The Castle

Dozens of cracks began to seep through the stone floor of the alleyway. A massive red fist tore through the debris as Kevin crawled his way out of the massive sinkhole that had swallowed an entire block. His robe was gone, leaving him in only his shorts, and his body was bulky and oversized, his muscles inflated.

He had tried to make his hands look mole-like and used them to dig his way out of the collapsed base. Now that he was back on the surface, the moon cast a silver light below. He stared at his pale hands, which were caked in dirt as well as blood, and for a moment, they shook. "Okay. We're out." There were hundreds of sirens and horns all around them. He had pulled his way into an alleyway hidden from sight; the roads were filled with emergency vehicles. "You can reform now."

His stomach began to grow larger as if it inflated, and he began to cough violently. Seconds later, his jaw practically unhinged, and he collapsed to his knees, literally spitting up Wish. Her body tumbled to the ground, all the goo that came from hiding inside of a person moving off of her as if it were alive.

"That golden guy got away." She muttered with a heavy frown. Not just that, he had managed to kill her. In an instant, another one of her bodies had been reduced to ash when everything collapsed. All caused by a brilliant blue light that had formed around him. If not for the cells she hid inside her homemade Supers, she would have actually been in trouble.

"It's not like you to let someone escape." Kevin's body slowly shrank back down to its standard size, and he sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Maybe it was for the best, though. I really didn't want to kill any of them." A loud buzz echoed through the alleyway, and Kevin pulled a heavily damaged phone from his pocket.

"Kevin." The voice of Aarush Brenner caused his nerves to ease a bit. The police officer was often kind. The man was walking through hell, all for the sake of his son. The heroes never beat Lucifer, but Sunshine was confident he could win. "I was told the base collapsed. Are you two, okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine, sir." He eyed the naked Wish up, who was sulking in a corner of the alleyway. "We weren't able to get the heroes, though. They collapsed the base and killed all our men."

"That's a shame, but what really matters is you two are safe."

"Yeah, we're safe." Kevin nodded. "We'll be heading back shortly now-"

"Actually, I'm afraid your job isn't done." Aarush cut him off. "I hate to ask this of you after you've already done so much, but we're still in need of your help. On our way to the Penny Base, we spotted the gate had been tampered with and were having a hard time getting in contact with anyone inside. The boss was afraid the heroes might be on to him, so we're taking him to another hideout. We'd like you to bring Wish to Penny and have her deal with any of the heroes that are inside. No survivors this time."

Kevin felt his heartbeat begin to increase gradually. Finally, he nodded. "Right. Yeah, I'll let her know." The line went dead, and he increased his grip, crushing the phone. He often found himself wondering how different everything would have been if he had tried out for baseball and made it onto the team, even if it hadn't been the most popular sport at the time.

For a moment, his eyes roamed over Wish. The girl was looking down at her hands. She didn't often get into fights. She was still new to combat, mostly. She learned fast, though. "He had attacked while not looking. Something like this, right?" Red chains suddenly stabbed out of her back, whipping at the walls of the alleyway and slicing them apart. Her giggling filled the air. "Cool, cool, cool, so cool. I see why he did it. It's like having extra limbs. I'll have to thank that guy when I next see him. What was his name?"

"Battery. His name is Battery. He's a member of Pantheon."

"Pantheon?" Wish folded her legs and rubbed at her chin, cocking her head to the side. "You talk about them a lot. Or rather, you talk about that girl in that team. You said she was strong, right? Who would win? Me or her?"

Kevin shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"Yeah! I want to know! Please?"

He folded his arms. "I've only ever seen her in action once, but I heard she became stronger. She took on Intake and some other threats, and she's saved me twice now. So, if I had to really say who would win, I'd say she would find a way to beat you. She seems to have a knack for that."

"Aw, you don't want to root for me! No fun." Wish whined. "You're supposed to say I would win! It's like when a girl asks her man who the prettiest girl in the world is. I should be the default answer, Kevin!"

"I've never really been good with girls." Ashley came to his mind. How would she react if she saw him? She had fought so hard for him. She had become a great hero, a member of the Sub Enforcers, and trusted him enough to tell her secret. She had been there when he could barely control his anger, and now he had reached rock bottom.

"Hello!" A voice suddenly called out in the alleyway, and a light hit them. A man walked forward, clutching a flashlight. He had the jumpsuit of a Cleanup Squad member, though he seemed to be wearing very fine clothes from beneath it. "Oh, thank God we found some survivors! Are you two hurt? I'll call for help-"

"You should leave." Kevin began, but he didn't have time to finish his sentence. Wish's hand rose, and a red chain blasted out. The man was pulled towards her, and Kevin closed his eyes. He heard a 'splat', and when he opened his eyes, Wish stood in front of him, dressed in the outfit of the Cleanup Squad and posing for him.

"What do you think?" She asked. "Do I make it look good or what?"

"Or what."

"Huh?"

"We should get back to work. We're needed elsewhere." Kevin said, turning away.

"Kevin? Kevin! Come on, don't ignore me! Kev!"

***

A few moments earlier...

Between Snowdawn's snow, BB's wind, and dozens of walls of cash from Money Tree, they had managed to stop the portal from closing fully and bought them all a few moments to come up with a game plan.

Money Tree finally settled on a choice. "Okay. Here's the plan. BB. I'd like for you to stay out here while Cinder, Snowdawn, and I enter."

"What!" BB asked with wide eyes. "No fair. Why don't I get to come in?"

"Leaving this gate will be easy once we're on the inside." Money Tree explained. "They're built with dozens of failsafes and have a control room that, if we get to, will open up for us. On top of that, it will eventually forcefully open on its own so that people won't be trapped if they sense the control room has been tampered with. So, we won't need you to open the gate while we're inside. More than that, though, Battery's group will have no way of getting in if we bring you. When they are done, they should be heading this way. From what Cinder said, he'll also have a way to open the gate with your help. When he gets here, catch him up on what's going on, and then you'll enter with him and back us up."

BB didn't look very happy, but she slowly nodded. "Yeah, okay. I'll play the role of the support, I guess." She huffed and held her hand out towards Cinder. "You'll need to work double time if I'm gone. For every Wandering Coin grunt you knock out, I expect you to take an extra one out for me, got that?"

Cinder snorted and slapped the girl's hand. "Leave it to me."

"I'm going to help too," Snowdawn announced. "This is my chance to show off my skills!"

"Just because we're going in doesn't mean we're going to suddenly become careless." Money Tree barked out, causing all the kid heroes to jump slightly. "The Wandering Coin will know we're here as soon as we step foot into the realm. They'll be fully on guard. That said, everything we've been told so far says they lack Supers. Despite that, though, we're going to treat this as if it is a base full of Supers we're entering into. We'll go slow and steady and reserve our strength. We don't have to win; we just have to make a dent in them and let Battery's squad bring up the rear. Nothing flashy. Take everything down as soon as you can."

With a flick of his finger, coins suddenly filled the air and began to swarm Cinder and Snowdawn. The coins buried themselves beneath Snowdawn's snow and coated Cinder's outfit, giving her a bronze armored-like look.

"This should boost your defense." Money Tree explained. "It'll work like armor and can block heavy gunfire. It'll also repair itself, though at a slow rate. Don't get cocky and rely on it, though. This is strictly to soak up damage you normally can't."

"This feels cool." She ignited part of her body, watching the orange fire dance over the coins. "So, do you just carry a bunch of cash on you at all times?"

"Actually, I created it."

"Seriously!" Snowdawn asked with wide eyes. "So, you're like an actual infinite money glitch or something?"

Money Tree gave a sly grin. "Something like that. You create and control snow; Cinder creates and controls fire, and I can create and control currency. The more valuable the form of currency is, as well as the quantity, the more energy it takes to create and control it. There are also certain rules I have to follow to ensure I don't abuse it and break the economy, all placed by the Hero Branch." A sword formed from twisting dollar bills formed into his hand, and he pointed at the portal. "We've stalled for long enough. I think it's time we finally do this."

She took a deep breath, and she hesitantly stepped forward into the portal, quickly followed by Snowdawn and Money Tree. It was a weird feeling, though one she experienced already. Her time travel jumps with Max Lightning were very akin to this. Only this time, she didn't have her mom or a Lord to back her up.

Snowdawn's face was mostly hidden, but she could make out the slightly ill look he got as the world faded in and out of the realm appearing before them. Money Tree, on the other hand, seemed fine, having gone to dozens of realms, hundreds of times.

She had seen a bit of the world from outside the portal, but being there in person was something else. They appeared at the edge of a large forest. The sky above was dark but had dozens of bright silver stars above that cast rays of light down. Everything seemed to sparkle, and a long dirt path led toward a sight that caught her breath away.

If you were to look at a castle in a children's fairy tale, it would likely look something like what stood before them. The path led towards the castle, which stood nearly a mile away from them. It was more of a large fort, with a massive stone wall around it and several layers of buildings stacked upon one another. It had seemingly been fitted out with dozens of lights and other electronics, as well as heavy guns. Many of the windows had turrets that poked out of them, and already the guns were starting to take aim towards them. Outside of the walls that kept the fortress protected was an actual moat, and a wooden drawbridge had already pulled itself up.

The turrets ignited into a hail of bullets blasting at them, riddling the trees and floor around them with holes. All three of them stood there awkwardly as the bullets bounced off of their armor. Even the ones that managed to hit her exposed lower mouth left little more than a light sting, which had already faded away.

"So, do we wait for them to run out or what?" Snowdawn asked.

"Cinder. Would you like to do the honor?" Money Tree asked.

"Boy would I." She stepped forward and brought one of her arms out. "I always wanted to try this. So many comics and stuff have people that do this, and after seeing Battery's sword, I got to thinking about what else could be used as a shape." Her palm ignited, and slowly, the fire took shape, forming into a bow. She pulled back on it, a string of embers appearing between her fingers and a swirling inferno turning into an arrow. "Eat flame bow, losers!"

The arrow exploded through the air, burning through the bullets, stabbing through the stone wall, and continuing all the way through the castle. She sadly missed all the turrets quite badly, but damn, did it still look good?

"Yes! Cool, cool, cool! So cool." She cheered.

"That's a pretty silly concept." Money Tree snorted. "You've already shown you can fire off beams of fire. What does giving it the shape of an arrow do? If anything, you're just wasting more energy for a weaker but flashier attack."

"Yeah, but it looked cool, right?"

"Yeah, it looked pretty cool. Do it again."

They stalked closer towards the fortress, heading down the path. This time, when she pulled back on her bow, three arrows appeared, giving her three times the chance of missing. It took her dozens of shots, and soon, the wall around the castle was all but gone when she finally started to hit the guns. It was hard to aim the thing; much more complex than just pointing and shooting lasers out. Still, she felt like an elven archer and was living out the fantasy dream.

When they approached the moat, Snowdawn grinned and cracked his knuckles. "My turn." He raised his foot up and stomped it on the ground as hard as he could. An actual avalanche of snow rose from the ground and poured down the hole. It piled into the water below, waves of it seeping out, and in no time at all, the moat was perfectly filled in with ice and snow, allowing them to easily walk across towards the wooden bridge.

Money Tree lazily sliced his arm out, a sword forming into it, and the gate was split in two, crashing down into the courtyard of the castle. The courtyard was expansive and filled with actual soldiers. All of them were dressed in military gear and carried heavy-looking guns. There were also two straight-up tanks that were aimed at them, blasting rockets toward them. Quarters swarmed the missiles, tearing them apart midair and forming around the explosion. With another slice of his sword, Money Tree's blade extended, severing the barrels of the tanks.

Sirens filled the air, and a large metal gate closed off the entrance that led into the actual castle. The men screamed and fired at them, but the bullets did even less damage than the turrets had.

Not all Supers were equal. There were some, like Whisper, who had solid and complex powers but had the weak body of a human. Then there were Supers like Myth and Snowdawn, with relatively simple abilities, yet no matter what an average human threw at them, short of a nuke, it likely wouldn't harm them. This became clear very quickly as they threw themselves into the horde of soldiers.

There must have been at least a hundred of them. So many She became sure that there was no way the Wandering Coin was just recruiting from Oleander. Neither she nor Snowdawn used their ice or fire. Instead, they just threw out simple punches or kicks. Every blow blasted dozens of the men away, and they crashed into the ground hard. The two of them used just enough force to make sure they didn't accidentally kill any of the men while still hitting them hard enough to knock them out or break bones.

It was kind of sad, actually. They were kids, and yet these grown men couldn't do anything to stop them. As they easily finished off the grunts, knocking them all out, Money Tree got to work ripping the metal door to the castle off. The inside of the castle had sets of large hallways that led to a series of stairs. Suits of armor lined the walls, though they were just plain suits, none of them having advanced tech in them. Sections of the walls looked like they should have held portraits, likely whatever the Pallet Boys had found stylish, but were now removed when the Wandering Coin took over. The place looked gutted and torn apart, with boxes and supplies lining the corners of hallways and walls being removed to expand the size of rooms.

As She and Snowdawn fought the soldiers that were in the courtyard, Money Tree got to work, taking the ones who guarded this front entrance down. There weren't as many, and already dozens of them were running away. In total, there were less than ten soldiers who bothered to stay and put up a fight, the others either instantly dropping or running for the stairs in an effort to escape to a higher floor.

One soldier, however, stood out to Money Tree. He was dressed head to toe in metallic knight-looking armor. Lines along the armor lit up with a faint blue glow. Pallet Boy Blue's suit. The man drew the suit's longsword and charged, a shield appearing on his other arm, which he used to block a series of knives made of coins Money Tree threw.

"Leave this guy to me!" Snowdawn had noticed the armor-wearing grunt and instantly went on the attack. He left the remaining grunts in the courtyard to Cinder and sprinted past Money Tree, meeting the armored soldier head-on. He easily ducked under a mighty swing of the knight's sword and threw his fist out. The warrior managed to block it with his shield but was pushed back. Snow began to grow out of the spot Snowdawn had touched, piling up larger and larger, and the man clicked a button, which quickly shot his shield off before the snow could begin to swarm his arm. "I'm guessing this suit doesn't belong to you, right? You guys stole it!"

"So, what if we did?" The knight swung his sword out again, firing an arc of energy that smashed into Snowdawn's chest, but the snow on him expanded and puffed out, blocking most of the damage. "We'll make better use of this stuff than they ever did." The Wandering Coin member raised his arm up, a tube popping out of his palm, which fired a wave of fire.

Snowdawn jumped away from the attack and threw a glob of snow that put out most of the fire. Next, he did something odd. He squatted down until he was able to wrap his arms around his legs. Now in the fetal position once more, his body rapidly expanded with more snow and ice forming around him, and in a single instant, he went from looking like a walking, talking snowman to suddenly looking like a perfect giant snowball slightly larger than a person.

"Stealing just isn't cool, man." He yelled, making another cold-based pun. His now orb-like shape began to roll forward quickly, gaining speed. "You should chill out."

"Enough with your words!"

The Wandering Coin member sidestepped the ball as it shot toward him. It rolled past him, picking up more speed as it got faster and faster. The ball began to tear up the floor as it grew more ice-like, getting colder, and then suddenly, it bounced and began to roll up the side of the wall, ripping it apart. It reached the end of the hallway and started to get bigger in size as it used the hallway as a ramp to fire itself up onto the roof above. It slammed into the back wall and rolled back down, picking up even more speed as it looped around entirely and roared back towards the knight.

"I'll kill you!" The knight screamed and raised his sword, twisting a switch in the handle. The blade extended, getting larger, and the glow got brighter. Right as the ball was about to hit him, he swung down as hard as he could. Before the sword made contact, the ball morphed again, the snow and ice twisting as it formed into the shape of a giant fist!

The sword shattered against it as it slid across the floor and rammed into the knight in armor so hard it ruined most of the man's suit and slammed him past the broken gate, sending him all the way into the wall outside of the castle. The giant ice hand pinned him down, and it broke away, forming back into Snowdawn, who smashed his fist directly into the helmet of the knight and finally knocked him out.

"Yeah, way to go, Snowdawn!" Cinder cheered, knocking out the last soldier with a strong gut punch.

"It's about time I get to do something useful." Snowdawn let the man's body tumble to the floor and turned away. Snow piled onto the armor and began to freeze it to the ground, ensuring the stolen armor wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

"Don't get too cocky." Money Tree called out. "This castle is big, and we still have several floors to go before we're at the top. They likely filled all the other floors with the rest of their goons, many of which will have more stolen Super tech. On top of that, they're going to rig all these hallways with traps. If I had to guess, then that Doc guy they were talking about is at the very top. Either he's a Super, or they'll have a Super with him if they were smart. Either that or a bunch of their men that will dose up on that drug that gives them enhanced strength. They know they can't beat us in an outright fight, so this is a gauntlet. Made to tire us out and use up all our energy so when we do get to the top, the real threat will have an advantage."

"It's like a level in a video game," She hummed. She looked up at the castle until she stared at the top floor. "We need to get past the weak mobs before we reach the boss and take it out. That is unless we cheat."

"Cheat?" Money Tree raised an eyebrow at her.

She gave a sheepish grin and placed her hands on her hips. "Well, sometimes when I play a game, I get super paranoid about using up all my items before the boss. When this happens, I'll just skip past the level, running by all the enemies and heading all the way to the top, where the boss is waiting. Sometimes it is hard to do that, though, so I tend to look up glitches and stuff. Some of them let you skip all the floors entirely and instantly go to the top floor."

"I think I get what you're saying." Money Tree gave a grin, and coins began to form together beneath him and the two young heroes. They formed into a perfect circle-like shape, making a platform for them to stand on. "I like the plan, Cinder.'

"What exactly is the plan?" Snowdawn asked.

"We're going to skip straight to the top!" Cinder and Money Tree announced as the platform they stood on began to rise to the air.

***

Myth allowed his heartbeat to settle as he stared at the figure in the glass cage. He was able to get a better look now as she stalked away. She had retreated several meters back and was crouched low. Most of her skin was covered in snow-white fur, and her hands were a bizarre mix between human-like and paws. She seemed to have a snout and long dog-like ears that flopped down.

It was the previous Lord of Life that had created the race known as Monsters. They were made to be superior to Supers, with bodies perfectly made for their power. The Emperor had used them in his war fifteen years ago, and it was his bride, the woman known as Princess of Life, that kept the Monsters sane.

Her power had kept them held together physically and mentally. With her death, the wall that held their DNA together crumbled. A majority of the monsters transformed into giant beasts. Many of them sleep somewhere deep within the core of the planet or at the bottom of the ocean, still growing and changing. Every now and then, one will wake up and cause a rampage due to the amount of pain it is in. Those that didn't mutate still had their sanity shattered and forever had an altered body.

Almost every main member of the Bad Timers were monsters that had gone insane.

Her cloak rippled a bit, and Myth realized that it wasn't made out of cloth. Or at least not all of it. Part of it was the dirty brown cloak he had first taken note of, but other parts of it were wisps of black clouds, compressed and small. Bits of snow, or lightning, pouring from them and swirling around the arms of the woman. He could make out a tail as well that poked out behind her. It wagged back and forth, and above it, a small nimbus cloud had formed following its wagging, raining down softly onto it.

"Come on, Bad Wolf." Backup huffed and placed his hands on his hips. "These guys came all this way just to talk to you. The least you can do is use your words."

Whisper hid most of her body behind Myth, peeking out from his shoulder. "Honestly, with how weird all of these guys have been, I'm starting to see why we haven't seen them in a while. With the loss of Old Dog, they seem so out of touch with everything."

The wolf-like girl snapped her head over to Whisper, and the young hero let out a squeak and ducked back down behind the much bigger hero. Bad Wolf inched forward and pulled the hood of her cloak off. She, of course, had the head of a wolf, but it also had some human traits to it. Her eyes were very human-like, as were her teeth, surprisingly. She also sort of had hair besides the white fur. It was puffy and went down her back, but rather than actual hair, it looked more like a solid cloud. It even had droplets of water flowing down with it.

"I like to meditate." Her voice wasn't what he had been expecting. It was quiet, and she spoke almost in a dreamy way. As if she was tired. "It helps me to focus my mind and clear my thoughts. Sometimes, though, when prey walks so willingly close to me and practically offers itself up, it can be hard to stay focused." Her snout seemed to twist slightly into an innocent grin, and she cocked her head to the side.

"I'm Myth. I've heard a bit about you from Old Dog when I spoke to him nearly two years ago. I'm a member of Pantheon. Its leader, in fact. Recently, we've been gaining the eye of the Hero Branch. They don't exactly like me and are sort of getting in the way. I've come for two main reasons." The girl stared at him and slowly approached the glass, getting closer until she was able to place her palm on it. "I would ask my friend for this, but if the Hero Branch found out he was helping us with funding, they would likely cut it for him and the other Sub Enforcers. Especially if they found out he was using his power to provide that. Watch Dogs, though, belong strictly to Old Dog. He has a lot of sway on the Branch. I'd like to speak with him directly about it, but with him being absent, it seems you're the next person in charge. Basically, I'm asking for a cut of the funding you guys make and access to some of the resources you get. Even if the Hero Branch gets mad at you guys for helping me, I'm confident that they won't try anything when it comes to a team owned by an Enforcer member. That wouldn't look good for them."

Bad Wolf let out a snort, and the clouds that formed along her body crackled a bit with lightning. "That's quite bold. You walk in here and demand that we fund a group we've never heard of. You didn't even try to list why we should help you-"

"I'm not done." Myth cut her off. "I said I have two reasons for coming here. My second reason is this. I want you guys to stop staying at this base. I'd request you move it closer to Oleander and get back to doing weekly patrols. Things are bad in the city, and we need you guys more than ever now."

This time, the monster giggled. "So let me get this straight. You want us to get back to work even while our boss is away and help out in a city that you and the Sub Enforcers are failing to save, as well as pay money out of our own pockets because you have too much pride to go before the Hero Branch and ask for forgiveness? And you're doing all this without offering anything in return or having any conditions that benefit us?"

"Oh, there is something that benefits you."

"Oh? What's that?"

Myth took a deep breath and folded his arms. "We lost an entire city block, and hundreds of people either lost their lives or were injured when Bad Timers teamed up with Zoo. The Wandering Coin is still causing us big issues, and we're struggling to repair the city. If you had all been there, I'm sure things could have gone differently. More people could have been saved. I can't forgive you guys for not even bothering to show up while we struggled and while solo heroes and teams began to vanish."

"What are you saying?" Bad Wolf's eyes narrowed slightly, and the clouds started to ripple more.

"If you do what I say, give us some funding, and get back to work, I'll overlook the fact you guys failed to do your job." The hero said in a blunt tone. "If you don't, though. Well then, you've just made a lifetime enemy of Myth. Staying on my good side is what benefits you, guys."

Bad Wolf actually took a step back, her eyes roaming over him up and down. Backup and Whisper both looked at Myth, slightly in shock at his bold declaration. "Do you think you could beat all four members of Watch Dogs on your own, and even if you somehow could, do you think Old Dog, or the Branch, wouldn't retaliate?" Bad Wolf asked. "Are you really this stupid?"

"It isn't a matter of being smart or not. It's a matter of doing what's right. I can't accept the fact that you guys exist if you won't even bother to help the city when it needs you the most. I won't allow you guys to call yourselves heroes if it means you stay here. I'll throw away what little faith the Branch has in me if it means stopping you. Not stopping a crime when you have the power to do so is almost just as bad." Myth growled out. "Those are my conditions. Take them or leave them."

The woman nodded happily and folded her arms. Her tail began to wag, and her ears dropped down. "You know. I think I like you." She gave another grin. "That said, there's a bit more to the story than you know."

"Huh?"

"Do you want to know why Old Dog really got sick? Even without proper powers, he was built with the body of a Super. In a way, he's like the reverse of that girl you have with you. Having the right body but lacking the powers. He was able to age far slower than humans, and even amongst Supers, he seemed to outlive them all. So why now? How come his age has suddenly caught up to him?" Bad Wolf's smile faded slightly, and the look in her eyes changed somewhat. "To tell you the truth, we aren't just sitting around on the island doing nothing because Old Dog isn't here. We're scared."

"What? Besides the Calamities or the Emperor, what could possibly scare an entire hero team?" Whisper asked.

"Someone caused Old Dog's body to fail him." Bad Wolf explained. "With a single touch, his body was altered and lost many of its gifts. Just like that, gone was the ancient warrior, leaving only a weak old man on the verge of dying."

"All from one touch?" Myth asked with wide eyes.

"All from a girl with long white hair."