The press crew kept their cameras squarely focused on Park Ming Su as he confirmed a series of nation altering reports.
For over thirty minutes, he spoke, each new paragraph bearing a new event, quite unthinkable in the past era, now, becoming more and more common place in what many would soon start calling the Umbra Era.
Ming Su had started with the most shocking news of all.
Several hours ago, the President had gathered together with his cabinet at the national assembly – an emergency session had been called, attended by near every member of the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary arms of the government. They pooled together to discuss the reality of Super human beings within their state, a growing intrusion by foreign meddling powers and the safety and security of the elites within these new realities.
Security for this session was at full alert. The Military made its presence well known and even the Air Force had deployed several Attack Helicopters, Drones and Personnel to ensure the safety of the law makers.
Perhaps, that was what had made their presence so obvious. Any common mind could tell this meeting was going to be filled with especially important individuals. Entire streets were blocked off, businesses shut down temporarily as local law enforcement was recruited to maintain order on the ground level.
Then, an hour into the meeting, a series of explosions disabled all armed vehicular forces, followed by the presence of a super human that methodically eliminated the armed personnel present within a span of two minutes. Camera recordings of the incident later revealed a dagger wielding woman moving at impossible speeds eviscerating full companies of troops, while a man covered in animal-like fur mysteriously detonated entire armored vehicles.
What followed was a massacre of any and all security personnel and the governing body of the nation being held hostage by what was later revealed to be four individuals.
A brief battle erupted when several unknown super powered beings, in the employ of the hostages, made a desperate stand against the intruders.
The leader of the invaders, a man whose real name was later identified as Fan Xu Te, effortlessly defeated all defenders.
The group of four had seized the heart of government within a matter of minutes.
What followed was a series of pseudo-legal enactments that were immediately ratified. The President was Impeached with immediate effect and this Fan Xu Te, who went by the name Ligor, was instantly sworn in against all laws to that effect.
Remaining members of the Legislature and Judiciary were given a choice between sworn servitude or death. All chose servitude, yet a few were made examples of.
To that effect, the leader of the nation was effectively changed. New laws were being drafted or put into effect.
The press crew watched in stunned silence. Park Ming Su cleared his throat and continued to give out more bad news.
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A few hours before Park Ming Su stuns the nation, far to the north, the beginning of something just as terrifying was happening near the demilitarized zones.
Hwan watched as his pursuers canvassed the roads, stopping people and vehicles alike. He clutched onto his left side, putting pressure on his bullet wound, as he leaned against a tree trunk. His breathing was ragged, his face pale as a corpse and hope had withered away. Now all he did was curse in his heart.
He cursed his family who long ago sold him to North Korean soldiers; he cursed his fellow slaves who accepted all those beatings and insults as being their fate; he cursed those he called friends who had sold him out during his escape attempt just for extra rations; he cursed the world outside who had known of this horrible place yet did nothing under the claims of international diplomacy; he cursed those he did not know for they ignorantly led peaceful lives while many, many others persisted in squalor, cruelty, sickness and death; and finally, Hwan cursed the heavens above for they let all this happen, for they were to blame for creating something as cruel and callous as mankind, thus, man's crimes were the crimes of the gods.
If man uses his free will to be this cruel, then man no longer has any right to exist. He thought to himself.
His legs began to wobble as his vision darkened. A coldness came over him and Hwan felt his body slowly stiffen.
Soon, he heard dogs barking, then men shouting, then approaching footsteps. He looked through blurry eyes as Northern soldiers cornered him. Hwan let out a pitiful cry as the soldiers set their dogs on him; laughing as he was torn and savaged by the beasts.
Hwan's body was not used to frighten the other slaves. They had done their part in exposing his escape attempt, thus, his body was dumped in an open grave on top of a mound of other corpses.
Yet, he hadn't fully perished. He opened his eyes one last time. Horrified by the sight around him. It was only then, that Hwan finally, truly lost all hope. His heart broke and he wept as he felt the last of his life force slip away.
It was only at this moment that the unique ability Hwan had developed during the Umbra event finally manifested.
The Dark Matter within him awoke in a frenzied state. Hwan was its first victim. What little life the youth had was swallowed, triggering a gray spark within his body, causing it to lurch upwards, shaking profusely.
His body began to leak a viscous black fluid and his flesh grew taut and necrotic. As the fluid flowed out of his body, it sank into the various corpses littering the open grave. Regardless of their state of decomposition, each corpse began to stir; fidgeting slightly at first, then shuddering all over.
Hwan was the first to stand. He rose slowly, stepping over soft mushy corpses as the mysterious fluid oozed out of his skin and over all other remaining corpses beneath.
He felt hungry. He felt angry. He remembered who he was, he remembered who he hated.
Hwan felt weak as he walked, moving over to a nearby tree to lean for support. As he touched it, Hwan could feel a strange connection open up within his mind. He felt the mysterious fluid seep into the bark, relaying a series of unusual information he couldn't immediately decipher. Instead, what he understood immediately was the vitality within the tree and through the information he received, his mind perceived it as a delicious thing.
He desired this delicious substance with all his withered heart and his new powers made it so. Gray sparks began to surge within the fluid moving from the tree bark into Hwan's hand. As it did, the tree lost vitality at a speed visible to the naked eye, withering to a hollow shell within moments.
Delicious! Bellowed Hwan in his mind. With just that small amount, he felt revived for a few breaths. He looked around, eyeing the other trees as a meal when he noticed arms reaching out from a hole behind him.
He approached.
They're like me. He thought, a crooked smile forming on his face. Something brought us back to life. Maybe they know what happened.
Hwan grabbed the arm and pulled. As they made contact, a thin winding streak of gray lightning burst from Hwan and into the corpse. Upon hitting the corpse, it rebounded, striking another rising corpse one after another. As it did, Hwan let go, grabbing his head as a sudden headache threatened to overwhelm him.
The pain left as quickly as it came and Hwan felt himself grow immediately confused. Where before he saw all that was ahead of himself, now, he perceived multiple points of view simultaneously. He could see the sky; he could see himself gripping his head; he could see the bushes around himself. It was all too confusing at the moment thus, Hwan lost consciousness, and as he did, every risen corpse in that vicinity immediately dropped unconscious as well.
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Park Ming Su finished his report to the stunned press. There was so much terrifying information given, he knew it would take even them some time to get their bearings.
He sighed. This much bad news had already been delivered and he could only imagine how the citizens would react.
President Ligor, or just Ligor as he preferred to be called, had insisted on the broadcast to let the country know just who it was that now ruled them.
Ming Su watched as a journalist raised his hand to ask a question, but then slowly retract it.
Yeah, that's how I feel too buddy.
He was all but ready to step down from the podium when he felt his phone buzz. It was his official device, thus he pulled it out while on the podium.
It was a message from the Minister, two simple words.
[EMERGENCY. EVACUATE]
Like him, suddenly, the press began to receive individual messages or calls they deemed important enough to immediately respond to. Ming Su tried calling back for clarification, but as soon as the call was answered, there was a loud sound then the call ended. He tried calling back, but was told the number was switched off.
"Impossible!" someone shouted.
"It can't be!" another joined.
Confused looks flew about the area. Groups began to form, people huddled over their screens watching something unbelievable.
"It's on the news!" someone else shouted out.
Everyone then began to pull out their phones and check online.
The news was of a live broadcast. The nation's capital was in partial ruins as several groups of super humans were battling furiously amongst each other.
AUTHOR'S DIRECT MESSAGE!
THANK YOU ALL FOR THE SUPPORT DURING THESE TRYING TIMES.
BOTH YOUR WORDS AND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS HAVE MADE A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE. PLEASE, IF YOU WISH TO HELP AS WELL, ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.