Ven and Vera panicked as they fleeted down the large hall to the front of the hallway above the two large straiways. To their horror, their eyes met a figure dressed in all black and an exposed face with a malicious grin. The entire front door and the wall on it appeared to have been mysteriously destroyed. The security alarms were still beeping relentlessly, before suddenly disappearing.

  "Vera Nguvu... it's good to see you in the flesh," the mysterious man said while uttering an even creepier smile.

  Vera looked at the man almost speechless before replying back to the man. “Who are you? And what are you doing here!?"

  The destroyed walls left Ven feeling absolutely flabbergasted. No doubt that the mysterious man who left destruction at his home was an emergee. If that was the case... why was he here?

  The strange man slowly stepped into the abode. "Nice place you've got here, it looks incredible. It's a shame that most people in the world will never live in a mansion like this,” he continued, as he looked at some of the high quality statues.

  "Get out of here!" Ven screamed after glancing at his startled mother. It was frustrating to see a loved one appearing so uneasy. The source of her uneasiness was right in front of him, so he couldn't let it slide.

  The man looked at Ven before squinting his eyes and grinning once again. "I know you! You're that cripple that was at the Emergence site! How've you been cripple? I never would have thought that you were a spoiled rich kid. Looks like the Emergence gave you powers too huh?"

  "It sure did, so if you don't want to get destroyed by my powers, I'd leave," lied Ven. He still didn't know his powers, hopefully the 'supervillain' wouldn't call his bluff.

  "Tell you guys what... send me some cash through this app and nobody gets hurt. Sound good?" It appeared the man was completely unfazed by Ven's false threat.

  "How can you say that when you already destroyed our front door!" Vera griped.

  "C'mon I don't have all day! I know those alarms are gonna bring a lot of cops here so make it quick!"

  "Alright, what app do you want me to download?" asked Vera.

  "You're not seriously going to give this guy money are you!?" asked Ven.

  "What choice do I have?" she answered as she searched her phone. Ven looked at it and noticed she was actually texting a bodyguard, likely Mlinzi.

  Other than his previous health affliction, Ven lived a pretty sheltered life. He wasn't used to robberies. How was one supposed to behave when a crazed emergee was at your door demanding money?

  The man kept looking at an angel statue as he also pulled out his phone. The statue seemed to be further agitating him for some strange reason. "Download 'OricalApp,' Send me half a million oricals (currency) and I'll be on my way. That's the limit on how much you can transfer at a time," he said angrily.

  "I already have the app," Vera said before navigating to it. "What's your OricalTag?"

  He ignored Vera as he kept staring at the statue, growing more and more annoyed.

  Ven and Vera looked at each other puzzled. The criminal's silence did not give Ven a good feeling at all.

  "Is everything okay?" asked Vera.

  "Vera Nguvu, one of the richest women in the world. How can you enjoy your wealth with these stupid statues when several people in this world still live in tents!? Nobody in this world should be billionaire, all you people do is exploit people. You disgust me, nobody in this world should be billionaires! That's too much money for one person."

  Vera's demeanor suddenly changed. "I grew up in poverty and I have worked hard for my wealth. My money is not just mine, but everyone else's that I help. I've helped feed millions of hungry people worldwide, I am unable to assist everyone. I do not exploit people, my bank treats it's employees ethically."

  Ven was almost shocked to see such a change in demeanor, perhaps the criminal struck a nerve in his mother.

  The criminal then strangely opened his mouth and shot a blast of sound that destroyed several of the statues. It appeared the criminal had the ability to create some sort of shock waves through his mouth.

  Ven and his mother flinched upon seeing the man's strange power. Whatever would come next could not be good.

  "Liar! All billionaires exploit people! Nobody can become a billionaire without exploiting people. I actually lied about leaving after getting money… I was actually called here to kidnap you and drain all of your cash for our ‘cause.’ Sound better huh!?”

  Ven clinched his shaky fist after hearing those words. He was terrified, yet he couldn't just stand there and let the criminal take his mother. He wanted to say something but his fear kept him from uttering another word.

  The criminal suddenly unleashed an even greater shock wave from his mouth and completely annihilated the double staircase.

  "Let's get out of here!" yelled Ven as he pulled his mother's hand down one of the long hallways. The debris made it hard to see his surroundings, all he could use was his memory of the house.

  The criminal unleashed another shock wave on the ground and lifted himself on the second floor to give chase.

  "You texted Mlinzi right!?" Ven asked Vera, loudly as they ran down the hall.

  "I did, he should be on his way soon!" panted Vera.

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  The criminal shot another shock wave that appeared to be aimed at both the mother and son.

  "Get down!" yelled Ven as he tackled his mother away from the blast. He looked to see where the blast hit and saw it left a gigantic hole in the wall. If that would have hit them, that wouldn't have been good at all.

  This can't be real, thought Ven as his mind wrapped itself in complete disbelief. He was only drinking herbal tea from Korya just minutes ago, it was an unreal turn of events.

  Ven looked back at the criminal and saw that the criminal was inflating his pale cheeks. If that was the case, then it appeared the man needed to recharge upon each use of his strange power. How long did it take to recharge though? How could he use that to his advantage?

  Ven and Vera got up as the villain continued to give chase. With each passing second, the villains cheeks grew wider and wider.

  "I think I'm gonna' have to fight him Mom," said Ven as they turned the corner on a hallway.

  "What!? You can't! You don't even know what your superpowers are."

  "I know, but I have to do something," said Ven as he suddenly planted his feet to the ground, breathing heavily. He was quivering with anticipation, but something had to be done. If he was also an emergee, then now was his chance to see what he could do.

  "Ven! What are you doing! Keep running!" Vera screamed as she also stopped running.

  Ven ignored his mother and stared at the villain head-on. It was too late to turn back, and though his feet were rattling in disbelief, he remained planted to the ground.

  "So you decided to stop running?" the criminal chuckled.

  "I'm an emergee too," Ven stuttered. "Shoot that thing again!" He was trying to bluff his way past his immense fear. He had never experienced something so crazy in his life.

  "With pleasure." The criminal said before inflating his stomach and making his cheeks even puffier. It seemed that talking made the criminal reset his charge entirely.

  Ven thought back to all of the superhero content he saw on television. The last program he watched was of the husband and wife superhero duo, Artico and Ms. Pyra professionally fight villains. Could there be a chance that he had ice superpowers like Artico, or fire superpowers like Ms. Pyra? Fire would certainly be much cooler.

  He took a quick deep breath and gestured his hand the same way he saw Ms. Pyra do many times, in an attempt to shoot fire. Unfortunately, nothing happened at all. As the criminal began to get closer to unleashing another shock wave, Ven held out his other hand to try to shoot ice, but atlas nothing happened either.

  Aw c’mon! How was he supposed to know what his superpowers were!? Was there some sort of manual he didn't know about? And what if he actually didn't have any powers at all?

  Ven could tell the villain was about to shoot another explosive shot. He panicked as he prepared for a big impact. His mother's pleads to run were almost too distant now.

  Before the criminal could shoot another shock wave, Mlinzi suddenly appeared from the roof and struck the villain in the face with a fist of a cannonball. Mlinzi was also an emergee, his superpower turned his arms into sturdy silver colored metal with his fist appearing like cannon balls. The metal charged hit forced the villain to shoot his shock wave at a wall, completely shattering it.

  "Milinzi! You've finally come!" Vera cheered.

  Ven was relieved, if it wasn't for the tank-built bodyguard, he'd be a goner.

  "Sorry I took so long," the deep voiced man said while pointing his cannonball shaped fist at the downed burglar.

  "Don't sweat it, you had perfect timing!"

  "You guys get out of here," the bodyguard said calmly.

  Ven stared at Mlinzi's metal arms with envy rattling in his brain. He thought about asking him how he found out what his superpowers were, but that was probably a horrible time to do so.

  "Let's go Ven!"

  Ven snapped back to reality after his mother's voice. "Right... Let's go." He picked up his feet and began to escape with Vera.

  "Where are you going?!" the villain grunted before shooting another smaller blast towards Ven and Vera. It missed the mother and son, the burglar was likely too stunned to aim properly. The blast made the mother and son stop walking temporarily.

  When he realized it was safe to run, Ven prepared to run again, until Vera strangely tugged the sleeve of his shirt.

  "Aren't we running Mom? What is it?" asked Ven.

  "Let's stay with Mlinzi... I think it’s safer here.”

  Ven stared at the hallway where they were going to run towards, he didn't get a good feeling in his gut and he wasn't quite sure why... Something just didn't feel right. Perhaps Vera sensed something too. Did the burglar have companions?

  "Your opponent is me now," said Mlinzi. "It's rude to turn your back on an opponent."

  "Shut up!" said the villain as he tried to hit an even weaker blast at Mlinzi.

  Mlinzi smoothly dodged the blast and hit the villain in the gut. "Now we're talking." Mlinzi then took his other fist and struck the criminal in the face numerous times until the criminal fell to the floor in agony.

  The criminal groaned in pain as he covered his bloody nose, Ven was surprised he was still conscious after the brutal beating. The whole scene reminded Ven of scenes he saw on television. Who knew that it'd be so much more satisfying to see a villain get defeated in person.

  “Let’s go Mlinzi!” cheered Ven. Superheroes (and in this case, bodyguards) were awesome.

  "You wouldn't stand a chance if you let me charge my blast up all the way!" The villain's voice was now dancing with pain.

  "Is that so?" asked Mlinzi. "Go ahead and charge all the way up... I'll wait."

  The criminal looked at the bodyguard with a puzzled expression before confidently rising to his feet.

  "What's Mlinzi's doing!? Why would he let the guy charge up all the way?" Ven asked Vera.

  "Don't worry, he'll be alright," answered Vera.

  Ven's eyes widened in astonishment. The sound waves were strong enough to break walls and shatter stairs, was Mlinzi strong enough to tank an impact that intense?

  "Let's see," said Ven, his eyes fixated on Mlinzi's stoic posture.

  The criminal puffed out his cheeks, so wide now that they his cheeks were more red than ever before. It appeared the burglar was charging for his biggest impact yet.

  "Hey uh... Mom, aren't you worried about that blast causing more harm to our house?"

  Vera facepalmed herself before looking at the debris that was already present in the house. "...Maybe I should have told him to finish it," Vera said with a smile that barely hid frustration.

  "You think so!"

  The criminal finally unleashed his vicious sound wave that radiated the entire hall. All of the picture frames on the hall fell to floor.

  Ven closed his eyes and covered the ears during the impact, when he opened his eyes he saw that Mlinzi was holding both of his enormous fists in a block gesture. It seemed the block was so powerful that there was minimal damage to the house. It was like the sound wave died when it hit Mlinzi.

  "Oh, thank God the house is safe. See, it worked out Ven!" Vera said.

  "...Right."

  "You're kidding me!" The criminal freaked out.

  "Surrender," said Mlinzi as his gaze remained hyper focused.

  The criminal began to charge another blast.

  "Are you serious!? Whats another blast going to do after your strongest did nothing?"

  The criminal ignored the bodyguard and foolishly kept charging.

  Mlinzi held out one of his cannonballed fists and titled it upwards. The silver cannonball began to change to an orange color and then he hit the criminal for one final time. Mlinzi's charged impact was so severe that the criminal went flying several feet forward. His frozen expression made it apparent to Ven and Vera that he wouldn't get up again.

  "Great job! You're like a superhero," said Ven.

  "Thanks but... the Hero Brunch didn't want me," said Mlinzi, as his arms began to turn back to normal.

  Why would they not want him!? This guy’s awesome! thought Ven.

  "Thanks a lot Mlinzi," said Vera as she walked towards the bodyguard with Ven close behind.

  Mlinzi's face suddenly grew ghostly as he activated his superpowers once again. "Watch out! Someone else is here!”