Spectacular World

Cora stood up on shaking legs. Everywhere she looked, all she saw was utter destruction. The buildings were in ruins, the street was cracked open, the wall around the city had fallen, and even the sky was torn open. The dead rested across the street, and debris rained from above.

Mages were worshipped as gods. They helped create this very world. They could just as easily tear it all down, Cora realized...

Lightning Empress had placed her in a bubble of air, which had flown her all the way to the other side of the city, where it had then opened up and awkwardly dropped her off. Despite being free, Cora simply sat there. She felt sick to her stomach. She didn't live in the city; she had grown up in a small little village. Even so, seeing such destruction disgusted her. She had gone into the city expecting to see parts of it be torn down, but she had believed that the mages wouldn't destroy everything. Now, though, she was afraid that the very world itself would be destroyed. The mages didn't look like they'd be letting up in their fight any time soon.

"Cora!" The girl jumped when she heard a familiar voice.

"Nikos!" She stood up and turned just in time to feel a pair of strong arms wrap around her.

Nikos, her older brother, hugged her tightly and let out a weak cry. "Thank God you're okay. I- I woke up in this bunker and suddenly came to when Pied's music stopped, and I didn't see you anywhere. I thought that maybe you..." The boy trailed off and felt his breath hitch when he saw all the bodies scattered around the street. Most had been crushed from the tumbling buildings. There were others, some who were alive. The people of the city all looked numb or sick as everything shook and mages continued their battle. "W- We need to go." Nikos gripped his sister's hand and began to drag her through the street. "It's not safe here. This entire city is going to fall apart at this rate."

Cora nodded weakly and did her best to ignore the wet slapping sounds as her foot stepped into a puddle of red. "Right." She took a moment to look back at part of the city where the battle was raging on. Fire was gushing out. The fire of Cinder. "Let's go."

She wished it didn't end this way. That the mages, or heroes as they called themselves, could have swooped in and saved the day. They had spoken so highly of themselves and seemed so confident that no one would get hurt. Nothing about this was a small battle, though. It was a full-on war, one that Cora could tell was only going to claim more lives.

Her thoughts instantly shifted to what that fake Cinder had claimed. Wish had said that she, too, was a Super. That meant she was a mage as well. The knot in her gut was back, and Cora resisted the urge to puke. Like everyone else in her world, she had looked up to the mages, but now she dreaded the thought that she was one. Did that mean she'd destroy and tear down everything? Was that what it meant to be a mage?

Nikos stopped suddenly and let out a gasp. Cora looked over his shoulder and felt her eyes go wide at what she saw. One of the mages was face down on the ground. It wasn't any of the ones she recognized, though. It was a woman dressed in an outfit covered in various clocks. The woman was badly burned and barely seemed to be clinging to life. Most of her flesh had twisted into a nasty black, and part of her was still smoking.

Lady Time had survived her fight with Legend, though just barely.