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The S-Tier had fallen.
It was an up and rising hero of unknown status– In fact, Chad had never even heard of ‘Bleeder’ until this very moment and he certainly didn’t approve of such a graphic-sounding name. Their power, as he had gathered from the crowd watching the ongoing battle in the greying sky, had something to do with draining another person’s energy. Specifically, the energy used to activate someone’s abilities.
He hadn’t know what that meant, really, until he’d seen it in action against the S-Tier. Black whip-like tendrils would grasp ahold of the villain, if only for the second that Alex allowed it, and a red thread of electricity would seep from his skin and into the black abyss. Bleeder was also very good at dodging, so the battle had gone on for long enough for the citizens of Capital City to take notice.
Chadster was not the only hero looking towards the sky either, the entire fairness association had breached the sidewalk and a number of other heroes from unrelated agencies had stopped dead in their tracks too.
No one wanted to enter the fight. They might distract Bleeder or Alex, who seemed to be outmatched for the first time in nearly a decade, might think to use one of them as a hostage. They were all better off grounded, but Chad couldn’t rip his eyes off of the brutal scene.
Even as it started to rain and water blinked over his carefully maintained hair, not a single person had removed themselves from the street. People were stepping out of their vehicles and exiting local shops to watch the lightning strikes and the crashing blows.
The first time Alex let out a pained cry, Chad had to cover his mouth from echoing the distorted sound.
Alex was losing the fight, that much was clear, but it still came as a surprise to see him lose his footing in the sky and a sharp tendril pierce through his chest. He screamed so loudly, like a dying animal, as Bleeder’s power output had increased tenfold. Red electricity dissipated in the air, seeped into the dark tendril, and even spilled from Alex's open chest.
The sound of 30 seconds of complete and total agony.
Once the Bleeder had deemed it sufficient, and the villain had grown quiet and still, they retracted the black appendage.
And so, the S-Tier fell.
Bleeder had also suffered from the fight, and likely wouldn’t survive if the way they cradled their head and curled into a fetal position in the sky was any indication, but Chad and the rest of the gathered crowd only had eyes for the S-Tier.
When he crashed from the sky, he left a smoking crater in his wake. Concrete cracked beneath Chad's feet in a spiderwebbed pattern, shifting and breaking the ground unevenly and more substantially the closer it was to the sight of impact.
Deafening silence followed suit. Not even the pained hero, Bleeder, dared to make a sound out of their final breath to disturb the relative peace. It was as if the world was watching, just as Chad was, and waiting to see what the villain would do after being defeated…
Thunder rumbled from the sky, but still the S-Tier hadn’t moved.
“Alex!” One voice spoke above the sky’s dissent and pushed their way through the crowd. Chad was too shocked to think about stopping Morgan, too shocked to even say anything, and the heroes let them pass.
The rain lightened and the clouds started to continue their natural path from the city.
It was much too quiet.
“Oh god, Alex-” Morgan gasped, their face taking an unhealthy pallor and they jumped into the crater.
Chad moved without thinking. He ran to the edge, nearly tripping over the land’s deformities, and braced his arms over the crater walls. He wasn’t sure what he’d even planned on doing, exactly. He couldn’t stop Morgan and he wouldn’t help Alex… All he could do was watch.
“C-C’mon buddy,” Morgan struggled to pull the S-Tier’s arm over their shoulder, completely limp. “We still have to watch the new episode of The Amazing Australian Cake Off. Can’t,” They grunted as they heaved him off of the crumbling asphalt, “Can't m-miss that, right?”
Blood was gushing from the hole in the S-Tier’s chest, soaking the earth beneath their feet and getting all over Morgan’s frequently-worn green jacket. Morgan was crying, but they were still talking. Reminding Alex of his Taylor swift concert tickets, about their Coffee Tuesday plans– Which had apparently been moved to Coffee Wednesdays – and other such nonsensical and mundane things.
This couldn’t be it, Chad thought, despite himself.
There had to be more. Alex was– He was basically a god for fucks sake! It couldn’t just– end like that! He’d survived much worse under more dire circumstances, Chad refused to believe Alex would let it end this way.
His intuition was spot on, of course, The Chadster had a good sense for these things, as Morgan continued to ramble and the S-Tier's hand twitched.
He wasn't even breathing, from what Chad could tell, but the small twitch in Alex's hands had shifted his fingers. Giving him the perfect placement for a weak snap of his thumb and ring finger. They dissappeared and Chad sighed.
He was feeling satisfaction of being correct; The feeling in his chest was resolutely not relief over the villains welfare.
The other heroes that had joined him at the edge of the crater immediately jumped to action, either tackling the space the two villains had once been or running back to their agencies to inform their superiors of what they had witnessed.
Chad finally removed himself from the crater’s edge and when he turned around he found two other heroes staring at him. He shook his head lightly and Diego sighed as Dave’s grimace deepened.
The S-Tier had survived.
He was weakened though. Forced to retreat and recover, likely for the first time in his entire life as a villain.
That gave them a chance...
______
It had taken a few days to find the two villains.
All of Morgan’s usual hideouts had been turned inside out, including their apartment and the lots of various other tenants, and Alex’s base had nearly been erased from existence between the well-justified minion looting, attacks from Rex Roofer, and the heroes infiltrating. Not that it mattered, there wasn’t a trace of either villain and no indication of where they may have gone. All possible leads had lead to conveniently non-lethal deathtraps and puzzle rooms. Saint Bernard and Ohio James were still trapped in the one they found behind Morgan’s medicine cabinet.
It was Chad’s– The Chadster’s– incredible intuition, and an anonymous tip from someone known as 'M & T', that allowed the three heroes to find this snowy island a mere 7 nautical miles from Alex’s original arctic base. The island hadn’t garnered much attention due to it belonging to the aforementioned Rex Roofer, but it seemed even he was unaware that these villains would stoop so low as to invade private property for their own selfish gain.
“This is a bad idea, ” Dave Dodgers hissed a breath, releasing a hot cloud of air in the cold winter atmosphere, as soon as the invisible helicopter that Chad had… ‘borrowed’ from the Fairness Association landed on the smooth white surface, “And it’s completely against protocol…”
Chad dropped the heroic formality and ignored him as Diego scanned their surroundings. There wasn’t much to see, the helicopter had given them a birdseye view of the islands terrain and aside from a steep mountain on the left side, it was pretty bare. Only a few surrounding trees and a beautiful crystal lake served to distract them from the small log cabin with a smoking chimney that laid dead center on the island.
“Let’s go.” Diego said and Dave followed her lead without further protest. Chad kept pace with them, snow crunching under their shoes as they got closer to the cabin. He couldn’t explain it, but something about the leisurely way they were walking made him feel anxious. It wasn’t going to be a hard fight, with the S-Tier still weakened, but all of his heroic instincts were telling him to make back for the helicopter. Really, the only thing that could stop them from reaching Alex was–
All three heroes stopped in their tracks as the door to the log cabin opened and a single person stepped out.
Morgan.
The only thing that stood between them and killing Alex was Morgan .
That was the exact reason Chad had made the decision to only tell Diego and Dave about this location. Any other hero would have destroyed the island, that’s what they should have done, but Chad couldn’t let an innocent bystander like their sibling get caught in the blast. It was better, like this, to bring Morgan some familiar, trusted, faces of their brother and sister, and brother in law, to coax them away from the S-Tier so the heroes could finish the job.
Alex had already taken too many lives… The Chadster wouldn’t let him take their sibling too; Even if that meant breaking a few rules. There was no need for additional bloodshed.
Morgan was coming towards them, light on their feet and shoulders lax in a grey winter coat that was two sizes too big and a fur-lined hood tucked down behind their neck. They had a hunting rifle strapped to their back– that did not look like standard-regulation– and despite the cold they were not wearing any gloves.
Dave shot Chad a scathing glare but he didn’t have to look at Diego to know that they’re both thinking the same thing.
Morgan was family. No amount of supposed bad blood could ever let them forget that. Morgan came to an abrupt halt, ample room between them and the three heroes, and the confidence in that belief he shared with his sister pushed Chad to speak first.
“Stand aside, Morgan.” He said, imbuing his words with his typical heroic gusto, “We’re only here for Alex.”
“What a coincidence," They laughed, faux amusement dropping into a frown quick enough to give him whiplash, "So am I.” They hoist the strap of their rifle higher on their shoulder and the subtle threat didn’t go unnoticed by the other heroes. The air followed their breathing in white clouded wisps and it reminded Chad of when they were younger and Morgan would stick the chewed end of a lollipop stick in their mouth and pretend it was a cigarette.
“You can't stop us,” Dave scoffed, “you’re not strong enough.”
Chad winced slightly. At one point in his life, he may have agreed with Dave. Morgan’s summoning wasn’t nearly as powerful as any of their abilities, but the strength of their character had surpassed many challenges and this was about to be their greatest one yet.
Morgan turned towards Diego, ignoring Dave’s words entirely, “Do you really want to do this?”
Diego had the heart of a hero, Chad had known that since the day she was born, but he’d had his own doubts since watching the end of Alex and Bleeder’s fight. The empathy she carried for her sibling’s pain and the guilt from not wanting to kill their best friend warred between each of them, but she knew there was only one way to save the world. She hardened her expression, his brave and strong sister, and nodded. “Yes, it’s the right thing to do. I'm sorry Morgan, but he’s too dangerous to be left alone.”
“You’ve never meddled in any of our battles with him before, how is this any different...?” Dave muttered.
“We don’t have to fight,” Chad softened the hero-theatrics, reaching out for his sibling as a brother and not as a hero. “Dave has agreed to wipe your records and debt, no strings attached. You don’t have to be a sidekick or a hero- You can have a normal life again without the S-Tier. You can start over-”
“Stop acting like you can change my mind!” Morgan snapped, “This isn’t some fucking Hallmark Movie with feelings and shit- I know what Alex is and I know what he’s done. He deserves to die…” They glanced away, licking their lips in the dry winter air.
It was snowing, Chad realized.
A few flecks of white dotted the ends of Morgan’s bangs and dissipated when they shook their head. “...But I’m not going to let that happen. I can’t, he means too much to me.”
“You’d give up a fresh start for a monster like him? You’re insane. ” Dave growled, “Fucking think Morgan! If not for the other people of this world, then for yourself! He might find you interesting now, but how about in ten years? Twenty? Thirty?! He’ll get bored of you eventually and you’ll end up dead because of it!”
Morgan’s grip on the rifle strap tightened, “Big words for someone who’s not going to live to see tomorrow-”
“Enough of this,” Diego said, “You’re stalling. This is your last chance, either step aside and let us pass or we’re going through you.”
She fell into a defensive stance and, although shocked, Chad quickly followed suit with Dave on her other side. It might be a bluff but he’s pretty sure Dave was ready to commit on behalf of her words.
Chad didn’t like the idea of hurting Morgan but when he looked past them and into the cabin window… He could see that same shade of red from Bleeder's fight, glowing and pulsing in the windows reflection like the light of a heart beat.
They had to act soon, there was no way of knowing how much longer they’d have before the S-Tier was fully recovered.
“What’s it going to be, Morgan?” Chad prompted, both flesh and robot hand tightening into raised fists.
Instead of answering, Morgan sighed. They raised their hand high above their head and snapped.
Chad's mouth flooded with liquid, thick, hot, and coppery, and the nerves in his lower jaw lit up like a firework. The taste made him gag over his proffered hand, more out of surprise than disgust, and Diego coughed at his side while Dave spat into the snow, dyeing spots of it in a deep red.
The pain in Chad’s jaw quickly faded to a dull ache and when he pulled his flesh hand away, blood covered his palm. A quick glance confirmed that his sister and brother in law were equally shocked by this outcome, blood spilling off of the corner of their lips or down their chin that neither had moved to wipe off; If they were aware of it at all.
The hand that Morgan had snapped lowered. They twisted their wrist and uncurled their fingers, dropping nine perfectly bloody teeth onto the snow.
“About 0.90 grams for each of them.” They explained, wiping a spot of red on their winter coat, “I can summon approximately 300lbs of flesh but, if you remember from the power-swap month with Alex, it doesn’t have to be all at once or even from the same person…”
They raise their hand again and Chad knew he wasn’t the only one that flinched at the reminder of what Morgan’s power was truly capable of in the wrong hands.
“Now it’s your last chance, heroes.” They said evenly, “Are you really sure you wanna do this?”
The line had been drawn. Morgan wasn’t speaking to them as their sibling, they were speaking as a D-Tier villain to a group of heroes. Their connection meant nothing in the fight for Morgan’s most coveted friend and the other nearly 10 billion people that resided on this planet.
Dave charged first and Diego dropped two plasma disks to step on, covering her husband as she took to the skies and threw three more purple disks at Morgan’s feet.
Morgan jumped over the disks before they could land a hit on their target, giving them just enough momentum to kick Dave’s face in and knock out another tooth. Dave cried out in pain, covering his mouth with both hands as he stumbled back, still sensitive from the first involuntary root-canal and Chad took the distraction as his chance to run to the cabin.
He had managed to slip by Morgan by maybe three steps before a second snap echoed in the wilderness. Chad’s body was suddenly teetering dangerously on one side. He dropped into the snow, not as light or pillowy as he’d hoped it would be. He’s surprised to find he couldn’t feel anything missing. Just to be sure, he looked down at his body and…
Nothing. He looked fine. No missing left foot or left leg or anything else of value.
He pushed off of his good leg and oh
Oh–
Morgan blocked Dave’s punch with their arms, narrowly avoiding another plasma disk above their head, and they threw Chad’s stolen kneecap back at their sister.
Fine. Chad had already lost an arm, what was a few teeth and a small bone in his leg?
Chad ripped off the bottom pants-fabric of his uniform and tied it around the joint of his thigh and shin. It wouldn’t do much, but the compression of the tight fabric should keep him upright long enough to get to the cabin. It was hardly a deterrent, really, it’d just slowed him down–
Another snap broke him of his thoughts and Diego shouted, “Fuck!”
The disks under her feet flickered and she stuttered in the air, clutching her dominant hand to her chest. Morgan threw something to the side and wiped their hands on their coat, leaving another streak of dark red on the grey fabric.
Chad looked to where Morgan had thrown what they’d stolen and froze.
Fingers. They took three of Diego’s fingers.
Dave was distracted, he’d peeled back from his rapid assault to catch his wife and Morgan was twisting the rifle off of their back.
Chad lunged at them and Morgan didn’t have enough time to pull the rifle all the way down to stop him. He grabbed both of their wrists and slammed them down hard beside their head. Morgan snarled, flexing their fingers, and Chad slid his hands up until their fingers were forcefully locked together.
“Stop fighting, damn it!” Chad yelled, “Can’t you see we’re trying to help!”
“Piss off, Chad!”
They slipped their fingers from the cool metal of his artificial hand and sent an elbow straight into the left side of Chad’s jaw. The pain of his ripped out teeth echo intensely through his skull, vibrating with heat and a sharp stabbing sensation in each gap between his gums.
Morgan kicked him off of them, taking advantage of his shock to scramble away and then cursed.
He hadn’t known why until he opened his eyes and Morgan pulled the rifle off of their shoulder, aiming too quickly for Chad to do more than watch as they fired two bullets into Dave’s leg.
“Stay the fuck down, Dodgers!” They yelled, missing a shot at Diego.
She’d landed not far from Chad, bloody less-fingered hands wrapped in stained white bandages, and fueled by righteous fury at her husband’s shaking form. She hefted Chad back on his feet with one hand.
They’re both panting and sweating, but Chad swallowed down his exhaustion and kept his weight on his right side. They moved together, years training together had made them a strong duo, although never official.
Morgan could block Diego’s kick, but they hadn’t expected Chad to punch his bionic arm through the rifle and against Morgan’s chest.
They flew backwards, pieces of metal and the wooden butt of the rifle laid at their side. They wheezed a pitiful sound and rolled onto their back before Diego’s plasma-fused punch could crack their ribs. They scrambled to their feet and it really doesn’t feel like a fair fight.
Chad broke their nose with a bionic fist and Morgan snapped as their retaliation.
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Morgan would sever the skin and muscle tissue connecting the joint of his robot arm to his body, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t impressed. He hadn’t thought they had it in them.
But his arm had been ripped off so many times by then that he didn’t even flinch at the loss. By now, he was sure his body was already working to clot the gaping wound from how often he experienced this specific physical trauma.
He raised an eyebrow, sassily as all heroes are trained to, and Morgan gawked with a bloody nose at his nonchalance.
Chad grabbed their arm with his flesh one and tossed them over his shoulder, slamming their back against the unforgiving snow.
…And accidentally giving them the perfect view of Dave hobbling towards the cabin again– Whoops.
They’re back on their feet in an instant.
“Fucking– What did I just say?!”
They raised their hand.
“Morgan, no!”
“Dave!”
They snapped, an entire femur summoned to their hand.
Dave crumpled to the ground with neither leg to stand on and retched from the pain. He looked awful, hands buried in the snow, shifting between clutching his leg and leaning away from it like he was too scared to jostle the muscle of empty space any further.
Diego abandoned the fight, running to Dave.
Chad attempted to follow but lost his footing when Morgan reeled their arms back and then shattered Dave's femur against his face. He was still trying to regain his footing when Diego’s trajectory to her husband shifted to the log cabin and Morgan snapped again.
Diego screamed.
It wasn’t like the one Chad had heard from Alex, Diego’s was much more painful, but the familiarity of it struck something deep within him. Diego writhed with her hands over her face, profusely bleeding and painting her costume and the snow beneath her as she fell to the ground.
“Diego!” Dave shouted, crawling towards her as Chad echoed her name, much quieter.
“Diego…” He breathed.
Morgan dropped her eyeball at their feet, flicking their hand clean of blood.
“28 grams.” They muttered, and Chad saw red.
He grabbed them by the shoulder with one hand and cracked his skull against their forehead in a headbutt and they both stumbled back. Bitterly, Chad hoped they’d lose track of all the weight they’d counted during the fight.
They’re both fighting desperately now, landing hits without thinking through to the next move, and Morgan had taken to snapping incrementally through the fists. Sometimes he couldn’t tell what they were taking. One of their newer non-lethal moves summoned a portion of his skin and blood, similar to what a knife or a bullet might take, but the blood from those summons made their hands slick.
When it was too wet for them to snap, he grabbed one of Morgan’s bloody hands. They dug their feet into the snow, obviously expecting to be thrown back over their shoulder like last time, but Chad only clenched his hand tighter. He waited until he felt their bones snap of their own accord and Morgan choked on their own breath. Resiliant pokerface ruined with insurmountable pain as they clenched their jaw to prevent any sounds of pain, of weakness, seeping through.
They extracted their slick hands out of his grip, but the damage had been done.
Chad's triumph had lasted only a second before Morgan kicked their kneecap-less knee and he fell on his ass. He tried to stand with his one hand but Morgan kicked him back down. They were breathing hard, shaking with the effort to remain upright– to maintain the advantage they currently held over Chad– and stepped away.
Slowly, they raised their only unbroken hand level to their chest. “If you stand up,” Morgan wheezed, pressing their middle finger and thumb tight enough for the tips of their fingers to go white, “ I'll take your heart next. ”
They would do it, Chad knew. He had no reason to doubt them when the carnage of their battle dripped down his chin, out of his sisters eye, and pulsed from his honorary brother’s leg.
He did not need to be reminded that their sibling was a villain, through and through.
“You’d go this far?” Chad whispered, oddly fearless and strangely numb under Morgan’s burning gaze, “You’d kill your own brother to save him?”
“If that’s what it takes.”
“Are you out of your mind?!” Dave made to stand, but Diego held both of his shoulders against her chest, keeping him firmly in place while he writhed and spat like a rabid animal, “Even if Alex did care- Even if an ounce of what you think he feels for you is real - ! How could you live knowing you love a monster?! ”
“Pretty easily.” They shrugged, but Chad watched them blink past the beginnings of tears.
“I’m not going to stop, Morgan.” Chad admitted wearily, lips curled up on the left side in a half smile. “I love you but if there’s a chance to rid this world of its greatest evil, then I’m going to take it. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry too.” Morgan shook their head. Their burning gaze settled to a warm simmer and they smiled.
God– It had been so long since Morgan had smiled at him like that. Back when they were younger and Morgan looked at Chad like he hung the stars i the sky. The same smile that the S-Tier– That Alex , had been exclusively on the receiving end of for the past few years.
Someone who actually could hang the stars for them.
“Goodbye, Chad.”
He shut his eyes.
They snapped.
For a second, he’d thought dying felt…
Remarkably similar to being alive.
He waited for the pain of his heart being ripped from his chest. For the steady beat of life to flop noisily into the snow as a macabre work of art. For his fingers to go numb and body grow limp as he slowly lost consciousness.
But it never came. He was just… cold. Like he was laying on a big pile of snow with a missing arm and missing kneecap and a bunch of other missing fleshy bits.
Chad cracked an eye open and took stock of himself. He pressed his hand over his chest and felt with his own fingers the rapid uptick in his pulse, still beating, still pumping blood, and still somehow alive.
Words of gratitude and relief landed on the tip of his tongue but just as quickly crawled into the back of his throat and fucking died .
Morgan wasn’t looking at them, hadn’t even realized that Chad was still alive, as their face morphed into a confused expression as they stared into their hand, waiting for a heart that would never appear, as a red line of electricity danced in their waiting palm.
“Careful, Morgan.” A deep voice purred and Morgan flinched, “Chad’s on the No Kill list, remember?”
Alex was standing right behind Morgan, his hand held high above them and glowing red in the exact same fashion as Morgan’s. He waved and the electricity dissipated, Morgan’s summons completely removed from existence but Chad had almost wished it’d happened anyway.
Morgan threw themselves into the S-Tier’s chest, the tears from earlier finally cascading down their flushed face. Alex returned the hold fiercely and Morgan whimpered something inaudible to Chad’s ears, gripping onto Alex’s shirt like a lifeline.
“I know,” Alex said, gently brushing the snow out of their hair, “We have a lot to talk about.”
His breath didn’t fog like any of theirs did in the cold climate. Now, neither did Morgan’s.
It was surreal to see them act this way.
The S-Tier in a scene of carnage that they did not create, comforting a crying D-Tier villain that had just spent the last half-hour kicking three A-Tier heroes asses into the ground.
Chad had to wonder if anyone else was feeling a bit awkward.
“For now, why don’t you go warm up inside, hmm?” Alex said after Morgan had run out of tears. He pried their hands off of him with too much care for someone who had killed so many, cupping their chin in blood-stained hands as Morgan savored the familiar touch, “I’ll handle things here.”
He stepped to the side and Morgan almost followed him. They blinked quickly, seeming to come out of a daze before nodding silently. Their hand, the unbroken one, balled at their side. Like they might try to reach out for him. Another beat of silence and they let go, easily walking past him.
All four of them watched them leave.
It was that exact kind of action that had first prompted Chad to believe Morgan, defiant and strong-willed Morgan, was under the influence of nefarious mind control. Now, he could clearly see that Morgan listened because they loved Alex.
And Chad’s intuition told him Alex felt the same way; Suspicious ringtone’s a nonsequitor for how Alex continued to gaze at them long after the log cabin’s door had shut.
“For the record,” Alex said abruptly, startling the heroes, “I didn’t know they’d do that. Not for someone like me.”
“...We didn’t either.” Dave admitted and Chad had to admire his bravery for speaking to the S-Tier at all after what they had just done to Morgan.
Alex must have thought so as well, as he didn’t offer a further response. He snapped his fingers and the shattered femur from earlier pieced itself back together in his hands. He admired the bone before it faded away. Likely being sent to his lair with all of the other… trophies that they had discovered in their search for the villain’s location. He hummed as he shuffled through the snow, kicking away their teeth and his kneecap and other bits of blood and flesh until he let out a noise of triumph. He picked up Diego’s eye and dusted it off before walking back to the married couple.
For a moment, Chad was worried he was going to take Diego’s other eye to make a matching set. Dave shuffled in front of her the best he could with two destroyed limbs but Alex only held the eye out to them. Diego, slowly, raised her hand and Alex dropped it in her waiting palm.
“Now, then.” Alex clapped his hands together with a chuckle, “I finally have all of my powers back and I’m feeling very generous! Which hospital should I send the three of you to?”
Chad exchanged a look with Dave while Diego still hasn’t taken her eye off of… well, her other eye.
“Capital City General, please.” Chad said and in the next second they’re all lying in hospital beds. A nurse, who looked to be clearing the room for fresh patients, dropped her water bottle and stifled a surprised noise.
Dave groaned as he laid back in his bed.
“Please notify the Fairness Association that the S-Tier has returned.” Diego said.
The nurse looked between them, lingering on Chad’s steadily bleeding arm before nodding and racing to the doorway and yelling something about an intensive care unit.
Chad sighed.
What was the point of surviving if it only meant fighting the S-Tier again…?
Maybe, they should all count themselves lucky if they’d never have to fight Morgan a second time.