Chibiyu: Hi all! Ready for some fighting?

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"Florice," he smiled through his fingers as his chin rested in his hands. "How nice to see you."

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This was it.

That was the one thought that crossed every Heroes and every Villains mind. This was it. The battle that would change the course of destiny. The Heroes of the city versus the Villains. The Four against the Bane.

This was it.

"Wait!" All eyes turned to the bird falling from the sky. Only few watched in awe as it changed, landing on the ground as girl. "You're all insane to be doing this right now!" she yelled, turning constantly so her back was never exposed for long. "Fight him to save the Normals, don't fight yourselves!"

Silence overcame her pleas.

"You all have to fight together to stop him," she continued when it was obvious that no one would speak up. "He doesn't care for either side – he only wants his own perfect world to dominate. Villains will die too if you all don't shake hands and get your heads out of your asses!" she accused, pointing to the Villains.

"And you, Heroes," she turned, finger still pointing. "You should want to save them, to have the courage to be the better man and join with your enemies for the greater good! Isn't that what you stand for?" Paragon whispered, looking only at the Lucas family. "Or was everything a good friend of mine told me about you all a lie?"

"We cannot just stand down," Tac said, stepping forward and pushing into the girl. "This is bigger than just Necrophere," he hissed, "This is about who will reign in the new world!"

"Necrophere will!" Paragon shouted, pushing right back. "You're all idiots to think that he would let one side be stronger! Both of you will be weak and powerless under him. Don't you understand?"

"I do," Kevin whispered, but despite the family's agreement, no one else chimed in.

"No one is willing to back down, even if it means the deaths of a loved one?"

A Hero stepped up, her name lost to the shifter. "Normals are not loved ones, but a hindrance and nuisance to most families. They are bait and servants, essentially, until they are killed. We cannot risk getting attached to them with the knowledge of them being killed before they can even drive!"

"Not all!" Paragon shouted, horror coming to her face as she stared at the woman. "So you're the kind of person who drives Nick's hate for Heroes," she growled, stance lowering. "Nick is the best person I know, and guess what, he is a Normal. And my little brother, whom I love more than any person on this planet, is a Normal. And tonight, everything I have will be taken away from me if this fight begins. And I know I am not the only one to feel this way."

Heels clicking on pavement announced a new arrival. "She speaks the truth," Cascadea spoke, looking at the Heroes with disdain. "We may be Villains, but to us, family is everything – not the powers behind the mask," she touched Paragon lightly as she walked over to the allotted side. "So how can you be the good guys, when you treat your own kin as mud?"

"You dare -?"

"I dare," Cascadea interrupted the woman, "We all dare." She looked over all of the heads and sighed. "But Paragon is correct. Necrophere will most certainly join the battle and when he does, which side will all of us choose to fight? Will we fight against the Heroes, or against the one threatening our families, our way of life?"

"He won't turn against us!" One Villain shouted, pulling away and revealing himself as Neuropath. "He is one of us. His won't harm our siblings as Paragon has warned, only protect them. He told me this directly!"

Murmurs were heard and Paragon backed up, moving into the line of Heroes. "I know my side," she told the crowd, "I am against the one threatening our world. Where do you all lie?"

"Traitor!" Neuropath yelled, getting pulled back by Cascadea's strong arm.

"Remember Florice?" Paragon shouted, looking directly into the eyes of the ice queen. "Remember how many she killed, Hero born or not?" Again, silence met her question. "This is the same, only a thousand times bigger. Necrophere will kill anyone against him without hesitation! He won't care if what you call yourself – only which side you fall on in the end," she reached back, connecting hands with Sandy Lucas. "With him, no one is safe."

"Then we will weed out those who are against him," Tac yelled, the Villains shouting in approval, "And live the life he has promised us!" He pointed his finger towards Paragon and towards Cascadea, who still stood in the middle of the two groups. "And the traitors will fall with the Heroes."

"Stop," a small voice sounded, drawing the attention of the crowd. All shrunk back as a small girl skipped over a pile of rubble and landed on the dying grass of the park. "You can't fight. No, Talis doesn't think you can."

"Why not?" Paragon asked the girl, unable to not scoff at the state of her old jacket, now wrapped tightly around the youth's waist.

"Because Talis hasn't picked a side!" she exclaimed, as if obvious. She looked once to the Heroes and Villains each. "Which side will be better?" she asked herself. "Which side is better for Talis?"

The group was silent, waiting for the girl to make her decision.

"I choose Villain," she finally stated, moving to the closer side. The Heroes breathed a sigh of relief, letting out the breath as one as this meant the deaths would not be on their end. All eyes followed the girl as she skipped over and plopped down on a rock. She waved to them, as if telling them to get this thing rolling.

The two sides shared a glance before the Villains stepped forward, glares on each of their faces.

Suddenly, every Hero jumped, some screamed, and the unlucky few had their pants catch on fire. Phones leapt from their pockets, iPods flew from their homes, and cameras blinded their owners, each gave a shock that had most dancing around the ground. Neuropath lifted the brim of his fedora, his smirk no less than mischievous.

"Foolish," he hissed. "I control what controls you."

His hat was promptly stolen by a rogue bird. "And clearly you've forgotten that you can't tame me," the bird chirped. It landed next to the Heroes and smiled, now a girl with the cap on her own head. "Being homeless has its advantages." The girl gestured to the electronic devices around her and then showed off her empty hands. "No money to be controlled by the latest tech."

Neuropath's smirk quickly degraded into a sneer. "You wanna tweet, or do you want to fight?"

"Oh ha, a bird joke. I know a better one." The middle finger was sent his way. "Pretty funny, huh techno geek?"

The two charged towards each other, which started the charge towards war. Paragon easily leapt over the Villain and thumped him on the head. Neuropath growled loudly, his hands in the form of claws. "Technotron, I need a spike!"

"You're gonna need more than that to turn on that bitch," the other Villain laughed, but sparks were sent flying from the devices which littered the ground.

Paragon rolled her eyes and leapt into the air, now a crow. "You obviously haven't learned from your little spat with Nick!" she yelled over the new outbursts of the fights around her.

"That Normal brat isn't here, is he? Just you and me little birdy."

"I'm a bird, you idiot. We sit on electrical wires. Now, which one of your eyeballs do you prefer to be scratched out?"

The Villain's rebuttal was lost to the sound of the earth cracking beneath their feet.

"Crap!" Paragon screeched as she flew higher. "It's Florice!"

Her yelled was unneeded. At the first syllable, vines shot through the concrete with a petitie looking girl who stood tall on a stem.

"Thank you, Paragon, but they know who I am," Florice laughed as her vines sped towards the Heroes. "In fact, they know more than that. Come, my children! Show them their true fears."

"No…" Paragon whispered. She immediately launched herself into the air and let out a terrible cry as Normals began to climb from the dirt with the plants. "NO!" The new mass of bodied didn't even spare her a glance as they charged into the fray with weapons held high. "No nonononono," she kept chanting as she zoomed off in hopes of finding the brothers before they saw this as well.

"Joe!" She called as she dive bombed Valenteen, effectively freeing the boy from her so-called charm. "The Normals are fighting!"

"WHAT?!"

Paragon plucked his shirt with her beak. "You heard me, idiot! Get your dad to shield them!"

With that said the girl flew off again. Joe did as commanded and quickly found his dad taking down Technotron without breaking a sweat. He relayed the news, horror growing by each syllable on his father's face.

"Do you think…?"

The question didn't need to be answered before the two jumped headfirst into the heart of the war.

"Get down!" Paragon yelled.

They both dropped to their stomachs and watched in shock as a metal pipeline soared over them.

"Watch yourselves," whispered a voice from nowhere.

"Loraine," Tom Lucas hissed to the unseen girl. "Get the Normals out of here. Find out why they are fighting. You're the only one who can get close to them without alerting the Villains."

"Got it."

"Now come on, Joe," his dad ordered as he dragged Joe back to his feet. "We've got to find him."

"Then turn around."

The more they looked, the harder it was for them to see. His skin had lost all color – even the hideous marks were dulled, painted over by the paste of ill. But his eyes, though covered by the greased curtain of his limp curls, still shone with insane intensity; the eyes of a true fighter. And as he faced them, they stopped seeing the unsteadiness of his feet, the shaking of his limbs, or the irregularity of his breath – they could see his eyes. They could only see the sheer determination and iron willed dedication of someone tottering on the edge of defeat, but who still had enough ground under his feet to lead a charge.

"Nick," Joe breathed, stepping forward and ignoring the war around him. "He's forcing you to fight?" Nick just stared at him, as though asking if his brother was really surprised with this. "How?"

"He has his ways," Nick hissed, head turned slightly and eyes going over his shoulder. "He has so many ways."

Tom followed his son's gaze and winced, shocked that Nick had not batted an eye at the scene before them. A Normal charging headfirst, Florice's plants backing her up, meeting a Hero's power dead on. The plants moved forward, the girl did not.

"Like what?" Joe pressed, wanting to move closer, but the look on his brother's face kept him rooted.

Nick slowly looked back to them. "Persuasion. Power. Anything anyone has ever wanted, one could get in his new world," he started, a dark look crossing his bowed face. "And it was so easy for him to take in those weak enough to believe his lies. So easy for him to twist them, to make them into willing bait…" he trailed off, forcing out a harsh chuckle. "But not me. He can't control me," a smirk stayed on Nick's face, the glint of his eyes through his hair making a shiver run down both father's and son's spines.

"Nick, stop talking and let us help you," Tom tried, reaching out to his son. "Before Necrophere joins this fight. We can get you out of here."

Nick's laugh stopped the father cold. "You still don't get it, do you?" he chuckled again; lifting his head and letting them see the full on smile of a beaten teen. "Necrophere has always been here, bidding his time. You all could have stopped this before a single punch was thrown, but no," he scowled, "Your pride was too great to shake hands with the enemy."

"Son, how could we have known that it would amount to this?"

"There were signs," Nick answered briefly, looking away from the pair. "Signs that even a Normal could see," he paused again, smiling to himself. "But then again, I guess I'm not really a Normal."

Joe and Tom exchanged glances, not liking the edge to Nick's tone. "What do you mean?"

"Kevin hasn't told you?" Nick laughed at this. "Priceless. He must have not wanted to be the one to break the news to you." Nick looked them square in the eyes; face clear of everything but the insanity which morphed his features. "I am Villain."

They just stared, unable to comprehend the words and yet, both were unable to deny them.

"You know I'm not lying," Nick spoke quietly, "And yet you both seemed surprised."

"But the Bane -!" Joe tried, getting cut off by Nick's laughter. They watched as Nick pulled the white chain out from under his shirt, exposing the dove to the battleground.

"What about it?" Nick near taunted, dropping it back onto his chest. "Anything can be persuaded to see a new light," he informed them in a whisper, "Even the purest object can turn to evil."

"You're not evil," Joe whispered, finally gaining enough sense to grab his brother's shoulders and shake. "You may be a Villain, but you once told me that Villains aren't all bad. And you're good. I know you, Nick, and this isn't you!"

Nick acted simply, choosing to carefully pluck Joe's hands off of him and step back instead of using violence. "You don't know me," he whispered, looking right into his older brother's pleading face. "I wouldn't be standing here in front of you – I wouldn't even be alive."

"What are talking about?"

Nick sighed, closing his eyes for a brief moment. Pain entered his body language, causing his limbs to still and his breathing to hitch. But the moment was gone before either Hero could bat an eye. "Resistance is not easy," was the only explanation the teen offered. "And what I meant was this: any Normal who is closed to their family is the one who dies first. Villains know how close a family is and we exploit it; cause the Heroes pain without even touching them. Surely you both remember this," Nick's voice lowered into a hiss, "Lilith did the exact same thing to you, Joe. And you know how it ended."

"In a death," Joe added, looking to his feet.

Nick nodded even though the action couldn't be seen. "That death was supposed to be mine. Lilith's plan was for you to go back for her sister and for me to follow you. You and her sister would get out. I would not."

"But I didn't because I knew what you would do! What she did to you to make you be afraid to be without me!" Joe protested, anger rising at Nick's shrug.

"And she knew that we were close, that if you had acted as a Hero should have, I would have followed you. That I would have died."

Joe just blinked.

"I see you're confused," Nick sighed again, "Sometimes I wish I wasn't the brains behind this family. But perhaps this will make everything clear," Nick stepped back, looking to the horizon. "I am a Villain, but I am more than that."

The fighting seized as something weighed down everyone's chests. Hands flew to their hearts, eyes lowering to the very spot Nick was staring.

"He may be the first four Villains," Nick whispered as Necrophere stood tall, clawed hands outstretched towards the war, "But I am the Bane of all existence."

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Chibiyu: Well this deviated from my original plan quite a bit., but dang does it open a lot of doors.I was originally going to put in Necrophere's identity, but now that won't happen for a long while. Until Next Update!

Written on 6/26/12