Part 5

(Seriously…..)

Several gunshots echoed out in the large, empty white room.

(What the hell is going on?) The man thought as he was thrown into broken debris in the white room.

The young man landed on both his hands and knees.

The sound of yelling could be heard in the room, causing the young man to look up at the scene before him.

Alistair Michaels.

Though he did not know the name of the person who appeared before him and the other members of his group-

But at this point, that one tidbit did not matter to him.

As he panted on the ground, he placed his hand on his ribs and winced in pain. He could tell that something was either bruised or broken.

"Damn..it"

The man looked at the scene before him.

He assumed that he and his group would have defeated the lone teen that appeared before them due to their numbers.

But-

The man watched as this person dodged every attack, and with every dodge, he found an opening to get a few head shots off.

There were no wasted movements among them. On his face was the expression of someone who was bored by the events before him.

The scene before the man was nothing more than a one-sided massacre.

Klink!

A single sound echoed out in the room, which surprised him.

The magazine from his automatic 9mm handgun had emptied and fallen to the floor.

The man watched on in shock.

(He’s empty.)

The man slowly began inching his hand toward a weapon lying next to him.

A small knife.

(He is empty now.)

Alistair stood there with his back to him.

His fingers gripped the small knife, lifting it off the ground.

With a quick motion, he sprinted toward Alistair. As he got closer, he thrust the knife forward but hit nothing but air as Alistair's body vanished.

"What the…."

Before the man had time to stop the momentum of his body going forward, an arm ran through his chest.

There was a faint sound as the knife fell to the floor. His feet became wobbly as he slumped upon Alistair. He was grasping at anything to stay standing on his two feet.

With an expressionless look on his face, Alistair pulled out his arm, letting the. man's body fall to the floor with a painful gasp.

Alistair began walking away, and with his unbloodied left hand, he reached inside of his pants pockets to pull out a dark black burner flip phone.

After dialing a number, he pressed the phone to his ear.

Lying on the floor, the man could see his blood pooling on the ground around him. His vision started going in and out as he looked at the teen standing there on the phone.

Yes, hello, is this the late-night takeout? It is good"

The man's breathing started to slow down.

"I like to place a late-night delivery; the situation is a bit complex given the delivery drop-off, but rest assured, I will pay triple the amount." From the tone of his voice, one would not assume that he was ordering a service to remove the bodies in the room.

The last image the man saw was of the teen hanging up the phone before everything went black.

Alistair walked up to the hole in the destroyed wall that led outside to the city.

"That takes care of this little problem; now then, the man part of this play is about to start. It’s time to see who's end goal is reached first: his or yours, Mr. founder."

_____________________________________________________________________

There was silence in the air.

Haruko sat in the grass, resting against a tree, breathing hard.

(Damnit.) Haruko thought, as he was afraid that if he made a loud enough sound, the head doctor would find him. He could not tell where he was at the moment.

Haruko gulped as he tried to calm himself down.

There were six exits that he counted as he tried to escape the park he was in, but every time that he tried to escape through one of the exits, Antonio, with his unnatural speed, would appear before the teen threw him back into the open park.

Haruko looked at the various scrapes on his arm.

(I guess I should be grateful that he isn’t actively trying to kill me, just letting me run myself ragged and take myself out, then taking me back to the hospital.)

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Vsssshh.

Haruko paused as he heard a faint sound that cut through the air.

There was that sound again.

(Shit!.)

The sound wasn’t what startled Haruko, but what followed.

Haruko rolled forward, away from the tree.

Suddenly Antonio appeared behind the tree, and without a second, he kicked the side of the tree, splinting it across.

The shockwave from the hit knocked Haruko back, causing him to roll further back into the ground.

Antonio landed on the floor with a quiet step, followed by a loud thud that came from the top half of the tree that crashed behind him.

(Whoa!.) Haruko thought as he watched the scene before him.

"You dodged," Antonio said as he adjusted his glasses.

A vein on Haruko's forehead.

"What the hell do you mean you dodged? What the hell were you going to do if I didn't, and don't you think that kick was going a little overboard?" Haruko shouted out as he pointed to Antonio.

"The fact that you dodged means that I have to try a much rougher method."

"Wha..." Haruko said as he watched Antonio disappear.

Haruko took a step back.

(Shit, he is doing that speed blitz crap again.)

Haruko began looking around the area.

Vsssshh.

Haruko’s eyes widen as that faint sound breaks out.

Without a second thought, almost reflexively, Haruko moved his head as Antonio's fist and body blitzed past him.

Antonio stopped a few feet away from Haruko.

(I dodged his hit.....how.)

Haruko watched as Antonio quickly spun his body around. With a quick motion, Antonio put all of his weight into his left arm and threw a punch toward the teen. The attack at that range would not physically hit, but that was not what he was worried about at the moment.

There was a small white flash that emitted from his fist.

(There it is again.)

Haruko jumped out of the way to his right as a shockwave of air blew violently past him.

Haruko quickly turned his attention back to the head doctor, only to see him disappear again.

(Damnit, he moved again.)

(Wait.)

Haruko began to think.

(Now that I think about it, if he wanted to, he could end this already. His abilities are far greater than mine. His speed, his strength, everything—he shouldn’t be able to have any trouble with the likes of me, so then why?)

The area was silent.

Haruko closed his eyes.

(Focus.)

Haruko cleared his head.

(Focus; so far, he has been treating me like a cornered animal.)

Everything was quiet.

Vsssshh.

(Here he comes.)

Vsssshh.

That faint sound repeated, causing Haruko's eyes to open in shock.

This was different.

(What the hell?)

"Velox Duplex Gradus (Quick Double Step.) it is a technique before your time basically overlaying one speed ability on top of another. Among them is my real body."

The sight before him was multiple after images of Antonio speeding around the area. Haruko's eyes darted around, trying to comprehend what was going on around him.

"What the matter, Mr. Matsumoto, having a hard time keeping up?" The voice came out of the multiple afterimages, speaking at the same time as creating an echo. "But I’ll tell you what, it's been a long night, and I have to finish my shift, so how about we wrap this up?"

"You have jokes," Haruko said with an annoyed tone in his voice.

"You don’t understand."

The afterimages began to speed up.

"I plan on ending this with the next strike; you better make your next move, or this little battle will be decided."

Haruko took a step back.

There were too many afterimages to keep track of.

He thought about making a run for it, but with this many afterimages, escaping would be downright impossible.

(Crap, there is no telling where he is going to strike from, but-.)

Haruko clenched his fist tightly.

(If I don’t get past him, then Aoi is going to die.)

The afterimages began to converge on Haruko.

(If I can’t run, then I have to face him head-on, but how?)

Haruko closed his eyes.

(After all this, after everything I did, she is going to die because I’m not strong enough.)

Haruko closed his eyes as he tried to close his mind to everything around him.

Vsssshh!

Haruko's eyes quickly shot open when he heard that sound—the sound of Antonio approaching him.

But this time, it was different.

He not only heard the faint sound but could now tell where exactly it came from.

(The real one is….)

Haruko quickly spun around counterclockwise, with his left foot dragging into the grass. He swung his right arm around, unbeknownst to him, as a faint vein-like pattern appeared on it.

"Found you!" Haruko shouted out, causing Antonio to smirk amongst the afterimages approaching the teen.

"I see, then let’s try this, shall we?" Antonio said as he pulled his arm back.

Energy began to flake off his arm.

BOOM!!

Haruko and Antonio's right palms collided with each other, creating a huge crater in the ground where both men stood. A thunderous roar rang out, and a shockwave was created, shaking the trees in the area.

The afterimages began to fizzle out and disappear.

Smoke filled the area.

Both Haruko and Antonio stared at each other as the shockwave died out, neither of them moving."

"So, I assume you have your answer now, right?"

"I beg your pardon."

"A thought came to me: our levels of abilities are vastly different. If you wanted to end this, you could have done so at the start. The fact that you didn’t means that you had another goal in mind."

"Perhaps, but answer me this."

Antonio stared closely at Haruko.

"Why are you so adamant about saving that girl you just met, admirable as it may be? You’re going into the lion den with someone who is stronger than you, and should you fail, you have no problem killing that girl and you, so why bother? Do you honestly believe that you can save everyone?" Antonio said as he began pushing Haruko's palm back with his own.

The smoke began to die down.

"I am not so proud to say I can’t handle losing, and I am not arrogant to say that I can save everyone."

"What?" Antonio asked the question because he couldn’t find the logic behind the teen's answer. "So then why?"

"Why not? So, what if that guy is stronger than me? If he beats me, then the only person who would be upset about that would be me. I don’t care if I were to die saving her for the same reason as before. What I can’t accept is giving up without trying; that guy is strong; there is no doubt about that, and the thought of death honestly scares me."

Haruko lowered his right palm to his side.

"I couldn’t live with myself if I accepted losing or dying as excuses to not at least try to save someone."

There was silence as Antonio stared at Haruko.

"Very well, you may go."

Blank.

Haruko paused.

"Go, what do you mean, go?"

Antonio stared at Haruko with a puzzled look on his face.

"I’m telling you that you may leave and try to save that girl; I will attempt to stop you any further."

Haruko took a step forward.

"You're just going to let me leave, just like that. If that was your goal, then wh-"

"I had my own reasons for everything that happened between us in the last few minutes, but now I am satisfied with my findings so-"

Antonio grinned and folded his arms.

"I’m giving you a doctor’s pass to rescue that girl. In terms of notes and recommendations, it does not get any better than this," Antonio said in a gleeful tone with an excited look on his face.

There was silence as Haruko stared at Antonio, and then he quickly became annoyed.

"What the hell is going on with you? First you help us, then you attack me, and now you're telling me to go. This is a whole 180; no, maybe a 360 with you."

"Mr. Matsumoto," Antonio said in a stern tone. "While you are arguing here that girl you are attempting to save does not have time for you to idle by. You remember what I said about the forceful removal of her powers and what would happen to her?"

Haruko paused and clenched his fist tightly.

"That is not going to happen; I won't allow it."

"Then go."

Like a dog on command, Haruko ran past Antonio toward the exit out of the open area.

Antonio watched on as Haruko ran away and disappeared.

There was silence, followed by a soft exhale from Antonio.

"I’ll leave the rest to you, Mr. Matsumoto, both the girl and the world."

_____________________________________________________________________

There was a slight breeze as the sound of footsteps was heard coming from Nereus.

He stopped walking to look at the full moon in the sky.

He smirked.

"It is always nice to get one last view of the world before it ends," Nereus said as he turned and began walking to the chained unconscious body of Aoi as she was on her knees with her wrists chained to the pillars beside her.

"At long last, the New World."