Their First Battle

Black feathers rained from the sky as Lucifer folded his arms.

"The audacity of Nier. Thinking that he could control me and use my power. How dare he?"

Lucifer stayed suspended in the air flying with the help of his wings. He stared down at the planet beneath him with his golden eyes taking in the sight.

He didn't know how many years had passed since he had been defeated. All that time had seemed to go by in a blur. He still remembered it as if it had just happened. Full Monarch had killed him. His body had been reduced down to such a small state he couldn't put himself back together, not even with the dark gift that his master gave him.

The Ruler of Death and Rebirth had truly been defeated. That was until Nier put him back together using the energy of the Calamity...

The Emperor, as he was calling himself, needed an army, one he provided with his undead soldiers. Every being that had ever fallen at his hands was brought back and used, transformed with the power to twist life. He was a little shocked that Nier had changed so much. What happened to change the hero into such a dark devil?

Still though, the man overstepped his hand and actually thought he could command the mighty Lucifer.

Lucifer scoffed and gripped his tome tighter to his chest. "Make him pay, Full Monarch." He ordered from high above. "Teach that miserable little man a lesson. I serve only one Master, and it is certainly not him. I hold the power of the Ruler! Though it seems I am not alone... Not anymore."

He had sensed it after he was brought back by Nier's hands. Other Rulers existed. In fact, one stood on the battlefield down below.

Legend had been knocked out after a direct punch from the Emperor, but Lucifer was certain he could still feel it. The power of the Shadow was alive in that man...

"It seems he's used his dark gift too much. I wonder just how many times has he died and been brought back?" Lucifer wondered out loud to himself. "No matter. I alone will be the one true Ruler. Neither Lord, nor a false Emperor will stop me!"

Down below in the ruined streets, Max glared at Nier. "I trusted you! I vouched for you! How could you do something like this?!" He demanded.

Nier didn't even bother to look at him. The Lord of Life's eyes stayed fixed on Full Monarch. "Golden God. Leave this place with Princess and Queen. I will fight him alone."

Legend, and Mermaid were in no condition to fight. That left just Max, Ruby, and Full Monarch. People were no longer in danger, not in this city at least, as all the monsters had quit their rampage and stayed low to the ground, ready for their master's orders.

"As you command." Golden God began to lift off of the ground, carrying Fairy Queen and the Princess of Life on his palm, but was interrupted by a loud yell.

Ruby came down from the sky, having jumped up as high as she could and brought her fist back. "I'm not letting you get away!"

The Emperor lazily lifted hand up and his monsters took to the air, hundreds of them jumping up or flying. They formed a literal tidal wave of bodies and came down on Ruby who panicked.

"Stay silent, you bad product." Nier said in a cool tone.

Fire slammed into the monsters suddenly, blowing the tidal wave apart and Ruby dropped down into the waiting arms of her father who caught her. "Don't call her a bad product." He said through clenched teeth. He floated down to the ground and placed Ruby next to Max. "Sir Max, please get Legend, Mermaid, and my daughter out of here."

"No!" Max argued. "I want to fight! Let me stay-" He froze when he saw the look in Full Monarch's eyes.

The number one hero's eyes glowed with a harsh red fire. "Please." Was all the man said.

Slowly Max nodded and created a large cloud that picked him, Ruby, Mermaid, and Legend up, and began to take them away. "Dad!" Ruby yelled, about to jump off.

"Stay put!" Full Monarch ordered, not taking his eyes off of Nier.

"No way! I want to help!"

"I'm not asking!" He raised his voice causing the city to shake. "You always disobey me! If there was ever a single time in your life where you decided to listen to your father, then make that choice today! Stay. Put."

Ruby flinched at her father's harsh words but slowly nodded. Full Monarch never looked away from Nier who sneered at him.

"I know you're stronger than me but don't think I'll go down so easily." Nier announced. He waved his hand, and all the destroyed monsters began to put themselves back together as Lucifer's immortal soldiers stood back up. "Let's see how you deal with this-"

Golden light exploded out of Full Monarch's palm, sending shards of metal stabbing out. The shards stabbed their way into the bodies of hundreds of monsters causing the creatures to howl and burst into ash as the metal caused their atoms to come undone.

High above, Lucifer shivered a bit as he watched his warriors scatter apart and become so damaged they couldn't put themselves back together. That had been the same attack that undid him years ago.

Nier scowled as he watched more and more of his monsters come undone. With Alpha busy, that meant he couldn't call in any more forces, and worse yet, Lucifer was no longer willing to help him out.

"Don't think it will be so simple!" Nier slammed his hand into the ground, causing the stone street to shatter and snap open as hundreds of wooden spikes jutted out. Full Monarch floated forward snapping through the spikes which were unable to harm him. "I'll come out on top! I can't lose!" Nier roared.

More of the ground broke and began to rise up beneath Nier, forming into a large wooden dragon. Lucky, his summoned beast from the war, his loyal steed-

In an instant, the wooden dragon exploded into shards of wood as Full Monarch flew straight through it, causing the sound barrier to snap. Nier raised his arms in an effort to block, but Full Monarch didn't hold back, so he hit the Lord with a direct punch as hard as he could.

Nier's armor screamed as the metal snapped, and his left arm completely twisted back and shattered. Blood poured from his mouth as his ribs exploded, and he was thrown back by the punch. He was sent flying, the air cutting into him as he was hit so hard he flew past the clouds and directly out of the city.

His eyes stung, and he couldn't focus as he flung through the air. He spun faster and faster, going for miles before all of a sudden, the ground came up, and he hit it hard.

More of his armor broke apart and came undone, shattering off of him, and he rolled across the ground, vomiting up blood. He was no longer in the city, nor was he in any city. In a single punch, Nier had been launched across the world and now found himself in a massive open desert.

He didn't have long to process this fact either as a second later he was forced to jump to the side as a pair of thin red laser beams tore across the field he was in.

Full Monarch floated down gently, his eyes burning a bright red as he fired more lasers out. Nier tried to counter by slamming his hand into the ground and causing a mass of trees to pour out, but the lasers sliced into them and burned them down to ash.

Full Monarch pulled his fist back, swirling a mass of fire into his fist as he struck out, appearing in front of Nier. His fist rammed into Nier's face, burning the blonde man and causing him to stumble back.

"Why?" The number one hero said through clenched teeth. "Why did you think this was a good idea?" He struck again, nearly snapping Nier's neck. "Why didn't you come to me for help?" His next attack was a gut punch, causing Nier to drop to his knees as more of his armor fell apart. "Did I mean so little to you that you thought genocide was your only option!" He landed one more blow, slamming it directly into the center of Nier's face, causing his brother to collapse on his back.

Nier spat up blood and broken teeth; his face nearly caved in as he struggled to stay awake. "I- I knew you'd talk me out of it. Now, though- It's too late now. I've already done so much." He reached up to the sky, his vision fading. "He'll make my dream a reality. It's hard to believe I found him wasting away. He'll make the world I want."

"Who?"

Full Monarch felt a chill go down his spine as a blue portal began to rip its way apart a few feet away from them. Nier managed to give a twisted smile and looked up at Full Monarch.

"Alpha."

A foot stepped out of the portal. One covered in shadowy black armor and wearing a black cape. The Emperor stalked forward with his fiery blue eyes, looking from Full Monarch and then down toward Nier. Behind him, Hell Hound stalked out and dropped to a knee in front of her leader. This was the Emperor that she served.

There were two of them.

Nier was the Emperor. He was an Emperor.

The blue-eyed Emperor drew a sword from his belt. One forged out of white metal. He pointed it at the golden hero that stood before him, then slowly spun the blade around and stabbed it into the ground. Full Monarch narrowed his eyes, but the Emperor didn't elaborate and simply began to walk toward the hero without his sword.

Nier managed to give a weak laugh and pushed himself up on his elbows. "Behold my weapon! My solution to the problem that is you!"

'Jackson.' The voice of the Brightest Star spoke quietly in his ear.

"Yeah, I know. I feel it too," Full Monarch responded to his partner. "This guy is..." The Emperor reached Full Monarch and stared into the golden man's eyes. Red clashed with blue. "Who are you?"

The Emperor spoke softly. "I thought you'd be taller in person-" Full Monarch's fist slammed into the Emperor's stomach, sending the man in armor flying back and rolling across the ground. The desert field they were in tore apart as the villain rolled through it, being sent flying from the punch. Hell Hound just sighed and kept her head bowed. Slowly, the Emperor stopped and climbed out of the crater he found himself in, dusting some of the sand away. "My turn." He appeared in front of Full Monarch, instantly stepping through a blue portal and ramming his fist out directly into the hero's face.

Full Monarch recoiled back feeling a bit of shock. He actually felt that attack. It stung his cheek a tiny bit. He went to fly back but suddenly felt the gravity around him grow and compress, dragging him down. Fire ignited off of him but then the Emperor just lifted his hand and a small wave of water formed into the air around them, crashing down and forced the fire out.

"Water?"

"I'll fight you with the power of a Lord." The Emperor simply declared.

The hero felt his blood boil and he turned all the water around them into steam. "What did you do to Sini!" He rammed a fist forward, slamming it directly into the Emperor's side and blowing the man into the air once more. He flew up after him, igniting in a cloak of fire and slammed his body into the villain and blasted out a powerful beam of energy that washed over the Emperor. "What did you do!"

More water swirled around the Emperor, blocking the intense heat. Another portal opened, and the villain stepped out, appearing in a field of snow miles away, but he barely got a moment to think before he felt a fist slam into the back of his head as Full Monarch flew over to him just as fast as he got away. He rolled with the punch and spun around, shooting out a thin beam of water that the golden hero barely dodged. The beam sliced the mountains around them apart and caused them to come tumbling down around them. He gathered more water around him, forming large rings that he compressed down with crushing gravity.

"If I tell you I've already devoured him, would that make you mad? The truth is I wasn't supposed to fight you until I absorbed the Lord of the Sky as well." The Emperor fired the disks out, causing them to expand to the size of cars. They were so thin they almost appeared invisible and spun so fast they could cut through nearly anything. "You don't seem as tough as Nier warned me, though-" Full Monarch punched through the rings and flew past Nier, vanishing in a loud crack. Not even a second later, he reappeared in front of the villain, having circled the planet, ramming both his arms out. The Emperor created a blue portal in front of him at the last second which the hero flew into.

Full Monarch spun around awkwardly, looking around at the void of space. He was directly above the planet. He scanned the entire planet flying over it, and located where the Emperor was flying back down as fast as he could. It had given the villain enough time, though.

Everywhere around him, the Emperor used his new power to boil and heat up all the ice and snow. In an instant, an entire land of cold became a bubbling ocean. He dropped down onto the water and rode it like a tidal wave flying up after Full Monarch, who was coming down again. He brought both his hands up, firing out a compressed liquid beam at the hero. "Do you hate me?"

Full Monarch stopped at the last second and breathed in, puffing his chest out. Then he let out the breath he was holding, sending a stream of cold air that instantly froze the beam of water and the new ocean the Emperor had made. The wave the villain had been standing on shattered beneath the villain, causing him to drop out of the sky, but he simply took control of the ice and stood on it. He created a gravity orb and chucked it at Full Monarch as hard as he could, causing the ice around them to shatter and be lifted up. It formed into a massive ball that was practically a tiny moon trapping Full Monarch inside of it, but the hero simply shattered his way through with ungodly strength.

"I don't want to play any of these games!" The hero called out to him.

"Games? I'm giving it everything I got." The Emperor skated forward, creating hundreds of portals around him, and fired dozens of beams of water into them, bouncing them around and increasing their speed with his control over gravity. They moved so fast that even Full Monarch had trouble following them. Then, without warning, the portals appeared above him, slamming the beams into his back. His costume was already torn and ripped from his battle with the Beast, and this tore his cape nearly all the way off; it only managed to hang on by a thread. "Do you hate me?"

Full Monarch ignored the question and shrugged off the attack. He clapped his hands out, smashing them together, and exploded the area around him as well as the clouds above. He appeared in front of the Emperor again and rammed a fist into the man's helmet, denting it. The Emperor was sent crashing down and slammed back first into the ice below, shattering through it and forming a crater. From the crater, a roar emerged as five massive draconic heads came exploding out. They were made out of water and ice, and as they roared, they charged up beams of gravity this time, which they blasted out.

Full Monarch tried to move, but more of the gravity around him grew heavier, forcing him in place. He raised his arms up, blocking the five gravity waves, and part of his sleeve was torn away. The beam washed over him and bent space itself, but he took it all head-on. As soon as the beams died down and the dragons recharged, his eyes glowed, and he fired out his own lasers, slicing their heads off the neck.

Every second he fought he could tell the Emperor was getting better and better with the power of the Lord of the Sea. He'd need to end the fight soon.

Another portal opened up meters away from him, and the Emperor flew out on a chunk of ice. A water ring formed in the villain's hands, which he threw at Full Monarch, but the hero just opened his mouth and drank the bladed weapon, swallowing it. The Emperor compressed more gravity around his fist and formed a block of ice on his arm, which he rammed directly into Full Monarch's face. Full Monarch took the blow head on, barely being pushed back, and rammed his fist into the Emperor's gut again.

Black metal rained down as a chunk of the villain's chest plate exploded. The Emperor was sent flying across the planet once again, being flung through clouds, but he didn't even have a chance to hit the ground as Full Monarch appeared behind him with his hand out. As the Emperor flew past him, Full Monarch grabbed the man by his cape. The villain's fall was cut short, and the cape nearly snapped as he came to a sudden stop. He created a portal and was about to jump into it, but Full Monarch began to spin while holding onto his cape. It pulled at his neck, and he was dragged away from the portal. Then, the hero simply let go.

The Emperor went flying the other way across the planet and slammed head-first into a mountain, shattering most of it, which came crashing down on top of him, burying him in rubble. More of the mountain exploded and was crushed as gravity began to swirl around the villain, who stood back up. More of his armor groaned and creaked, falling off of him, showing off a body that had trained for years for a moment like this. Muscles rippled and tore through the chainmail as the Emperor rapidly increased his strength as much as he could.

"I have a question for you." Full Monarch yelled down once more on the scene. "I heard that you teleported everyone in Rose away. Why? Why did you save them?"

"Do you hate me?"

"And why do you keep saying that!"

The Emperor stabbed his hands into the ground and lifted, ripping up an entire chunk of the mountain. He held a massive block of stone far bigger than any skyscraper, and he chucked it at the number one hero as hard as he could muster. Full Monarch lazily held his fist out, shattering the massive block as it hit him, but as it broke away, he found himself staring into the eyes of the Emperor who had been on the other side. The Emperor's hands clasped together, and he swirled a mass of gravity into his palm just as he did with the thin water beam. He smashed his hand directly into Full Monarch's face and fired it.

It was like a black hole had been weaponized, bending light itself, and turning everything around them into gravity-

"Knock it off." Full Monarch brought his fist down on the villain's head, shattering one of the horns, and sent the Emperor slamming into the ground. "Just give up. You're not going to win-" A portal opened up beneath the Emperor, swallowing him up, and Full Monarch just sighed and rubbed at his stinging face. "Where did he go now?"

Over with Nier and Hell Hound, the two found themselves staring in shock as a portal opened up, and the Emperor came stumbling out of it. Most of his chest plate was completely gone, and his helmet was badly cracked and dented, missing one of his horns. Despite that, though, the man was still standing. At least he was before he was suddenly slammed into the ground so hard a current of wind sent Hell Hound and Nier flying. Full Monarch rammed his leg down into the Emperor's gut, standing on the villain.

"I'm serious. No more games."

The Emperor coughed out and stared back up at the number one hero's face. "What was I thinking? Why did I ever think I could win with a power I've never used before. I should have been relying on what I was born with. The power that lets me punch holes in space itself. I'll show you the power of the Giants!"

Full Monarch rammed his fist down into the head of the Emperor but his hand was blocked as a wave of black lightning blasted out of the villain's eyes. The lightning actually managed to burn Full Monarch's hand a bit and tore away at more of his sleeve causing him to jump away. The Emperor's eyes no longer were blue. Now, instead, it looked as if black lightning had come to life, seeping out of his helm. The villain slowly stood back up and Nier couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes! That's his true power! Look at the weapon I found, Jackson! Isn't he truly amazing? Only he can reach the dream I want! It's possible with him! He holds strength unheard of! The strength of monsters found in only folklore! The power that rivals the Gods themselves! Strength able to break even space, and a belly that can hold onto the power of the Lords! My Giant! My weapon!"

The water around the Emperor dropped to the ground, no longer under his control. The enhanced gravity around him also died down. He didn't need it anymore. He flexed a bit, his muscles growing in size and ripping up more of his armor. The energy seeped out wildly from his helm and began to take shape. He blasted forward, shattering the ground, and rammed a fist directly into Full Monarch's face. The number one hero was caught off guard and stumbled back, spitting up a bloody tooth.

He grabbed at his face, wincing. "You hit harder than my daughter. What the hell kind of strength is that?"

"Do you hate me?" The Emperor appeared behind Full Monarch, and this time, it was his turn to grab the man by the cape. He swung with it, lifting Full Monarch off his feet and kicking out, shattering reality and opening another portal directly in front of a volcano. He let go and sent the hero flying into the lava. Before Full Monarch even hit it, the black energy blasted out of the Emperor's eyes, and a compressed laser rammed into Full Monarch's back and shoving him into the lava.

Full Monarch sank into the lava and spun around, firing his own laser beam out of his eyes, clashing with the Emperor. He flew out, keeping his power on, as their lasers fought against one another, black and red, trying to push the other back. The Emperor, however, couldn't fly as he could, so he just floated up higher until he was able to move out of the way, causing the black energy to go blasting into the sky. Before the Emperor could turn his head, he slammed his red laser into the man's stomach, badly burning it and sending him flying back. The Emperor spun and landed back on his feet, being sent miles back, landing where Nier and Hell Hound were once more. He lifted his palm, using it to block Full Monarch's energy, and ignored how it melted his glove.

The laser died out, and Full Monarch blasted back toward him. The two rammed out with their fists, slamming them into one another. Full Monarch hit the ground, shattering part of it and causing a massive earthquake around them. He was glad that he had been able to keep the battle away from so many people. The Emperor hadn't bothered taking them to a city for some reason. The villain rolled across the ground and dug his feet into it, kicking off and ramming his remaining horn into Full Monarch in an effort to stab the hero. It didn't work but did badly poke the golden man and bruised his gut, shoving him back.

Full Monarch caught his breath and rubbed at his stomach. The fight with the Beast was starting to catch up to him. The Emperor also breathed heavily but didn't stop. He clasped his hands together, and the energy began to spill out once more. The villain jumped into the air, going up for miles, and then exploded in a massive arc of lightning.

The bolts rained down wildly and hit the ground all around them. "Behold." The Emperor declared. The lightning began to take shape, and the planet seemed to rumble for a moment as massive hands broke out of the ground. They were forged from black energy and tore their way out of the surface of the planet around them. Some stood at a hundred feet tall, others were smaller, and some were far bigger. Some wore armor, and others were fat and chubby, with only a cloth covering them. They stood shoulder to shoulder, stretching out for miles and forming into a line. There must have been hundreds of them with the tallest one reaching nearly two miles in length. It was like a walking mountain which the Emperor calmly landed on. "My Gigantomachy." The villain glared down at Full Monarch. "Do you hate me?"

The march of the Giants caused a massive series of earthquakes shaking everything around them as the figures took a step forward. They were so big, and there were so many of them that they could easily level a city in mere seconds. This was a threat to everything.

'Jackson.'

"Yeah. You're right, Brightest Star. Playtime is over."

"Do you hate me-"

The Emperor never got to finish as suddenly, a massive wave of heat flowed across the battlefield. All the sand around them was instantly turned into a field of glass as Full Monarch was suddenly surrounded by a thick blue flame cloak. It coated the man's skin from head to toe, and he actually looked as if a blue star had come to life.

It was over in an instant.

Full Monarch flew through all the Giants, shattering them all to bits before they could even think of taking another step. The Emperor didn't even have time to process what was going on as Full Monarch's fist rammed its way into his helmet, and this time, he was hit with the same attacks that staggered the Beast. His helmet shattered, as did part of his skull as he was rammed through several of his Giants and smashed into the ground directly next to the sword he had left...

He didn't get back up this time.

Full Monarch appeared on top of the Emperor, cloaked in his blue fire and went to ram his fist down. He stopped at the last second though as the Emperor's helmet fully broke away, allowing him to see the man beneath the mask. Full Monarch's fist stopped inches away and his eyes stared down into the black ones of Alpha's. Alpha's red hair was a mess and his face was swollen but it was enough.

"Y- You." Full Monarch felt his blood run cold. "I know you-"

'Look out, Jackson!'

The Emperor grabbed his sword and swung it up! The blade failed to stab through Full Monarch's flame and the hero just stared down at the man with a sad look. "Stop it. I know who you are. We've met before. Do you remember me?"

The Emperor spat out a glob of blood. "Do... You... Hate... Me?"

"No! Why would I?!"

"Then... Why... Didn't... You... Save me." The Emperor's eyes ignited, and he forced the blade forward more. "I was with Golden God." He growled out. "My Portals aren't perfect. They have limits, same with this sword. With Golden God, though, I was able to travel further than I ever could! I created Portals as far away as I could and used him to go through them before creating more Portals! We got far away from Earth you know! Real far!"

"What are you saying? Just give up please-"

"Take him there! Take him to the edge of our Galaxy!"

Full Monarch slammed his hand down, but it was too late.

In an instant, Full Monarch was gone.

The Emperor breathed heavily before slowly forcing himself back up. He wobbled a bit and gasped. His sword glowed, and his outfit suddenly vanished and changed, replaced with a new set of armor that wasn't battle-damaged. He stalked forward weakly and forced a portal open.

He heard yelling all around him as he stepped out and came face to face with Max, and Ruby. He was on the floating cloud, and the two were shocked to see him suddenly appear. He lifted his sword pointing it at Max. "I will devour you! I will claim your power as my own-"

A mass of black energy crashed down as Lucifer came slamming down into the cloud. He stood directly in front of Max, his wings unfolded and a sword forged from the Dead Virus in his hand. He pointed it directly at the Emperor. "I don't know who you are, but I doubt you're in any condition to actually fight. You look like you can barely stand." The Emperor wobbled a bit and tried to focus but his skull was killing him. "What's it going to be?"

Slowly, the villain turned away and opened another portal. His eyes glared back at Max. "I'll. Be. Back."

The portal closed, and Ruby collapsed back, breathing heavily. "I thought my dad was fighting him!"

"W- Who are you-" Max flinched when he found himself staring into the golden eyes of Lucifer. "Wait! I- I've seen you before! My dad told me- Oh God! Are you-"

Lucifer turned away and stepped off of the cloud. "I won't do this again. I simply find it amusing to stop little Nier like this. From this point on you're on your own."

And with that, the former Calamity left, leaving just Ruby and Max alone with the unconscious bodies of Mermaid and Legend. "Oh God, oh God, oh God." Max began to hyperventilate. "Did Full Monarch lose? If a monster like that guy lost, then what chance do I have? Oh God, he's going to absorb me like he did to my dad. I- I'm screwed! I- I can't-"

"Calm down!" Ruby gripped his shoulders and shook him staring into his eyes. "It's okay! I'm here."

"What do we do?" Max gulped.

"I- I have an idea..." She said quietly.

"What?"

"How did your father stop the Lord power from transferring to him?"

"He killed himself and transferred it to me. But that can only be done by having a kid."

"Exactly."

"Huh?"

"What if... What if you were to have a kid..."

***

Hope snapped her eyes wide open before instantly shutting them as a bright light hit her directly in the face. She groaned and felt a strange chill go through her body-

Body?

She was alive?

Hope opened her eyes once more and gasped. Her head was still spinning, and it was hard to focus, but slowly, she was recalling what had just happened. She remembered it... She was out in space- The Beast- Then it had all gone dark. Everything stopped. The next thing she knew, she was somewhere else, someone else. Memories that didn't belong to her jammed into her head. She had been Ruby Admiral, or at least she had been forced to witness what Ruby had seen. Someone had shown her the story of the Victorian?

"Ah, good, you're awake, Cinder." A mechanical voice buzzed in the area around her.

She tried to speak, but her throat burned. It was hard to move, and her entire body felt weird. It was like her muscles were half asleep. She felt off, like she was smaller, weaker. As her vision finally began to work fully, she looked around, still trying to process everything. She was in a small room. One that had hundreds of monitors all along the wall, all flashing various colors and scenes. Her eyes burned just looking at them, and she found herself flat on her back on a cold metal table.

Her hero costume was gone, replaced with a hospital gown. Her body looked weird as well. Like something was off, but she couldn't put it into words exactly. "W—Where am I?" Her voice sounded different, more immature in a way. How was she alive? What was going on? What about the others? How much time had passed, and why did she dream about the Victorian?

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions, dear Cinder." That strange mechanical voice was back. It echoed around the room from an unseen speaker. "Worry not. I'll be down there shortly to explain everything."

"Who are you?" She cringed a bit, hearing her voice. She managed to force herself off of the table and dropped to the ground. Her sense of balance was off, and she wobbled. Her head barely came up to the table. Had she gotten shorter? Or someone had shrunk her? Either that or the table had been built to be big for some reason.

"Who do you think I am?"

Her mind still felt sluggish. It was like she was working at half capacity, like a computer that still hadn't fully restarted. Despite that, she could tell she was in danger. Whoever this person was, they weren't a hero. Whatever reason they had for taking her couldn't be good either. The monitors all flickered and slowly powered off, turning black. A light appeared at the top of the room, and she stared at her reflection in shock. "W- What the hell? What happened to me? What did you do to me?"

"Oh, I didn't do anything, dear Cinder." The voice mocked. "You can thank your new form to the one who is hiding inside your head."

"You know about the Brightest Star?"

She didn't get an answer. Slowly, she reached up and touched her face, staring at herself in the reflection of the TVs. Her hair wasn't golden anymore. Her battle form had finally run out. Her hair was shorter, though. Before, her hair went down her back, but now it barely made it past her shoulders. Her eyes ached as well, like when she was a kid, and she needed to wear her glasses. Most shocking of all, though, was her body. She was shorter. No... She was younger.

The reflection in the mirror didn't show a sixteen-year-old girl. It showed her a shivering, terrified twelve-year-old.

She had become a child again.

"What the hell happened to me!" Her strength was gone, her enhanced sight gone, her senses reduced down. She tried to cause a flicker of fire to come out, but it didn't happen. She couldn't feel the power of the Lord. She didn't hear the Brightest Stars' voice. For the first time in a long time, she felt lonely. "Brightest Star? Say something! You're there, right? I- I'm a Lord! I'm the Lord of the Sun! I- I'm not a kid- I'm a Super! I'm Cinder! What the hell is going on!"

"There's no need to panic." The voice was no longer mechanical. A wall behind her slid open as someone stepped into the room. "Your body will return eventually. You're not actually a kid. How do I explain this... You saw what the Beast did, right? It couldn't heal itself, so instead, it compressed its size down and rebuilt what it could with unnecessary matter. In a way, the Lord inside of you did the same. You would have died, but I guess it felt some pity on you and did its best to repair your form with what was left of you. It even used up some of its own flesh and rebuilt your brain and heart. I didn't even know the Lord of the Sun could do that."

Slowly, she turned around and stumbled back, staring at the man who was in the room with her. He approached her with a sly smirk on his face. He wore a lab coat just like Sky always did, and he had messy brown hair. She had seen him on TV a few times. She had also seen him standing next to the Emperor. She knew who this man was. Harrison Avalon stared down at her as her back was pressed up against the wall.

"W- What do you want with me?"

"What do I want?" The man's smirk grew, and he dropped to his knees, placing his hands on her shoulder. He stared into her eyes, his grin growing. "I want you to help me! With you, it can be done! We can kill the Emperor! We can save this world!"