"So, did you and Lois have any fun?" Max asked as he pulled a freshly roasted turkey out of the oven.
Ruby gave a lazy shrug and let out a yawn. She walked over to the table and casually plopped her daughter down in the chair. "It wasn't that exciting. Still, I bet it was more fun than staying in this place all day." She sighed.
The room Max had to stay in was way too small for someone so important. It was buried deep beneath the city in its own private section of the bunker and looked like a criminally small apartment. The TV was on, constantly showing a series of bleak news reports that were always going on in the world, and the lights would rapidly flicker back and forth. Already, Ruby was ready to leave, yet Max somehow had kept his cool for the last four years he had been forced to live in this prison.
She didn't know how he did it. This place was also full of cameras constantly watching him, and hundreds of Super-built nukes were ready to go off if it was deemed necessary, all in the hopes of killing Max.
"Did Lois say anything yet?" Max questioned, and he placed the turkey onto a nearby counter and began to slice into it. He had taken up cooking and reading, which were his only two hobbies in this place.
"Nah. I don't get it; she's four, soon to be five, but she still can't speak." Ruby grumbled, and she sat down on the table, not bothering with a chair. She grabbed Lois by an arm and lifted the girl up, peering into her eyes. That action only served to make Lois giggle and burp. "No sign of any power either."
"Give it time." Max finished carving the turkey up and placed it onto several plates. "You were a lot older when you got your powers. Besides, even if she does suddenly get superpowers, what do you expect to happen? She's four, Jill—
"Ruby." Sёarᴄh the NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
"-So she still won't be able to go out on the front lines." Max slid a plate over to Ruby, who was still swinging Lois around by the arm.
Ruby's frown just grew, and she finally placed her daughter down. She had hoped Lois would start showing signs of a strong power so she could use the girl in her fight against the Emperor and his army, but that didn't seem like it was going to be happening anytime soon. Everyone kept telling her to stop taking Lois out onto the frontlines, but she knew that if push came to shove, Lois would awaken some sort of badass power and survive. Lois was the granddaughter of Full Monarch, after all.
"Have you thought about letting Lois play with the other kids?" Max took a seat at the table, sitting in a chair and not on the table itself like Ruby was doing. "River has been asking about getting Lois to participate in some playdates. It's crazy to think how many kids are running around this bunker now."
"Yeah." Ruby hummed, and she leaned off of the table, falling onto the ground and turning the fall into a roll. She sat on the ground and looked up at the metal roof above. "Everyone in this place is a bunch of pervs constantly banging and popping out babies left and right." She snickered.
"You put it so elegantly," Max said flatly.
"I know." Ruby hummed. It was still crazy to think about to her, though. Legend had two sons running around this place. River was married and had her daughter Lily next door. Even Goergous had his own son running around, who Ruby could just tell was going to grow up to be a douchebag. Like father, like son. "Still, there's no point in Lois meeting any of them. We don't even know if any of them will make it out of this alive." Ruby glanced up at her daughter and felt her heart flutter a bit.
Lois hadn't been born out of an act of love. Ruby and Max were married, but there was very little love held between the two of them, if any at all. Lois had been created. The girl served more or less as a backup plan in case the Emperor did arrive. That was why Max was forced into this hellish prison for so long.
The Emperor had devoured Sini and sent Full Monarch deep into space. That meant there was only one last Lord left standing who could finish the Emperor's plans, and that was Max.
All of this had been done to stop Max from being devoured by the Emperor and having his power stolen, or whatever else the armored bastard was wanting to do with the man. If the Emperor were to arrive, Max was to instantly kill himself, just like his father did, so that the power could be passed on to Lois. The last time Wano died, the Emperor had to leave and let the power build back up, which would buy them all some time since Lois wouldn't be a full Lord until she got older.
Should something happen to Lois, or Max be unable to kill himself, then the bombs in the base would explode and hopefully wipe Max out in order to cause the Pod to fade and a new one to take its place, creating a new Lord of the Sky and Weather. This was a last resort, though, since it would mean Lillian got wiped out and reduced to ash.
Of course, the outcome everyone wanted was that they could hold out for long enough until Full Monarch arrived and ended the Emperor. Luckily for them, the Emperor was too busy growing his army and battling Lucifer.
It was only because Lucifer came back that humanity was still living, ironically enough. Lucifer and the Emperor were both engaged in a deadlock battle, neither side backing down, which was causing the Emperor to be unable to fully gather his army and go after Max.
The Emperor couldn't just waltz in and take Max either, since the Lord had been training for four years straight and was learning how to master his abilities, all in the hopes of being able to use them to put the Emperor down for good when the monster did finally come for him.
Ruby picked at her food and finished eating it when there was a loud rumble that echoed through the room. The vault door in the back began to grind, kicking up a wave of sparks as it spun and started to open up. Max let out another tired sigh when he saw it. "Work already?"
"Yep." Ruby stood up and grabbed Lois. She attached her daughter to her back and straightened out the black military uniform she now wore. "So, what is it now, Laps!"
As the vault door fully swung open, it revealed a younger woman, one that worked for the Hero Branch. She had long silver hair that was tied back into a ponytail, and she wore a simple black suit that had a heavy-looking handgun hanging off a belt. Laps gave a half salute and motioned for Ruby to step out of the vault. "Ms. Ruby Admirial, we're once again in need of you and the others." The woman stated.
"Emperor or Lucifer?" Ruby questioned. She stepped past the vault threshold and shot Max one last look before the door began to shut again, leaving her 'husband' trapped all alone.
"The Emperor," Laps stated, and the woman turned on her heels and began to march through the halls, while Ruby followed behind. "He's recovered faster than he normally has and is attacking Daffodil City."
"Is the Emperor actually there?" Ruby asked, hoping beyond hope that the answer was yes so she could finally punch him in his stupid face.
"No," Laps responded back in a blunt tone. "His last known location still remains the same. He remains on the moon in the castle he created. This newest attack was done by a dragon, which flew down from space, followed by several other smaller monsters. They are all rampaging around the city."
"It's always dragons." Ruby rubbed her head, already feeling a migraine starting up. "Someone seriously needs to kill that Fairy chick and put an end to the monsters she keeps popping out."
The Emperor was no longer transforming people into monsters. Instead, his army was being entirely created by Fairy Queen, who kept getting herself knocked up over and over again by all sorts of nasty villains. Lately, the woman seems to have gotten a fetish for some dragon-themed villain, because all of her recent kids all turned out as dragon-like monsters.
With the help of the Princess of Life and the Emperor's own title as Lord of Life, these babies that kept getting made were being aged up and thrown out onto the frontlines hours after being born. The ones that didn't reach full adulthood were then being trained and groomed for future battles. It seemed like Fairy Queen was able to give birth to an entirely new army of beasts every week now. Ruby shuddered just thinking about what twisted body horrors must have been inflicted on Fairy Queen to make the villain able to do that.
Soon enough, Laps reached her destination. There was a heavy metal door that was surrounded by dozens of guards. They all saluted Laps, who approached and used her keycard on a slider that caused the metal door to creak open. Unlike Max's room, there was an entire mansion residing in this section of the bunker.
The floors were a stainless white, and the walls were insanely thick and durable, to the point not even the many nukes going off would be able to scratch this place. On all the walls were dozens of large paintings, all worth as much as the bunker itself, and there were dozens of different rooms that all went to their own section. The place Laps was focused on, though, was in the center of the room where a large desk resided and Director Ward sat behind it, the current leader of the Hero Branch. Somewhere else in this giant mansion, his son, Dean Ward, was likely skulking around.
Ruby couldn't help the scowl that appeared on her face when she saw the man. Laps stalked forward, and she remained near the entrance, crossing her arms.
"I brought her, just like you asked, sir. Care to fill her in?" Laps gave a nod to Ruby.
Director Ward didn't speak for several moments and instead stared down at the many stacks of paper that he held that were the untold damage reports that were going on in the world. Finally, when he was finished, he looked up and met Ruby's gaze, not flinching. "I need you to save someone."
Ruby made a face. "Um, you know I was going to do that anyway? I was already told about the attack. I thought I was going to bust some dragon heads, but then you made me come here, which, by the way, is causing a lot of people to die because of the attack that is currently going on, so if we could just hurry this up." Ruby responded in a flat tone as she folded her arms. Her daughter Lois copied her and also folded her arms and glared at Ward.
Ward took his glasses off. He wasn't that old, but he sure looked like it now. His dark skin was covered in wrinkles, and his hair had dozens of grays in it now. He always looked exhausted, and heavy stress lines clung to his face no matter what he did.
"Daffodil City can wait," Ward stated, causing Ruby's glare to grow.
"The hell it can; it's under attack!" She punched at her and growled. "The Enforcers can't get near that place because any time they do, those damn portals will appear and teleport them away, and we both know the other heroes aren't strong enough to deal with one dragon, much less a dragon and an entire army of enraged monsters. I've been showing up to each city when it gets attacked and single-handedly defending it and fighting the forces off, and that's not going to change."
"I have a more important task for you." Ward didn't even flinch as Ruby balled her hand into a fist and nearly threw out a punch. "Next to Daffodil is a small little hamlet that was built on the outskirts of the city. It officially doesn't fall under the Branch's control, but little do the people know that Avalon built a lab under that place eight years ago." Ward explained in a calm tone.
"So what?" Ruby sneered.
"There is someone very important in that lab." Ward clasped his hands together. "Since Daffodil is so close to this little hamlet, it is in danger. If the hamlet gets destroyed, so does the underground lab, which wasn't built with a rampaging dragon in mind. I want you to make sure this person is saved at all costs."
"Why are they even in this stupid lab?" Ruby demanded.
"Well, they were placed there at random in case there were any spies that were watching," Laps explained. "Only Director Ward knew where this person was, and every week, they get sent to a new lab. This was done to hide their whereabouts and ensure they're kept safe. The attack on Daffodil seems to be a freak accident and randomly chosen, since the hamlet the lab is built under still hasn't been attacked yet, but it's only a matter of time before a stray attack hits it. That's where you come in. We'd like for you to enter the lab and rescue the person in question and get them to safety if you could. After that, you can deal with the threat that is attacking Daisy. It's very important, though, that you rescue this person."
Ruby's eyes narrowed slightly, and she gave a soft smirk. "They must be pretty important, then, if you're going to all this trouble. It sounds like you really don't want anyone to know about them. Just who is this guy, and why are they so important?"
"It's complicated," Ward said after a moment of debating whether he should give the information out or not. "You don't need to know any more than that, other than the fact that if he stays alive, we might finally be able to beat the Emperor."
Ruby let out a low whistle, her eyes going wide. Ward had some sort of trump card he had been sitting on for over four years? That was kind of shocking. "What's this guy's name?" She asked after a moment of thinking.
Laps looked to Ward, who gave a soft nod. Slowly, the woman answered. "Doctor Edward Blue. The last healer the Hero Branch has under their control."
***
It didn't take long for the mission to begin after that.
Ruby found herself being directed to a section of the bunker that was able to unfold and open up. This part of the bunker was deep beneath the ocean, and a large boat that also doubled as a jet resided there. Once she was boarded, the roof of the bunker opened up, allowing a torrent of water to come pouring in, and the boat/jet fired up, revealing the fact that it was also part submarine.
It rapidly fired up through the water and then pierced the surface, leaving the ocean and taking to the skies. The ship itself looked sort of like an old steamboat that had jagged wings coming out of it and a large glass bubble. By all accounts, it shouldn't have been able to fly or work, but since it was created by a Mental-based Super, it defied the laws of the world and did its own thing.
On the boat were several Hero Branch officers, including Laps, who had changed out of her suit and now wore what looked like SWAT gear. Her big handgun had been swapped out for an even bigger plasma rifle that could melt through solid steel in seconds. It wouldn't do anything to the strong Supers, but it would at least sting a bit. Hopefully...
The other Hero Branch officers were all also decked out in heavy gear, some even wearing power armor, though the suits wouldn't last for very long since they had the typical low battery all Mental-based tech had.
Besides the workers and Ruby, there were two Supers who were coming along for the ride. The first was a young woman with long, snow-white hair that had various golden ribbons throughout it, and she wore a golden costume with clock hands scattered along it. Her name was Lady Time, formerly Madam Time, but the "Madam" part sounded too old, so she changed it to "Lady."
The second hero was a little younger than Lady Time. He was dressed sort of like a cowboy, but his costume was made out of a silver fabric, and he wore a half-face mask. He had a belt going along his chest, which was loaded with dozens of different revolvers that were all filled to the brim with bullets. His name was Mister Man.
The two of them were basically Ruby's sidekicks, though she preferred the term 'minions of chaos' herself.
Since the blue portals constantly sent anyone to the strong away, the Enforcers would be unable to get close. Ruby was the only Super alive who could negate them, and her two teammates weren't strong enough to trigger the portal effect.
"I can't believe you brought your kid." Lady Time said, making a worried face. She sat in a seat behind Ruby and reached out, playing with Lois, who kept giggling.
"I can; she's fucking crazy." Mister Man chuckled, and he casually flipped a coin, catching it, and then sending it into the air once more.
"Any idea why Lois still hasn't talked despite the fact she's four?" Ruby asked casually.
"Taking her out into life-and-death fights likely doesn't help." Lady Time said, rolling her eyes.
"Nah, it can't be that; she loves it when I cause bloodshed." Ruby giggled.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to bring her?" Laps asked. Ruby shrugged, causing the white-haired woman to let out a sigh. "Alright. How close are we to Daffodil?" She called out.
"We should be approaching it now." A soldier yelled back.
Ruby looked out her window and felt a sharp gut punch as she saw the city. Buildings were in ruins, and fire danced across the ground. In the skies, a massive red dragon flew around unleashing hot fire. It looked just like how one did in all the novels or comics, having four legs, jagged red scales, and a massive tail that wagged back and forth so hard it gushed out waves of sharp wind.
The dragon was having a field day, destroying everything that got in its way, and it wasn't alone either. Standing atop it was a figure in black knight-looking armor who could control metal, creating waves of metal swords and blades that rained upon the battlefield, and down below, crashing through the streets, were other monsters, like a demon covered in purple fire or a massive, buffed-up red guy with horns that was eating people that got near him. The most disturbing one, though, was a guy covered in ears who was shooting acid out, melting people, cars, and buildings.
Daffodil wouldn't last much longer. Any heroes that had been nearby were dead, and the Enforcers still couldn't enter the city.
Daffodil wasn't where they were going, though...
Ruby felt her hand clench into a fist as they began to leave the city behind and instead head to another place that was nearby. The hamlet Ward had talked about was on fire due to how close it was to the city, and most of its people were dead. The sight of them caused Mister Man to let out a sigh and shake his head.
"Let's get this over with." Ruby grunted, and she stood up. "I'm going to find this guy, get him out, and then I'm going to kill every single one of those villains—"
Without warning, the entire ship suddenly twisted and turned midair. The metal along it began to snap and shatter as the armored figure who stood upon the dragon took notice of them.
Casually, Polaron held his palm out and crushed it. "Boom." The monster said softly, and the entire ship exploded into a sea of metal debris...