Spectacular World-Chapter 217: A Cruel Person

He was falling.

Actually, he was sinking.

Actually, actually, the ground was swallowing him up; he was sinking into it, and then he was falling.

Jack Larison felt his body twist and be flung around as the ground dragged him down. He went down further and further, and then, when it finally spat him out, he crashed into a harsh and cold stone floor. He could hear the rattling of chains, the squeaking of rats, and the howls of the damned all around him. The temperature kept dropping, getting lower and lower, and he felt his body shake. He was in hell.

"No." A flicker of blue exploded out of him as he forced his energy up and washed it over himself, blanketing his body in it. He felt his flesh burn for a moment, and then when he looked down at his hands, they were back to normal. He wasn't a goblin, or a kid, or whatever the hell had just happened. He was back to himself. It didn't matter what sort of illusion this was; he was able to shatter Fairy Queens easily, and he had only grown in power since then, so breaking out of this one would be easy. He was a grown adult, a man, a warrior. Not some scared kid- Then he looked around at where he was, and he lost it. "Gah."

Battery vomited.

He threw up, unable to hold it in as he was hit with a wave of revulsion. He had covered himself in energy and burned away the illusion placed on him, but the world he was now in, the one made up of his mind, hadn't faded.

He was in a familiar place. It was the place he had grown up in. Before he met Nier, before he became the nameless rat that lived on the street, before he was Alpha. He had parents, just like anyone else, and for him, his life had been one he had tried to forget.

He was in a dungeon. At least, that's what he called it, for that was the only name it could truly have. It wasn't that big, and it was cold, so cold in fact that he could feel his blood freezing in his veins. There was no light, and chains covered the wall, rusted red in blood. His body ached just looking at it, and his mind tried to suppress it, but he couldn't do it. He was home.

"You really had quite the imagination when you were a kid." A voice asked, a little amused.

Battery wiped his chin and stood back up. He tried to stop the shaking in his legs, but he wasn't very successful. "Yeah... I guess you could say that. I- I don't remember much of it, but it wasn't like this. Not really. There was no king, no princess, no castle, or dungeon. It was a basement. A mom. A father. A city. One that didn't know I existed or chose to look the other way. This is just a recreation of a childish mind trying to grapple with the truth of the life they had to live through at the time. I guess back then I created this scenario to try and cope because it felt less cruel that way."

"Was it less cruel for you to be tossed away into a dungeon instead of a basement?" The voice asked, a little amused. "Are you sure you know what the word 'less' means?"

"It was less cruel to be human." Battery corrected. "It was easier to pretend like I was something else and that it wasn't my family that was doing it. That I was some strange creature to them. It made it hurt a little less, I guess. That doesn't matter, though. Not anymore. I'm over it."

"Clearly, that's why you're shaking."

"Shut up." Battery sighed. "Why don't you come out now and explain yourself?"

From the darkness, footsteps echoed through the dungeon, and soon Battery came face to face with the voice. A man in a lab coat. "Hello," Avalon said, giving a sly grin.

"Story Maker." Battery closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. Why are you here?" Battery demanded.

Harrison Avalon...

Harrison Avalon was a man born during a time of war. He was there during the age of Lucifer. As a young boy, he watched many Supers come together and die. All for the sake of a cause he didn't understand or get. Despite living through such a war-torn age, though, not once did he see battle, and this was because Sini coddled him.

Whereas most kids were sent to their deaths on the front-lines, he was spared by becoming the student of Sini and using his powers to better the world. When the war ended, he was one of the first people to help create Sini Corp, and he was there when the first nobles came to Sini, offering their funding and creating the first ever modern-day city modeled directly after the old world. He was always there. Always watching. He was there to witness the creation of Full Monarch during Lucifer's defeat. He was there to witness a Lord submit to the humans and give up their power to better mankind. He was there to witness the first-ever loss of a city, when the Beast from Space came from the skies and tore their world apart... And he was there when Nier began to snap. No one else was there for Nier, but he was. He was always there. With his power, he reminded Nier, over and over and over again, of what he was fighting for. He made sure Nier would never forget about the death of his family, nor would he heal from it.

Harrison Avalon was a Super. A powerful one at that. He was blessed with several powers, namely an ability to touch and then extract memories, as well as build wondrous machines that could harness those memories. It was thanks to this power that, after the death of Full Monarch, he was able to create Avalon Industries and work with the Hero Branch. Of course, the Hero Branch seemed suspicious of him, which was why they mainly relied on Boy Genius once the prodigy child appeared.

He truly hated Boy Genius.

What made Avalon so special, though, was a single fact. He was one of two creations to be considered the perfect monster...

The first time the Beast had arrived on Earth, the city it destroyed had held nearly every famous Super within it. Avalon felt his body shatter and break. He was burned to ash and torn apart. He would have died beneath the rubble if not for Nier, who, by pure dumb luck or perhaps fate, discovered him. Nier saved his life, but Nier was also going through quite a bit at the time, since he had just lost his family, and so, not in his right mind, he decided to experiment on Avalon and force a new soul into his body. Avalon felt himself twist and change and transform. Just like how it always happened, the new soul within him was corrupted and broken, and it warred with the Super soul he already had, destroying the humanity within him, leaving behind nothing but a husk of a shell. He was less than even a normal monster should be, because Nier didn't want a warrior. Nier wanted a weapon. A powerful one that could bend space and time, in an effort to save his child, yet not even he, as the Lord of Life, could create such a tool, and instead he was left with a sword, one that could not travel through time but could travel through space.

Story Maker had been created, and the sword of the Emperor was born.

But how did Avalon come to regain his human form? All Monsters, no matter what, are left twisted and changed forever, even those who can keep some of their thoughts; yet out of every single one that was ever created, only Avalon truly kept his appearance.

It had to do with his power. Once again, the wheels of fate had turned in just the right way. Perhaps it was simply luck, or maybe the story required it to be this way. The body and the soul reflect one another, so when the soul of a human is destroyed, leaving behind the soul of a monster and a Super, the body has no choice but to twist and mutate. What if you could change the souls within a monster, though? What even is a soul? If a soul is unique to a person, then surely what would make it unique is a person's life. The way they lived and the memories they collected would be reflected in the soul, and it just so happened that Avalon had the power to control and imbue memories.

Despite being trapped in the form of a sword, Avalon was able to copy every drop of his life. Every thought, every moment, good and bad, that had ever happened to him, everything that ever shaped him, and in an instant, he forced all of that into the soul of the monster, transforming and altering it and creating something new. This is what allowed him to freely change back and forth between his two forms, making him the first ever created soul to regain its destroyed shards. He had willed himself back into existence.

Now he was easily one of the strongest monsters. One with powerful skills that was able to go anywhere in the universe with the right person. Some say he's even on the same level as a Lord. Whoever controls Avalon is winning.

And he now had a goal...

"Answer me." Battery ordered, snapping Avalon out of his thoughts. "Why are you here? How are you here?"

"Oh, I'm not here."

"And what the hell does that mean?" Battery grumbled and narrowed his eyes once more.

"Remember when Story Maker was rammed through your brain?" Avalon chuckled and pointed at his head. "The Emperor tried to use his powers to read your mind, but I'm what stopped him. I made sure to target parts of your brain and destroy them by overloading them. Also, while this happened, I went ahead and shoved enough of my memories into a section of your brain that would remain even after you revived with your Ruler powers. Those memories are what you now see before you." Avalon gave a light bow. "I'm not the real Avalon, more or less a small avatar constructed out of your subconscious here to have a conversation with you and let you in on a bit of secrets. Oh, but first, do you mind getting us out of this dungeon? It really is kind of spooky down here; I don't know how you were able to live in a place like this for so long as a kid."

Battery grunted and raised a hand up. He felt a bit smug as his blue energy launched out and blew through the walls and roof of the dungeon, vaporizing it. The hellish screams finally stopped, and as he blasted a hole all the way through, he created a ramp that led out to the top. He and Avalon walked up it, and soon they stood in what looked like a large village of some kind. The sort of one you'd see in a children's fantasy book.

All the buildings were black and cast in a blood red light; behind them was a jagged, shadowy castle. A blood moon hung high in the sky, painting everything in black and red. It wasn't that scary, but to a child seeing the world this way at all times would surely mess them up.

This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēnovelkiss.com.

Things weren't actually like this, though. He hadn't been born into a village. He had been born in a city, and his father, his real dad, wasn't some king or anything important. This fantasy world was nothing more than his imagination. A way he could escape reality. He wasn't a kid anymore, yet part of him still felt unsettled as he and Avalon began to walk the streets together. No one was there to greet them or say anything. The two of them were utterly alone.

"What side are you on?" Battery groaned as he walked with Avalon. "I can never tell what you're thinking or what your goal is. It seems like it's always changing."

"What do you mean?" Avalon chuckled.

"For starters, the whole Wish situation doesn't make any sense." Battery gave the other man the side-eye. "Nier seemed to be under the impression that Wish was created so she could be defeated and her title could be passed on to Sky, yet that doesn't make any sense when we consider how you were involved. You went out of your way to keep her Pod locked up for years, and it was only through Doctor Blue that she got out. Then you went out of your way to gather villains in an effort to kill her and Sky to put her down for good. You even offered me help, and together the two of us almost killed her for good, yet in the end, she managed to escape. Then Nier showed up, and you suddenly switched sides, going back to him. I'm guessing you conveniently left out how close you came to killing his daughter. I imagine he wouldn't like that."

Avalon just laughed some more. "What? You make it sound like I'm some cheater, switching sides."

"That's because you are." Battery glared back at the man. "You said you hate the Emperor, yet you helped him out a bunch. What gives?"

"I like to be on the winning side, and it just so happens he was the closest to getting my goal to be reached."

"And that is?"

"To kill you both." Avalon's smile faded. Battery turned to look back at him, and Avalon reached out and placed his hand on the other man's throat. He didn't squeeze or apply pressure, but he left it there. "I once told you that I utterly despise the Emperor. That includes you as well, you know. You and Nier got Sini killed. You and Nier almost destroyed the world I'm trying to save. You and Nier got Full Monarch killed. You and Nier still haven't found a solution to the Beast! You both are the exact same. You say over and over again how you'll do it. How you'll slay it, yet then you go off on some stupid quest to screw the other over because of how much you despise one another. It makes me sick. I hate you both. I hate you both more than you even hate each other or yourselves. I hate the entire concept of Rulers and even the Lords. Again, and again, and again, and again, and again, you get in the way and mess everything up and drag Supers, Monsters, and even humans into your petty squabbles. I truly just want you to die and stay dead. You, Nier, Lucifer, and Legend. All four of you should rot in hell, burn away, and suffer. And the Lords. They need to stop coming back. No more of them. This... cycle. This cursed war that every other person is forced into... It needs to stop. So I'm going to break it. I'll shatter the wheel and ruin the whole machine and build something new in its place. Bit by bit. Until I'm finally left with something that won't be ruined." Avalon grinned again, giving a cheerful smile. "Does my plan make sense now?"

Battery frowned and didn't react to the hand on his throat. "Why are you working with Nier then, and why are you here with me now?"

"Because there's one good thing about both you and Nier." Avalon chuckled. "You're both utterly suicidal, depressed men. The best way to get you to die is to string you along until you kill yourselves, and you two are pretty good at that." Avalon finally removed his hand and stuffed his hands in his pockets, turning away. "I work with the winning side. I needed the board to be set a certain way. For one, I need all four Rulers and all four Lords to be present in one spot. The issue is, Lucifer rarely stays in one place for long besides when he's doing a Murder Game, and Legend is stuck here. So I offered my assistance to the Emperor to get the Murder Games to take place here in Legend's realm. I knew you'd take the bait and come running in to fight Nier, since you'll drop whatever you're doing at the first chance to mess with him. I also knew you'd bring Sky, as well as Poseidon and the Victorian's daughter. You wouldn't have brought Hope, though. You would have left her out, ensuring she doesn't get caught in the middle of this. So I also needed to make sure she got dragged into the games so all four Lords would be present. Due to how Lucifer's game works, we couldn't just pull all the Lords and you in freely, and not even I can summon people into this place. You're the only being in the universe besides the Beast and Full Monarch that's strong enough to break in here, so after I ensured Hope was stuck here by getting her father involved, I just needed to wait for you to show up with the other three Lords, and we'd finally have everyone present in one location."

"Why did you need all of them gathered together?" Battery asked suspiciously.

"It's the only way to truly kill a Ruler." Avalon chuckled.

"What!"

Avalon's smug grin grew. "Lucifer's been around for a really, really, really long time. He's seen other Rulers appear and is one of the only people who knew how to kill a Ruler the natural way. At least he was the only one until I snuck a look at his memories and yoinked that information away, which I then gave to Nier. That leads me to why I've shown up to see you." Avalon reached out and flicked Battery on the forehead. "See, Nier didn't get to look at your memories, but I did." He giggled like a schoolboy who just got a new video game. "I saw your little plan with the Lord of the Sky and the Path you've been following. Since I like to pick the winning side, I thought I'd give you a little nudge. A quick help to keep you on the right path and ensure the good ending comes."

Battery clenched his hand into a fist and stepped away. "Yeah? And what exactly do you think you can do to help?"

"Ten percent."

"Ten percent?" Battery raised an eyebrow. "Ten percent of what?"

"Just remember those odds." Avalon winked. "The board still isn't fully set. After all, you're not a full Ruler just yet, and we still don't technically have a full Lord of the Sun, now do we?" Avalon brought his finger to his lips and winked. "Make her whole."

Battery went to say something, but the world around him began to crack and break. Avalon was using his power to free him from the illusion. The next thing he knew, he was face down in the crater of glass he had created and could hear talking all around him...

"And you're sure the illusion will work on him?" The voice of the Emperor demanded.

"Eh, maybe." Uriel awkwardly chuckled. "I don't really use my powers that often and just rely on the Dead Virus Father gave me, if I'm being honest."

The Emperor growled and was about to say something but stopped when he noticed Battery twitching. "You're useless." He marched over to the downed hero and kicked out, ramming it into Battery's side and flipping him over.

Battery gasped and groaned, wincing. His entire body ached, and he was bruised and battered, barely able to keep conscious. He hadn't just gone in the illusion; he had gotten the shit kicked out of him during his talk with Avalon. He glanced up into the fiery red eyes of the Emperor and saw that the man was no longer alone. Golden God floated above, burned and banged up from the blast but still alive. Fairy Queen rested on his finger, looking annoyed since Sky had been taken from her and all the Immortals were back. Uriel, Michael, Gabriel, and Metatron, all fully healed and floating in the air with long angelic wings jutting out of their backs. Legend and Lucifer were back up as well, while the other heroes were still down. Fable, Tallest Wave, the Victorian, and Lightning Empress were all unconscious and, frozen in a block of ice, stood Cinder.

Lois' words came back to him.

This certainly felt like a loss, yet the Path she told him wasn't done. Only after he had given it his all and failed at the last moment would they somehow get a good ending. He had no clue how that was going to be the good ending, but he didn't know what else to do anymore.

He had tried to fight against the Path a bit. He had wanted to show up first and take Legend out with Hell Hound's weapon, along with Lucifer and the Emperor, and create a Path that didn't need all of those scenarios to line up, yet in the end, he failed. He had even tried to send everyone away, making sure they'd have time to recover and heal, yet it still didn't matter. The Rulers just kept growing stronger and stronger, over and over with each death.

If Full Monarch had been here, then victory would have been achieved, but Full Monarch wasn't here... The Lord of the Sun and Cosmos wasn't whole...

"Before we begin," the Emperor stated coldly. Let's get rid of the cameraman." He raised his sword, and the air flickered as Beta suddenly appeared, being teleported over. Faster than the machine could react, the Emperor sliced out, splitting the robot in two, and sent out a wave of dark energy that shattered all the cameras in the area, cutting off the recording and stopping the outside world from seeing what was about to happen.

Evil was going to win without being seen.

The body of Beta crashed to the floor, torn in half, and the footage stopped, freezing in place. Battery weakly stared at the destroyed robot. Beta's real body wasn't even in the realm they were in, so it didn't matter, but it did mean the stream was finished. "You shouldn't have done that." Battery smirked. "Any idea what you just-"

"Shut up." Battery felt his neck nearly snap as the Emperor smashed a fist into his face. His head almost twisted around, and his skull smashed into the ground. He groaned, and the Emperor stood over him and stepped onto his gut. "I'm getting tired of hearing you speak."

Battery glanced to where the Victorian and the other heroes were. They were all unconscious still, and with how many villains were around them, it didn't look like it would matter if any of them did wake up. His eyes flickered over to the body of Hope, who stood frozen, not moving. She wasn't dead, but she was still stuck in place despite the fact he knew she had the power to free herself. Something was holding her back. A sense of fear, perhaps. Fear of failing. Fear of being the last one standing. Or maybe it was just fear of having to fight Armin again. He glanced back at all the villains that stood around him.

He was supposed to give it everything he had. That's what Lois had assured him. He'd try as hard as he could, all of them would, but in the end, they would lose. They wouldn't be able to win. Yet despite that, somehow, the actions and choices he made here would shape the future. It would create a Path, one that would lead to an endless amount of good endings. They lose this battle, yet they win a later battle.

Was it worth it, though?

Now that he was here in the moment.

"We're near the end." The Emperor spoke softly. "Do you remember what our plan used to be? Back when you and I were working together? Before you betrayed me?"

"I never betrayed you-"

"You did!" The Emperor lunged down, and he smashed his fist into Battery's face once again. "You betrayed me! I took you in! I raised you." He grabbed Battery by the hair and forced his head up. "I loved you like my own son. I needed you. More than anyone else. I lost my daughter, Sky, and only through you and Avalon could I bring her back."

"You didn't." Battery said weakly. "Hell Hound was your real daughter."

"It was just her body." The Emperor hissed. "The soul within it had long since changed into something else. That was why it was so important that I raised you the way I did. Through my powers, I created a new body for my daughter. I had to start over; she'd have to be reborn as a baby, but that was okay. With my power as Lord of the Land and Life, I created her body and placed it within the Princess of Life, who was the corpse of my late wife brought back. The issue, though, was putting a soul into her body. Any soul I did create wouldn't be hers. That's why I needed you. Your power, the one you were blessed with. Imaginary energy. Truly, it seems to be able to do anything. With your energy, you were able to recreate the memories of my daughter. The way she looked and acted, converting pure memories into energy, and then through Avalon, I could place that energy within the soul I created for her, and thus her soul would be an identical copy to the daughter I lost. Yet in the final moments, you betrayed me. Did you even tell her what you did for her? You didn't, did you?"

"I didn't want to look at her." Battery winced. "It wasn't me who loved her. It was Hell Hound... Hell Hound... She... The baby that was born, she grew fond of it. She loved it as her own. Maybe it's because in her previous life that's who she was... She wanted it, so I wanted to give it to her. Neither of us could have kids of our own. Not after the way you twisted our bodies."

"When my daughter was reborn, she was placed into a lab. I expected we would lose in the final battle with Full Monarch, so I planned ahead. I knew one day I would be reborn due to being a Ruler." The Emperor growled. "The plan at the time had been simple. She would be raised in the lab I built for her and taken care of until the day came when I could reclaim her, yet when I was finally brought back, the lab was empty and destroyed. Its location had been revealed. That was how you betrayed me! You gave them the location of my daughter, and in turn, she was adopted by Ocean Empress! I lost my daughter once again because of you! That woman brainwashed her! You could have raised her yourself, but you didn't. You left her behind and gave up on her, allowing her to be taken in by another family! That is the unforgivable sin you committed that I won't ever forgive."

Battery's hand snatched out, and his fingers dug into the Emperor's helm as his eyes blazed back to life. "You're wrong. She was raised. She was given a family. She had a mother. A sister. She made friends. That's more than either you or I could give her. I'm a horrible parent, and you're even worse than I am!"

The Emperor roared, and he grabbed Battery's arm, snapping the bone within it. He twisted the arm and nearly yanked it off as he picked Battery up by it, swinging him around. The other villains watched amusedly as Battery was repeatedly smashed into the ground by his arm, which was snapped out of the socket. The Emperor kept going until the flesh tore, and Battery was launched back, his limb tearing off fully. The Emperor crushed what was left of the limb and tossed it away, marching back to where Battery lay in a pool of his own blood. Despite the pain, Battery chuckled.

The Emperor growled and glared back down at the person he had once called a son. "Do you know why I am even talking to you?"

"Because you like the sound of your own voice?"

"Because soon it will be the last conversation we have." The Emperor crouched down and glared into Battery's eyes. "There's a reason I needed you here and why we also needed all four Lords." The villain stated sternly. "Once there was a man. His name was Golark. He was, to put it simply, the first ever Ruler to be discovered. You see, no matter how many times Golark died, he would come back, again and again, and just like all Rulers, he had an army, one that he personally controlled and ordered to dominate the world. Golark was defeated, though. Do you know how?"

"The four Lords?"

"Exactly." The Emperor nodded. "The four Lords were discovered in this era by a Super named Cifer. Cifer was one of the first ever Supers to be born, and he was blessed with the ability to discover the Lords. He found their Pods, and these first four Lords were the very first ones to appear after the death of the Shadow. Despite the fact that Golark could self-revive, however, he was still slain. This is because a Ruler has a single weakness. You thought Hell Hound's weapon would be able to slay us, yet that wouldn't actually work. I tried to kill Lucifer with that weapon, after all, at one time or another. All it does is slow the revive down by a few seconds. You never stood a chance, because the only way for a Ruler to die is at the hands of a Lord. More specifically, at the hands of all four Lords at the same time. It took all four Lords teaming up together to slay the Shadow, and so, just like back then, a Ruler can only truly die for good if the killing blow is one that is received from all four Lords."

Battery's eyes widened at that. He had figured that in order to truly kill a Ruler, a Lord would be required, but for the killing blow to require all four? "Why would you ensure the four Lords showed up here, then? You knew I'd bring them with me, so why? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"In a way."

"What?"

The Emperor stood back up, and for a moment, he looked up to the sky. "Years ago, when we first teamed up, you and I had a plan. The Beast, which had changed both our lives, needed to be dealt with, and the only way to do that was by creating a world of only Supers. We both believed at the time that this process could be done when a person gathered all four Lord souls within them, and so, using your power of the Giants, and ability to alter your energy, I turned you into my living weapon. You were created to take my place, pretend to be the Emperor and eventually devour all four Lords, and with the power you were blessed with, you would be able to alter the world and change every person on the planet into a Super. In the end, however, we failed, and instead of that happening, all you accomplished was getting rid of Full Monarch. You gave up on that plan to turn all of humanity into the perfect species, but I didn't. Since the start, I've still held that dream, and now, more than ever, I see the way to reach it. The true way, unlike our childish plan back then."

Battery's eyes widened slightly, and he looked back at the Emperor in horror. "Wait! Instead of using all four Lords, you're going to use the Rulers?"

"Of course!" The Emperor threw his arms out and chuckled. "It makes perfect sense, doesn't it?"

"No!"

The Emperor kicked out with his foot and rammed it into Battery's stomach, making him gasp and wheeze. "Think about it. How does the story go? The four Lords lived on Earth, and they were considered kings. Gods among men. They were powerful beings from beyond the stars who settled down. One day, though, their world was visited by an entity. One that defied all logic. It was pure and utter evil. The Shadow. It sought to destroy everything. The four Lords did battle with the Shadow, and they fought. In the end, both forces took each other out, and upon their death, the world was sent into a new era. Supers were created, the four Lords began to get reborn, and the Shadow split itself apart into tiny fragments, creating the four Rulers. You and I once thought that it was the power of the four Lords that created Supers, but we failed to factor in the other side. Lords are alien in nature. They're freaks of nature that are separated from other Supers. By contrast, a Ruler seems much closer to a normal Super, does it not? I believe that Supers were not created by the Lords. Instead, they come from the Shadow."

"So your plan is to recreate the Shadow?" Battery growled.

"In a way." The Emperor nodded. "When Golark first died, do you know what happened?"

"He went to hell?"

"The shard of the Ruler that was within him escaped his body." The Emperor stated. "When a Lord dies, their soul goes back to the Pod, and the cycle of rebirth begins once more for them. Rulers aren't Lords, though. Far from it. A Ruler is a cancer. It infects and invades. When a Ruler is truly killed, the power escapes and it seeks a new target to force its way into, corrupting them and transforming them into a Ruler. At times, it can lie low and even pass on to the children until it finds the body it wants and activates. Golark's shard happened to infect a priest that existed during that time and transformed that priest into the one and only Lucifer." The Emperor glanced at Lucifer, who just grunted and looked away. "The Lords likely didn't even know what it was they were fighting at the time. After all, the Egos within them, the true Lord souls, weren't awake. Rulers have popped up throughout history. One infected the Thaddeus clan, and it eventually found the perfect host in the hero known as Legend, while two others even managed to hide in the bodies of the Lords, and like a true cancer, they latched onto the Lord soul. Do you know which two Lords got infected?"

"The Lord of the Land and Life is one of them." Battery muttered. "For a time, you were both a Lord and a Ruler."

"That's right." Nier let out a soft chuckle. "Both existed in me, after one of the shards of a Ruler infected a previous host of the Prettiest Flower. The shard clung to the Prettiest Flower, seeking a host it was compatible with, until it eventually came to me. Upon my death at the hands of Full Monarch, the Prettiest Flower managed to separate herself from the Ruler piece, leaving it behind in me, while she fled and escaped. She wanted Sky's body, but instead, she was dragged back to her Pod and forced to wait for a new vessel. Serves her right for leaving me the way she did." The Emperor shook his head and folded his arms. "Another Lord was also infected by the shard of a Ruler. Even before Full Monarch, the Lord of the Sun and Cosmos was always considered to be the strongest. Perhaps that's why it's not shocking that a Ruler shard attached itself to the Brightest Star."

Once again, Battery felt as if he had just been punched in the gut as he struggled to process that. He glanced back at Hope in horror. "You're lying. There can't be a Ruler shard in her!"

"You're right, there isn't." Nier shook his head. "There are only four Rulers. Golark's shard ended up in Lucifer. Another infected the Thaddeus clan and woke up in Legend, and then the shard that connected to the Prettiest Flower resides in me now. Haven't you always wondered, though, why you're a Ruler?" Nier's eyes narrowed a bit. "That red hair, that immense fire-like energy. I'm sure at one point you put it together, didn't you? The fact that the Victorian is two years too young."

"What are you saying?" Battery asked, feeling a hollow pit open up in his stomach.

"There was a host for the Brightest Star," Nier said softly. "One who was stronger than all others. This host unknowingly held the shard of a Ruler. Perhaps the largest shard. A previous vessel had gotten infected with it, and it kept clinging to all new ones. This host was special, though. It had managed to wake up the soul within it. The Brightest Star was reborn fully. Eventually, the Brightest Star became aware of the sickness that clung to it, and so it sought a way to remove it. It could leave the shard behind when its host dies, just like the Prettiest Flower eventually did to me, but the Brightest Star loved its host. So instead, it found a different solution. One day, it took its host's body over and, using that body, it found a nobody. Someone the world would never miss. Someone that's not important. It lay with them, and during the process, unknown to the nobody, it transferred the cancer that had taken root within it to this person. Little did the Brightest Star know, though, that this total nobody happened to be two people, for in her belly a second body resided. A body that the shard connected to and molded with, and nine months later, just like how a Lord was born, a new Ruler was born. A freak of a child that lacked a name."

"No..."

"Yes. Through that act, the Brightest Star was free."

"No!"

"Yes. This child was cursed from the start. Born to be a Ruler." The Emperor placed his finger to Jack's forehead almost in a soft gesture. "From the very beginning, that child never stood a chance. Its Path had been determined. Lady Luck never smiled upon them. Now we come to the present. Four Rulers, four Lords. You asked why I wanted the Lords here, and I told you what happens when they kill a Ruler." The Emperor's finger pressed down hard, causing a drop of blood to spill down Jack's face as his claw started to dig in. "Just as it's possible for the shard of a Ruler to cling to a Lord, so too should it be possible for a Ruler's shard to cling to another Ruler. I believe that's what the Shadow desired. We Rulers aren't made to work together. We exist to collect our broken pieces. You're going to die, and once you do, the shard inside of you will leak out. Lucifer, Legend, and I have all agreed to a cease-fire until the shard appears. Only one of us can be the one who stands on top, so we will fight to the death to claim it, but first, we need you to die so we can get the shard your body holds. I'm going to become the next Shadow and use my power! I'll be slain during my fight with the Lords and upon my death the entire world will be transformed into a world of only Supers!" He declared.

Lucifer stepped forward and sighed. "No. I'll be the one to gather all four shards. I'll gain all the pieces and use that power to defy death and rebirth and bring forth the Shadow, the one true God." He stated.

Legend shook his head. "No! I am number one! I'll gather the pieces and become the strongest entity in the universe and stand at the very top!"

All three Rulers glared down at Battery, who looked at them as if they were insane. "As you can see," The Emperor began. "The three of us think we deserve to have all the pieces, and eventually we'll come to blows, but not before we wipe you out, because above all else, we all agree you need to go. Your shard must be the first one taken so that our battle can begin properly. Whoever gains two shards of a Ruler will have enough power to slay the other two and tear their shards out."

Battery chuckled softly and shook his head. "I hate to break it to you, but you can't do that. You said it yourself, the only way to kill me for good is for me to die at the hands of all four Lords, and even if Sky might hate me, Lois and the kid would never do that. You lose."

"As usual, you think there will be a choice." The Emperor smirked, and his red eyes blazed hotter. "You were made to be a weapon, Alpha, and serving as a weapon is all you will ever be. Look at Legend. He was once a trusted member of the good guys, yet he died so much that he went insane. Hell, even I and Lucifer have been corrupted and altered. Neither of us can be called human anymore, yet despite that, you still manage to keep your sanity even after so many deaths. In fact, you've hardly changed at all. A Ruler can only die a few times before their mind snaps, yet you've been killed a bunch today. Aren't you curious what makes you special? After all, the shard in you is one of the biggest ones, yet you've managed to escape the effects. I'll cut to the chase; it has nothing to do with you being special. Like always, it ties back to Full Monarch."

Jack felt a lump in his throat, and he growled, shaking his head. "I don't want to hear it."

"Too bad." The Emperor grabbed Battery by the face and forced him up, holding him off the ground. "You see, Full Monarch felt pity for you. Part of him actually cared for you in the final battle, and he decided to try to save you. I'm sure you've noticed the Victorian and the fact that she only has a piece of the Cosmos half. The other piece... It's pretty obvious where it ended up, don't you think?"

Battery grunted, but he had nothing to say. He had that feeling for a while. Before the Beast, he was always hearing Full Monarch's voice. He could feel the man's eyes on him and would sometimes catch glimpses of him. At first, he thought it might have been because of the metal light shard that was in him, but that didn't make a whole lot of sense. After all, that shard came from the Victorian. His other thought was that it had been the Ruler's shard talking to him, but it had stopped speaking ever since he first died and was revived. That was when he put it together.

"You weren't getting any powers from it because it was focused on keeping you alive." The Emperor grunted. "Your body was a mess, and the metal piece that was in your heart was killing you. Full Monarch tore most of the Cosmos half out of him in his final battle, and a majority of it went to the Victorian, but he saved a piece just for you. It's gotten smaller over the years. The longer it's existed in you, it's shriveled up and died, but it does exist. The more you've died, the more it shattered and broke, because it was taking the burden for you. That's why you experienced very few side effects and why the shard spoke to you so often, as I'm guessing it did. It was Full Monarch's last gift to you. The only reason I know about it is because of my ability to see souls. I've watched it shrink within you over the last sixteen or so years. By now, only about ten percent remains."

Battery clutched at the hand that was around his face and struggled to rip it off. "That doesn't change anything."

"In a way, it does." The Emperor said simply. "If we kill you, you revive, and the Cosmos shard shrinks while the Ruler shard grows. You die enough, and soon it will fade. After that, the thing that was protecting your soul is gone, and you'll start to fade and shatter, becoming twisted and corrupted, like the rest of us. Face it, the good guys lost. I can control them. Force them to fight your corrupted self and ensure that they kill you, and when they do, that piece of you will come out and be claimed by one of us."

Battery winced but managed to force a smile. "You're so cocky, but haven't you considered how easily this plan of yours can go wrong? After all, if the four Lords kill you and your shard leaves, there's nothing stopping me from snatching it up for myself." His eyes scanned toward Lucifer and Legend, causing the two men to take a step back, while the Emperor's eyes just narrowed.

"That won't happen. I've already beaten the heroes and can hold the people hostage to force them to obey me. The current Lords are weak, nothing special, unlike Full Monarch."

Battery's smile faded. He looked down at the ground weakly and then glanced at Story Maker. His eyes traced the blade, and he recalled Avalon's words. Lois's words also came to him. The world needed Full Monarch, but there wasn't a Full Monarch. He had tried to take that place, but he couldn't do it. Hope wasn't the next Full Monarch, though, and he didn't want her to be. He was tired of the cycle. Tired of kids being used as weapons to fight in a war they never asked to join. Over and over, again and again. Did he actually have a choice now, though? There would never be another Full Monarch, but what if he could create something almost as good? He had thought about it a bit ago but decided against it since it'd mean forcing Hope to step up. He thought he could prevent it from being her. Now, though, he was starting to see that was going to happen. He couldn't prevent what was about to happen.

Hope Lauren was the main character after all.

In the story he called life, it always seemed to come back to her. She was, without a doubt, the most important person in all his plans. Even more than himself, she was the one that was at center stage.

There wouldn't be another Full Monarch, but maybe Hope Lauren could be the hero that was needed.

Cinder was going to save the day.

'The first step is for you to try your best, but in the end, not be able to finish what you started. You have to lose. When that happens, Beta will come in and make sure we can recover from the loss. He'll know what to do when the time comes. The next thing you need to know is that you're going to have to stab Hope. The last and final thing you need to know is this. No matter what she says, no matter how much she cries or begs, no matter what emotions you feel, you can't go along with what Hope says. You have to deny her. You have to force yourself to move forward. Don't let her words convince you. Ignore her in her hour of need'.

"I've made up my mind." Battery whispered quietly.

The Emperor locked his gaze with his son and hummed. "Do you give up?"

"Yeah."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Battery's hand fired up, surrounded in blue fire. He tore through the hand that was on his face, slicing it off and sending the Emperor stumbling back. "I give up. I'm not a good person. I'm not the kind of guy that can do things the hard way. I'm horrible. I'm evil. I'm going to burn in hell. I accept all of that. I'm the guy that's going to force a child to fight his war because I'm not strong enough. I tried. I... I give up, though. I just want them to get a happy ending." Battery lunged forward, and the Emperor swung Story Maker out. He caught the blade, letting it dig into his palm, and tore it out of the Emperor's grip, and then tossed it, throwing it through the air. All the villains stared in shock as the blade impaled through the ice and buried itself into the heart of Hope Lauren.

"Why would you do that?" Lucifer asked in shock.

Battery didn't answer and instead unleashed a wave of black lightning that tore through the field, throwing all the villains back. A few stumbled for the sword, but while they did that, he launched himself at his next target.

"J- Jack?" The Victorian managed to push herself up and groaned, feeling her muscles ache. She looked up, meeting Jack's eyes. He stood over and looked down at her, ignoring the screaming villains. "What's going on?"

"Jill."

"Y- Yeah?"

"Sorry."

"What-" Jack rammed his hand forward, impaling it through the Victorian's chest. Her eyes went wide, and blood streamed down her chin as he tore her heart to bits. "W- Why?" She asked weakly.

"Because." Jack glanced back to the body of Hope, and he opened a portal beneath it before the Emperor could grab the sword that was sticking out of her. "I'm a cruel person."