Dreamweaver: Initium (OLD MANUSCRIPT)

Chapter Eight.

An orange stream of fire trails behind Amy’s path through the sky, while she weaves through the clouds. She glares below her, making sure she doesn't pass her target. The sun reflects off of her tangerine chrome armor and gives her an unmistakable glow. The boosters on her legs kick into high gear, pushing her further through the sky.

The nuclear plant isn't too far from here, Amy thinks. Once I get there, I can fully power this suit. Once it reaches full power, it can survive for weeks of use. One charge of the armor's battery is all I need to get through to Dream.

Amy looks at her tangerine chrome watch and her eyes widen with horror. The timer's metronome ticks uncontrollably moments before shorting out. Amy shakes her head in disbelief as she tries to stay calm.

I can’t believe this. My timer malfunctioned. I may not have enough energy to make it to the nuclear plant, after all. Mister Soulstar confirmed my suspicions that I can’t use my teleportation powers on myself with this suit. The nuclear energy and the material this masterpiece is made of make my ability useless.

Amy swerves through another series of clouds and scans the area around her once again. On the horizon, she can see black static decorating the outer walls of the city’s nuclear plant. She nods to herself and descends as she rushes closer to the building. She kicks her feet up moments before she reaches the ground, skidding to a halt on her feet. Amy continues to survey her surroundings, while people hurriedly run past her.

What the hell is going on? Why is everyone running away from the plant?

“Save yourself!” one of the men yells in alarm. “The virus is destroying the mainframe!”

Amy grabs the man by his collar and drags him in front of her. His eyes widen as her protective visor stands centimeters away from his face.

“What did you just say?” Amy blurts out.

“Who are you?” the man replies quickly. “Let me go so I can get out of here!”

“Answer the damn question!”

“The virus that has been destroying the city. It broke through the plant’s firewall! The nuclear plant is a ticking time bomb now, let me go!”

The man slams his fists into Amy’s armor, but she stands unaffected. He screams for a moment while pain shoots through his arms.

“What the hell are you?” he continues, cursing under his breath.

“The name is Suni,” Amy replies, “and you can go once you tell me how long it’ll take for the plant to explode.”

“Any—”

The man is cut off by the sounds of faulty circuits and electrical explosions. Amy releases her grip on the man and jumps toward the plant’s entrance. Her boosters whir into gear, propelling her through the doorway and into a long corridor. She soars above the fleeing workers and zooms toward the center of the plant. The ceiling begins to collapse around her, causing her to weave around pieces of titanium debris.

This plant can blow at any second! I have to drain the energy into my suit before it levels the entire city!

Amy lands on the ground at the end of the corridor. She sees black static spewing out of the machinery that surrounds her. She curses loudly as she runs across the bridge ahead of her. A loud ringing noise resonates through the air, shattering the moments of silence. Everyone who remains in the building falls to their knees as the sound wave paralyzes them instantly. Suni feels the gears in her armor click as it drones out the paralyzing sound from Suni’s ears. The sound stops, followed by a huge burst of nuclear energy exploding yards away from Amy. The structure of the building shakes in mercy of the nuclear explosion. Amy throws her palms toward the blast and feels a dramatic force push against her. The explosion freezes in place, unable to expand. Amy feels her armor respond to the force of the explosion, letting her boosters flicker back on. Flames erupt out of her feet, pushing Amy toward the explosion with equal force. Amy feels a huge strain on her arms as she continues to contain the blast.