leg and slammed it into Jackson's gut, throwing the boy back just in time. A wave of the Dead Virus twisted and crackled out from the sword Lucifer held. The man's head was cocked to the side casually as he stared at Nier. Nier managed to twist his head around a bit and glared into Lucifer's eyes.

"G- Go to hell." He spat and coated a glob of his blood onto the man's face.

Lucifer calmly twisted the sword. "You first.' Nier was torn in half, his legs falling one way while his upper body fell the other. Jackson's screams filled the air, but it was too late to act.

Everything exploded, and a hail of flame danced into the air as the box they were in finally smashed into the planet below, breaking everything.

Jagged metal rained, and Supers were flung out in all directions, many turning into red stains as they hit the floor. The box broke apart, and shards of iron impaled into most of Lucifer's forces. They had slammed into a mountain, and it came crashing down onto them, a wave of snow and ice raining and dragging everything into the village down below.

For several moments, there was just silence—metal buried in the snow alongside the corpses of dozens of men and women. The ship was in pieces everywhere, and quietly, steam rose to the sky as Jackson pulled himself out of the snow. He was on the ground, and his red eyes were cast down.

Lucifer pulled his own body out of the snow and dusted his cloak off. He still gripped his book, and his sword reformed. He prowled toward the boy. "Despair. It eats away at all living things. To live means to die. To die means to despair. You're consumed by it now. When a human loses one they love, it breaks them. Your hope has been broken-"

"Shut up." Lucifer froze when he heard Jackson. The young boy slowly stood up. There was a look in his eyes. A look that wasn't of despair but was something more. The loss of his older brother didn't cause Jackson to give up. Instead, he steeled his nerves and coated his body hot in fire. The flames danced off his arms and down his back. Crackling like energy. "I'm going to beat you. No matter what. My hope isn't gone. It won't ever be gone. I'm not giving up. If I couldn't stop you before, then I'll just force myself to get stronger. So strong, I'll beat you."

"Fall into despair! Feel yourself devoured by it! Once the Virus kills Nier, I'll claim him and his power! With it, taking the other Lords will be child's play! I'll bring my God back then! You Lords should have never been born!"

"My power will never obey you," Jackson stated. He stepped forward, and Lucifer found himself taking a step back. I don't care if you kill me. My ability is one for the people. As long as even one person is out there somewhere, my power won't stop existing for their sake. Just as Nier saved me all those years ago, I'll do everything I can to save another person—even you."

"Me?"

"That's right, Lucifer. I'm going to save you!"

The snow was gone. In an instant, steam was all Lucifer saw. A blue light ignited from Jackson, and he was coated in his fire. The air itself danced with flames, and Lucifer actually grunted and fell to the floor. As hot as the sun. No. Hotter. It wasn't ordinary fire. This was a blue flame. One that poured forth and covered Jackson from head to toe in a thin layer. Despite how hot it was, it didn't burn. It was almost gentle in nature. Flowers forced their way out of the snow, growing towards their new sun.

Jackson looked down at his hand as the blue fire twisted over it. Lucifer screamed and blasted out with his Dead Virus, and Jackson walked forward. The virus burned to nothingness before it even reached him. "How could you reach the level of the first Lords? That power should be mine!"

Full Monarch had been born.