Chapter 51: Acceptance
Kyle's POV
Returning to the land of the conscious, Dondre didn't seem too thrilled if you ask me.
"What's the problem?" I questioned him, helping Shante up
"Well I was just reminded of those two smoking hot babes I had to leave just to come here." He said, "And after all of that I end up with the two of you laying unconscious in front of me."
"Well we're no longer unconscious, and get your priorities straight Dondre; not everything revolves around pretty girls." I rebutted
"Well I'd beg to differ. And do you plan on taking her into the lab?"
"Yes. Yes I do."
"Come on Kyle, you're the smart one here. She's been working for Black Zero; taking her into our base of command would be not only stupid, but also detrimental."
"I'm more than 90% confident that Zero already knows about this place, but it beats me what he's waiting for to attack. And let me just remind you, that you're the one who brought a complete stranger from another universe."
"You did it first with the Prince."
"Ok, I see it's a clear waste of time to argue with you. You didn't see what went on in her mind, nor do you know what she went through. And this type of toxicity is not what she needs right now. I'm taking her with me whether you like it or not."
"Fine. But you won't see me around when Black Zero invades and murders us all because of this."
Rolling my eyes, I took Shante's hand and entered the house with her.
I lead her over to the elevator, while Dondre decided to stick outside.
"Mr Kyle." Shante murmured, "I'm a bit nervous. What if the rest of them don't want me there?"
"Doesn't matter; they'll have to accept you as a member of the team, whether they like it or not"
With the doors of the elevator unveiling the two of us to the room, the scientists seemed a bit preoccupied.
They were watching a live news feed on the monitors.
-"Now near the BayWest Plaza, the leader of the Speedster Trio, Velocity, is yet to recover from his injuries sustained while going against the 'Psycho-Racer'. Some witnesses claimed it, 'Happened in a flash'. And speculations lead to believe that he won't be bouncing back, anytime soon."-
"There's news coverage on this?" I inquired, walking into the room
"Apparently." responded Cas
"Our lad seems to have taken quite the beating." commented the Prince
When Cas and the Prince turned around, Shante stepped out from behind me, calling out to what she thought was her older cousin.
"Romaine?" her tone was originally sad and awfully confused, but when she hugged him it became more elated, "Romaine! You're ok! But... how?"
"Sorry to disappoint you little lass, but I'm not actually him." the Prince responded
"Huh?" She questioned, slowly letting go of him and backing away, "What do you mean?"
"I'll explain it to you later, Shante." I told her, not wanting to bear another 'alternate universe' conversation right now
"Kyle." Cas plainly called
"Cassandra." I called back
"Please explain to me why the same person that we've confirmed to be working for Black Zero, and just beat Romaine into a severe physical state, is standing in this very room with us."
"I'd say it's a long story, but I had promised to explain after, so here we go."
"We're listening."
"I don't know the full ins and outs of it, but Shante was somehow being mentally manipulated by Zero. I had a hunch earlier that this was the case, and when it appeared that she was clearly having a mental struggle, I took the opportunity to have Dondre bring her over here so that I could use my powers on her. We ended up facing off against what I believe to be the embodiment of Zero's influence in her mind, which she single-handedly defeated."
"And you're 100% sure that she's free of his influence now?"
"210%"
"Hmm.. well I'll put my trust in you this one time Kyle. So where's Dondre?"
"He's outside. He didn't exactly agree with my decision."
"Maybe check behind you." Dondre said, coming out of the elevator
"Oh," I reacted, turning around, "Guess you finally decided to get over it."
"Spare me the sass, Kyle. If Cas agrees, then I'll go along with it. I wouldn't go against so a pretty girl after all."
"Right, well I'd like to get back 'on-topic; if you don't mind; the news feed's done."
"That won't be a problem;" Cas informed, beginning to type "I calibrated the satellite to gives us a suitable direct video feed of where Romaine is while you were gone."
"Well that's great. Now that we have our own feed, we should probably send someone out there to help him."
"I wanna go." Shante volunteered, "It's the least I can do after what I did to him."
"I don't know about that, lass." interjected the Prince, "I don't think going back out there in the same suit that you were in while defacing the city's hero would end well; publicity wise. And I doubt flaunting your identity by not wearing the suit would end any better."
"Well don't look at me." Dondre said, "I'm not going anywhere else other then back to those hot babes. After all, someone's gotta stop them from causing further destruction."
"You've gotta be kidding me." I mumbled
"Well then it's up to me to go to Romaine." Shante ended
"I'm sure we can devise something to take care of the publicity aspect later. But right now, we need to ensure that Romaine's ok." I stated
"Is it just me, or has it gotten very crowded around here lately?" Cas commented, going away for something
She came back with a small chip in her hand and placed it in Shante's left ear.
"This is a communication chip, 'comm' for short. We'll talk to you through it and if you press on it then we'll be able to hear what you're saying." She informed, "I'll have a upgraded version ready for you later."
"Oh wow, thanks." cheered Shante
"Proceed with caution, both of you." the Prince advised, as Shante joined Dondre in the elevator
"Don't sweat it." Dondre responded, "Caution's my middle name."
"We all know that's not true." I mumbled
Once the doors closed on the speedsters' bright smiles, I averted my attention towards Cas; who seemed awfully worried
"He'll be fine." I encouraged
"I don't know what you're talking about." She dismissed, turning her back to me and typing on the monitors