Awakening

by Hayden Pearton

  *

  As the group hastily made their way towards their only hope of escape, an ill-fated reunion was occurring just overhead. Dr Emmerfield, barely alive, was stumbling down an empty corridor. The bloody trail behind him was both an grim indicator of his quickly-approaching end, and a monument to his fiercely burning desire to survive. In his mind, jumbled and nonsensical thoughts occasionally gave way to brief windows of clarity, in which the scene of Alza's betrayal replayed itself without end.

  With every repeat, the shock of her traitorous actions hit harder, allowing his anger towards her to grow without restraint. Only one other thought, one other desire remained clear: his need to find Kain. It was this singular urge that drove him onwards, towards the reactor room. Alza's punishment, and those of her accomplices would have to come later; for now, all he wanted to do was find his son.

  With his breath growing ragged and his vision beginning to darken, Dr Emmerfield's long, painful journey finally came to a halt. After dragging his broken, bloody body down hallway after hallway, he had finally reached the resting place of his son. Peering into the devastated room, his heart almost stopped. There, still lying where Barsch had felled him, was Kain.

  The man who had inspired so much fear, so much hatred, had been reduced to a quivering lump of bloodied flesh. A pool of his life force, glowing crimson in the soft light, had gathered around his battle-scarred body. As Dr Emmerfield dragged his glass-impaled body closer, his heart, which had almost frozen from shock, began to beat rapidly.

  His son, his one and only son, was still alive.

  Kain, through some dark miracle, was still breathing, despite the massive, life-ending wound in his chest. Whether it was due to his genetically-altered powers, or the sheer amount of burning, bottomless hatred in his heart, he had managed to ward off death's embrace, at least for a while.

  “Kain... my son... my beautiful, broken son... what have they done to you...” whispered Dr Emmerfield, as he grew closer to his dying creation.

  As his beloved father's words touched his ears, Kain's head jerked up, revealing his sightless eyes. “Fa-th-er?” Kain replied in a broken, cracking voice.

  “They will pay... I promise you... they will pay...”

  “Fa-ther?” Kain's unseeing eyes scanned the room, searching for his hallowed Father.

  “We can... end them... right now... right here... we can make them... pay...”

  “Yes... Fa... ther...” Dr Emmerfield had finally reached his dying son. Kneeling down, he laid his hand on the boy's blood-slicked head.

  “Let it out... all of your rage... all of your hatred... all of your anger... unleash it all... on those who would dare... defy us!”

  “Yes... Fa-ther...” croaked Kain. Kain, ever the obedient son, did as his Father commanded. Taking in all of his anger, all of his rage, he let everything build within him, until it felt as if the slightest movement would unleash all of his pent-up feelings.

  “Yes... that's it, my son... destroy them... destroy them all!” Cried Dr Emmerfield, with his last breath.

  Feeling his beloved father's body hit the floor, Kain screamed, as he let out everything he had been storing. All of his pain, his jealousy, his doubt, everything he had ever felt, unleashed all at once. Power poured out from him in massive waves of crimson energy, as the man known as Kain ceased to be. With his last breath, he released the remainder of his power, filling the room with light and fire. The reactor’s outer shell, almost failing, simply could not handle the force of Kain's death, and with an almighty roar, gave rise to a ball of pure, destructive energy, which escaped outwards and upwards, to wreak havoc on the world of man.