Mary Sue’s swirl of silver and gold was distinguishable to every seasoned soldier in the Defense Program. Few had seen her use her Rings of Fealty, and most never had.

When they saw her use hers and saw the burst of light into the sky from a distance they knew that she was in trouble.

Many had dropped what they were doing. They wanted to save their rings for a true moment when they thought they had no other choice, as the power surge was not long-lasting.

Their loyalty to Mary Sue was their only choice.

Maximilian turned his key into a nearby shop door that was still standing. It glowed bright and opened up. On the other side was Mary Sue. All of them streamed through, and the monsters as well, trying to get to their mother. Ace’s heart soared at the beautiful sight of his comrades but then raced faster once he saw the corpses scramble through the door as well.

A rainbow of colors surrounded his compatriots and together they were stronger than any enemy that came their way. They ran through, desperate to help their hero.

Ace was not the only one that joined the Defense Program due to Mary Sue. Many women had joined, empowered by her strength. People who were different, who were shunned, who were too foreign.

They all saw her as proof that they were all equal.

Mary Sue grew up poor for most of her childhood. She was a woman, she was different. She was supposed to be weak and not strong. She was supposed to be angry instead of benevolent, and when she became the strongest woman in the seventh realm, they knew they could be as well.

They knew that her luck was what made her strong. But they didn’t care. At the end of the day, they all knew that luck and hard work played a huge role in one’s life regardless of having an ability. 

She just happened to be the luckiest of all.

Deceit’s words were true.

They were all freaks, and mutts, some of them grotesque in appearance and even personality. Yet in the Defense Program, they were all equal. No matter what they had done, no matter who they were, they were united in their eternal plight.

They had all been weak before, and no longer would they let others feel their weakness and shame for being different. They would never let anyone suffer from the abusers, the disgustingly powerful and horrid all over their domain. They would never let Deceit take the one person that had inspired them to be something more.

The soldiers knew that their eternal plight for freedom would never end.

Deceit was simply another notch on their bed’s post.

In all of Deceit’s 3,653 times of experiencing the same two months over and over again, she had never died. She had never experienced an ounce of fear that she had inflicted upon Ace, killing him over and over.

This time would be different.

Ace blinked and moved out of the way, as the stampede of people and monsters scrambled towards Deceit. Before anyone could reach her, Gruesome appeared behind her. She pulled her mother into a portal and onto a rooftop.

Ace burst into flames, his target now lost. The chaos of the insurgency only made it more difficult for him to find her, but he didn’t have to look for very long. Deceit shuddered and looked down below.

“It’s time,” she bellowed.

All the filthy creatures ran towards each other, crashing in together. Black blood seeped onto the ground, and anyone unlucky enough to be close by during the festering mass was taken with them.

Before it got any bigger, Santos swooped down and opened his mouth.

Everyone nearby heard the most beautiful sound erupt from his lungs. They stopped, entranced by the music.

Then they screamed, the masses of death exploding before their very eyes.

He ran through the crowd, singing his song of death and they continued to burst around him. Santos would not give Deceit another chance to build another monster of flesh.

“Gruesome, kill him,” Deceit commanded.

A horizontal portal appeared inside of Santos, and the top half of his body was disconnected from the other. He stretched his hands out, and his wings flapped faster, trying to stay upright.

The madness only increased as everyone was afraid he was one of them.

He had not died because Gruesome didn’t cut his head off. Santos was weak, but as long as his head was attached to his body and he had enough blood he would not rest until Deceit had died.

Humans and monsters alike ran in terror as the bottomless man flew through, blood spurting around, singing, and making everything that got too close explode.

“What the sweet fuck,” Deceit whispered. “Can anyone here actually die?”

Santos had tired himself out. He landed next to his lower half and tried to stitch himself together. He pushed himself onto his lower half and screamed as his exposed vertebrae connected with the rest of his body.

In agony, he turned the lower part around, as he had accidentally put his legs on the wrong, ass first. Bloody tears seeped out his eyes and marred the black tar covering his face.

Fenton was pretty sure he did not have a crush anymore as he saw Santos’ body stitch itself together. A loud smack from behind got his attention.

The door had closed.