Chapter 98: Lamentations

Donte's POV

We chased after all the Villains as fast as we could, though I felt kind of bad leaving Romaine behind like that.

They refused to land once they'd reached the island, continuing to ride on Twister's tornadoes, and instead picked up the other Villains that were left on the shore from before.

Shante and I started travelling from building to building, trying to get high enough to reach them. And eventually we got the perfect opportunity.

With the Villains directly in our line of sight off in the distance, I channeled my energy all over my body, surging it with electricity. As I was pushing myself off the ground, Shante engaged her magnetic aura and transferred it to me, propelling me away with great speed.

"Electro-Magnetic Cannon!" We shouted

The reaction skyrocketed me towards the Villains, ripping through the air as I continued to gain speed.

Delivering a direct punch to Twister, I managed to knock her out, causing her tornadoes to dispel and the Villains to fall out of the air.

Shante made it over to me in time, engaging her magnetic cloak while I also enabled mine, safely drawing me towards her. As for the Villains, Music Meister managed to save them all by slowing their fall to the ground.

"Adagio." He chanted, making all of them suddenly fall much slower to the ground, then returning their speeds to normal when they landed, "Andante."

"Those stupid kids!" Toxica screamed, "I'll kill them!"

"Actually," Another voice spoke from behind them, "I'll be the one taking care of them."

"Fissure. But, I thought you were supposed to be guarding the Boss."

"There's been a change of plans. As it stands, the League is yet to get off the ground, if anything else were to hinder our plans, then we'd find ourselves in serious trouble. Spectre will be here to take you to the rendezvous point, the boss will be there shortly."

"Well I'm not just gonna sit around and watch."

"Maestro."

"Fermata." commanded Music Meister, snapping his fingers as Toxica froze in her place, "Now Tacet."

Following his last command, Toxica suddenly went silent; her lips were still moving, though no sound was heard from her.

"Stay behind me Shante." I whispered, putting out my hand to block Shante

Before any of us made a single move, the dark sky was suddenly lit up by a giant fireball.

"What the heck.." I thought out loud

The fireball came crashing down, forcing all of us to move out of the way. Shante and I used our Lightning Cloaks to help block all the rubble being thrown at us, while Magnet Man put up a forcefield to protect the Villains.

When we opened our eyes and the smoke cleared enough, at the center of the huge crater was Romaine, standing on what looked like that guy from before, only now he was very burnt.

"Gentle Giant, you were a worthy opponent." He said, "Though no match for an Unstoppable Force."

"Romaine!" Shante shouted in surprise

Getting a closer look at him, his body was very red, and it even looked like some of the smoke was coming from him.

"B'do!" Melissa shouted, "You little brat! What'd you do to him!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself." Fissure told her, "Or we'll have to restrain you too."

I could be wrong considering the large distance between us, but it looked like Melissa was actually crying.

"I don't suppose you all need help over here." said another new villain coming from behind us

"No. Are you with his group?" Fissure questioned

"If by that you mean a member of Black Zero's Hunters, then yeah. Call me Vertex."

"Well sorry to disappoint. But I don't exactly need help here. And you're late."

"Well I was ordered to help you all escape. And I'd hate to disobey the Master."

"Did he just say he's one of Black Zero's Hunters?" Romaine questioned, walking over to us

"Does that mean Black Zero's here too?" Shante questioned

"Ah, Romaine Green. Formerly known as 'Velocity'." Vertex said with a grin, "I was told that if I encountered you, I was to give you 'special treatment'."

Vertex waved his hand, and the next thing we knew Romaine was flung to the side in a straight line.

"Romaine!" I shouted on reflex

"Eyes here, kid" Fissure whispered

Without even moving an extra muscle, Fissure slightly raised his hand and clenched his fist, which was followed by the loud sounds of my bones cracking, and my body bending in all sorts of ways; all shortly before I passed out on the ground, hearing nothing but the desperate screams of my sister.

Cassandra's POV

Damnit all. It's constantly something else after the other. New variables keep appearing that I never even predicted with my Foresight.

Trying to maintain a calm and level head, I once again ran through all the new possibilities, acting as quick as possible.

"Shante!" I called out, pressing on the open mic button, "You need to take Donte and get out of there. Now."

-"B-but..the Villains..they're escaping.."- the poor helpless girl wasn't even able to control her stuttering

"Shante, I need you to stay calm. Listen to my voice. There's no chance of us winning this now alright. It's better you let them go now than lose the lives of you and your brother."

I watched on the monitors as she reluctantly nodded her head, before picking up her brother and returning to the lab.

"Prince." I beckoned, walking towards the medical room as I put up my hair, "I'm leaving you in charge of comms. Keep me updated and don't take your eyes off Romaine for a single second. When Shante gets here, send her to me immediately. Alright?"

"Affirmative madam." He responded, taking my place over at the monitors.

~~~~~~~

When Shante had arrived with her victimized brother, I immediately began running tests on him, looking to diagnose and treat his condition.

"Though those louds cracking sounds clearly came from his bones, none of them are damaged." I contemplated, "More so its his joints that were affected by Fissure's attack. A fascinating ability I have to note."

Once I'd gotten the necessary scan results, I was able to confirm my hypothesis

"He'll be fine." I stated for Shante to hear, preparing a large syringe, "Those sounds you heard earlier, they were air bubbles being popped in his synovial fluid; the same as cracking your knuckles. Fissure was somehow able to apply pressure to all of his joints simultaneously. They're mostly fine, with the exception of all his joints from C1 to L5. Though not severely injured, they may end up leaving him temporarily paralyzed."

"But..he'll be good after,2 right?" She questioned

Injecting his spinal joints with synovial fluid, all I was able to do now was be hopeful.

"That's the idea yes. Though don't be too surprised if he ends up having long-lasting spinal chord injuries."

In the next instant I found myself on the ground, shocked by the images playing in my mind.

"No..no no no!" I stuttered in a panic

Usually I'd be shown countless different possibilities, though in this case all I could see was one possibility.

"No..I have to get out there.. No wait, I won't make it in time.."

Desperately searching for an answer, I failed to notice that I'd been pacing around the room and was now visibly distressed.

"Cas, what's wrong?" Shante questioned

"The suit..I have to get the suit...no that'd take too much time..Damnit!"

Quickly throwing off my high heels and lab coat, I found the nearest pair of Friction-Resistant Soled Sneakers and put them on as fast of possible.

I raced into the elevator, put into even more of a panic as I was forced to wait countless seconds for it to bring me to the ground floor.

"Why the hell is there an elevator here!" I stressed

The moment the doors had parted enough for me to fit through, I bolted out of the house, running as if my life depended on it; which in this case, it might as well have.

Romaine's POV

"What you said earlier, about being an Unstoppable Force," Vertex mentioned, slowly walking over to me as I laid in the remains of the building he tossed me in, "I'd just like to correct you on that."

Holding up just one finger, Vertex launched me vertically in the air, watching as I fell to the ground.

"Neither Unstoppable Forces nor Immovable Objects can exist as that'd require them to be massless or have infinite mass."

Now moving two fingers, he increased the speed I was falling, adding an invisible weight onto my back. I crashed into the ground, unable to further move due to muscle exhaustion.

"It'd be impossible for an Unstoppable Force to overpower an Immovable Object, as one is both massless and the other has infinite mass. The collision itself would simply create a blackhole."

Showing me three fingers, he caused my entire body to feel tight, as if something was pulling me apart from both sides.

"I despise those who speak so ignorantly about science. People like you are no better than dogs."

Now counting to four fingers, he sent multiple broken blocks around him into orbit, before sending them flying at me; adding onto the ruthless onslaught.

"And even if in some theoretical reality these two existed. There's one thing that influences which of the two entities is the Immovable Object and which is the Unstoppable Force."

Before he could do anything else, I used Shiver Style to dash towards him at blazing high speeds, attempting to finish him off with one blow.

Without even fidgeting, Vertex simply showed me all five of his fingers.

"And that, is Inertia."

The next thing I knew, I was completely frozen dead in my tracks; mid-air.

"By your pseudoscience logic, I've now turned you into an Immovable Object. But what now happens if I make my fist an Unstoppable Force?"

Clenching the fist he was previously counting with, Vertex retracted his arm before punching me directly in the face; the moment before it connected, someone ran up in front of me and took the hit.

It wasn't apparent who it was at first, but as her long blonde hair fell down, so did my heart.

"What the hell-" Vertex exclaimed

Retracting his arm from her torso, he tried shaking off the blood that accompanied it.

I'm not completely sure if it was his own distress that caused it, but immediately after that his ability's effect of keeping me frozen was inactive.

Unable to even feel my own pain, I caught my savior in my arms as she fell.

"Cas.." I stuttered, "W-why..how..you.."

Oceans of tears filled my eyes, as I wasn't even able to formulate words properly.

"I won't be killing you today, Romaine Green." Vertex muttered, looking equally as disturbed, "Though I can't say the same for the next time we meet."

Putting his hands in his pockets and walking off, he seemed somewhat remorseful or sympathetic.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He whispered

Though I've already been put through a lot...no experience could've been more cruel than watching the love of my life die in my arms...with a giant hole in the center of her.

"Cas..get up.." I helplessly wept, "You gotta get up..please..I need you.."

"Ro..maine.." she murmured, slowly moving her hand towards my face, "I love...you...too.."

In the next breathe, her arm fell to the ground. And I watched as the little bit of life left escaped her body, leaving her dead in my arms.

"No...this can't be how it ends...Cas you can't die on me like this!"

Though looking back on it now it didn't make much sense, I was roughly shaking her body in an attempt to wake her up.

But eventually...the realization hit me...Cassandra Bolt...was now dead..

My loud wails echoed through the streets for likely miles, seemingly having no end. It was then that I saw a tear fall from her eyes into her pool of blood.

"No...you can't take her..give her back to me...GIVE HER BACK!!!"