Chapter 6
Arc 1
Dream
Cedric stood in the middle of a field of rubble. Rubble from a city being destroyed. He was wearing blue jeans, a grey henley sweater with black Chelsea boots and a watch with a black leather strap. He looked around in fear as he saw the place in shambles. He looked and saw a sign on the ground with faded colors and dirt covering the entire thing. He kneeled down and picked up the sign before he wiped away the dust to make him go wide-eyed before he quickly dropped the sign and stood back up. He backed away slowly as he shook his head in denial.
"No! No! No!" He said as he looked at the Cup O'Joe sign on the ground.
"Help!" He heard a voice yell. That voice was too familiar to him. He ran in the direction he heard the voice and he saw Kala lying on the ground but she had a gaping hole in her abdomen.
"Kala!" He screamed as he ran over to her and kneeled down to her and grabbed at her body lifting her up. His voice quivered with emotion as tears started to fill his eyes. He ran his hands through her hair as she gasped for breath while she looked up at him.
"C-C-Cedric. Why-Why-Why d-didn't you s-save me?" She panted for breath as she looked at him.
"What?!"
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Cedric bolted up in fear with a gasp as he panted for his breath. Cedric looked around at the house and immediately brought his attention to his phone. He tapped on the screen looking at the time to see it was at 7:54 AM before he ran his hand over his face, obviously still reeling from his dream. Cedric laid in his full-size bed in the corner of his bedroom with his pale blue bed sheets. His bedroom was a safe haven for him. His black wooden bed frame, which also happened to be a space compartment, held some of his most precious items. He had blue window curtains and on the wall, he had a black wooden bookshelf lined with several works featuring Genetics, Molecular Biology, Marine Biology, and many other topics. On some of the shelves were pictures of memories and people held most important to him. Under the bookshelf was a black desk with blue lights lined up under the bookshelf that went all across the desk.
Above the desk was a board where scientific articles were placed. Around the board were cubies where he had several items of memophilia placed as well trophies from various sports and events. He had a black and blue chair to go along with. His walls were painted a pale blue with the ceiling being a gigantic painting of a blue sky with some clouds. On the wall beside the bookshelf/desk was a closet that had a black curtain that covered it and beside his closet was none other than his door with a signed poster of Al Green on the back of it.
"Even as a grown-ass man, I never thought to change this room." He said as he got up and walked to his closet picking out his outfit for the day.
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Cedric walked down the stairs of his home smelling his mother's cooking. It was one of the things he missed the most. She always made it her mission even when he didn't want it or needed it. She wanted to make sure her baby boy ate and he did. Cedric was wearing his black jeans with his black timberland boots and an olive green shirt with a simple gold chain.
"Hey, mom." He said as he walked towards his mom in the kitchen and gave her a hug.
"Morning baby." She replied, giving him a kiss on the cheek, making him smile.
"It's looking good Mom." He said looking over the skillet to see her making pancakes. She already had the bacon looking perfectly crisp sitting on the side.
"You're just hungry as usual. And baby did you get bigger overnight or something?" Kimberly said looking him over. Cedric looked at her confused before he looked down at himself and noticed that he wasn't wearing his BioMatrix.
"Nah, mom. Have you had your coffee yet?"
"Nope, and you know I don't function well without my coffee." She said as she turned, showing her back to him, giving him enough time to bolt up the stairs and grab his BioMatrix, putting on his wrist all using his superspeed. He opened the fridge as she took a sip of her coffee.
"Alright now that's better. So What are you doing today?" She asked, watching as he grabbed a water bottle.
"I'm gonna go see Kala. She's been on my mind ever since I got back. She's all I could think of." He said before he took a sip of his water.
"It's crazy to think that you're still in love with Kala." She said, making him nearly spit out his water.
"I'm not in love with Kala."
"Yeah, you are."
"No, I'm not."
"Son, I'm a detective. I get paid to uncover the truth."
"I-Is it obvious?"
"Not to her." She shook her head taking another sip of coffee.
"How long have you known for?" He asked, running his hand over his hair.
"I have watched you be in love with Kala since you've known what love is. And I've been waiting for you to tell her. You two are perfect for each other. Practically destined for one another. But you haven't told her."
"Nope." He shook his head. "She's happy with someone else so it doesn't matter anymore."
"When the universe wants things to happen whether it be you and Kala or you coming back home. It has a way of figuring things out. Alright now your breakfast is ready and I have to go to work, I'll see you when I get home." She said as she put his pancakes on a plate and walked towards him giving him a kiss on the cheek and taking her coffee with her walking out of the kitchen and eventually walking out the front door.
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Crime Scene - Sunstone City
Even if Cedric had all the power in the world, he couldn't stop every single crime in the world. He could but it would distract him from being with his family and now that he was back, he wasn't gonna get the chance of being away from his family. Detective Joey Adams and Kimberly Harvey were the first to arrive on the scene. Joey's former partner, Paul Hondo had requested a transfer out of Sunstone City and he managed to get Kimberly to replace him as his partner.
"Hey, Kala. I'm gonna pick up dinner tonight at that new Thai place on 34th. I'm gonna call you back, I just got to the scene." Joey said closing the door to his black 2015 Dodge Charger.
"Alright bye." Joey hung up as Kimberly closed the door behind him.
"Joey for the last time, I find it annoying when you answer calls on the way to a crime scene." Kimberly said as they both ducked under the yellow tape. Once again another crime with a black spray-painted crown but this time, it was painted on the ground with the body in the middle. The body was a young male looking up at the sky with an X in the middle of the chest of the victim with a few lacerations on the neck.
"Glad I skipped breakfast." Kimberly said as she grabbed a pair of gloves from her jacket pocket. She reached down into the victim's pocket and found a brown leather wallet taking it out and opening it to find an ID.
"Victim's name is Michael D'More. Age 24." Joey stated as he read the ID making Kimberly exhale.
"They keep going after the young ones."
"There's gotta be a connection. They tend to stick around the early 20s."
"Judging by the lacerations on the neck and chest and by how deep they are, I would say this one was personal. Again no blade marks on the bones."
"The body total just keeps racking up, sooner or later we're gonna have to find them."
"I'm with you on that one. Get me a CSI on the scene. I want to know everything. The more we know the better we have a chance of catching this guy." Kimberly said looking around the scene as Joey walked off getting a CSI to canvas their scene.
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Cup O'Joe
Kala stood at the cash register with Natalia Rodriguez standing next to her. Both of them were wearing their professional clothes getting their fix of caffeine for the day. They were both on a bit of a break working on their article on the Black-and-Blue Blur. Mr. Sigman was making it very hard on them assigning them an article on a man who hasn't been seen in weeks.
"Do you know what you want?" Kala asked Natalia. Since the two started working together, Kala made it her mission to attempt to befriend the woman who was her partner. The two have gotten along great both kind, brave, fearless women with a passion for uncovering the truth even if others didn't want to find it.
"I'm thinking between a salted caramel macchiato or a white mocha latte."
"Get the white mocha, the salted caramel isn't that good."
"Fine, I'll take your word for it."
"Let me get two white mocha lattes for here." Kala ordered as the cashier started to ring her up for her order.
"Total's gonna be $9.21." Kala then handed him a 10 and watched as he totaled her out and handed her the change. She thanked him and put the change off in a glass jar in the side labeled tips.
"Come on let's sit down." Kala and Natalia both took a seat at one of the empty tables.
"So before we start working on this, I wanted to ask you how you were doing? You've been in town for a few days, found a place to stay?"
"Yeah, I've been good. I just been staying with a friend."
"Well that's good, if you ever need help looking for a place, I can help."
"Well, I've-" Kala's smile faded as she looked away from Natalia and looked at the doorway watching as the man she considered to be her best friend in the entire world. The man that she buried. The man that sacrificed himself to save her and just about the entire city. She frowned as she got up to her feet while Natalia talked making Natalia frown. Natalia called out Kala's name seeing if she was okay but it was almost like Kala was in a trance as she walked towards him.
Cedric stood there with a smile as he stared at Kala who walked towards him with tears in her eyes. Cedric wrapped his arms around Kala and lifted her up into the air as he had his best friend in his arms once again. Kala was the love of his life even if she didn't know and to have her in his arms was the most amazing feeling in the world.
"How are you alive? I watched you die."
"I'm alive Kala. I'm right here." He said to her.
After a few minutes of the two embracing, Cedric put her back down on her feet and unwrapped his arms from around her. He noticed some people were staring, making him chuckle and among those staring he saw what he could assume was Kala's new friend.
"Damn, you got my make-up running." They both chuckled as they walked back to her table.
"Natalia, meet my best friend Cedric and Cedric meet my partner, Natalia." Kala introduced the two making them give each other a handshake. Cedric turned his head and looked at Kala who was staring at him with a smile now.
"What?" He chuckled as she continued to stare at him.
"Nothing, It's just been a long time. You look different."
'How different?"
"Well for one, you're leaner than you were before. You got some facial hair stuff growing on your face. And you look happy again."
"I am happy. I'm alive, I got my bestfriend back. Life is good. Life is great." They both just stood there staring into each other's eyes until Natalia cleared her throat making both of them break their eye contact and look at Natalia.
"So you're him." Natalia said, making him look at her confused.
"The guy that she talks about all the time. The best friend that she always mentions. Old enough, she has more pictures of you on her desk than her boyfriend and even has your hoodie at her desk."
"Boyfriend?"
"Wow, we're just sharing all the tea today. And yes, I have a boyfriend. His name is Joey, I met him shortly after your funeral. We talked and we really hit it off. I would like for you to meet him soon."
"Yeah sure if you like him then great, I'll meet him." Cedric said as he offered a fake smile.
"Hey since you're back in town, tonight we're gonna have to do something to catch up with each other."
"I would love that. Come by the house later. I'm gonna have to check up with you a little bit later, I got some stuff I gotta do." He said winking at Kala and then turning to Natalia.
"Natalia, it was nice to meet you and hopefully we could become friends later on." He smiled at Natalia as he then walked out of the coffee shop making sure to look back at Kala before he walked away. Natalia looked at Kala and chuckled as she took a sip of her coffee.
"What?" Kala asked as she grabbed her make-up kit from her bag and started to reapply her make-up.
"That's him. He's cute and you like him."
"What?"
"You like him."
"No, I don't."
"Yes, you do. Look at the way you were all over him. You have more pictures of him than you do your own boyfriend not to mention his hoodie at your desk. You like him."
"Cedric is my best friend and that's all besides if I did, that would be like cheating on Joey and I'm not gonna do that."
"Alright whatever you say partner." Natalia said, taking another sip while Kala looked at with a confused frown.
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Maverick Tower
Miles Maverick sat at his desk looking over some papers that needed to be signed. Today was an average day for the billionaire other than the murders that had been committed during the early morning. As The Monarch, Miles had to let his ruthless side take control. Being ruthless was the only way that he had gained power and it was the only way he wasn't gonna be able to keep power. When he gained control of Maverick Industries, he used the money that he had gained to get control of all the gangs in Sunstone City and unite them under one Alias, The Monarch. Miles had to work twice as hard to make sure that the two never crossed.
He was deep in thought until his phone rang making him pick up and answer it.
"Hello?"
"Sir, we got a problem."
