I was about to explain myself. Like, I literally opened my mouth to tell this wannabe Superman why I was here, and everything that had happened to me before I'd ended up on the roof of the Jewelry store, but something stopped me.

A fist, flying directly toward my face.

My newly fine-tuned, super sharp reflexes attempted to protect me. And you'd think that they would have succeeded. But this guy was crazy. As my arm began to rise in order to block the blow, somehow his fist was way faster and still managed to collide with my jaw, making my face explode with pain. Luckily this time I was able to brace myself with my foot, so I could prevent myself from flying backward as a result of the impact like last time.

Or, I say luckily... but that gave him the opportunity to punch me in the stomach. I began to collapse to the ground from the pain, but as soon as my knees buckled he jumped into the air and threw a hard kick directly at my face, sending me hurtling into the jewelry store behind me.

Well, not into the Jewelry store. He actually was able to outpace my airborne velocity again, and just before I could smash through the window, he caught me by the back of my shirt and slammed me down onto the pavement.

Hard.

He was so much more powerful than me, and actually knew how to fight. And somehow, I could tell I knew how to fight too, which I was again attributing to what I saw in the chamber, but every time I felt my "reflexes" kick in I just found myself outmaneuvered and overpowered. And this idiot was literally cackling the whole time.

"Filthy criminal," He scoffed. And then he started preaching.

"You people make me sick. You cannot make an honest living, and so you prey on those who can. You lie, cheat, steal, and do anything you can because you believe the ends justify the means. It's okay as long as you come out ahead. Well, just look at how far ahead you've gotten. Smashed into the sidewalk, not a penny in sight, headed not for the Bahamas- but straight to prison instead. I suppose there is some merit in the fact that you haven't attempted to teleport away. I just hope you've learned something in all of this."

I was still lying in a small crater made from the impact of his last attack. Groaning, entire body aching, just wishing he'd stop talking, I finally staggered back to my feet. And finally, I got the chance to speak.

"I'm not a freaking supervillain. I can't teleport. I wasn't on the Jewelry store because I was trying to rob it. I'm looking for a Superhero or something that can run super fast, which is somehow not you, despite the fact that you are way faster than someone should be. I am the new Champion of the Universe, if that means anything to you. The man in the spaceship told me not to tell anyone, but I figure anything's better than getting my ass handed to me in the middle of the street like this. Can you please tell me where to find the speedy guy and just leave me alone?"

"Shut your mouth, you lying fiend." He attempted to punch me again, but this time I saw it coming. I sidestepped, a lot faster than I should have been able to move, and finally managed to dodge one of his attacks. I didn't ever really intend to fight this guy, but at this point I was so frustrated and embarrassed I just threw a punch at him attempting to take advantage of the opening he created. But he caught my fist with his other hand, and a little bit of weird red energy released from his hand right at the moment, (and the point) of impact. In his eyes I could swear I caught a gleam of approval, though that could have just been my imagination.

The weird thing is, I put everything I had into that punch. I felt the same "universal-connection" thing I felt when I punched the dump truck, but it was like he didn't feel the impact at all. He let go of my fist and dusted himself off, before turning his back to me.

"My mistake."

I was beyond confused, but before I could ask him what he meant, he just... leapt away. Like, he literally jumped extremely high, on top of the nearest building, and then disappeared from my line of sight, presumably because he jumped onto another building. And that made me even more confused. But that's when I heard a voice behind me.

"Were you talking about me?"

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I turned around, and saw the splitting image of the guy I'd seen on the screen in the spaceship.

"Yeah... how did you just happen to be there?" I asked.

"I travel around this city almost all day, and your fight with Semicolon was pretty hard not to notice. Why were you looking for me?" He replied.

I took a second to think about what I wanted to say. After all, I was completely new to this whole recruiting thing.. and the only real experience I had with this was when I was recruited to be the Champion of the Universe. I remembered how I had first entered that sandwich shop, thinking I was going to be interviewed for a job.. and how I'd gone over all the potential questions that the recruiter might have had for me in my head. I had also thought about how that recruiter might have introduced himself, and how I would have responded to that.

This isn't so different compared to that, I thought. I opened my mouth to speak, when he grabbed my shoulder, and the whole world became a blur of lights, cars, and buildings rushing by us. Next thing I knew, we were both atop a building, his hand still on my shoulder. I could only assume that he brought us there with his "super speed".

"Now we can talk a little more openly. Why did you want to meet with me?" He asked.

"My name is Chiron Kleinman, and I am the Champion of this sector of the Galaxy. My job is protect this sector of the Galaxy from anything that might be deemed a threat towards it. The previous champion was killed in the line of duty, and in order to prevent that from happening again, my bosses told me to recruit a team of exceptional individuals from Earth to help me. I don't know who else they want me to recruit, but you're the first person they directed me toward, and so, here I am. How would you like to be a fellow Champion of the Universe?"

As soon as I finished my sentence, Blur... disappeared. Like, he was just gone. I thought he sped off for a second, But then he reappeared all glitchy, and started vibrating uncontrollably.

When the vibrations had (mostly) calmed down, Blur finally responded. "Oh God, it happened again.. Look, I want to help you. Of course I do, but I come with a huge caveat that I don't think you guys would be willing to deal with. I only have a few minutes to do what I want in this dimension, before I phase into some other random dimension. Then I only get a little bit of time to do what I want there, before I pop back here. I am literally living 4 different lives at the same time. The more I use my speed, the less time I have before I "hop" over to one of the other dimensions. The only reason I use it in the first place is because I see people in trouble every day, and I'm the only one fast enough to save them, so I figure that since I was cursed like this I might as well bring some good into the world with what I can do now. I just don't really have enough time to help you guys with everything I'm juggling right now. I appreciate the offer though."

Again, I opened my mouth to speak. I had a lot of questions, and even a couple solutions. Why does this happen to you? How much time do you get in the other dimensions? What other dimensions even are there? Maybe I can find a way to help you. Maybe this guy I met, Behemoth can help you.

But he was gone again. This time though, I'm pretty sure he actually did speed away because I felt a sudden gust of wind hit me which I assume was from him taking off as fast as he did.

I was about to chase after him, when I realized I had no idea where he went, and I was stranded atop a building,*again*.

That's why he brought me here... I thought. He didn't want me to follow him if he needed to get away... as if I even could.

I could feel the cool evening air as I stood there, contemplating what to do next.

They told me to find him, as if that was something I'd actually be capable of doing. Now he's gone. And he moves so fast, I have no hope of catching up to him at all.

Then I thought about how I'd suddenly gained super strength, endurance, fighting reflexes, and some kind of weird universe projection thing. So why not super speed?

But first things first. Betraying every instinct in my body, I took a reluctant leap off the building. The sidewalk rushed toward me as I plummeted downward, the air whistling, attempting to resist my fall and creating a false cushion of wind beneath me. I closed my eyes, bracing for the moment of impact... and hit the ground, landing squarely on my feet.

Hard.

But to my amazement, my legs had not shattered into a million pieces. Which is what I suspected. It seemed my fight with Semicolon wasn't a complete waste of time after all, it had shown me exactly how durable I'd become.

Unfortunately the sidewalk wasn't as fortunate as I was. The square I had landed on had been blown to pieces, and there were cracks spreading all over the ground from my point of impact. I wonder if the city is going to bill me for this.. I thought.

Then, telling myself to focus, I looked straight ahead once more and closed my eyes. I felt my connection to the Universe grow tangible and accessible once again, and tapping into it I could actually "see" Blur in my mind's eye. I even seemed to be able to telepathically pinpoint his location.

Now, for the moment of truth, I thought.

I took off running down the street, and at first nothing really happened. But slowly, I realized everything around me seemed to be moving faster. So fast, in fact, that I barely even knew where I was going, basically only being guided by the mental beacon I could sense off in the distance, marking Blur's location.

Maybe this Champion stuff isn't all about getting my butt kicked and getting beamed onto random buildings. This is starting to be kind of fun.