The Imperial Four

Chapter 2: Detonation

        Jay pedaled his bicycle as fast as he could, sweat running down his face and drenching his clothes as he pedaled. After a few minutes of pedaling, Jay suddenly halted and looked up towards a massive tower that stood to his left, its shadow covering the hot sun that had been beating on him the entire ride there. He looked at a sign that read "General Alden's Museum of War Heroes." and scoffed "As if anyone in my family was a good person..." he cursed under his breath as he remembered the hardships that he had to go through after being abandoned in the deserts near the city he now resided in. He shook his head and start to pedal his bike once again "I can't stop to reminisce rumors that were most likely untrue...I'm sure Dr. Hamwell wants this delivered ASAP, so I better hurry the hell up." He thought to himself before pedaling off at full speed in the direction of the city's center.

     Unknown to Jay, Maria, who had grown suspicious of Hamwell's request for the least performing member of her staff, loosely followed Jay in her car. After doing some research, she had found recently published news articles that reported on the doctor's controversial experiments. From agonizing human trials where every subject was confirmed dead, however due to lack of evidence, Hamwell was never jailed, to an unpublished book that was leaked by other scientific sources which was titled "Humanity: The Genetic Failure.". Maria could not help but be concerned for her previous classmate as she was forced to stop at a gas station before Jay spotted her. "Whatever he wants Jay to deliver, I have a very strong feeling that it ties in to that book he never published...let's just hope everything turns out ok in the end..." She thought to herself in worry as she got out of her vehicle and headed towards the small store to pay the pump.

     Back at the lab, Cornelius observed the timer on the screen eagerly as if he were a kid inside a toy store. A malicious grin spreads across his face as he sees that less than ten minutes remain on the timer "It appears it is time to prepare the Cellular Healing Sphere Device...before it is too late...however, I must add this one more thing that will be dispersed by the miraculous wind that will heal my soon to be slaves..." He told himself as he walked towards another sphere that was within the same room as the TRRX Sphere. The mad genius picked up the CHSD and walked towards an amplifier machine that was installed in the very middle of the lab and placed it there. "Computer, ensure that the Mt. Silver base is prepared, I will begin making my way there. Make sure that every single system there is operational. Leave no data on my plans here in case anyone happens to bypass the CHSD's brainwashing." He commanded while he began to leave the lab, leaving the unconscious Shania inside the testing station.

     After about seven more minutes of pedaling under the unbearable sun, Jay arrived at his destination, however, there was no Dr. Grey in sight. He huffed and sat on a bench that was under a small tree and rested the package on his legs, disregarding its warmth. Mere seconds later, Maria could be seen running in Jay's direction, waving at him in order to get his attention. "Jay!" She called out to her employee who looked at her with a hint a fear in his eyes, only for pink to dust his cheeks after noticing her smile. He moved his bike aside and made space for her to sit by him. Maria smiled at the gesture and upon arriving, sat next to him. Jay looked at her confused "It's only three in the afternoon, aren't we normally operational at this time?" He asked. "Oh, we closed early today, I had some things to take care of and really didn't have anyone to run the place while I was gone." She lied while shooting glances at the package on Jay's lap. Jay grumbled upon feeling that the package heat up on his lap. Before Maria could say anything, Jay picked up the package and placed it in between the two. Maria looked at Jay confused then shook her head "Gee, it is hot out here, huh? Want some ice cream?" She asked. Jay eagerly nodded in response "I would love some." He replied as he watched Maria get up. "Rocky Road still?" She asked which was met with a soft nod. "You remembered huh? Kinda been years since...um...that." He spoke, recalling when he invited her out for some ice cream and how poorly things ended up playing. Maria only chuckled in response and walked off towards a man that was pushing an ice cream cart nearby while Jay remained seated, not knowing the nasty surprise that awaited him.

     While Jay waited, Maria quickly called out to and ran towards the elderly man who was pushing a cart that contained the frozen treat. The man smiled at her "What will it be, missy?" he asked her as he readied his scoop. "Two cones, one with a scoop of Vanilla and another with two scoops of Rocky Road." She replied cheerfully. The man nodded and shortly after, he held Jay's double scoop Rocky Road ice cream and Maria's single scoop vanilla cone. Maria placed the money on the cart along with a hefty twenty dollar tip before taking the cones and beginning to make her way towards Jay. Jay looked at her with a smile as she made her way with the cones when suddenly, the package next to him burst, triggering a massive explosion that destroyed anything in its tracks. The force of the explosion flung Maria onto a wall on which she hit her head on, causing her to be left unconscious as buildings throughout the city crumbled and collapsed due to the mighty shockwave that hit them.

     Three days after the blast, Maria finally woke up once more to find that the sunlight that illumined the city by day was covered by a massive black cloud of ash. She struggled to sit up, and once she did, she rested her head on the remains of wall she had hit, her eyes half lid and a loud ringing being heard in her ears. Her vision was blurred; however, Maria could make out the destruction that the device had left behind. No more was Empire City a proud and beautiful city, filled with joyous families and prosperous businesses. All that remained was a wasteland, where only destruction was seen. Maria slowly stood on her feet, however stopped, and screamed in pain as one of her bones had been broken in the blast. She looked at her leg and her eyes widened in shock as she saw that the bone was sticking out of a massive wound that was on her left calve. Despite the damage she had taken, Maria forced herself to limp forwards, where a massive heap of ash and stone that was now in place of the bench she and Jay had last sat on, only to fall and scream in pain once again due to slamming her damaged leg on the ground after falling. Tears welled up in her eyes, however, she started to crawl towards the massive heap of rubble that was before her.

     After twenty agonizing minutes of crawling, Maria had finally made it to the top of the rubble where she wasted no time and began to paw the dirt away and occasionally tossing any rubble aside. She frantically dug, hoping that Jay had miraculously survived the explosion just as she had, however, only mere minutes later were her hopes crushed as she uncovered skeletal remains that sat on the remains of a bench. Tears ran down Maria's dirtied face upon noticing the tattered bits of cloth that covered some parts of the remains resembled the outfit she had last seen Jay wear a few days back, now all that remained of him were bones with some singed flesh on it.