Chapter 11: Imperium (Separation Part 3)

Eden was scared. Her trip to the Louvre had been interrupted by an akuma, the first she had experienced. When the man who called himself Gunman had attacked, she was separated from Juleka and Rose and was now running through the museum, hoping to find an exit. She could hear gunfire and shouting. Stopping to catch her breath, she leaned on one of the statues in the ancient egypt exhibit. She didn't get to rest for long as the statue was shattered when the hero known as Chat Noir got thrown through the wall behind it. Gunman stepped through the hole in the wall and started firing at Chat Noir, at first with a Glock 19, and then switching to an M134 minigun. Eden crouched behind a display of scrolls, covering her ears and screaming as the bullets flew around her, several almost hitting her. And then the sound of a familiar voice. "Stay away from her you bastard!"

Eden looked up to see Juleka storming into the exhibit. Gunman opened fire, but the bullets just ricocheted off of her body. She picked up a massive chunk of concrete, one that Eden was sure no human should have been able to pick up, and lobbed it at Gunman. It hit the villain's arm, knocking the M134 out of his hand. Walking up to him, Juleka lifted Gunman into the air and threw him to the ground as if he was a ragdoll. While he was down, Eden had a crazy idea. She crept over to the dropped minigun, grabbed it, and pointed it in the villain's direction. Gunman pulled out two more Glocks, aiming one at Juleka and the other at Eden. Fearing for her life, Eden let it rip. The bullets tore through Gunman, killing him instantly. When his body dropped to the floor, Ladybug activated her Miraculous Cleanse, repairing all of the damage and reviving Gunman, who was now just a civilian small arms trainer. Eden looked at her hands and collapsed. She looked up at Juleka. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

Back on The Liberty, Juleka explained everything to her unofficially adopted sister. "About a week ago, I discovered I had superpowers. I have no idea how I got them, but one day I'm just walking along when a drunk driver came speeding through, nearly hitting a young girl crossing the street. I ran to try and stop it, and while I shouldn't have been able to get there in time, I did. The car slammed into me with enough force to kill me on impact, but instead the front end just crumpled around me and the car flipped into the air. To stop the driver from getting hurt, I grabbed the car in midair, not thinking about it. So in the end, there I was, having just moved faster than any human can, survived a lethal blow without a scratch, and holding a three ton vehicle. I'm shocked it didn't end up on the news." Eden looked stunned at first, but her expression softened into a smile.

"I heard an old saying, with great power comes great responsibility. You should become a superhero!" She said ecstatically. Juleka sighed.

"What can I do as a superhero? Ladybug can capture and cure akumas. Chat Noir can destroy an akumatized object. And me? I can punch things."

"Well, yes, but you can do more. You're the fastest person alive. You can get to an akuma before Ladybug and Chat Noir even get changed. Plus, you're indestructible! You can withstand anything an akuma throws at you! All you need is a suit and a name."

"Yeah, you're right. I'll ask Marinette about the costume, with a different reason, obviously."

"Won't she recognize her costume in action, though?"

"I'm only going to ask her about the fabric part. I don't want to have to repair it after every attack, so some sort of armor to protect the suit. It needs to be light, but durable. Oh, I know! Carbon fiber."

"Now we just need a name. I remember something I saw on Google that sounds good. I think it was the latin word for power: Imperium."

Juleka smiled. "I like it. I'll ask Marinette right away."

"I'll look into the carbon fiber thing." The two girls smiled and high-fived, which Eden immediately regretted. "OW!"

After a couple of weeks, everything for Juleka's suit had come in. Trying it on, Juleka stood in her room looking over herself in the mirror. She had had Marinette make her a jumpsuit out of military grade material that Eden had somehow dug up. The jumpsuit was used to connect the pieces of the full set of carbon fiber body armor Juleka had bought, along with a pair of heavy combat boots. To top it all off, she had a carbon fiber mask that hooked around her ears, with a built in microphone and earpiece so that she could communicate with Eden and possibly Ladybug in the future. "You look badass," Eden said with a grin.

"I just hope the suit holds up."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Now all we have to do is wait for the next akuma, and Imperium can make her first public appearance."

"Easier said than done. As dangerous as it is to be akumatized, it happens far less than you would think. Maybe I could start with petty crime."

"No, let the police handle that. Wait for the big game to come around before you take the first shot."

"What, were you an avid hunter before you lost your memory?"

"Hell if I know." This got both girls laughing, and they decided to go with Eden's plan, and went for a snack at the local bakery in the meantime.

Juleka had been carrying her suit around her bag with her for a month now with no akumas. It was surprisingly slow, and people were beginning to wonder if Hawkmoth had simply given up. This also happened to be during the time Chloe was bedridden with an awful stomach virus and wasn't allowed outside of her home. All of this waiting was making Juleka giddy with anticipation of the next attack. "Relax, you said no akuma's is a good thing, right?" Eden tried to calm her.

"I know, I know. I just really want to get out there, to see how I do as a superhero."

"Well, we may have to wait for Chloe to recover before that happens, Eden said with a smile. But at that moment, the ferris wheel dropped off of its stand and was kicked towards the Seine by a spider-like woman. "Or maybe not," she said, slightly defeated. Juleka ran into a nearby alley and quickly changed, rushing towards the bull. Eden put a Bluetooth headset to communicate Imperium.

"Eden, do you read me?" Imperium asked over her headset.

"Loud and clear. Ladybug and Chat Noir just passed me on the street, so show them who Imperium is. Kick some ass!"

"Will do." Imperium ran along the rooftops, following the spider woman towards the Champs-élysées. Once they were in a spot with few civilians around, she leapt off the rooftop and tackled the villain.

"Looks like a flyweight wants to play hero," the spider woman said with a chuckle. "Your funeral, kid. This is what you get for picking a fight with Anansi!" She swung her three left arms in an uppercut at Imperium, who jumped back, dodging the blow.

"Well how about that. My first time in the field, and I find an opponent who I can really let loose with. This is gonna be fun." Imperium ran at Anansi, swinging a fist into the larger woman's gut. Anansi was sent flying backwards and crumpled against a lamp pole. This didn't keep her down for long, though, and she was back on her feet and swinging at Imperium again. They successfully dodged each others blows for a few seconds until their fists collided, releasing a massive shockwave that cracked the asphalt and buildings around the two. There was also an audible crack of bone as one of Anansi's wrists was shattered. The villain screamed in pain, swinging her other five arms at the new hero. Imperium caught two of them, twisting them until she heard bone snapping, and then shoved Anansi to the ground. She stepped on the villain's chest. "Stay down, final warning." Anansi just groaned and relaxed, realizing she couldn't win this fight. A minute later, Ladybug and Chat Noir arrived, the latter of the two making a fuse about having missed all of the action. Ladybug purified the akuma and repaired the damage, returning everything to normal.

"So, you're new in town," the insect-themed hero said. "Who are you exactly."

"Imperium," the new hero responded. "You can call me Imperium. I'm what you'd call a freelancer, so don't expect me for regular patrols or anything. But I had a blast today, we should do this again." And with that, she ran off in a blur that even Ladybug couldn't make out.

So Zoe's memory doesn't appear to be returning any time soon, and there's a new hero in town! I'll explain how she got her powers later, but Zoe is involved. That's really all I've got for now. Au revoir.