Space…
Gravity…
Time…
These three concepts were what dictated the universe. Matter, reality, and every function bowed before them. Yet, they were only what stood at the top in the reality that we call our universe. In other universes, they are but guidelines, ones that can be easily tampered with and broken.
In a world under the world that humanity knew, a realm placed on a dimension of tier below, was a reality where concepts like time were not so fixed.
It was in this place that two beings, the two strongest beings, floated, within a void of despair and nothingness.
Alpha stared at Full Monarch, who looked back at him and waited patiently for Alpha to begin his story.
Full Monarch placed a hand on the red-haired man's shoulder. "You can start whenever you want."
"I know." Alpha had paused earlier. He had a conflicted look on his face. "I-I know. But-"
"Take your time."
"I know." He batted Full Monarch's hand away. "Just shut up. I-" His shoulders slumped. "Fuck. I just need to think. The best place to start is the beginning, right?"
"If that's what you want."
"Yeah. The beginning. When a goblin was born."
"A goblin?"
"A wretched creature, akin to a caterpillar that failed to break out of its cocoon. That's what my birth and my life were."
"Don't say that about yourself." Full Monarch frowned.
"You don't get to have a say in anything," Alpha hissed. "You just sit there. Sit and watch what you did to me. What this world did to me. Watch what I am. This is me. This is my story. This is how the Emperor was born."
The area around them began to rumble. Suddenly, the empty void that the two of them floated in, the place where nothing existed, was filled with something. Imaginary energy became imaginary particles, which in turn caused an effect akin to something the Lord of the Sky and Weather could do. The frail boundaries of space, time, and gravity came undone, and in an instant, Alpha and Full Monarch found themselves standing somewhere else.
"Are you ready?" Alpha asked.
Full Monarch looked around, taking in the sight of an old, run-down bar. It reeked of wet paint, booze, and the scent of sin. The people who were scattered around the room were dirty, broke, and beyond drunk.
"This is the beginning?"
"This is where it started." Alpha folded his arms and nodded in the direction of a woman.
Out of everyone in the bar, she was the only one who could be called beautiful. Yet, she wasn't truly pretty. She was average in every way possible. She had brown hair, brown eyes, white skin, and bags and stress lines marking her face, and she wore a simple black suit. She stared tiredly down at her drink. Yet, because she was in a place like this, she was instantly deemed the most beautiful woman in the world. Then, suddenly, she took notice of Full Monarch.
He felt his heart suddenly skip a beat as her eyes landed on him. Though others might have seen her as boring, and some might even say ugly, he was able to see an untapped beauty. A person who could have lived a good life and done good.
But this wasn't that kind of story.
Full Monarch felt his body tingle as someone stepped through him as if he were a ghost, for he and Alpha did not truly exist within this place. Everything was just an illusion. Nothing more than a mere glimpse at the past.
The person that went through him was a man who worked for the Hero Branch. He wore the suits that all did, and he had messy red hair and tired brown eyes hidden behind glasses. Full Monarch felt a wave of shock go through him because this person had his face, yet they weren't him, were they? He didn't recall this night.
The Brightest Star did, however…
The red-haired man walked toward the plain woman, and she looked up at him as he smiled down toward her and offered a hand.
Alpha also watched the scene, his arms folded. "Zaya was the daughter of the head of a mafia." He said softly. "She didn't have any real power and was born a normal human in a world where crime had to face threats like Full Monarch. Her only real use was her body. She was sold to a man in another organization by her father in order to broker peace between the gangs. She held no love for her husband, and so it was of little surprise that on the night before her wedding, she decided to sleep with a man who wasn't her soon-to-be beloved. There was just one issue with this moment. The unplanned pregnancy that it caused."
Full Monarch flinched and glanced at Alpha, then back at Zaya. "T-That man? W-Who is he?"
Alpha gave him a cold look. "Who do you think?"
Reality shifted and changed. The illusion was altered, and this time, Full Monarch gasped at what he saw. He was no longer in the bar. Now he found himself in a dirty basement. It had no light, moss covered the walls, and the only way out was through rusty stairs that led up to a locked metal door. The place looked as if it was meant to be sealed off. A bunker to hide from whatever the world might throw.
"Zaya never loved the man she was to marry." Alpha continued. "She didn't hate him, but she certainly held no love in her heart. Sadly for her, it wasn't the same with the man. He loved Zaya. A twisted love that came from madness and obsession. Blonde hair. That was the color he had. Brown, plus blonde, guess what that doesn't make?"
Within the darkness of the basement, two beings sat. The first was Zaya yet all past beauty she had was gone. Drained away from years of starvation and isolation. Her hair was raggedy, dirt clung to her hair and nails, and her flesh was turning yellow. She wore rags, and she reeked of death. If not for the glare in her eyes that was focused on the little boy who sat across from her, one might assume she was dead.
The boy could barely be four years old. Like his mother, he was covered in filth, having not known a bath, and his hair was wild and messy, going past his feet. He didn't say anything. He might not even know how to speak.
"T-This is awful." Full Monarch whispered out.
"It was life," Alpha corrected. "The life of a boy born to the wrong father. A boy with red hair. Not blonde. Zaya's husband wasn't a sane man, as you can probably guess. That love he had for his wife drove him mad, and when he learned the child wasn't his and that she had cheated on him, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He owned this building. He owned this block. He owned this city. He could do whatever he wanted because he was a king and kings got the final say in everything, yet one could not call a horrible man like him a human. He, he was a goblin king, and these two were his only subjects. Two goblins buried beneath the earth. Placed beneath his home. This basement was their world. So, why did the heroes not come for them? Why did the heroes not save my mother or me? Why did you not show up? Why did you allow me to be born and allow the situation to get this far? How can you call yourself a hero!" Alpha breathed heavily, his chest rising and falling as he glared at Full Monarch. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I'm sorry."
"You're sorry?"
"I am."
Alpha's breathing grew worse, and his nails dug into his palm. He gritted his teeth to the point they began to shatter. "Fuck you! Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you! You don't even know how bad this shitty life was! The things he would do to us! We're hardly done!"
"So then show me more." Full Monarch said solemnly. "Let me see everything that happened to you. Let me help you bear that weight."
Alpha's glare grew worse, but he eventually nodded his head. Reality began to speed up. The little boy grew bigger by a few years, but he also became skinnier and more yellow. He barely looked like a human.
"He grew up in this place. The goblin, I mean. He didn't think he'd ever escape. He thought his fate was to die alone. Underground. Away from the light. And then…"
When the goblin became twelve, something amazing happened. A miracle. He sat in his own filth as he always did, and was only able to take his eyes off his mother when she fell asleep. Absentmindedly, he ran his hand back and forth on the ground. He had done it enough times to wear down the skin, but today something was different. Today, he didn't feel pain. Instead, he felt warmth. A warmth he had never felt before, as his hand created faint blue sparks, and then the goblin gasped when his hand lifted up and a swirling portal formed into existence before him.
"The goblin figured out how to escape this hell," Alpha explained. "He learned to open a portal, and without a second thought, he stepped through it and left that basement behind. For the first time ever, the goblin stared at the sky, and do you know what he saw first?"
The scene shimmered to outside of the basement, and Full Monarch's eyes filled with tears as he saw another version of himself, absentmindedly flying through the sky, going to another city. The little goblin stared up at the flying man and reached out for the sky, but he went on to be ignored. Not knowing what else to do and being frightened by the strange sights of tall structures around him, he scampered back into his portal and went back underground.
"It took him a few days before he finally truly explored. Each day, he would only get a few feet away from the portal. I think the city lights and loud noises scared him. As did the people who stared at him in disgust and spat at him. He decided he didn't like the surface. The basement was all he knew, and it was his world. With that in mind, he decided he would only look around one more time, and then he'd never return. That was nearly a month since his first time out. As it turned out, fate had other plans for him."
When the scene changed, Full Monarch saw the little goblin looking around an alleyway. That was where his portal took him this time. The goblin barely stepped out of the portal before he was suddenly tackled to the ground.
It was a girl. One with brown hair, yellow eyes, and dog ears, as well as a tail. Full Monarch's eyes widened when he recognized her to be Sky. Nier's first daughter. The daughter who died, and he had recreated her. She had become a wolf.
The wolf pinned the goblin to the ground and growled. Then she stopped and smelled him. The little goblin whimpered and tried to crawl back to his portal, but she didn't let him.
"You smell nice."
The little goblin made a choking sound and gasped as he had never actually used his voice. The wolf tilted her head at him, then grabbed his hand.
"You're going to help me."
The goblin choked harder, and he was suddenly dragged to the back of an alleyway, where a plump dog was howling. She was in the middle of giving birth. The wolf crouched down next to her and placed a gentle hand on the dog's stomach and began to rub it softly. She glanced back at the goblin, then grabbed his hand and forced it on the belly as well.
When he rubbed it, a blue light seeped out, and it began to soothe the animal.
"The dog died," Alpha said bluntly.
"Aw."
"Yeah, it was sad." Alpha nodded. "Her puppies died also. All but one. The dog had been run over the day she was supposed to give birth. It was a miracle that one dog survived out of the litter. Hell Hound insisted it was because of me. She said my energy saved that animal, but I always doubted her. I think it was just luck."
The image shifted again, and this time, the wolf held a newborn puppy. Tears were running down her face as she gazed at the dead dog and the other animals. The goblin glanced at her before he scurried back to his portal.
"After that, the goblin would often return to that alleyway. There, the wolf and the puppy waited for him. Because of her, he got to actually live. She fed him, bathed him, gave him clean clothes, and even taught him how to speak. He tried to take his mother through the portal, but she refused to leave. Maybe some of her husband's madness infected her brain as well. She would often beat him anytime he came back, and so one day the little goblin just stopped returning. His closed the portal and he left that basement behind."
When the illusion changed, this time, the goblin no longer looked like a goblin. He was still skinny, but his flesh had some color to it, and his hair was cut shorter. He wore a black hoodie and sat next to the wolf in an empty park. The puppy was in his lap, and he petted it as the wolf showed him a book.
The story was of legends. It was written by the Thaddeus Foundation and talked about ancient beings that were fairy tales in the old world. The goblin's eyes lit up as he learned of real goblins, gods, demons, and so much more, but the thing that truly got his attention were the beings known as giants…
Massive, towering, monsters. They were everything a goblin wasn't. They had strength that rivaled gods, they devoured kings and queens, and they helped shape the world. In nearly every legend they appeared, and they were true rulers.
The goblin's eyes lit up when he saw one giant, which wore armor the color of ebony. He was strong enough to fight beings that rivaled the sun itself, and he could tear the planet apart with a swipe of his hand.
He was an emperor. Something above a king, a queen, a lord, and any other ruler.
The giant Emperor.
"You look interested in him." The wolf grinned when she saw the goblin's eyes glaze over.
The goblin gasped and spoke in a quiet, raspy voice. "I-I think that they're neat." He admitted. "I-I like them."
"Then why don't we do it?"
"W-What?"
"Why don't we become the beings that we want to be?" The wolf's grin grew. "Can't you imagine it? A world where I'm a hound from hell, and you're a mighty giant able to do whatever you want. Whatever we want. A world where we won't be hurt, we won't have to worry about trust or people. A world just for us."
"T-That would be nice."
"It would." The wolf nodded. "So let's make it."
"R-Really?"
"Yes. Let's make that world."
Alpha gazed at the two, his eyes dropping a bit. His shoulders sagged once more, and he sighed. "After this point, the year became one I'm sure you're familiar with. The year the Beast returned."
The image flickered, and Full Monarch stared around in sorrow at a destroyed city. Buildings were in ruins, streets were torn apart, and the dead littered the streets. The goblin, older, taller, and healthier than ever, ran through the destruction, holding a bigger puppy under his arm. He looked around in a panic, trying to spot something, before his eyes finally landed on it.
The building had been reduced to such a state that the ground cracked open, revealing the basement. Ash filled it to the brim along with molten stone and the signs of a body that had once been in there.
"She never left the basement." Alpha shook his head in disgust. "I-I," his voice quivered. "I think she waited for a certain someone to save her. She had convinced herself she had to stay down there until that person came and refused to leave. That person never did come, though. She died alone. A slow death. One that I wish could have been prevented, and what pisses me off most is that it could. That idiot goblin, not knowing of laws or rules, never tried to get her help. He was content to leave her behind. A mistake he would repeat time and time again. Things would be forgotten about and die, because that's the kind of person he was. A horrible, disgusting, freak of a monster who could never do anything right!"
"Stop it." Full Monarch said sternly. He placed a hand on Alpha's shoulder once more. "Don't say stuff like that about yourself."
Alpha shook his head and winced. "Whatever. The rest is pretty easy to figure out. The goblin didn't know where the wolf was. He knew that she was alive, but he didn't know where, so he used his powers to go around the world, city to city, looking for her. That was when fate showed its hand once more, and the little goblin that wished to be a giant met the devil."
The images flickered more quickly this time. Several flashed by at once. Full Monarch saw the young Alpha meeting Nier, being taken in by the blonde man who had truly gone insane, and molded into a soldier.
"He agreed to serve as Nier's son and work under him in order to fulfill Nier's plan. In exchange, he made Nier promise he would find Hell Hound and not kill her. He—Me, that version of me—married Hell Hound soon after when they became adults, and together they created their personas. She became a hound from hell who would bite anything that threatened her mate, and I became that giant I saw so long ago. The armor was built out of metal that was extracted from a battle you had with the Beast. I wanted it to look cool and scary, so I went with a black and silver color scheme, gave it a cape, and sick ass horns. I even made it so that while I was wearing it, my eyes would blaze out of the helm. Once I wore the armor, I took up the name you know me as. I became the Emperor. And there was something the Emperor needed to do before anything else…"
Ray Garrelt was a simple man. He had been part of a gang. In fact, he had run it. He was wealthy, powerful, and basically the king of his own city. Yet he never got the happy ending he wanted. Much to his horror, his wife, Zaya, had a child with another man, and out of sheer rage, hate, and spite, Ray locked her up within his basement along with her disgusting bastard child.
When the Beast came and wiped his city out, he had nothing, and he lost Zaya. Not like it mattered. Any love he had for her vanished when he gained his second wife, and by his third wife, he forgot about her entirely.
He was suddenly reminded of her one day, when a man in black armor and blazing blue eyes appeared before him.
Yes…
Ray remembered Zaya. All he could do was think about that woman, as his arms and legs were ripped off and he was tossed deep beneath the earth, left to rot and starve to death.
Alpha decided not to show Full Monarch those parts…
"Nier took up the same identity as me. He became the red-eyed Emperor. It pissed me off for the longest time, but I bit my tongue. I knew the real reason he took on that mantle. He wanted me gone. As soon as he no longer had a use for me, he'd get rid of me. Which brings me to my next point. He did, in fact, have a use for me."
The scene shifted to the moon. In the castle that Nier created, within a glass tank near the back, a child resided. A baby girl.
"You know that he wanted to bring his daughter back. He wanted Sky to return. He hated Hell Hound. Hated that it was his daughter's face but not her soul. That was why he did all that he could to make the past change. Golden God, Fairy Queen, Hell Hound, and the Princess of Life. These four beings were all selected, and their DNA was taken. Bit by bit, they were all used to grow a brand new child. The body was close to Sky's old one but had some improvements put in place. As for the soul? Nier wanted to make that by combining my Imaginary power and his Lord powers together, and it could only be done when the Beast was on course to the planet, hence why we had to wait. Eventually, though, the time was perfect, and that baby was created. Happy birthday, Sky."
"Where is she?" Full Monarch asked.
"Somewhere safe," Alpha hummed. "I told Mermaid of her location. At first, Hell Hound and I planned to steal her away ourselves."
"So, why didn't you?"
"Because I'm an idiot." Alpha looked up, and the scene broke away, leaving just him and Full Monarch floating in the void. "I could have run. I could have escaped. I could have gone off with her and lived a good life, yet in the end, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Because you exist."
"Because of me?"
"Yes. Because I hate you." Alpha glared back at the number one hero. "I absolutely despise you. You who brought me into this world. You, who are a symbol of perfection and hope. You who never came and saved me. I hate you more than I hate myself sometimes, and I hate myself a whole lot. When I close my eyes, I see you. When I look in the mirror, I see you. When I think you appear in my thoughts, and when I dream, you're right there to mock me. I'm your creation, your failure, your problem, and you're my greatest failure as well. I can't beat you, but I have to! I trained with Nier for years! I broke my body again and again and again! Why isn't it enough? Why am I not enough? I-I can't lose! I went through hell. My life sucked. If I can't beat you, then all of that had no meaning! I had no meaning! So I threw away my happy ending, and I accepted that I would follow the sinful path of revenge, all in the hopes that I could get my shot at beating you, yet you're still just too damn strong! I hate you, I hate you, I fucking hate you."
"Alpha…" Full Monarch's face was one of sadness. "Those visions you showed me. I knew it, I did, but I wanted to know for sure. Are you aware of it like I am? Do you know that you're my so-"
"I am the Emperor." Alpha's words cut off Full Monarch. He shook his head, and a crack began to appear in the empty void. It started to spread out, getting wider and wider, and suddenly Alpha blinked and saw the real world.
His monstrous form howled as his power faded, and the mark of a Ruler was suppressed in his soul. He squashed it down, doing his best to regain control, and his bug-like form shrunk. Full Monarch was spat out of him and landed a few feet away, watching as Alpha's form returned to that of a human.
Alpha breathed heavily, dressed in a black, tattered, skin-tight suit. His armor was gone. His cape, his helm, his gloves. Even the Shadow's power had faded away.
Hatred was a powerful thing. It could consume some and bring clarity to others, and Alpha had a lot of hate for Full Monarch. That hatred is what brought him back to his senses.
Alpha wiped his chin and stared up at Full Monarch with a look of hate. "I am the Emperor." He said once more. "I am the weapon that will kill Full Monarch."
Full Monarch closed his eyes and sighed. "So be it." Blue fire swirled around him, and with a yell, he was about to charge and end this fight for good, but then, both he and Alpha froze as new presences suddenly appeared.
Up in the sky, high, high above, a metal ship began to descend.
The Beast from Outer Space was about to arrive.