Thank you very much for the support you have given me here and through X. I'm grateful for the reception this story has gotten, it motivates me to keep working on it, even at the expense of other projects that may be a bit more important in all honesty, lol.

At any rate, I would like to apologize for some mistakes I've made in this AU. At least in Spanish, I have called Yates Industries by a different name, mainly "Yates Enterprises". The idea is for it to be like Marvel's Stark Industries, so I apologize for the cases where I have called it something else. The official name is Yates Industries, and if you see it differently, it's because I've made a mistake again.

Let's reply to the reviews:

TheBlazzore: We'll get some more information about the Evergreen Heart in this chapter, so we'll see what's up with that. And regarding Winston, he was being honest about his motivations with Lola. He just cares about making money, and Lola's leadership gets everyone on the board of directors a bunch of money. It's profitable in the long term to keep her there, so he wants that to be the case.

Skydrove24: They decided to make her the CEO because she's the biggest shareholder of her family's company, and she quickly proved to be an ingenious leader. As stated in the previous chapter, her leadership led the company to huge growth and financial success.

Guest: Some big cities, and in some other places with a different approach to superheroes do have their schools/academia. Royal Woods, since they don't have heroes, doesn't have that kind of infrastructure.

DragonEmperor999: Thank you!

Crackscott: WOWOWOWOWO, take it easy bud LMAO She just wants to have a tea party!

MangoWango21: I hope so!

CPONDER84: That's what motivates me the most about writing this story. I love Lola's personality and having her as a CEO just lets me go an extra mile for comedic effect.

Jeff: That's definitely deliberate, she's kind of a prick lol

Guest: We'll see, but yeah, kinda, lol

To Be Obsolete: Yeah, FFN is in desperate need of a big update. The story is posted in AO3, however, so you may follow it there for convenience. This one is a bit different than the rest of the stories in the Heroverse AU, but I think it'll be quite a fun ride, and I hope you guys enjoy it. It'd be boring for you —and me— if all these fics were the same!

Chapter 2: …there was a little queen…

Winston proceeded to tell me the legend of the Evergreen Heart.

The Evergreen Forest, for most of its history, was just a small natural reserve located a few miles away from Royal Woods. Without the natural wonders of Grand Venture State Park or the recreational activities of Camp Mastodon, the place was nothing more than a gigantic collection of trees in the collective imagination.

Until one day, in the 1980s, the great cosmic explosion that gave humanity superpowers changed everything.

Little is known about the true nature of that event that changed human history forever. Some see it with religious connotations. Others see it as a universal singularity that destroyed everything we thought we knew about science. Even today, so many decades later, no one has certain answers about what happened, and each community seems to have its myths and legends about that cosmic phenomenon.

Royal Woods, of course, has several.

The most popular legend is the Curse of Royal Woods. Some sort of hex that, since the 1990s, has kept the metahumans from staying alive for more than a few years in Royal Woods. Hero or villain, young or experienced, they all end up mysteriously disappearing without a trace once they become public. The only hero who had managed to beat the curse was Ace Savvy, who for decades protected the city, becoming a true emblem of justice and good old-fashioned values. Under his protection, we all felt safe, like he was a father looking out for our best interests.

He even… The night when…

Ahem.

That night, when the police came to tell me about what happened to the family jet, when I became the heir to the company, he visited me at the Yates Tower.

I didn't ask him how he managed to skip security. We didn't exchange many words, actually. He seemed to understand that I didn't need to talk. I don't know if he knew it, or if he sensed it, but I didn't need a hero or an adult. I just needed someone to hold me while I cried. And he was there for me.

…

…

I'm sorry. Anyway, Ace Savvy managed to escape the curse of Royal Woods until last year, when Wild Card Willy killed him with experimental technology that Tetherby Enterprises gave him, taking advantage of his innocence and foolishness.

The second most popular legend in Royal Woods is the one regarding the Evergreen Forest. As far as I knew, the legend was just the belief that the forest was enchanted —that's why it grows so fast— and something about how no one could explore it without going crazy.

If you ask me, I think you have to be crazy in the first place to try to explore a place without a mall, and full of worms, and frogs. But hey, to each their own.

Winston, however, told me more about this legend and how it came to be, so intrinsically related to the cosmic explosion of the eighties.

It is said that while the eyes of the world were fixed in the sky, terrified by the shock wave of gases and lights that covered the planet, some campers saw what appeared to be a great, golden shooting star falling from the sky and crashing in the middle of the Evergreen Forest.

Over the next few months, the forest began to grow at an exponential rate. Its trees became as tall as Redwood's, its bushes turned to green walls, and the surrounding animals began to migrate toward this new natural paradise. Scientists found no explanation for this unusual growth. It was then that people began to pay more attention to the weird story about that shooting star.

A group of five hikers decided to explore the forest on their own, trying to find that treasure from outer space.

A month later, only one of the hikers returned. What happened to the other four remains a mystery, but the sole survivor was damaged and scarred for life, his mind shattered and driven to madness. He spent the rest of his days in the asylum.

According to legend, he claimed to have found the shooting star that fell in the forest. A small jewel, a mix of diamond and gold, more beautiful than any other gemstone in the world. It was trying to take it, according to him, what killed his friends.

"The forest is alive," he repeated over and over again. "The forest is alive. The star is its heart. The forest is alive."

The authorities were unable to get much more than that out of him. There were few moments of lucidity where he would pronounce other words. The rest of the time, he acted less like a person and more like an animal, crying and getting violent whenever someone mentioned the Evergreen Forest.

Of course, despite being the words of a madman, the idea of a jewel, perhaps coming from the cosmic explosion that brought superpowers to the planet, captured the imagination and greed of many. For years, dozens of treasure hunters and risk-takers ventured into the forest.

Some returned almost immediately, saying that the forest was simply impenetrable.

Many others returned after a few weeks like the mad hiker, forever changed by whatever they saw in the forest.

Most never returned.

Without scientific explanations that would satisfy the people's curiosity, legends stepped in to fill the gaps. It's believed that, in the center of the Evergreen Forest, guarded by horrors and mysteries beyond human understanding, lies a priceless treasure. A miracle fallen from the sky, created by the cosmic explosion that brought metahumans to the world. A unique gem, with unknown properties, seemingly unattainable, which only makes it even more desired.

A legendary treasure, today's fountain of youth.

The Evergreen Heart.

I canceled all my meetings for the next day.

The problem with being such a young CEO isn't the lack of character or real power. I have both to spare. The problem is that even though I'm smarter than the seventy-somethings on the board of directors, they've had many decades to learn useless —and, unfortunately, not so useless— facts, and it's too much for me to catch up so fast.

I didn't know about the legend of the Evergreen Heart. I'd never heard of it, I thought the forest was just a dangerous place people avoided. Those business vultures were counting on my ignorance to one-up and get rid of me.

According to Winston's warning, the Board of Directors intended to gain time by delaying the approval until I had signed my deal with the mayor. They'd drag everything out so a group of mercenaries, hired by them and rival companies like Sweetwater, could carry out a final expedition as a commando group to the Evergreen forest in search of this mythological Heart.

And if, indeed, they managed to find such a treasure, they could keep it hidden until my company's expansion work began. All to reveal it months later, once the entire infrastructure was set up to start making money and get a financial surplus in the medium term. The fact that, after decades of being believed nothing more than a legend, the priceless treasure would be claimed not by me but by someone else, would be presented as an incredible failure of vision on my part. An error that would prevent the company from taking credit for finding it, and potentially missing out on billions of dollars in a single asset.

Steal from me from under my nose, pretend it was my fault, and kick me out of my own company as punishment.

I'm sorry to say it, but rage took over me, and in a fit of rage, I created a diamond stalagmite that destroyed the tea table where my stuffed animals and I were discussing my plan of action.

"Oh, Eunice, Mr. Sprinkles, I'm so sorry," I said, picking up the stuffed animals from the floor and dusting them off. "What kind of princess gets carried away like this?"

I looked at my game room. The crystalline diamond column had not broken through the floor but had instead rooted itself to it with a snowflake-shaped base. The sudden strike from the diamond shattered the table and some plastic cups.

Luckily, it happened in my private chambers instead of a public place. As long as no one sneaked into my penthouse for the next twenty-four hours, the diamond would eventually fade to dust, leaving no evidence that could expose me as a metahuman to the world.

The last thing I needed was for the Board of Directors to find out about my powers and use that to fire me.

"Those bastards," I said to Eunice, stroking its bright pink mane and beautiful horn. "Winston's right, they're so stupid they don't even understand I'll make them richer than they could ever dream of. They can't stand it when a girl beats them at their game!"

I used my other hand to take Mr. Sprinkles by the hand and led my two best friends towards the window, where I could see all of Royal Woods. The sun had settled, and the city, MY city, flickered with the flashes of light from the buildings, houses, and streets, all so insignificant from the height where I observed them.

I would love to say that, accompanied by the only two people —stuffed animals— who cared about me, at the top of the Yates Tower and with the city as a backdrop, I began to sing the first musical number in my history.

But no. That's not what happened.

Instead, I headed to my father's secret archives to look up contact numbers for bounty hunters and mercenaries to hire and beat Sweetwater and the board members at recovering the Evergreen Heart.

Two could play the same game. And I was going to show them that I was better than them.

Well, turns out two can't play the same game!

Those bounty-hunting vermin refused to pick up my calls. All the major black market criminals never answered the phone. And when I contacted the second line, the mediocre ones, they all refused to participate.

Apparently, word had spread through the sewers of society, and everyone knew that the best mercenaries had been hired by "anonymous clients" to steal the Evergreen Heart from my righteous ownership. And the mediocre ones didn't want to work for me for fear of reprisals from the professionals.

Disgusting leeches. I always thought of them as trash, but the one time I needed them, they betrayed me. When Yates Industries gets in charge of Royal Woods' private security, I will personally take care of them.

I wouldn't be like Tetherby Enterprises, corrupt and working alongside the black market. No, I'd be different, I'd be in charge of eliminating the rats that destroy the moral foundations of our society.

Still, I could have used them to save my position in the company!

I was sitting at my desk, breaking candy with a hammer and occasionally eating a piece, when the internal line began to ring.

With a grunt of annoyance, I pressed the speaker on the phone.

"What?" I asked, letting the person on the other end of the line know I wasn't in a good mood.

"Miss Yates, Meli Ramos is here."

"Huh? I told you to cancel all my interviews and public appearances."

"Oh. I'm sorry, we didn't know that also included Miss Ramos."

The way she said it made me angry. It seemed to imply I considered Meli part of the interviews, which is probably wrong. But of course, it wasn't like that, she was my friend.

Our contract specifically said so.

"It OBVIOUSLY doesn't include Meli, she is my BEST friend."

I covered the microphone and glanced at Eunice. "I'm sorry, honey, you know I love you," I removed my hand and looked at the phone again. "What I'm saying is, you should have brought her in right away instead of making her wait. Come on! I want to be with my friend and… do friends things!"

As I watched the elevator approach my penthouse, I began to do a bit of cleanup. I removed the candy from the table, threw the blankets under the couch from when I stayed up late watching movies in the living room, and closed the door to the game room, where the big diamond was still standing.

I stood in front of the elevator and waited anxiously until it reached my floor.

When the doors opened, Meli was there, dressed in the same boring clothes as always. She looked a little terrified, with her fingers covering her ears.

"Meli!" I greeted her, waiting for her with open arms and a big smile. "What a joy to see you!"

She came closer, and I made sure to hug her in front of the elevator employee's gaze, who quickly closed the door and stood there waiting for him to be needed again.

"H-Hi, Lola," she said, returning the hug as if she was afraid the contact would electrocute her. "I feel my ears popping."

"Oh, yeah, it's normal, we're very high up," I told him, heading towards the gigantic couch in front of the automatic fireplace. "Can you believe that even at the top of Sweetwater Tower you don't lose enough pressure to get that funny feeling in your ears? Ha! And she thinks she's my rival. Come on, take a seat, dear."

She carefully sat down on the seat to my right, squealing as she sank several inches into the comfortable cushion.

"So, tell me, to what do I owe your visit?" I asked while looking at my sculpted nails.

"You told me to come early," she replied, sounding anxious. "I thought we were going to one of your interviews."

"Ooooooh. The interview on the radio. Right. No, there are no interviews today. I have something more important going on."

"Oh. Do you need me to be with you in another documentary?" She asked, looking for cameras with her eyes.

"No, no. No documentaries about my private life and friendships either."

"Do you need me to tell you what a school is like for your biography again?"

"No, the ghostwriter I hired is in charge of inventing all those details for me," I clarified, dismissing the idea.

She seemed genuinely confused. "So why did you call me?"

Even I know it's wrong to tell someone you don't need them and that they're only there by mistake. It's not like she could complain, I'd pay her anyway, but she was a very sentimental girl, and I didn't want to risk hurting her feelings.

If any reporter saw her leaving my tower crying, they might make a story about me and my friends. I didn't want any kind of bad press.

So, thinking fast and trying to remember movie scenes between friends, I decided to mix in a little truth with white lies.

"Oh, you know, I just needed a little company," I said, looking away and resting the back of my hand on my forehead.

Meli made an effort to escape from the cushion and looked at me with real concern in her eyes.

"Are you ok?"

"Oh, of course I am, nothing can bother Lola Yates," I hurriedly responded before sighing and falling against the back of the couch. "But I have a problem, and I don't know how to solve it."

"I'm really sorry. Can I help you with anything?"

"I'm afraid not, my dear Meli. It's a very complicated issue, and the only people who can help me are either too busy or afraid to do so."

Stupid bounty hunters.

"Is it really important?" She asked, moving a little closer to my side.

"Absolutely. Life-or-death situation."

She gasped at my response, and before I could react, she took me into her arms and hugged me so tight our cheeks flattened.

"Uh, what's going on?" I asked, totally confused.

"I know you'll figure this out," she said, before letting me go and grabbing my hands, even though the sleeves of her dress covered hers. "You're amazing."

"That, I am."

"And if it's really that important, maybe you could ask the heroes for help."

I stifled a laugh.

"The heroes?" I asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow and smiling at her innocence.

Meli nodded vigorously, her pigtails shaking in the air, and her smile almost as bright as her eyes.

"Heroes always face complicated problems, and they're never afraid. If it's life or d-death like you say, I'm sure they'll help you! That's why they're heroes."

I shook my head slightly, closing my eyes and smiling. As if Ace Savvy or the other blonde heroines could help me recover a lost treasure in the middle of the Evergreen Forest.

"Oh, Meli, I wish it were that simple, but let's say that the situation is a tad more complicated than that, it's not something that can be solved with powers or by a hero that—"

I stopped mid-sentence. An idea began to brew in my mind, a small seed that, in a matter of seconds, grew as tall as the tallest tree in the Evergreen forest.

"Meli," I said, trying to stay calm, as I turned on the television and handed her the remote control, "do you wanna watch a movie?"

"Uh, if you want," she replied, taking control as if it was on fire. "What do you wanna watch?"

"Just put on a princess movie. How about The Sleeping Mermaid and the Hunchback Beast: The Frozen Throne?"

"Okay," she said, not too convinced. Maybe she'd already seen it.

"I'll be right back, I'm going to, uh, ask my assistant to bring us some… snacks."

While Meli tried to choose the movie on the streaming platform —she seemed very confused with the system, as if she didn't know how to do it—, I walked over to my desk, immediately communicating with my assistant.

"Bring me all the food I need to watch a movie with a friend," I said, assuming she would know better than me on what to order, "and call my tailors. Tell them I need a rush job tonight, five times the usual pay."

"Miss Yates, the tailors are here."

"Excellent. Send them in."

The orange tones of the sunset bathed the interior of my penthouse, adding to the atmospheric effect of the warm lights that I had left on low intensity. Sitting behind my desk, arranging the papers with sketches I'd spent most of the afternoon drawing, I waited somewhat impatiently for the numbers on the elevator screen to go all the way up.

When they finally did, I sat up straight and prepared my welcoming smile.

The doors opened, and only my excellent social skills and fine control over my emotions allowed me not to let the anger and surprise show on my face. Instead, I kept the friendly smile, despite receiving four guests instead of the two I had exclusively requested.

"Howard, Harold, I'm glad you came so soon," I said, standing up and walking over to greet them.

The McBrides, loaded to the teeth with toolboxes and rolls of various fabrics, managed to approach me and kiss the hand I extended to them.

"The pleasure is ours, Miss Yates," Harold said with a big smile. "We're sorry for the delay, we were in the middle of work."

"Oh, don't worry. I assure you that this job will be worth the effort," I assured them, before emphatically directing my gaze to the two children who, like my tailors, were carrying all kinds of tools and fabrics. "Your apprentices, I presume?"

"Our sons, actually," Howard said. "Clyde and Lincoln. From what your assistant told us, we'll need all the help we can get to finish this job tonight."

"We assure you that they're responsible and very skilled tailors; they're following our steps in making fine pieces of clothing."

I took a quick look at the boys in question. One of them seemed to have some fashion sense, at least, with a blue and yellow sweater that went well with his white shirt and black pants. A formal, although somewhat nerdy look, especially with those glasses with such thick frames. What caught my attention the most was the black patch that covered one of his eyes. I didn't comment on it, but I wondered if it would affect his aim when threading a needle.

The other boy was a real fashion disaster. White sneakers, blue jeans, and an orange hoodie with black sleeves. Typical look for a kid about to enter middle school. A real shame, truly, because his face was quite pleasant, his shoulders looked wide even under such a baggy hoodie, and the strange white hair gave him an interesting edge. Surprisingly, he was carrying a box with a sewing machine that seemed quite heavy with just one arm, but as he looked around my penthouse, he didn't look uncomfortable at all.

Maybe, in a few years, he could be my new bodyguard.

"You're the experts, if you think they can help, they're welcome here," I said, bowing slightly and barely lifting the edge of my blouse as if it were a dress. "Though I should remind you that this work has to stay a top secret."

I looked up again at the McBrides, who nodded quickly.

Very well. They understood the consequences. They seemed to trust their sons, though I suppose all parents are like that.

"Excellent. Let's get started, then."

Howard said something to his sons, who began preparing the work area. The one with glasses started to organize the fabrics, while Harold opened a suitcase full of scissors and other tools. The white-haired boy set the machines aside, grabbed a tape measure and a notebook, and walked next to Howard to my position.

"Alrighty, what are we working on this time?" He asked as I stood under a lamp so they had all the necessary light. "Fancy dress for a dinner? Formal look for an event? Sports outfit for the gym?"

"Oh, no, no, no, Howie. This is for an adventure," I said with a big smile. "My sketches are on the table."

I didn't want to say it out loud, I wanted to keep it a little mysterious, but I couldn't contain my excitement.

"I want a superhero costume!"

Everyone gasped and turned to look at me. Harold and Howard looked at me with some fear in their eyes. The boy with the glasses glanced between his brother and me, and the white-haired boy stared at me confused, almost distrustful.

"Uh, a hero outfit, you said?" Harold repeated.

"Exactly! If you've seen the news, you know that soon I'll be in charge of the private security at Royal Woods. The media wants me to meet with our local heroes, and if I'm going to do it, I need to look like one of them."

My excuse seemed to be enough to calm them down. They sighed in relief, believing I was just an innocent girl who wanted a costume for a dress party.

They didn't suspect that Meli had inspired me, in the absence of metahumans that would help me, to do the dirty work myself, to step up and save my reputation and company.

Nature wasn't exactly my thing, but I was convinced that a girl as intelligent, elegant, and with a superpower as fabulous as mine could find that jewel and return before anyone noticed I was gone.

"I see," Howard said, relieved, as he took the sketches I'd drawn and examined them. "We haven't made superhero costumes before, but it shouldn't be a problem. Clyde, prepare the reinforced spandex. Lincoln, start taking Miss Yates' measurements."

"Yes," they both said.

The white-haired boy, Lincoln, approached me somewhat shyly, with the measuring tape in hand. I ignored him completely, letting him take my measurements without even looking at him.

"Simple, but elegant," Howard said of my drawings. "Are you sure you want boots? They could be shoes with amazing heels."

"Put yourself in character, Howie, a hero needs to walk through difficult terrain. Not everything is a catwalk in life."

"Makes sense. Long gloves? Isn't it a bit too much like the eighties?"

"They'll protect me against mosquitoes outdoors."

"Oh, but I must discourage the cape," he said with concern. "Capes are dangerous, they can get stuck in elevators, or be sucked into airplane turbines."

"The cape isn't negotiable," I said with determination. "That's what's going to make my costume match with Ace Savvy's."

The tailor boy dropped the measuring tape he was measuring my arms with, and it almost hit me on the ankle. I glared at him, and he, somewhat nervous, bowed his head as an apology.

Ugh. Amateurs.

"Matching costumes with Ace Savvy? Ooooh, is there a teen romance subplot going on?" Harold said with the tone of a schoolgirl sharing gossip.

"Not yet, but you can't deny a hottie like him deserves nothing less than a cutie like me," I said with confidence and without a hint of shame.

The Lincoln kid continued measuring my shoulders, but his face turned red like a Christmas ornament.

I rolled my eyes. Even with certain attractive features on his face —that reminded me a little of myself and my perfect profile—, silly children like him would never be able to understand the complex relationships of characters as important as Ace Savvy or me. The most he could aim for would be a Lacey St. Claire kind of girl, at best.

For now, the only boy that caught my attention was Ace Savvy, so noble and brave.

"I don't know, Miss Yates, a romance with a hero? Sounds like trouble to me," Howard said.

"Maybe. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. First, let's finish my costume, then I'll think about our first date, and then we can start planning the wedding. Ouchie!"

"I-I'm sorry," Lincoln apologized, gulping and loosening how sudden and tight he'd pressed the measuring tape around my waist.

I gave him an unfriendly look. Boy, he had negative class.

"Well, I think we have everything we need to make a fashionable superhero costume of these characteristics; functional, even," Howard announced. "At least the parts that are up to us. I'm afraid you'll have to get the diamond accessories from another supplier."

"Oh, don't worry about that, I have my contacts," I said with a sly smile.

"Is the tiara also made of diamond?"

"Yeah. But it's not a tiara, my dear Howie, it's a crown. Tiaras are for princesses. And I'm going to be a queen."

.

.

.

I know that tiaras are more than just for princesses, royalty can have them too. It's a comment from Lola, don¡t take it as a categorical definition of the author.

And it didn't make a lot of sense to describe this from Lola's POV, but those sketches for her costume are the typical, cartoonish doodles that are pretty ugly and not professional at all.