Chapter 1: Part 2

Arc 1

Sunstone City

Cedric had just finished up on his day and walked into his apartment. Because of the injuries on his elbow, he had to sport some bandages to cover up the stitches on his injured elbow. He closed his door and locked it behind him. He took a whiff and smelled the aromas of food making him frown as he walked to his stove. He saw a silver pan of lasagna with a wrap over it with a note from his mother on top making him smile. He picked up the note and read it aloud.

"I saw what happened on the news and I have to say I'm proud of the brave young man that you are. Unfortunately, I couldn't be there to join you today, I'm taking my Detective test today. Wish me luck. But I wanted to make sure that my little hero has something to eat."

"I'm not little anymore mom." He said as he turned it around and looked on the back to see a mini note.

"You'll always be my little man." He read on the back making him roll his eyes and he set the note down and then grabbed a fork from his drawer and peeled the wrap back. He dug his fork into the pan and took a bite of his lasagna before he walked to his couch and sat down on his couch pulling out his phone to check a few things out. He reached towards the remote and grabbed it and turned on his TV. It turned to Sunstone City's local news network, SCTV. He saw the video of him breaking the car window with his elbow and rescuing the baby. The headline read "Baby Rescued From Death by Local Hero". It was a rather generic headline but it was his first time being on the news. He had to admit it put a smile on his face to recognize that his bravery was being recognized. It wasn't the reason why he did but it felt good to know that it was recognized.

He flipped through the channels a few times until he got to the channels showing Sunstone City Sonics football team. It was a repeated game but he just needed something to watch to pass the time. His eyes slowly blinked until they closed as he fell into his slumber.

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 Timberland boots, and a watch with a black leather strap. Ashes flew in the heap of wind. 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 Sunstone City 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 a 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?!"

Dream Ends

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 hair.

"Dammit." He cursed under his breath as he heard knocking on his door making him stand up and walk over to the door. He opened the door and looked at Kalani who stood there dressed in a burgundy velvet dress with black velvet heels. Her hair was curly and she wore a shade of lipstick that matched her dress. She had her black leather pocketbook in her hands. Cedric looked her up and down with his mouth open in shock at her appearance.

She looked him up and down as well seeing that he wasn't dressed making her frown.

"Where are your clothes? I thought we were going to the party."

"I never said I was going. I just said I got invited." He said as he moved out of the way and allowed Kala to walk in.

"Why not?"

"Because I simply don't want to. I can think of better things to do."

"Sitting here watching old football games is not something you should do. You got invited to a rich people party, how many people can say they've done that."

"Kala I just don't think I should go."

"Bullshit."

"Kala, why are you so hellbent on me going?"

"Because I'm thinking about your future. Think about it like this, if you go to the party then you might be able to talk your way into a much bigger job title. A corporate job. Think about it you've been there since you graduated high school. They paid for your college and so much more. But think about it, do you always wanna be living in a place like this or a much bigger place?"

"You know what. I hate it when you're right."

"I'm always right, so you'll get over it. Now go find some clothes and I brought you some shoes in my car that aren't timbs."

"Oh, I got you a shirt that's not an Aaliyah shirt." He said as he walked to his closet while Kala had flipped him off.

(!)-(!)-(!)-(!)

Cedric and Kala had both walked into the building that was housing the Fusion Reactor. Cedric got out of the car dressed in his blue suit with brown leather boots and a white button-up shirt with a red tie. He had glasses on his face with a brown frame. He exhaled as he looked around and noticed all of the city's 1-percenters as well as the Maverick Industries Scientist and Corporate employees. Kala turned to look at him and noticed the sense of nervousness that was in his body.

"Hey what's wrong?" She said as she placed a hand on his arm.

"I don't think I should be here."

"What? I thought we were over this."

"This is different. Look at them, it's all scientists, rich bastards, and corporate bastards. There isn't anyone from the construction team."

"Remember, you were part of the construction team as well as the science team. In a way, you represent them both. Now enough self-doubting yourself, let's go mingle and try to get you another job." Kala said as she grabbed him by his wrist and dragged him out onto the party floor while he frowned.

(!)-(!)-(!)-(!)

It's been a few hours since they first got there. Kala had been talking to various 1-percenters asking them questions that most reports would be asking. Her inquisitive mind was looking for the truth to the questions that so many have wondered. Cedric, on the other hand, had been talking to the 1-percenters looking for a higher paying job but they all had given him the same answer, "I'll give you a call". He knew what that meant. You're not getting a call and don't call us. Cedric walked to the bar in defeat.

"Scotch. No rocks." Cedric ordered as he sat down on a stool.

"Tough night?" Cedric heard making him turn his head and see a beautiful African-American woman with clear skin with dark brown eyes. She seemed to be an expensive purple dress with black Christian Louboutins. She had black wavy hair and a voluptuous build that seemed to capture the attention of most men.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. What about you?"

"I guess you could say that. I was looking for hopefully find someone with intelligence to talk to."

"You would think these rich guys would know something about the Reactor. They just know it's gonna bring them money."

"Yeah, you're right. They don't know that this could be the future of Science."

"Smart woman. I'm Cedric. Cedric Harvey." He said as he held out his hand looking for a handshake with a smirk on his face while the bartender placed the drink in front of him.

"I'm Madison Maver-" She was saying as she shook his hand before he finished her sentence.

"Maverick. Madison Maverick. I recognized you from the papers. I loved your theory on the multiverse and time travel. I took a look at the schematics of your possible time machine and I must admit. They're impressive."

"Thank you. You know my brother would have your head for talking to me. Are you afraid?" She said as she placed a hand on his knee. He smiled and looked down at her hand before looking back up into her eyes.

"Should I be?"

"I think so."

"I'm not."

"Oh really."

"Really."

A rumble started to take place making everyone in the room look around and give off a gasp while both Madison and Cedric looked around with a frown on his face. Madison and Cedric both stood up and took off running in opposite directions. Madison ran away from the danger to her security guards and Cedric ran through the crowd to get to Kala.

"What's going on?" She asked him hoping that his intelligent mind would help in the situation.

"I'm guessing it's something related to the Reactor. That probably explains why I haven't seen that billionaire. He probably set us up."

"I don't think this has anything to do with that man. Could it have been something to do with the wiring?"

"I don't know but I'm gonna go check." Cedric was about to walk away but Kala had grabbed him by his wrist and pulled him back. The crowd of people started to try to scurry off.

"You can't go, it's dangerous."

"I'm the only one brave enough and has the brains to fix this. I need you to go."

"I can't leave you here!"

"You're gonna have to." He said as he ran from her and ran in the opposite direction of the crowd running towards the danger.

"Hey get back here." said a security guard who followed Cedric. Kala tried to run after him but she was scooped up by a security guard who walked towards the crowd of people escaping from the danger.

(!)-(!)-(!)-(!)

Cedric had managed to walk into the cortex that separated the tunnel of the Reactor from everything else. He looked around looking at the computers and tablets. He tried to type something on the computer but he couldn't. He saw the image of a golden crown stuck on the screen that had Monarch underneath it.

"Dammit." He muttered. Then a security guard wrapped his arms around his waist and tried to lift him up but Cedric had managed to get him to put him back on his feet. Cedric hit him with a few back elbows breaking his grip and causing him to grip his chin. Cedric turned around and clocked him in the jaw with a right hand sending him crashing down to the floor knocking him out cold. Cedric looked down at the man and frowned. The lights started to blink red as the alarm went off in the building. He looked around till he saw a tablet that showed the camera footage to see the crowd of people fleeing from the building. Luckily they were far enough so if any had happened they would be safe.

He ran out of the lab and ran to the tunnel of the Fusion Reactor. He ran towards the door and typed in a number. The door halfway opened up and got jammed. Cedric crawled under the door and stood up on his feet looking around seeing that the panels of the reactor were glowing with a strange blue energy.

"Shit," Cedric said as he looked around. He turned his head and saw a big ball of energy forming. Cedric then turned around and tried to pull on the handles of the door to get it to go down.

He almost got it to close completely but the ball of energy was moving towards him wrecking nearly everything in its path. He groaned as he exerted enough strength to pull down the door latch just as the ball of energy went directly to him. He screamed out in pain and agony as he absorbed the energy. The suit that he had started to burn off as the energy absorbed into his body. He dropped down to his knees, eyes glowing blue before an explosion of blue energy exploded from his body causing the building to collapse onto him. As a wave of energy spread around in the sky