Chapter 92: Timely Miracle

Romaine's POV

I can't believe it's been an entire month already. It feels just like yesterday that I watched my mother die, then stumbled upon this place. My training's been long and hard, but I hope it was all worth it in the end. I should probably apologize to everyone for being gone so long when I get back.

As the days went by here, I've been having more of those visions from Future Romaine's life. A lot of them were interesting, but seeing life after the war was saddening.

I jumped out of bed and changed out of my gi back to the clothes I had on when I first got here. When I went outside I was pleased to see everyone from the tribe gathered to greet me goodbye; even the tribe's elders were there.

"Thank you all so much." I said, bowing before the elders, "I will never forget your kindness and all that you taught me."

"All is well pupil." said Elder Yole, "Be safe in your ventures."

"You're always welcomed to come back whenever you choose." added Elder Hake

"Thank you, I'll remember that." I replied

After saying all my goodbyes, they showed me the way back to the city, and I started on my journey back.

~~~~~~~

Once I'd made contact with modern civilization again, I couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia, though that was quickly thwarted by my senses picking up a lot of negative energy. I took off as fast as possible towards the city, looking to assess the situation.

When I tracked down the heart of destruction with the assistance of the Apple's Eye, at the center I found all my friends; beaten and battered. And a short distance from them was an enemy speedster.

His striking red lightning resembled ones I've seen in the past; namely Shante's corrupted streak and Dondre's sometimes stained lightning.

Donte appeared to be the only one left conscious, and was trying to protect the others.

"I might not be able to stop you," he said, coughing up blood, "but the least I can do is protect them."

"A coward, but a noble coward." Remarked the speedster

The speedster cackled, before charging towards Donte with a variation of the speed punch.

Without a second thought, I dashed over to them, blocking the attack.

The energy from his fist surged through my body; it felt completely different from when I was a speedster. Though I was temporarily paralyzed and in shock as my body absorbed the damage, I remained upright.

The speedster went back a couple feet, putting distance between us.

Still keeping my guard up, I returned to my base state in order to avoid unnecessary strain

"Romaine?" Donte cried in disbelief, "You're back."

Before I could respond he lost his balance, clearly due to loss of blood

"You've done enough Donte." I praised him, slowly lowering him to the ground, "I'll take it from here."

"Well it appears that Black Zero's plan worked." stated the enemy speedster

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing to my friends?"

"Whatever it took to draw you out, Velocity." he questioned

"Don't call me by that name; I was stripped of that title a long time ago."

"I don't sense any speed within you; how do you expect to beat me if you can't even catch me?"

Slowly placing one knee on the ground, I got in the 'set' running-position.

Using the Apple's Eye to see his aura, what surrounded him was a dark red aura; indicating his negative intentions. My glance sharpened toward him. Inhaling deeply and infusing my body with the necessary power, I muttered the following words.

"Augendae 10 Fold"

My tendons and ligaments tightened, along with my muscles fibers getting more tense. I could feel as my heart started to beat many times it's original pace and the blood in my body coursed through all my veins.

In a mere instance, I charged towards my opponent, delivering a heavy blow to his chest that he barely managed to block.

The attack sent him back flying dozens of feet, before finally crashing into a wall and decimating the concrete.

"That one was for all the pain you caused them"

Slowly getting up from the rubble, he spurted forth blood and was visibly confused at what had just happened.

"How were you able to move so fast without even having any speed?" He questioned, "And the force behind that one attack... it's definitely superhuman."

Once again tapping into the power of the Apple's Eye, I saw his aura grow more hostile. His superhuman regeneration must be off the charts, because after only a few seconds he seemed completely fine.

"That's the last time I underestimate you, Velocity." he said

"It'd do you good not to." I responded

He raced at me with his flurry of attacks, all of which I managed to counter. Though I should mention that it wasn't too long before I'd begun to start having trouble keeping up with his attacks. With every attack I countered, his energy output increased. I suspect that it's somehow related to his speedster ability.

Delivering a fatal strike to my chest, the speedster's aura was even more hostile than before. I was barely able to block the attack, dispersing the gruff of it, though my body was momentarily in shock.

His body surged with even more energy than before followed by him running off, clearly drawing me out as all speedsters do.

I wasn't about to lose to the dude that just beat up my friends, so I knew that in order to keep up with him I'd have to amp up the power.

Returning in the 'set' position, I amplified my heart's beat; further increasing my power output.

"Augendae, 100 Fold" I declared

My muscles now became bulked and swollen, accompanying all my senses and reflexes being heightened to much greater degrees.

In an instance, I sprinted after him, effortlessly breaking through the sound barrier resulting in a sonic boom being left behind. And with that the chase was on; Speedster vs Non-Speedster.

We made several twists and turns, occasionally exchanging blows. At first my speed far surpassed his, but it wasn't long before he was outrunning me. He ran up the wall of one of the highest buildings; I followed through by putting enough force into my feet to propel me off the ground. With a single leap, I landed on the top of the building, facing off against the speedster once again.

Our exchange featured both of us continuously throwing, dodging, blocking and even countering blows. With every attack that was given out by either of us, a violent gust of wind would follow; pointing out the sheer force of each attack. Meaning whoever landed a hit first would be the victor of this fight.

Though I wasn't proficient in my use or mastery of the Apple's Eye, it did in fact help to perceive many of his attacks, allowing me to react accordingly. I activated it once more in order to read his attacks, which is when I realized that this whole time he was generating more energy with each strike, and was now getting ready to focus it into a final attack.

"Die!" He commanded, throwing his supercharged speed punch at me

Clenching my fingers and exposing my bare palm, I attempted to counter his strike with one of the only combative moves I managed to learn during my time of training.

"Xraya Palm!" I announced, driving forward my hand to collide with his

Upon collision, both our bodies froze, attempting to disperse the incoming force while channeling the outgoing force at the same time. A massive shockwave was sent out in every direction, also producing a loud bang. Proceeding that, the ground beneath our feet began collapsing; and after not too long the entire building we were standing on was reduced to nothing but fragments.

Though we'd both instinctively avoided getting caught in the collapsing, when we both landed to the ground we were both in silent agreement that this fight had ended in a draw.

It was only now that my muscles had started weighing me down, and all started to exhibit a persisting pain.

"Damn." I mumbled to myself, biting my lip

Though briefly again using the Apple's Eye, it was clear to me that he had used up a majority of his energy in that final attack; but as for his physical damages, he was completely healed minus the visible scratches on his suit.

He ran off in the direction of my right, this time retreating. And with that, I cut my losses and ran back to my friends at sonic speed.

Once I'd arrived back to where they were, I immediately put my body to rest, returning my heart to it's normal speed.

"You mind explaining all that badassery?" Dondre questioned

"Glad to see you've recovered enough to stand on your feet" I commented

The next moment I found myself on the ground, wailing and desperately clenching my biceps.

"What's wrong Romaine?" Donte questioned, running over to help

"Don't tell me he got one in on you" Dondre teased

Incapacitated by the pain, I was unable to respond to them.

"Hold on let me help." Donte encouraged, trying to help me get up

"It hurt's more when you touch me!" I screamed pain, "Everywhere hurts!"