Spectacular World

The Cinder Van

A Few Days Ago...

"So, how have things been?" Myth asked. The leader of the Sub Enforcers stared down at the street below, his eyes not leaving the young girl who was attempting and failing to move soil in a mini-field.

Sky gave a half-shrug and dangled her legs over the side of the building she was on. "I mean, nothing really happened after you left. If you're worried about her, you can talk to her. I think that would make her happy. She talks about you sometimes."

Myth shook his head. "It isn't that easy."

"It is, though."

"No. It's not." The man's tone made it clear he wasn't willing to argue.

Sky let out a soft sigh. "Alright. So, what did you want to talk about then?"

It had only been three days since Hope returned to Oleander City. The Lord of the Sun and Cosmos hadn't been happy about her new job, being placed on farm duty, but Hope hadn't complained about it either. It was in the middle of the day, and so many of the people below were working. Normally, Sky would find herself busy doing something, but she had felt prying eyes and discovered Myth standing on top of a destroyed tower, watching the streets below.

That was where she was now—sitting next to the dark-skinned man, simply taking in the sight of her people working.

Myth folded his arms and remained standing instead of sitting. "Red Ape made it to Nightshade."

"That's good. Right?" Sky raised an eyebrow. She had almost forgotten about the goofy villain. His monsters were still in the tunnels, and the Sub Enforcers had been removing all the bombs he had scattered around the city when he tried to blow everything up. Despite how dangerous it had all been, Red Ape was still so forgettable.

"He's the only one we caught." Myth pinched the bridge of his nose. The man had even more bags beneath his eyes, and his skin was littered with small bruises from a recent mission he had gone on. "The others got away."

"Only Green Wolf, Doctor Blue, and White Lamb got away," Sky said, shaking her head. "Red Monkey and the others were already dead."

"That's still bad, though. Green Wolf seemingly has more lives than he or she knows what to do with, and he got a whole lot stronger. And Doctor Blue is quickly becoming a huge pain in the ass. First, he made Wish, and now this. When will it end?"

"You know as well as I do that it never ends," Sky responded back sadly.

Myth gave a faint nod. "We still have Black Crow as well. Unlike Red Ape, we didn't send him straight to Nightshade. It's a good thing we didn't either."

"It is?"

"Yeah. Shortly after Red Ape arrived, the Hero Branch lost communication with Nightshade and Boy Genius." Myth muttered quietly as if he was afraid the people down below would listen.

"Seriously!" Sky felt her eyes go wide. She looked up at the sky, finding Boy Genius's drones. They were still flying around doing what they normally did, though now it made her wonder who was truly piloting them... "I know Nightshade is important and all, but someone like the Victorian or Fable could break in and check out what's going on, right?"

"That's what the Hero Branch wanted." Myth slowly shook his head and let out another tired sigh. "It's not there, though."

"What do you mean it's not that? Like it's gone?"

"Yeah." The Sub Enforcer leader nodded somberly. "Usually, it floats above the water, but now it's nowhere to be found. It likely dropped into the water and could be somewhere at the bottom of the ocean by now. The Victorian tried to check the ocean out for it, but she couldn't find it. It's possible Alien could have gotten to it first."