Xiong Huang looked down on the ground and started to cackle. Her head shot up, eyes narrowed, face turned in a frown.

“This is what Daddy couldn’t beat?! DON’T SCREW WITH ME!”

Xiong Huang leapt off the ground and rushed towards the mirror prison. She swung her fist into it, gritting her teeth as a fist slammed into her stomach.

“I AM THE ONE WHO DEFIED THE HEAVENS! I REACHED EVERY LIMIT AND BROKE THROUGH IT!”

Xiong Huang’s arms flashed as she unleashed a flurry of blows. Bruises and dirt appeared on her body and clothes as the fists flew back into her.

“IF THIS RETURNS MY ATTACKS TO ME, THEN ALL I NEED TO DO IS SURPASS MYSELF!”

Faster, faster she swung. Blood dripped from her lips. The air shook as her body took the blows, the punches sounding more like claps of thunder than metal meeting flesh.

She began to glow and her hair rose as her qi stirred up from within her. She began to yell as she continued swinging.

A pane of glass turned in front of her face, reflecting herself for a moment.

Images passed through her mind.

A weak little girl, sobbing in a corner.

The girl on the ground, taking blow after blow.

The weak grown girl, sobbing in a corner, clutching a severed head.

A girl who was always too weak.

And a girl now, letting herself be twisted about by a mere mortal.

She grit her teeth, her qi surging. She let out one final yell as she swung her fist straight at her own reflection.

She heard the sound of glass shattering.

And the world returned to normal, the shinobi grunted and clutched his head, dropping to the ground. Xiong Huang took a deep breath and wiped the blood from her mouth.

She cracked her knuckles and began to approach the man when suddenly she stopped. She heard rocks crumbling and turned around.

The kunoichi pulled herself off the wall, breathing heavily.

“Still conscious, huh? You’re a tough one, aren’t ya?”

The kunoichi took a deep breath and stood up straight.

“I’m different from the other two.”

Xiong Huang sneered at her.

“Oh? And why’s that?”

The kunoichi brought her hands together in a sign.

“The difference…is power!”

Wind surged through the courtyard once more. The kunoichi’s chakra flared, slowly becoming visible as a red glow around her. The chakra twisted into something like a tail, swinging behind her. As the tail twisted in the air, swirling balls of flame appeared along its tip. The kunoichi let out a growl and the fireballs shot towards Xiong Huang.

Xiong Huang caught and crushed each of the fireballs when the kunoichi appeared above her, hand pulled back in a claw shape. Red chakra surged over her hand, forming glowing red claws. The kunoichi snarled at Xiong Huang and slashed at her.

Xiong Huang caught her hand once more, and swung her other fist into the kunoichi. Her fist pierced straight through the chakra, the kunoichi bending in on the fist before flying into the wall once more.

The kunoichi leapt out again with a snarl. She now had three tails of chakra, her wounds visibly healing. She formed a barrage of fireballs much larger than before, sending them high into the sky before raining them down. The fireballs all locked in on Xiong Huang, homing in on her.

And Xiong Huang yawned.

She leaned slightly to the left, then took a step to the right. Back and forth she swayed, more like a dance than a fight.

And not a single fireball landed upon her.

“What a sloppy technique. You’re becoming more bestial, just lobbing your power around like a brute. You can’t actually control this, can you?”

Xiong Huang leaned back as the kunoichi pounced at her, claws passing overhead, and then swung her foot up and around her.

She slammed her foot into the kunoichi’s behind and sent her flying once more.

And then there was another surge of chakra as the wind picked up to typhoon speeds.

Out of the cloud of dust stepped…a nine-tailed fox, with white fur and red eyes. Red and black chakra surrounded the beast, distorting the air around it and turning the ground black where it walked.

“A demon sealed inside you, trading your energies between you? What a haphazard way to do it. You can’t even control the power, as it doesn’t belong to you in the first place. And the moment you lose control, you’re the one sealed inside.”

The kitsune snarled at Xiong Huang, countless balls of fire forming along its tails and surging towards her. Xiong Huang flickered as the balls landed, kicking up explosions of dust and flame. She appeared in front of the fox, fist pulled back.

“Real cultivators don’t bother with such half measures.”

She slammed her fist into the kitsune, sending it bouncing along the floor. Xiong Huang pushed off and arrived in front of the kitsune before it landed, driving her knee up and into the beast’s stomach. The kitsune shot high into the air. Xiong Huang flickered again, appearing above the beast with her fist pulled back once more. Her qi began to glow around her.

“We take power by force and make it our own!”

She slammed her fist into the kitsune’s face. A shockwave blasted through the air and the beast slammed into the ground.

And a battered kunoichi lay at the center of the crater as the dust cleared.

Xiong Huang landed and strolled over to the crater and frowned.

The kunoichi was gone, a hole in the ground where she once lay.

Xiong Huang glanced around. The other two shinobi were gone as well.

“So that boy was still alive after all. This is why these guys are annoying to fight.”

“Mistress!”

With the battle concluded, Eternal Night disciples ran up to Xiong Huang and bowed.

“Let us pursue! We will teach these insolent fools what it means to challenge Eternal Night!”

Xiong Huang stared out into the distance.

“No.”

“Mistress?”

“That’s what he wants. The shinobi are weak but they are crafty. If we fight them on their home turf…we will get bogged down for a long time.”

“But, mistress…”

“Continue your training. We will deal with them some other time.”

“...as you will, Mistress.”

Xiong Huang’s eyes narrowed.

“It’s not going to go how you want this time. You will not manipulate me so easily, mortal.”

She slammed her fists together, crushing the slight twang of pain with a rush of adrenaline and fury. She grabbed a nearby disciple.

“You there, bring me Wu. Tell him, this will be his last chance to make up for his failure.”

Londyn stood in her office, sighing as she looked over her monitors. Of course, there would be a surge of villains. The loss of leads on the attacks was barely even a problem, as she didn’t have any heroes to spare in any case.

She had cast her net, all she could do now was wait for a hit. In the meantime, she needed to focus on defending the vault.

And well, it had taken all the strings she could pull, but at least she had an answer for that.

Her phone rang.

“Director, you have a visitor.”

“Good, send them in.”

Right on time.

The door opened and four people stepped forward. One, a man in an officer’s uniform. In the back, two heavily armed guards.

In the center, a woman, her hands stuck together in some sort of cylindrical device.

Londyn approached the group. The officer scowled and made eye contact with her for a solid minute before handing her a key.

“For the record, I think this is a horrible mistake, and the deaths that result will be on your head, Director.”

“Noted.”

The man scowled at her once more, before turning towards the elevator, the guards following after him. Londyn sighed and turned to the woman.

“How are you doing, Miss Dayal?”

Miss Dayal gave her a reluctant smile.

“I am healthy, Director, that much I can say. Do you have need of me?”

Londyn nodded.

“We’re keeping something bad here, and some very dangerous people are after it. I need someone to protect the League. The authorities have agreed to let me keep you ‘in custody’ here for the time being, I would like you to keep watch over the vault.”

Miss Dayal nodded and frowned.

“Yes, I can feel something powerful within this place. And you would trust me to defend it?”

Londyn walked forward, opening the device on Miss Dayal’s hands.

“Your goal was to defend the Earth, right? On that, we agree.”

Miss Dayal watched as the container dropped, then slowly nodded and shook Londyn’s hand.

“I will not fail this time, Director.”

Londyn nodded, and motioned to Linda, who took Miss Dayal to show her her quarters. Londyn heaved a sigh.

The vault was as secure as she could make it. If her foes could defeat the Destroyer of Ulsan, then the ILS was truly outmatched.

As he had warned.

She shook her head. She couldn’t second guess herself now. Until she saw this threat for herself, she needed to do whatever she could.

So first she needed to find them.

After that?

Londyn grimaced, her stomach roiling slightly.

Hope that the heroes could win the day. Hope that Bob was playing games and trying to spook her away from something she wasn’t supposed to see.

Because if not, if he was being truly sincere…that meant he was spooked himself.

Something that could spook Bob, the man who worked with countless villains, stopped countless catastrophes, and all while dodging the heroes’ fists each and every day? Who didn't flinch as he infiltrated the organizations of the Atomic Herald, the Necrosaurus, or the Concordat of Sorrow?

That’s something she really didn’t want to know.