Chapter 23: A Psychotic Encounter

Romaine's POV

"An Espresso please." I ordered

"Green Tea." went Cas

"A latte" Dondre added

"I'll just have water" Kyle finished

After getting our drinks we weren't even given any time to enjoy them before a certain somebody showed up.

"Donte, what are you doing here?", Cas questioned him

"Guys, it's Shante, I need your help." He said

"What are you talking about?" went Dondre

"Shante's a speedster, she's out there, you gotta help me get her."

"We already know about Shante." I stated, "Who do you think is the one that took care of her earlier?"

"No no no." He panicked, "She's out there now."

"What do you mean?" Dondre asked

"Guys, she's out there. I saw her. She ran past me, she looked so sad."

The group of us exchanged looks

"And just why the hell should we listen to you?" I challenged

"Why would he lie to us?" Cas reasoned

"He's done it before. Black Zero probably put him up to the task."

"Use your god damn head Romaine." Kyle said, "Why would he come to us, knowing that you'd be against him, unless he had no other option? He needs our help. And look at him; that's the face of someone who's worried about the life of their loved one, I would know."

"How did you find us?" I asked

"I went to the lab and you guys weren't there, so this is the second place." He answered

I gritted my teeth.

"If this is some kind of trap, you're gonna regret it."

"I promise it isn't."

We all sped to the lab, Dondre carried Kyle, and I carried Cas. Once the two got over their nausea, Cas got to work.

"Well?" I prompted, "Where is she?"

"St. James street again, same place as last time."

"But why?" Kyle asked

"We can find that out later, let's go." I instructed

The three of us speedsters ran out to the location, it felt just like old times.

When we got there, I saw a lot of people knocked out on the ground; some of them were probably even dead.

-"Donte"-, We heard Kyle from over the comms, -"There's something you should know about your sister; we've discovered that contact with her can cause someone psychosis. We don't know how or why, so keep your distance for now."-

"Got it." He confirmed

Shante caught sight of us and redirected herself to face us.

"Plans?" Dondre inquired

"We don't touch her." I said

-"Hold on"- Kyle interjected, -"If she's working for Black Zero, then she's most likely after you, Romaine. See if you can draw her away from the public."

"On it" I said

-"Donte, Dondre, evacuate the people to a nearby place."- Cas added

Shante's speed was unimaginable compared to mine. Traveling as fast as I could, she was still running super fast.

I tried leading her out of the city, but she cornered all of my exits, causing me to circle back around to where I started.

I didn't want to hurt her, but if something would get her to stop, then I'd have to do it. I channeled the available electricity that I'd generated into my fist. I allowed her to catch up to me. I swiftly turned around to her with my attack ready. Only thing, she had one of her own charged up for me. And as previously stated, she's much faster than me; her attack would land long before I'd be able to deliver mine.

Her fist was now on a collision course for my stomach. Then the completely unexpected happened; I was pushed out of the way by somebody. My glance diverted to whoever it was saving me. It was Donte, of course it was. Shante was too far gone now to pull back her attack, which I assume is what she tried to do when she realized what was happening. Donte got her punch. Even though I wasn't the one that got the attack, I felt the sheer blunt force of it all. The energy from Shante pulsated all over Donte's body.

The three of us had stopped using our speed. Everything had now caught up to what had happened. I fell down on the ground and scraped my elbow through the suit; which is nothing compared to what must've happened to Donte, who got flung dozens of feet. Shante came to a dead stop, she seemed awfully shocked at what happened. She sped over to Donte, and checked if he was alright. She had rolled him over onto his back, before she realized that by her touching him, she was making it worse. She quickly got up and backed away from him. She let out a sob, before running off.

Dondre ran over to help him.

-"Guys, is he ok?"- Kyle questioned

"He's out cold." Dondre informed

I managed to make my way over there. I stared at his unconscious body.

"The fool." I said, "I could've handled it myself."

"That's absurd." Dondre said, "He wanted to protect you."

"And look where it got him."

I turned away and walked off.

"We can't just leave him here."

"It was his choice Dondre. I didn't tell him to get involved."

"You're being stupid."

I paused, then went back to walking away.

~~~~~~~

"His vitals are fine." Cas announced, "But there's a whole lot of brain activity; the psychosis no doubt."

"I still don't think you should've brought him back." I said to Dondre

"Well look at it this way," Kyle began, "He did that to save you, he didn't have to. The least you could do is make sure he's alright."

I looked over at Donte on the medical bed.

"Yeah," I mumbled, "I know. But I wish he didn't; that way he wouldn't suffer for someone that doesn't like him."

I walked out of the medical room, holding my side; it also got injured during the fall.

I could hear Dondre in the other room with them up to his usual antics.

"Hey guys, I got a name for Shante; The Psycho-Racer."

"That's gotta be the worst one yet." Cas commented

"Agreed." Went Kyle