Chapter 2

The experiments were brutal.

A few days after their mother's death, the young prince and princess were removed from the palace, the only home they had ever known, and taken to an isolated laboratory in the countryside. There, Dr. Jayce began her work to create markovia's first superhumans.

The next few months of Bryon and Terra's lives were a living nightmare. All sorts of inhuman tests, operations, and injections were used on the young Prince and princess to give them the 'gift' of superpowers.

On one of these days, when Dr. Jayce was preparing to 'work' on Prince Bryon, he worked up the courage to ask "Why! Why are you doing this to me and my sister?"

Surprised, Dr. Jayce turned to the young prince strapped down on the laboratory table. "Why? Because you were both born to do this."

Bryon gasped "W-what, what are you..."

Dr. Jayce smiled evilly. "I began these experiments years ago on your father, the King." She told him, ajusting her glasses. "Just as I was finishing my work, King Viktor backed out at the last minute. He did, however, pass on the genetics of my experiments to his two children, you and your sister. Now, if you will hold still, I have work to do..."

At the end of the two months, King Viktor received word that the experiments were a success. "You won't believe the progress I've made." Dr. Jayce told the king. It was arranged for a 'demonstration' of the Royal siblings new abilities...

"This had better be worth it, Doctor. I hope I haven't wasted millions of dollars from the royal treasury for nothing."

"Don't worry, your majesty, I'm sure you'll be pleased by this demonstration."

King Victor and Helga Jayce were seated at an observation window, far above a deep canyon. Below, Bryon and Terra stood at the center of the canyon, ready.

Dr. Jayce pushed a button, and four robot drones, armed with laser cannons, emerged from a small building on the canyon floor. Two went to battle terra, while the other two prepared to attack Bryon.

As the first two robots opened fire, terra tore a huge chunk of rock from the canyon floor, and used it to block the blasts. She jumped up on the rock, and rode it through the air like a surfboard, dodging the blasts.

"The princess has been given the power to control the earth itself." Dr. Jayce explained. "She can bend and shape the very soil and rock to her will." Terra made a gesture with her arms, causing a small chasm to open beneath the robots, swallowing them up.

The other two drones then began their attack on Bryon. He flew up into the air to avoid their blasts, and then made one robot float up into the air, and hurled it into the Cliffside, causing it to explode.

"The prince has been gifted with the power to control gravity, which allows him to fly, and move objects without touching them." Bryon then raised his hand, and fired a powerful red beam that destroyed the last robot. "He can also shoot intense bursts of geothermal heat, which he calls 'lava blasts'."

Dr. Jayce then turned to the king, who replied "Very impressive doctor, you have done well."

Dr. Jayce smiled "Then,can I expect more funding for my experiments?"

"No" King Viktor answered.

Helga Jayce became angry. "Why?"

The king replied icily "Because doctor, I heard from my advisors I had employed in your labs the level of cruelty of your experiments upon my children. I told you to give them powers, not to abuse them."

King Victor looked at her angrily. "Your funding has been cut, your research has been banned, get out of my kingdom." The king turned and left.

And so, Dr. Jayce was banished from the kingdom, and the Prince and princess were returned to the castle. However, it became clear that things would never be the same again.

Bryon returned to his lessons with old tutor, Dimitri, and he finally had the time to deal with his grief of his mother's death. Terra became like a ghost wandering the palace, a pale shadow of the once happy princess. The king could not bring himself to speak to either of them.

One night, Princess Terra lay in her bed, sleeping. She began to toss and turn, having a nightmare about her mother's death, and the experiments.

Outside, the ground began to tremble. The tremor turned into a mighty earthquake that shook the Alps to their very foundations. Landslides came down off mountains; small villages were shaken to pieces.

Terra's handmaidens, Natasha and Sophia, desperately tried to wake their beloved princess up. Terra suddenly sat up screaming. Outside, the ground ceased shaking. Then the rain began to fall...

The next day, King was in the throne room, pacing. Nearby stood Bryon and Terra. The little princess's head was down, as her two handmaids stood over her protectively, giving the King dark looks.

"What happened last night?" Viktor Markov demanded.

Sophia replied coldly. "Apparently, sire, your daughter does not have full control over her new powers. She had a nightmare last night, and..."

"What?" The King interrupted "Send for Dr. Jayce at once!"

Sophia shook her head. "We cannot, your majesty, she disappeared shortly after you banished her."

The king looked down to the now Ten-year-old terra. "Then the princess will have to be sent away..."

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"I hate him Bryon! I hate him!"

Terra was standing in her room, shaking with fury. Her brother was standing beside her, while the Princess' servants were packing her things. Her own father, the king, had ordered her to leave her homeland forever.

The Prince tried to calm his sister. "Terra, please... you must try to calm down..."

Terra exploded at him "Calm down? Bryon, he killed mama! He let that crazy old witch treat us like animals!"

Bryon raised his hand. " Mother's death was an accident, and Dr. Jayce was banished for what she did."

A look of anger flashed across Terra's face. "How can you defend him? He's sending me away Bryon, Sweeping his mistakes under the rug! Just like like he did with mama and Dr. Jayce!"

Bryon looked away and said nothing.

Terra's anger melted into sadness. "I'm sorry, big brother, I didn't mean to yell at you."

Tears began streaming down her face. "I don't wanna go, Bryon. This is my home. You and Natasha and Sophia are all the family I have left. I don't wanna go..."

Bryon hugged his little sister, his own eyes beginning to tear up. "Mother will always be with you, Terra. And I will find a way to bring you home, I swear it."

Bryon walked over to Terra's dresser, and picked up a small hairpiece that the Terra's mother had given her. The Prince placed the plastic hairpiece on Terra's head.

"Good-bye, little sister, I'll always care about you."

Brother and sister said good-bye, for what might have been the last time...