Hero's Collision

Chapter One - Acquaintance

The world as we knew it ended the night the meteorites fell. Blazing through the heavens, they lit up the skies like a vengeful god's wrath. When they struck, the otherworldly golden shimmering dust they carried scattered across the earth, clinging to the air, the soil, and the very fabric of life. It was beautiful—until it wasn't.

The dust didn't just linger; it changed people. Those exposed to it began to experience a mutation, manifesting abilities beyond imagination. Some gained superhuman strength or the ability to manipulate the elements; others found themselves cursed with uncontrollable abilities that tore apart their bodies and minds. They called it "The Imperium Surge." It was a miracle for some and a nightmare for others.

The chaos that followed was inevitable. Governments crumbled under the weight of fear and disorder, and in the ashes rose factions vying for control. Among them was The Oversight, a shadowy branch of the government formed in the aftermath. Officially, they were tasked with "understanding" and "containing the Imperium phenomenon. Unofficially, they were hunters. The scoured cities, towns, and even the rural areas for anyone showing signs of exposure, capturing them like prey to fuel their experiments. Their laboratories became whispers of horror, places where screams echoed endlessly, and the scent of sterilised death lingered in the air.

For the past two years, The Oversight has grown stronger, I don't know how, their influence stretches like an iron net across the continent, and who knows maybe the world. They justify their actions in the name of security, claiming to protect the world from the dangers of unregulated Imperium, powers. But everyone knows the truth. They want control—control of us, the exposed.

They hunt us like animals, branding us a threats, rebels or worse. To them, we're not people anymore; we're nothing but a figure; data, statistics, raw material for their twisted science. They turn our powers into weapons, or worse, rip them from us entirely, leaving nothing but hollow shells in their wake.

But I swear on the Gods and the Devils, they will never get me. Not alive, and not dead. I've learned to survive in the cracks of this new broken world, where the shadows of the city hide its unwanted. The streets are harsh, but they have taught me one thing: you either adapt and keep moving, or settle and perish.

Out here it's a game of predator and prey, and while I may not be the strongest, I've got one advantage—an ability they would kill to possess. I don't have a name fitting for it yet, maybe "Plunder" or "Arsenal". The ability to steal the power of others and make them my own. It is also what makes me their number one target. 

The Oversight wants me. But I will make them regret trying.

Waking up on the damp ground to the shrill wail of sirens and distant screams, I groaned and burrowed deeper into my makeshift fortress. It was a cardboard box, sure, but it was my cardboard box, wedged snugly between two dumpsters that reeked less than usual tonight. Finders keepers, as they say, and I wasn't about to let anyone take it from me—not the wind, not the rain, and certainly not whoever thought blasting those damn sirens on loop was a good idea.

My stomach growled, and my eyes flicked to the crumpled bag of chips lying just a few feet away. No. Stay strong. This alley is my turf, my sanctuary, and I'm not moving for anything or anyone. Well, except maybe for those chips..... No! Focus.

"What they hell is going on?" I muttered, dragging a hand across my face, crusted with grime and the faint stickiness of spilled soda. "Living on the streets is bad enough without this circus. We get it—you're either saving someone or arresting them. Now turn off the sirens before I lose my mind!"

As I sat up, my vision adjusted to the garish mix of neon signs and flashing blue lights reflecting off the wet pavement. That's when I saw them—a Blazer, one of Oversights so-called "Soul Knights," holding a silver blade to a woman's throat.