A Counter To The Portals

Life was an interesting thing. People lived and people died. This happened every day. Sometimes a person would die in front of others, sometimes it would be behind a closed door and out of sight.

Lucky people were remembered. The unlucky ones were forgotten to history as if they never existed in the first place.

No matter what though, life would move on, and continue. A sea of casualties and effects that all danced together in an infinite cosmos of ideas and dreams, fueled by the power of imagination.

The world was ending. The Emperor and his army were attacking, over and over again, and city after city, it all came crumbling down, and yet even with everything that was going on, all the death and destruction, somehow life carried on.

After Full Monarch was sent away from the planet, the Emperor and his forces took root on the moon. Almost everyone knew about this because all it would take is for someone to look up, and they would see it. The black, inky castle that stretched across the surface of the moon.

It was insanely massive, taking up over half the floating rock, and stretched out, poking out of the moon's gravitational field. It existed high above, constantly rotating around the planet, staying just out of reach.

The Hero Branch knew that it existed, yet there was nothing they could do about it. The hero Wire was one who could travel through space; however, he had mysteriously vanished years ago after being sent to the moon long before the threat known as the Emperor had arrived. The Branch also couldn't simply nuke the moon, since those damn portals would pop up and send the bombs back. That was how they lost Lavender Town... The portals would also send back any ship that tried to fly up toward them, making it impossible to simply fly up there.

The only Super who stood a chance of even making it was Ruby, but that posed another issue. She was so strong that she could jump all the way up to the moon; however, she lacked the ability to survive in deep space and would suffocate to death. A fact that was really bad since she also had no way of properly aiming herself once she was in outer space, and there was a high chance she could actually fling herself past the moon if she wasn't careful.

The only other way they had of making it to the moon was through the Lord of the Sky and Weather. Max also had the ability to shunt and mess with space-time. Given a little more training, it was possible that he could create a portal from Earth to the moon; however, that would bring its own issues. For one, Max's portals weren't nearly skilled enough to match the blue ones, and all the heroes would likely just be instantly sent back. The second issue was Max himself. Should he create a portal, it was possible that it could connect him to the one creating the blue portals and give that man a backdoor entry into the base.

At the moment, the Emperor and his forces were still unaware of the bunker's location, which was why the rampage in the world was ongoing. Only thanks to Lucifer's efforts was the Emperor being pushed back.

Still, it was only a matter of time until the Emperor won if something didn't change soon. Luckily for humanity, the first step to their victory had just been taken.

"Looks like you've returned." Ward forcefully stopped a yawn before it could escape him as the vault door to his personal bunker room rolled open. Ruby Admiral let out a loud huff and folded her arms, clearly annoyed. Behind her, Mister Man and Lady Time followed, along with Laps and the other Hero Branch members. Most importantly, at least to Mr. Ward, though, were the two men in lab coats who stood in the very back. "You actually managed to get him to me."

"Yeah! And an entire city got bombed getting him!" Ruby growled. "I managed to save some of it, but the entire place would have been torn to bits if I didn't step in!"

"Oh, please, don't act like you weren't part of the problem." Ward casually used a spoon to stir a cup of coffee. "I've seen the way you fight. You likely did more damage than any of the villains."

Ruby sputtered, and her face turned a little red. She went to say something, but Lois let out a giggle and clapped her hands together, ending her train of thought.

"Besides," Ward continued. "Cities can be rebuilt."

"Yeah, but who has to pay for them..." Ruby said bitterly. Sure, the Branch would be able to put the world back together once it was destroyed, but the taxes would skyrocket, and the common people would be the ones who would suffer. They were already being forced to go through a war that wasn't fair to them, having their homes and lives ruined. For many, their only other option once this all ended would be to work for the Hero Branch itself. Ward would benefit from it all in the end, so he had no reason to be worried. "Why was this weirdo important in the first place?" She asked, after a moment, and she pointed her thumb toward the colorful man.

Doctor Blue adjusted his stained lab coat and gave a large grin. "Allow me to introduce myself! I'm Doc, and as I said, I'm going to end this war."

No one looked convinced, and they all stared back at Director Ward. "For the most part, he is telling the truth." Ward took a sip from his mug, made a face, and then dumped the coffee. "Too much sugar—"

"What do you mean he can end the war?" Mister Man and Lady Time both asked.

"Oh, right, I guess you'd want to know about that."

"Yes!"

Ward cleared his throat and tapped his spoon on another glass of coffee, which one of his servants brought out. "Doctor Blue, you can go ahead and fill them in."

Doctor Blue and his assistant Alma stepped forward. Alma looked nervous and kept tugging at his shirt, while Doctor Blue looked almost like a sleazy car salesman, the way he rubbed his hands together. Ruby highly doubted he'd be able to actually end the war like he claimed, but Ward seemed extremely confident having him around. A fact that was shocking since Ward and his team also had access to Avalon, who hadn't been able to come up with any solution to the problem.

"Alma," Doctor Blue began. "What's the current issue plaguing us?"

"The fact that the world is ending?"

"No."

"Oh? Uh, the fact that Full Monarch is gone—"

"The portals." Doctor Blue pointed up to the roof of the bunker. "Up there, high above, that armored bastard resides on the throne he built out of the damned. It is thanks to those portals that we can't make any moves. He'll send in waves of monsters and then remove any Enforcer sent in to stop them from getting in the way. Only a few people like Ruby or Max Lightning are strong enough to sidestep that issue, but the two of them alone aren't enough."

"Yeah, we kind of already knew all of that," Ruby said flatly. She folded her arms and frowned, making a face. "Not feeling real confident about this guy, Ward, I won't lie."

"Let me finish, geez!" Doctor Blue grumbled something under his breath and then clapped his hands together. "Alright, listen! If the biggest thing in our way is the portals, then all we have to do is get around them! Alma, you're walking, and then a door starts to come at you—"

"Does the door have legs?"

"What?"

"Well, how else is it coming at me?" Alma asked.

"The door is floating." Doctor Blue shrugged. "It's a door, and it is coming flying at you. What do you do to not go through it?"

"I go around it, sir!"

"You can't; it's too fast—"

"I use my jetpack to fly up!"

"You don't have that!"

"I beg the door to stop, sir!"

"No, you—Ah, whatever." Doctor Blue face-palmed and turned away from his assistant. "Forgive him, he's pretty stupid. The answer I was looking for is that you go through the door."

Lady Time blinked, slowly processing everything. "...that feels like a stupid answer also?"

"Yeah." Mister Man rubbed his chin and frowned. "Wouldn't going through the door be what it wants since it's flying at you?"

Doctor Blue rubbed his chin and hummed. "Good point, let me rephrase that. Instead of us going through the door, we want the door to go through us. Either that or we want to close the door when it's flying at us."

"Wouldn't a closed door flying at you just slam into you?" Ruby asked. "That sounds like it would hurt."

"Aren't you, like, nuke-proof?" Lady Time asked flatly. "I don't think a door smacking into you would hurt that badly."

Ward remained on the sidelines, sitting at his desk, a heavy frown on his face. This wasn't going the way he had been hoping for. "Doctor, please just tell them what you told me." He sighed.

"Right." Doctor Blue nodded and cleared his throat. "Basically, the portals are the enemy, so I've come up with a solution to get rid of them. Something that will cause them to be unable to suck us in and send us anywhere. If it works the way I am hoping for, then we'll be able to finally counterattack the Emperor and defend our cities. The thing is, though, it isn't tested." The man said sheepishly. "So I actually don't know if it'll work or not."

"So it's a false hope," Ruby said flatly.

"Yep!" Doctor Blue announced proudly.

"I trust Doctor Blue." Director Ward stated. "He's been working for the Branch ever since he was a teen. His powers allow him to make various drugs and other medications. His existence has been kept under wraps, and not even Sini or Avalon know he exists, and I'd like to keep it that way. I don't want any news of him being here to leave this room either, until we're sure that he can get past the portals."

"Can he really make a counter to the portals?" Ruby asked, shooting the sketchy man a dirty look.

"Have a little faith in me." Doctor Blue said, a little offended.

"No."

"Rude, girl!"

Ruby huffed again and folded her arms. "I'll have some faith when it's actually been tested and we know for sure we can counter those damn portals."

Ward nodded his head. "Ruby is right. We need to do testing as soon as possible." He looked at the doctor. "When do you think you can attempt to get around the portals?"

Doctor Blue gave a lazy shrug of his shoulder. "I guess I can start any time. I mainly just need a portal to appear and for someone to let me practice on them. Oh, I should say, FYI, there is a fifty-fifty chance it goes wrong and I accidentally cause your skin to shrink on your body... So, who wants to let me practice on them?" Lady Time, Mister Man, and Ruby all stepped away. "What? No takers?"

"I'll do it." A voice grunted out. Everyone turned just in time to see someone else standing in the doorway. Legend's arms were folded, and a heavy frown was on his face as he stared the Doctor up and down. "Whatever it is you've got to do, you'll be doing it to me."

Ward's knuckles turned white as he gripped down on the cup of coffee in his hands. He hadn't informed any of the Enforcers because he wanted to keep word of Blue being here down, yet here Legend was, already drunk and trying to use any chance he could to do something that would make him go down in the history books.

"If anyone should do it, shouldn't it be me?" Ruby asked, raising her hands. "I mean, let's face it, I'm strong enough to survive having my skin melt or whatever; I'd just tank it."

"Can you even tank something like that?" Mister Man muttered.

Legend shook his head, his serious look growing. "No. It's going to be me, and this isn't a debate. You're able to dodge the portals and are strong enough that they have a hard time affecting you. It won't be as accurate or shocking if it works on you. Besides... people don't know you. You haven't been seen in public as much as I have. If the people see the leader of the Enforcers saving the day, it'll bring hope back. Now more than ever, this world needs hope."

Ward sighed and slowly nodded his head. "I agree with Legend." He said after a moment. "Doctor Blue, you'll run the experiment on him, understand?"

Doctor Blue gave a lazy salute. "Sure. Sounds good, I'm not in trouble if he explodes, right?"

Alma let out a nervous laugh. "He's joking. We're mostly sure he won't blow up. Mostly... Those poor mice we tried the drugs on didn't survive, but... Well, those were mice, and you guys are people, so it'll be fine!"

Doctor Blue gave a grin and placed his hands on his hips. "Trust me. One way or the other, this is the moment that history will be made! This silly war is going to be coming to an end!"

Ruby turned away from everyone and threw her arms behind her head. Lois still clutched to her back, and slowly she began to walk out of the room. "Like I said earlier. I'll believe it when I see it. Until then, I'll keep doing what my father would want me to."

Nobody said anything to her as she left the room. Legend watched her leave, his lips in a thin line. It was he who was going to save the world. Not Full Monarch, and not his bitch of a daughter. He was the famous one. He was the strong one. He was the hero that the world needed.

Legend was going to save the day!

Yeah, right.

Ruby stalked through the halls in an annoyed mood. None of the Hero Branch guards bothered her. Even her friend Mermaid flinched when she walked by. She made her way over to the massive vault doors that Max was behind and tore them open, stepping into the room. She turned around and then forcefully sealed it shut behind her.

"I'm back." She called out.

"Welcome back, for the second time," Max muttered. He stood in front of the kitchen table, and resting on it was a young girl with reddish hair who was covered in various scales. Wyvern flinched as Max used a cotton swab and brought it down on her skinned knee. "It's okay; it'll only hurt for a bit." He tried to soothe the young girl's worries, but it didn't really work.

Wyvern sniffled, tears streaming down her face. After the mission to get Doctor Blue, Ruby had basically decided to kidnap the young monster girl and forcefully carried Wyvern back to the bunker. She then tossed Wyvern into the room with her husband, all without actually telling Ward or the other Branch officers, since she knew they wouldn't be happy about her choice. It had been a little awkward smuggling Wyvern back, and more than once, Lois nearly blew her cover, but she managed in the end.

"A-are you going to kill me?" Wyvern asked, crying softly. From her point of view, this was basically the worst-case scenario. She had been forcefully taken by the enemy and shoved underground, where there was no sky. She hated it. No way for her to fly around.

"Nah," Ruby shook her head. "I don't really wanna kill a kid, maybe when you're a bit older." That just caused Wyvern to sob louder.

"Jill," Max said, once he was done wrapping Wyvern's injured leg in bandages. "Why did you bring a Monster back?"

Ruby walked closer and casually swung Lois around by the foot and then tossed the child at Max, who had to quickly catch her. Ruby strolled past her husband and grabbed Wyvern by the front of her shirt and picked the crying girl up forcefully. "I have a question for you," she said sternly.

"W-What?" Wyvern sniffed out.

"The other Dragons, have they all also been kids?" She demanded.

Wyvern flinched, unable to meet the woman's eyes. "You mean my brothers and sisters that you killed? Yeah."

"Goddamnit." Ruby sighed and dropped Wyvern to the floor. "I had a feeling that was the case. Shit. I really killed a lot of them, too." She really, really wanted to make the Emperor pay. Above all else, he needed to die. He was throwing an army of literal child soldiers at the planet. His people believed he was some merciful god and that humanity was to blame, but they didn't know the real truth. Their leader was an insane, deranged warlord who was going to bring about an end to everything if he wasn't stopped.

"I ask again," Max said, placing Lois onto the table. "Why'd you bring this child here?"

Ruby pointed up into the air casually. "I'm gonna use her to fly me to the moon."

"Jill, that is a fucking stupid idea; you're an idiot. That won't work."

"And why not!"

Max pinched the bridge of his nose. "Dragons can't fly through space!" He yelled. "There's no air!"

Wyvern curled into a ball and whimpered. "A-Actually, I was made with the ability to fly in the vacuum of space." The little girl squeaked when Max and Ruby both turned to look at her. "A-All the monsters can survive in deep space, and all of Mom's children have a mild reality-warping effect around them that lets us twist space, allowing us to fly like we do on Earth."

"Bullshit powers having bullshit logic," Max grumbled. "Okay, well, it's still a stupid idea!"

Ruby waved her hand through the air. "Nah, it's a rad idea. I'm gonna fly up there and beat the snot out of the main villain, save the day, and then, while everyone is celebrating, I'll steal his armor and declare myself as the new number one villain and take over his moon base."

"You're insane."

"Well, duh, you can't be the number one villain by being sane. Stupid."

"I hate you." Max turned to look back down at Wyvern. "I still think it's a dumb idea. You'd be going into deep space alone since none of the other heroes can follow."

Ruby shook her head and folded her arms. "Actually, that's the neat thing. Apparently, the others are supposed to be able to come as well soon. Some guy is gonna figure out a way to get around the portals. If we all fly Wyvern up into space, we can all jump the Emperor together! No way I lose then!"

Max's frown grew. "I still think you're being a little too cocky about all of this. Is this girl going to want to help you guys?"

Ruby's eyes narrowed, and she turned to glare down at Wyvern, who let out a squeak. "You're going to be my Dragon and behave right?" She cracked her knuckles. "Or do we need a repeat of what happened earlier?"

Wyvern shuddered and grabbed at her butt, recalling the vicious spankings. She rapidly nodded her head. "I'll behave!"

"See! It's settled." Ruby grinned.

Max face-palmed and let out another sigh. "Whatever. I should ask, though, what exactly do we do with this girl?"

"Good point." Ruby glanced back down at Wyvern and cocked her head to the side. "Eh, I'll just hand her over to Mermaid and let her deal with it; she loves kids."

Wyvern barely had time to process what was happening next. She was forcefully picked up by Ruby and thrown over the girl's shoulder. Wyvern thrashed around like some sort of wet cat, but there was nothing she could do. Max held onto Lois and slowly followed his wife as she casually used one hand to tear the vault door open. He technically wasn't supposed to leave his cell, but this was something he wanted to see, since he had a feeling Mermaid would chew Jill out.

Sure enough, when they arrived at Mermaid's part of the vault, Max wasn't shocked to hear the yelling of children. Mermaid's section was overflowing with dozens of kids, and her area consisted mainly of a large open square room that at one point had been pure white but now had been changed into an absolute rainbow of a mess. Paint and glitter covered every wall, and the floors were sticky and wet. Lots of kids ran around screaming and playing, swinging around various toys that had been on a shelf. A lot of Hero Brancher workers were failing miserably to get the kids to calm down, and in the center of the room, Mermaid stood with her hands on her hips.

The woman had been out in the halls earlier, waiting to see her friend, but when Ruby stormed past her, she got back to her real job. Taking care of a bunch of kids. Mermaid looked exhausted, with heavy bags under her eyes, and her clothes were a mess, almost as bad as her hair. Despite that, though, she had a smile on her face.

"Lily, stop being so rough!" She yelled out.

Many heroes had lost their lives, along with many villains. The stress of everything that was going on had caused plenty of kids to awaken powers far earlier than they should have. For many of these kids, they'd have a hard time controlling their newly awakened powers, especially in such a hostile environment while also dealing with the death of their parents. That was why Mermaid made it her mission to do her best for every child that had suffered. The children of heroes, the children of villains, and the children of civilians. They were all equal in her eyes, and all were being given the shelter and help that they needed.

She did this all for one simple reason.

It was the right thing to do.

"Mermaid!" Mermaid turned around just in time to see her best friend, Ruby, swing a child at her. "Here!" Mermaid let out a squeak and raised her arms up, catching the monster girl that rammed into her stomach. She was knocked off her feet and collapsed to the ground with Wyvern sitting on her. Before she could even think about getting up, Ruby casually placed her foot down on Mermaid's shoulder and pinned her down. The red-haired girl had a large shit-eating grin on her face and stared down at the pissed-off Mermaid. "I brought you another kid!"

"Get the hell off me!" Water swirled in the air and whipped at Ruby, but she casually dodged out of the way and giggled. Mermaid sighed and sat up and pulled Wyvern up to her feet. She looked down at the girl, noting the scales. Wyvern wasn't the first monster child Ruby had brought back, but Wyvern was the first with such large scales and horns. "Is she a Dragon?" Mermaid asked in shock.

"Yep." Ruby nodded her head and leaned against the wall casually. "She's a Dragon. Kind of cool, right?"

"That's not the exact word I would use..." Mermaid casually gripped Wyvern's chin and tilted the girl's head. She used her fingers to force Wyvern's mouth open and looked down at the sharp, jagged teeth. "I can't believe this Dragon is a kid. The others have been kids as well, haven't they?" She sighed.

The Emperor's army was massive and had many different types of soldiers. His four generals were the strongest in his army. They were Hell Hound, Golden God, Fairy Queen, and the Princess of Life. Just below the three generals, there was the group known as the Holy Soldiers. They were made up of Alien, Daemon, and the mysterious third member, who was assumed to be in this position. After that, you had many different forces, such as the Dragon Force, which was made up entirely of Dragon-based monsters who could all transform into dragons. The other factions really didn't matter as much, and it was mainly the Dragon Force that was considered to be the worst because there were just so many of them, and their scales were insanely tough, as well as the fact that they could unleash waves of hellish fire from their jaws.

"So, you're going to be able to take this one in?" Max asked from the doorway, still holding Lois in his arms. The young four-year-old looked around with wide eyes, staring at everything she could, but like always, she refused to speak. He had tried getting her to play with the other kids, but she never did. He was starting to worry Lois might be slow.

Mermaid nodded and let go of Wyvern's chin. "Yeah. She's not the first monster. I'll make sure she doesn't get picked on and do my best to help her. She seems pretty smart." Mermaid ruffled Wyvern's hair, and the child finally stopped crying but kept sniffling.

"That's good." Ruby stretched and felt her muscles pop. "A happy ending, then! Looks like my job here is done."

Max gave a nod of his own and gripped onto Lois tighter. He looked down at her and forced a smile. "Want to say bye to Aunt River while we're here?"

Lois looked out toward Mermaid, and she just let out another giggle and didn't say anything. Max's smile faded. Ruby sighed and shook her head. Lois still wasn't speaking.

"She'll get there eventually," Mermaid said awkwardly when she noticed both parents had a bad mood swing. "Why don't you leave her with me—"

"No." Both Max and Ruby said loudly.

"Okay..."

Mermaid awkwardly watched as the two turned and began to leave the room. As they did, Lois looked back at her, and her eyes met the young girl's, and for a moment, Mermaid swore she saw something... almost like a flicker.

Lois was seeing something, though. The girl let out another giggle as she watched millions of Paths twist and snap and form into an image. One of the bunkers, completely torn to bits and on fire. Lois had just seen how this story ends.

***

Ward rubbed at his eyes. He was still seated at his desk, but now his office was finally empty. He had all his soldiers on break, and he was getting a moment of peace and silence.

His son would be somewhere else in the bunker, playing or doing whatever else kids did while they were locked up. For the first time in weeks, Ward allowed his breathing to steady, and he slowly leaned back in his chair. His eyes were heavy, and he was utterly tired as he stared up at the lights that hung above him. He just wanted some sleep.

How long had it been since he actually got to properly rest?

It was hard carrying everything out in the way it needed to, but he knew that it was worth it. Just a bit longer, and the good guys would win. Everything would finally be able to return to normal, and he'd get to see his wife and son again without having to worry about some bomb blowing them all to bits and wiping out everything he loved and cherished.

Now that Doctor Blue was here, things were finally starting to look good for them all. If the man really was able to find the solution to get around the portals, then they'd finally be able to bring the attack to the Emperor. All was not lost. There was still hope. A chance for victory. A chance to fix everything and help mend this broken world. He wasn't strong, he wasn't even a good person, but Ward knew that he still needed to do this. For the world. For his friends. For his son.

And yet, Ward also knew that he had already died. He had a run-in with the Emperor long before this all started, and he knew that it was only a matter of time until it all came back to bite him and end in his death. He had accepted that fate, though. Sure, he might die, but his son and everyone else would be given the chance to win. And so, without worry, Ward opened his eyes just in time to feel a hand touch his shoulder.

Had the hand of the Grim Reaper finally reached him?

No.

Not yet.

"We should talk." Ward's eyes went upwards, and he found Harrison Avalon. The scientist stood behind Ward and kept a steady hand on his shoulder. "You don't mind that, do you?"

"I've done what you wanted," Ward said, not bothering to knock the hand off his shoulder. "I've made sure all suspicion of you being part of the enemy team has been removed. As far as everyone knows, you're working on some grand project to take the Emperor down. Everyone still thinks you're on our side."

Avalon's smirk just grew, and he lazily shrugged his shoulders and removed his hand. He walked around Ward's desk, and because he was also petty, he used his arm to slide all the pictures and other valuable objects straight off. They crashed to the floor, and some glass shattered, which crunched under his boot. "You know, in that regard, you've done quite well, like a good little lapdog." Avalon chuckled. "You've made sure to only send the Branch out after fights with Lucifer have ended, and in return, our deal still stands. The Emperor will spare you and your family once this war is finally over. Right now, we can't risk touching the Lord of the Sky and Weather because Lucifer has already planned for that and inserted a spy into your ranks. If he thinks we're going to take the Lord, he'll just kill it, or you'd just have Max kill himself. That fact has mostly stilted us until we can find a way around it." Avalon admitted letting out a chuckle. "That said, there is another reason I came here." He looked down at Ward and frowned. "You're trying to cheat."

"What do you mean?" Ward asked, somehow remaining calm despite the position he was in. His hands were clasped together, and he had his head cocked to the side.

"You know exactly what I mean." Avalon hissed. "Doctor Blue. You thought you could be clever, didn't you? You've been moving him around and keeping him secret from me because you think he's your secret weapon."

Ward clasped his hands together and cocked his head to the side. "Oh? And just how did you find out about him?"

Avalon snickered and lifted a finger. A small bug landed on it. One of his drones. "A little birdie told me. The Emperor threatened to turn you, your wife, and your son into half-baked, shitty monsters if you stepped out of line. Luckily for you, I haven't told him about this little incident yet."

"And why's that?" Ward sighed, already feeling a headache coming on.

"Because," Avalon casually flipped his lab coat, causing it to flutter a bit. "I have my own game that I want to try out! And you're going to help me!"

Meanwhile, far, far away, further than mankind could ever dare travel, something was zipping through space, traveling far faster than light.

Full Monarch gritted his teeth. He hadn't slept, he hadn't eaten, he hadn't done anything other than fly for over four years straight, and still there was no sign of Earth.

"I have to make it there!" His blue fire grew even more intense. "I'm not going to let my planet be destroyed!"

He prayed and he hoped beyond anything else that it wouldn't all be gone.

He was stuck, on the other side of the universe, so far away it would take a billion years to count the hero's required for the number of miles he had left, and yet still Full Monarch did not stop for in only four years he had made it to the halfway point.

Life would go on. He was sure of it. The human race had a funny way of constantly surviving even in the harshest environment. The Emperor, the Beast, Lucifer, and even the Shadow. Humanity stood against it all and still they were alive.

He just hoped it would be the same life as before he left the planet.

"Come on... Just a little longer. I'm almost there!"

The story was soon to be at an end.