Spectacular World

"What are you?" Wish asked, her eyes narrowing. "Seriously, what the actual hell are you? Again and again, why do you get back up no matter how much I knock you down!"

"That's rich, coming from you," Cinder said flatly.

"I heal! My power literally allows me to return from the dead! But you?" Wish sighed and shook her head. "Whatever." Jagged bone spikes ripped their way out of Wish's body and began to twist. "I guess I'll just shatter your soul the hard way." The monster sneered.

Hope didn't even bother looking at Wish. She instead looked around. They were still having a battle of wills. Neither of their real bodies currently mattered. Instead, they were nothing more than broken souls competing within Wish's dead world. The acid rain still poured down, and her entire body ached. She was covered in hundreds of cracks, forming strange spider-web patterns across her flesh and costume. She was missing an arm, and even part of her face was broken. Wish, on the other hand, was perfectly fine. It was hard to tell if the villain had even been damaged at all.

"You can't beat me!" Wish declared. "Just give up and die!"

Slowly, Hope fixed her gaze on the other girl. "For a moment, I did give up." She admitted. "As ashamed as I am to admit it, part of me wanted to stop. To let it all end. To not have to worry about anything else. I changed my mind, though. Fighting for the sake of fighting isn't something I am good at. I want to just fight to save people. To protect those who are in need. That's why I'm going to save Cora and the Brightest Star. They're both counting on me. Countless others are as well. For a moment, that burden proved to be too much, but I managed to stand back up. I won't fall down again. Not ever. From this point on, I'm going to be the superhero I wanted to be. One that can save everyone."

Wish's sneer grew, and the girl charged forward. "Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night, Cindy! I honestly don't care! As long as you and I fight, I will always come back better than ever! You can't kill me!"

Hope lifted her remaining arm as Wish charged at her. She thought about putting up her guard, but she changed her mind and instead did something else. "I'd like to know it." She said quietly. "The reason you are the way you are. You said Wish wasn't your real name. That this wasn't who you used to be. Well, let's see it then. Who are you?" Hope snapped her fingers.

Wish felt her eyes go wide as the area around the two of them began to shimmer and change. She jumped back, expecting Cinder to launch an attack her way, but it never came. Instead, she found herself suddenly standing in a classroom. Both of them were battling for control over which soul would come out on top. Wish had assumed she was on top, that the landscape was hers alone to control, since she was more experienced at messing with the soul, but she made a mistake. One she realized in that exact moment as she glared back at her enemy. There were two... She wasn't just battling Cinder. Someone else was there. The Brightest Star was giving the dying Lord every last drop they could muster. Her soul was fighting both of theirs.

"What did you do!" Wish demanded. She looked around the classroom. It was a memory, so none of the kids that were seated at the desks could see or hear her. "Where did you take us!"

Hope looked around, taking the sight in. "I guess even if you, yourself, forgot this, it still never stopped being a part of you. I got the idea to do this after you forced me to relive all of my memories."