text: "I'm sorry, your majesty. The dragon killed the princess before I could get to her. Do know that I have slayed the dragon, so no one else will fall victim to them ever again." "Thank you, Lilith. I do not blame you for Princess Kennedy's death. I wish you a fair evening." "Goodbye, your majesty." The cool spring breeze blows through Lilith's hair as she exits the palace. Another day, another threat to the city gone. Jade pops out from behind a tree, a folder labeled "741934" in her grip. She crosses her arms in disapproval and glares at Lilith. "Why'd you lie to the king?" "I didn't lie about anything, Jade. I don't know what you're talking about. The dragon killed the princess, and I killed the dragon. What about that is wrong?" "Then-" "Oh let me guess. You wanted to slay the dragon, so you're trying to take the credit for yourself. How pathetic. You know, Jade, if you want to be a better hero than me, you've got to try harder. Go find your own dragon to slay, because I'm not having it. I can give you the location of a few if you'd like. Wait no, you want to be a competent hero, you'll have to do the searching yourself as well." "Oh really? How did you slay the dragon?", Jade questions, as she takes a step closer to Lilith and straightens herself, as if to assert dominance. "I beheaded it with my sword, of course", Lilith replies. She takes her sheath off her sword and points it threateningly at Jade, who doesn't waver. "You should know that I work at Potions for Powers. The same company that you bought your power-giving potion from. Every customer is kept track of, so they can keep improving their potions. One way to improve-" "Just get to the point, Jade. Heroes that the city relies on, like me, don't have too much time to waste on people like you." Jade rolls her eyes. "Do you know what "cost powers" are?" "No, and what do they have to do with anything?" "Cost powers are powers that come temporarily in a time of need, but have a cost. For example, you can grow wings, but once you grow tired and retract your wings, you get vivid hallucinations for however long your wings were extended." Jade opens the folder that she's holding, and opens to a page labeled, "Side Effects". *"Side Effects:* *Cost Power: Can kill someone (Cost: Takes another life along with the intended target) (Limitation) Only works if another life in available to take along with the intended target)"* \*"\*No amount of stabbing or slashing, even with your super-strength, could've destroyed the dragon's core, which would be the only way to kill dragons like the one you fought today. Usually, they're dealt with teleporters and telekinetic who don't have to worry about the dragon's ribs, with are impossible to break through. The only way you could've killed the dragon is if you used your cost power, Lilith, and the only way your cost power would've worked, is if you took Kennedy down, not the dragon." Lilith dashes towards her home, her face hardened. She has worked too hard to become a hero with the amount of respect that she has now and she can't allow Jade's invasion of privacy take that all away from her. Sure, Lilith had signed a contract allowing Potions for Powers to gather data on her, but whatever, it's Jade's fault for being jealous. \ "Hey Archer, look at this puppy. Isn't it cute?" The puppy pants and runs up to Cato and licks him while Archer laughs. "It looks like he likes you. How sweet. Can we keep it? Please?" "Sure, I love puppies. Who's a good girl? You are. But what should we name it, Archer?" "I dunno. I was thinking Lilith, after one of the city's heroes. You know, before it became this wasteland?", Archer responds, waving at the ruined cityscape. "Nope, anything but that. Lilith's the reason why the city's like this in the first place." "Really? I was told that Lilith tried stopping an ex-hero named Jade from blowing everything up, but that story was fragile anyways? What did you hear happened." "Long story short, Jade threatened Lilith into killing the princess at the time, Kennedy, so Lilith held her brother captive. Or was it her father? I forgot. What matters is that Jade drank a potion that would allow her to self-destruct at will if needed, and went to save the hostage. Lilith used one of her powers on Jade the same time Jade decided to self-destruct, and boom, the city as we know it." "Wow, okay. I mean, I guess Jade was threatening Lilith, but maybe taking a hostage wasn't the best choice. Morally, at least. We should continue gathering supplies before the sun sets.