Chapter 64: Night of the Undead Part 3
Romaine's POV
"Well if you can't help us fight then I don't see the use of you being out here." Dondre commented
"N-no, I can still help." I stuttered
"Don't be stupid Romaine," went my older version, "you can't do anything out here without your speed. I'll take you inside."
"Ok." I sighed
~~~~~~~
Once I'd been brought inside, everyone was treating me like I was sick or something.
"So," Melany started, "when were you gonna tell me that you're the famous 'Velocity'?"
"Was. I was the famous Velocity. Nothing I can do without my speed." I corrected her
"Romaine, I'm sure that there's some thing we can do." Cas assured
"There's nothing you can do. And you know that."
"Nonsense." spoke the Prince, "You future counterpart still retained his speed."
"Actually I'm out of the game too." older me informed, "My time's up."
"Well that's just great." I said, "I guess Velocity's in for early retirement."
-"Um, you guys."- Dondre called, -"Anyone mind updating us on what's happening in there?"
"Both Romaines lost their speed; the three of you are going to have to take care of the rest yourselves."
-"Well then I guess it's up to Dondre to save the day again."-
"Romaine, I'll need to run a few tests." Cas informed me, "Prince, please monitor the others and keep me updated."
"Can do madam."
~~~~~~~
After around ten minutes of laying on the hospital bed and letting Cas run a slew of tests on me, it had fully set in that I was no longer the hero that I'd enjoyed being for the past year.
"I keep checking over and over," Cas said, "I can't find a single trace of adrenaline anywhere in your body; and by the looks of it your adrenal gland has completely dried up."
"So there's no going back for me.." I conceded
"That's.. what it looks like, yes." she sighed
She slowly walked over to me and held my hand.
Even without my speed, at that moment time slowed down, all other things came to a stop. Gazing directly into my eyes, a single tear escaped from her.
"I promise, I'll do everything I can to get you your speed back; and I won't stop until you do."
I don't think I've ever seen Cas cry before. Even though there's essentially no more hope for me getting my speed back at this point, I appreciated the sentiment.
"Thank you." I whispered
After giving me a small smile, she attempted to leave the room when she ended up dropping her tablet. Her hand was shaking very oddly, but I've also never seen her scared or anxious.
"Hey, you ok?" I questioned
"Y-yeah.." She stuttered, "I'll be fine."
~~~~~~~
After hours of watching the other three endure the army, they finally came out triumphant, though the siblings did pass out immediately after.
"And at the end of it all, Dondre comes out on top once again. I love to see it." Dondre said
"Get the both of them into the medical room." Cas ordered him, "I need to check if they're ok."
"We did it everyone." said older me
"So, all one thousand of those, shadow-things are dead?" Melany questioned
"Yep. Every last one." Cas affirmed
"Well now we're finally able to put this night behind us." sighed the Prince
"Wait, but what about that Legion guy?" asked Melany
"You don't need to worry about him any time soon." assured older Me
"Perfect, cause now I'm just looking forward to sleep." said Dondre
"I think it's about time you all retired for the night." suggested the Prince, "It's bloody minutes to 2 AM."
"Holy crap." went Melany, "Mom's gonna kill us. We need to get home now."
"Actually.." I started, "I think I'll stay here for the night.."
"You sure?" she questioned
"Yeah."
"Well alright then, just make sure you make it in time for mom's birthday."
"Alright."
~~~~~~~
Reluctant though she was, Melany eventually left the lab. Dondre followed suit and signed off for the night. I found myself at Donte and Shante's bedside, where I too ended up falling asleep.
Cassandra's POV
Earlier Tonight...
Seeing Romaine lay on the bed, trying to hide his disappointment in himself, stirred up some sort of feeling; something I can't properly explain. I couldn't form many words to express myself or perform any appropriate gestures.
I slowly walked over to his bed, and held his hand as I sat down. His hand felt so soft, I ended up getting distracted. By the time I brought myself back to reality, my eyes had started to flow tears. In that moment I felt something similar to a rush of adrenaline; the contact between us felt like a surge of electricity. With all that, I made up my mind:
"I promise, I'll do everything I can to get you your speed back; and I won't stop until you do." I told him
"Thank you." he whispered back
A smile escaped my lips, though I decided not to do anything about it.
I wanted to go check on the others, though on my way out I was taken over by an influx of energy. My hand began shaking to the point where it was actually vibrating. Safe to say I was startled by the whole incident, even ending up dropping my tablet because of it.
~~~~~~~
Once everyone had gone their separate ways for the night, I was approached by our time-traveling visitor.
"Cas, can I talk to you?" He inquired
"Why yes, of course." I responded, guiding him over to a more private space "What's up?"
"My um, my Cassandra wanted me to give you this."
He handed me a small piece of paper, containing numerous chemical formulas.
After scanning it for a few seconds I was able to get an idea of what my future counter-part wanted me to do.
"This looks like the chemical formula for a speed drug." I stated
"It is." he responded, "I need you to make another dose for me in order to get back. My Cassandra gave you our current version: Oxydium-3."
"Your speed comes from doping."
"Sadly, yes; I've been using them for over a year now."
"Oxydium. The primary component is oxygen. Your lightning color earlier, it was more of a pale blue than Romaine's dark blue. This definitely sheds more light on this. Well it looks like I have a whole night of research ahead of myself."
"Thank you, Cas. A lot."
"Oh of course. Clearly my older version knew that the only person able to replicate this would be me."
"Strangely enough, that's exactly what she said."
"What can I say, I know me."
"Well I'll see you in the morning."
"Mhm."
Walking away with the paper clenched tightly in my hand, I was filled with nothing but excitement; I couldn't possibly think of a better gift I could've given myself. It might be early, but I surely wasn't going to get anything this good any time soon.
Once I'd exited the room, I experienced the same feeling as earlier with Romaine, causing me to trip. Kneeling on the floor, I couldn't comprehend what was happening to me. I slowly raised my right hand, watching as it involuntarily vibrated at superspeed.