Max's First Mission

                                    

                                          
Ward watched the door to his office close, leaving just him, Avalon, and Full Monarch. He waited until he was sure Sini and Max were far enough away that they wouldn't be able to hear anything, even if they had enhanced hearing that allowed them to pierce the soundproof walls.
"Are you sure of what you saw?" Ward questioned.
"I'm sure." Full Monarch nodded and floated off of the ground. His body kept flickering in and out, no doubt using his speed to get rid of some of the stress he was feeling by flying around the city saving people.
Avalon held the smallest hint of a smirk on his face as he leaned against the wall and shrugged his shoulders a bit. "I had a feeling it wouldn't be so simple."
"Did you?" Ward questioned and frowned. "What exactly do we know about this Emperor figure in the first place?"
"Tall, dark, strong, scary red eyes." Avalon sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, we don't know what their powers even are other than that they can affect life in some way, so it has to at least be related to Nier, right? And they seem to be doing the same dark experiments Nier did seven years ago, though I doubt they're going to stick to just bad guys."
"Wait? Back up. Red eyes?" Full Monarch questioned. "What do you mean by that?"
"Yeah. You know the glowing that came out of his helmet." Avalon said, pointing up at himself. "They're all red and stuff. Like red fire."
"I thought they were blue." Ward piped up.
"That's what I saw as well." Full Monarch noted. "He had blue eyes, not red. Although, now that I think about it, when did you see Emperor Ward?"
Ward was saved from answering the question by Avalon, who spoke up. "So let me clear this up. Some of us have seen him with glowing red eyes, and some of us have seen him with glowing blue eyes. None of us know what his power actually is either. Do we even know if it's a guy or not?"
"What are you suggesting?"
"Supers still have bodies that look like normal humans," Avalon explained. "Some of them have powers that can change their bodies, but that is always temporary, such as the Thaddeus clan. The Emperor, however, was able to alter a person's form and change them into something no longer human or Super—a Monster, is the term Nier came up with when he tried to bring his daughter back. This would have to fall under a power that the Lord of Life uses. It's possible for Nier to change his form at will if he wanted, but unless he found a way to clone himself, I don't know if there would be two of him. That said, there is another power that changes a person's eye color and even glows."
"If you're suggesting it's my daughter, then you're wrong." Full Monarch sighed. "Jill was there in the alleyway."
"Of course, it isn't her. I was there also." Avalon chuckled. "I do think you were onto something earlier, though. The children of Lords seem to come out weird. In some cases, you get someone like the hero Young Dog. Despite being the son of Sini, he failed to inherit any of his father's power. Max also failed to inherit the strength of a Lord, and it wasn't until the title was passed down to him that he truly gained strength. On the other hand, people like your daughter and River not only have amazing power but even have their own power up similar to the battle mode Lords use. It makes me wonder what would happen if two Lords had a child."
"Something like that won't ever happen."
"Maybe not directly." Avalon hummed and looked at Full Monarch. "Indirectly though... I mean, just look at your daughter-"
Full Monarch grabbed Avalon's shoulder, looking down at the scientist. "Careful." Was all he said.
Avalon's smirk didn't fade as he stared up at the number one hero. "If the two of you are going to fight, then you can take it outside." Ward sighed and lowered his face into his palms. "This desk is expensive, you know. Whatever the case is, we have no way of knowing who the Emperor is at the moment or why they have changing eye colors and powers. We'll put a pin into it for now and focus on gathering more information. I want to make sure none of our field agents of heroes are taken. We also can't let word of this get out. We hid what Nier did to stop panic. Now it's coming back to bite us."