The Imperial Four

Chapter 5: A Mysterious New Energy

     The evil Dr. Hamwell sat on a throne that was constructed from molten steel and bones as he awaited an update from the team he had sent out to investigate the massive energy that had been picked up by sensors that were placed around the city. With each second that passed, the doctor grew less and less patient, so much so that his own massive power had begun to spike, causing the room to tremble violently. The room suddenly stopped trembling as Cornelius noticed the sliding doors opening. One of his underlings rushed in and quickly kneeled before him once he was close enough to his throne. “Forgive my abrupt entrance, Lord Techno, but we have an update on the massive energy source detected near what was Empire Square, sir.” The minion nervously spoke.  Hamwell stood up, irritated that his subordinate spoke without his permission, however, due to the news, he chose to ignore the incompetence. “Speak, minion…” He commanded, his cyberized voice reverberating across the stone room, causing the underling before him to shudder, however, he kept his head inclined and began to speak. “I-It appears that the team was exterminated by the same energy source that they were sent to investigate…”. Cornelius looked deep in thought for a minute after the statement “All taken out? That means that someone has been blessed with power beyond even my own expectation. No matter, if they happen to be against me, the test subject I left back in Empire City should be able to turn this person to cinders.” He thought to himself as a soft hum was heard from him. “Rally up the strongest and have them meet me in Special Projects, we will depart on a mission that I will personally take part on.” He commanded his slave. The underling lowered his head “Praise be, Lord Techno. Your word is law in this new world.” The mindless minion replied before running off to do his master’s bidding.

    Meanwhile, Maria had recently finished scavenging the shops in her surrounding area after the storm of embers and was walking home with an intact box of crackers that she had found amongst the wreckage and sighed. “I just don’t understand…what did I do back there?” She asked herself while taking a seat on a fallen concrete pillar and putting the box of crackers down. She looked at her hands in awe as she reminisces how she eluded death. “I felt…power…I…” Her train of thought stopped as realization hit her with the force of a truck “Those flames…I am not the only one with these amazing powers…Best I hide for now, since I don’t know how to properly use them to defend myself, and god knows how many more enhanced may be running around the place.” She thought to herself as she quickly picked up the box of crackers and hastily made her way home.

    After nearly two hours of aimlessly wandering the now unrecognizable city, Maria finally found where she would reside, or what was left of it. Her house was a mess, with part of the ceiling caved in. Her belongings were scattered across the floor and one of the walls of the first floor had a massive hole burned through it. Maria sighed and walked inside and looked around. It was obvious that someone had scavenged it for resources since her pantries were all opened and emptied out. “Looks like I’m going to have to hold on for the rest of today on these crackers…” She sighed out before beginning to head upstairs when suddenly, the rest of the roof caved in. Maria looked up and gasped as the debris fell in her direction. She quickly closed her eyes and raised her arms up, bracing herself for the pain only for it to never come. She slowly opened her eyes to see that she had done it once again. The debris that was to fall on her floated above her as if it weren’t affected by the laws of gravity. A small whirring sound was heard over the sound of Maria’s heavy breathing as she felt the weight of the items that she was sustaining with her abilities. Without a second thought, Maria suddenly pushed her arms up which caused a massive force to be expelled from her, causing the debris to be destroyed. Her eyes widened in awe as the small wooden pieces rained and bounced off her. The look of awe was replaced by a smile and once again she began to walk up to her room “This may be far more interesting than I thought…” She thought to herself as she entered her room.

    Meanwhile, at the abandoned laboratories, Shania awoke once again after she released the massive storm of embers upon the city and slowly sat up. Each part of her body stung, with the burning sensation that she felt during her frenzy slowly fading away. The sound of footsteps caused her head to snap in the direction of the exit, where she someone’s shadow making its way to the lab. She feebly tried getting up, however her legs failed to cooperate and instead, she found herself dragging her body away. Shania suddenly froze in place upon catching sight of the person who had entered the lab, who was none other than Dr. Cornelius Hamwell himself. She shivered in his presence and attempted to kneel, only for her legs to fail and cause her to fall forward instead. The madman looked down at Shania and knelt to her height while placing his hand on her head “Oh Shania…my poor, poor Shania…I shouldn’t have left you here…come, lets get you home…” He sweetly whispered in her ear as he carried her. Shania rested her head on him in response, her consciousness slipping quickly as she opened her dried up lips to reply with “Y-Yes sir…” before she closed her eyes and fell into a deep slumber.