Water shoots out from my daughter like blades, piercing into the shadow beneath me. “If you die, then I’ll kill myself! So don’t you dare think about dying!”

My responsibilities are clashing! Curses! What do I do?

“Stop fighting!” Racheal approaches Braven. “Call off this attack before someone ends up dying!”

Braven bites his lip. “There’s was an assassin at our base! We left a trail! How long before they track us down.”

“All the more reason to split up.” She grabs his hand and holds it to her cheek. “You know I can’t just leave you.”

“Yeah, I’m going to come with you. But for that to happen he has to die!” Braven points at me as I fend off Goopy’s assault.

I’m not doing this. My subconscious mind must be protecting me.

Racheal grabs my little sheep’s hands and rubs noses with her. “We’ll stop you then.”

Annolette’s energy shifts as she transforms. Clothing spawns around her and ethereal musical notes dance around her wrists.

Braven grimaces. “A loud enough storm drowns out all sound.” A concentrated stream of water slams into my daughter.

My tendril reaches out to her but is sliced. Hooks then pierce me and hold me in place.

“He won’t kill her. Calm down.” The matador hero deflects White Knight’s punch with an ethereal cape dangling from his sword. “Misdirection.”

White Knight’s fist follows a series of ethereal arrows and slams into the ground.

“I’ve heard all about your teleportation power, but you have no control over it. My ability is all about control.” He whips his sword, causing White Knight to charge head first into the distortion.

The Static Huntress slams into White Knight, knocking him off his feet. “Since when listen to men?” She grins.

My back expands into a fearsome WarWolf that bites Gloom in two.

Like his old namesake, the miserable assassin spreads apart into puddles.

I deflect two massive hooks at my sides but the third pierces my back. With my will I shape my back into a hand and yank Gloom out from the ground.

I notice Nasuke is fighting an invisible opponent and being flung around like a rag doll.

So there’s another enemy. I should be extra vigilant.

A massive foot then kicks me and I tumble across the rocky cliffside.

I feel my daughter tear through the air and redirecting the giants own water shots back at him.

“Dios hadn’t unlocked this move’s potential!” Braven grabs a pebble, grows it into a rock and then whacks my daughter with it.

Kill!

My body becomes blades that shred Goopy apart.

I’m suddenly pressed to the ground.

A small creature approaches me. “Didn’t even notice me, did you? There are tiny enemies all around you. The Mortal Militia’s SunBleached general is quite handy with his powers.”

My blades shoot out but are brought down by a heavy gravity.

More blades come out and slice the air.

Vanished! He’s too tiny for me to focus on! Who else is here? White Knight’s girlfriend is asleep. CatNap must be nearby. Nasuke is wounded on the ground. Did CatScratch get her or someone else?

The Static Huntress fends off a sudden squad of warriors that revert to normal size around her. “How hero have two abilities?”

“Been asking that for years!” yells the Matador, making White Knight swerve away whenever he teleported to defend an ally.

Racheal, holding my injured sweetheart in her arms, focuses her energy in her lungs. “Hurt her again and I’ll make you deaf!” She flicks off the giant, oozing rage.

The Archivos’ finger glows and he writes in the air “For a hero to gain a second power, he must eat the heart of another hero.”

Racheal blushes and glares at Braven. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me you did something so cool? I’ve always been curious about cannibalism.”

“You ate my brother’s heart!” yells Matador in a torrent of confused rage.

Braven tries to squash White Knight who throws a stone at me and then catches it instantly to dodge the deadly stomp. “It was absolutely disgusting. I barely survived it, but I knew I had to grow stronger.”

“You really have the nerve to complain about it.” Racheal twitches with annoyance. She then punches the air, aiming her sound waves at Braven’s ears.

He shrinks to dodge and then expands again. “Why are we fighting? I hate it.” His face leaks with sadness.

“Hey, don’t make me feel guilty. You’re the one being stubborn. You know I can protect myself!”

“After we lost so many allies to her, I went after Shade. She had my girlfriend! Shade had her attack me until her body broke. Her death went on for hours! Do you have any idea what that experience has done to me? I was afraid to love again but you…opened up my heart.” He shrinks down and hugs Racheal. “I will sacrifice anything for you.”

“Awkward time for a heart to heart.” She kisses his forehead gently. “You’re acting out of love. I get it. But look at what you’re doing. I know you’re not a bad person. We’ve all made bad decisions.” She looks at Poppy with regret. “When we first met I didn’t want to work with Poppy. Wanted a hunky hero. We got off to a bad start. Things only got worse. Poppy and I fell in love with the same guy. I blackmailed her, threatened to tell him that she was actually a boy. I was selfish and nasty then. I was greedy and just terrible. And I got what I deserved. Apparently being a boy made Poppy even more of a goddess to the heroes of the village. Despite my mistakes I became a good person. It’s because the people of the village believed in me that I became a great hero. You have so many people who look up to you. Don’t you want to be a beacon of hope for them?”

White Knight plants his feet into the ground. “You’re absolutely right.”

Racheal looks over. “Huh?”

“I can’t allow my self to be thrown around.”

“Hey dude I wasn’t talking to you.”

“The voices of women of all ethnicities and backgrounds, I can hear them cheering me on.”

“Great, only I was talking to my husband.”

“It was my dream to give every lonely girl a night she’ll never forget!”

“Umm, that’s great and all, but…you know what. Forget it.”

Matador Muchacho waves the flag but White Knight doesn’t budge. “How are you denying my power?”

“With the Spirit of the Hero! A true hero can brush off any villainy!” White Knight flings a rock at the matador. He then grabs him and slams him to the ground. “Don’t worry, I didn’t break anything. Don’t want cowards joining the sacred class of the handicapable!”

He sure is a strange guy. But maybe I have a hero spirit too! Maybe I can escape this gravity field.

Screams of agony are heard. A shadow slides by and their bodies fall.

Dead. But where was the attack. That’s not Gloom. It’s another RiftRipper. The one who took Tumble.

White Knight’s emotional energy plummets. “My powers…why aren’t they working? Those women…I should have saved them.”

Braven puts his hand on the hero. His body grows and he picks him up. “You should have been with the militia.” He flings White Knight into the clouds.

The shadow slinks toward me. Two black appendages bob back and forth on it like bunny ears. “Be my friend!” Needles come out from the ears and kill more of Braven’s warriors in an instant.

She is a RiftRipper. But how?

A body emerges from her back. It’s another child that oozes arrogance.

Another Archivos?

“A RiftRipper is always bonded to another RiftRipper. Betrayer to you. The principal to Gloom. Come on, it’s obvious that the one you call Teacher would bond with the teacher’s pet.” He pushes up his glasses and grins.

“Who are you!? How do you know that?”

“I’m just a soul in search of the secrets of the universe. And I know it because I was the one who rescued BunBun.” The Archivos removes his glasses dramatically and stares at me.