10 advance chapters on P@treon.com/Saintbarbido.
I'd appreciate some powerstones. Thanks.
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Chapter 39: Stolen Speed Vs Earned Speed 2/2.
Like I said, an earlier upload today.
(General P.O.V)
-Speedy-
Though reluctant to admit it, Speedy knew that Robin was better trained than he was.
Not only could he keep up with Speedy when it came to dispatching criminals—he could throw those Batarangs of his almost as fast as Speedy could shoot an arrow—but Robin's tactical genius made him an exemplary strategist.
But his defining trait had to be his infiltration skills.
The younger boy could get in and out of anywhere, without being detected.
However, last night during the festival, things hadn't gone according to plan.
Robin had actually been found out and captured.
And afterwards, when Speedy and Wally were discussing how to break him out, there had been a knock on the door to their quarters.
On the other side of it, had stood a taciturn Ra's Al Ghul flanked by Sensei.
"May we enter?" The Demon's Head had asked politely.
While they had been planning to fight their way off the island— with Wally's speed, it was entirely possible— that had changed once Ra's informed the two of them that he only wanted to talk.
Then he had surprised them by telling them he knew exactly who they were, including Dick, who was being held in the island's dungeons.
But probably the most shocking thing, was what he proposed after,
"If you can win against young Savage tomorrow, I will let your friend go. Not only that, but I also give my word that you will be free to leave the island, unharmed,"
Ra's had said.
They didn't have a choice but to accept the deal.
Fast forward to the next day, and Speedy was jittery and tense watching Wally face off against Angel.
'He has to win. He just has to.'
While Angel was the superior fighter, Speedy knew what Wally excelled best at: speed.
And when he got serious, there were few that could actually stop him.
'As long as he remains focused, he can beat him...we can win this. And even if something unexpected happens...he has 'that'.'
Speedy assured himself.
(General P.O.V)
The final battle began immediately.
Wally was the first to attack, moving at speeds that rendered him a blur to the naked eye.
In response, Angel started dodging and leaning out of the way of the blur of fists let loose upon him.
He backed away in short bursts of speed, a few steps taking him to the edge of the arena.
'Got you now!' Wally thought, his hook missing by a hair's breadth, only for him to forcefully stop his momentum and divert his energy into a sweep with his right leg.
A shadow passed over him as Angel flipped over the leg sweep, landing behind his opponent's back.
'I messed up!'
Wally thought, spinning to his back, conscious of the kick about to land squarely at his midsection.
There was a sudden funnel of fast-moving wind that exploded out of Angel's kick, blasting the training grounds and throwing the dusty sand into the air.
Wally's eyes went wide, his face twisted in fright.
The attack had flown right above him!
If he hadn't phased his legs shin-deep through the wooden arena and leaned back, he would have been thrown out and lost the match.
A burst of super speed carried him to the opposite side of the arena, Angel's eyes following him without retaliating.
The latter lowered his outstretched leg, a curious look on his face as he regarded Wally.
"That was molecular phasing, right? Impressive. I still have trouble phasing a single finger through something solid, though you don't seem that good at it either," he commented.
Loathe as he was to admit it, it was true.
Even after practicing, Wally could only manage to phase his limbs. Anything more and he would get a nosebleed and terrible headaches.
"I could say the same." Wally responded,
"You dropped the speed aura around your leg that negates friction when moving at high speeds, causing you to release all that momentum onto the air in a burst of force. I would have lost if that had landed."
"Not lost. Died. You would have died."
Angel corrected with a smile.
"Anyway, let's dial it up a notch, don't you think?"
Wally shared the same expression, crouching in a runner's pose.
"I'm ready when you are."
-Jinx and Goku-
Jinx leaned over to Goku, eyes wide with curiousity,
"Can you see what's happening?"
Goku had his eyes narrowed at the Arena.
"More or less."
He replied unconvincingly.
-Back to the Fight-
Voom!
In their second clash, Wally rocketed forward, leaving scruff marks on the surface of the Arena.
The shadow of his red hoodie left behind a trail of scarlet intertwined with streaks of yellow lightning.
In that same instance, Angel used the speed force on his hands, spinning them at high speeds and producing black tornadoes of cutting winds in front of him.
The tornadoes prevented a straight approach from Wally, leading to him changing directions and running along the side to get closer to Angel.
A few feet from him, the tornadoes unraveled into another explosive burst of air that swept through the arena.
But this time, Wally was ready and used the high speeds he was moving at to create a counterforce by spinning in the opposite direction, keeping himself grounded on the arena.
Black winds crashed onto Wally's red tornado, and the latter won out as the force of the former was already thinly spread out and spent.
'He'll use this chance to attack. Bad guys always do.' Wally reasoned, standing at the center of his self-created tornado.
A hand pushed through his tornado from the side, as Angel's form entered Wally's personal space.
'I knew it!'
Wally thought to himself, immediately throwing his vibrating forearm forward at Angel's chest.
Angel was caught unaware, and the forearm tore through his chest.
The red tornado around them unraveled with a loud eruption.
The gale of winds produced even reached the stands, buffeting the spectators.
On the arena, Angel's body broke down into a rainbow-colored white gas that felt both cold and hot to Wally's hand, like a mixture of steam and mist.
"An afterimage?"
Wally guessed, before shaking his head and looking towards his back, where an unharmed Angel waved at him, one hand in his pocket.
"No, you would need to be much faster than you really are to form a single afterimage. By my estimation, we've both been moving at less than 500 mph."
Wally reasoned out.
"You're right, it wasn't an afterimage. Just a skill I haven't gotten the chance to test out yet." Angel's smile turned feral.
"But now I have a useful test subject."
From the left side of his body, a layer of ice covered him, and from his right, flames surged out, instantly flash melting and evaporating the ice before disappearing.
A cloud of steam and mist swirled around his body, warping the air before forming into multiple copies of Angel. Six to be exact.
This was a support skill he had come up with while training his powers the day before.
By using his nanites' energy absorption capabilities, he combined the hot and cold air produced by evaporating his ice. (The ice was turned to steam at first and then he used the nanites to pull the heat out of a portion of it, thus resulting into cold mist)
Alone, this would only be useful to freeze or scald enemies that touched the mix of cold and hot air. But Angel wasn't satisfied; he had taken the skill further.
"""Do you know what happens to light when it enters a droplet?"""
Angel's voice seemed to come from each of the copies, making it difficult to tell who was the real him.
"It bends through refraction, dispersing into individual colors. It's how rainbows are formed,"
Wally replied, hoping to buy time to figure out which was the real one.
-Jinx and Goku-
"Whoa! Did you see that, Jinx? He's everywhere at once!"
Goku exclaimed, his voice filled with awe.
Jinx grinned,
"Impressive, but let's see how Wally handles it."
-Back to the fight-
'Clap clap clap.'
Once again, all copies clapped at the same time, producing a sound that was louder than what a single person could make.
"""Very good."""
The Angels complimented Wally, stepping forward at the same time.
"""My afterimages work the same way. The first step is forming the mist and steam, the second is trapping the light, the third is manipulating each individual droplet to reflect what I want, in this case me, and the final step is fine-tuning the illusion."""
A look of shock appeared on Wally's face,
"Impossible! That kind of multitasking is too much for a human mind. Even a metahuman like you."
"""Impossible? What's that?"""
All the Angels arrogantly asked.
'Found him!'
Wally immediately sped forward toward the second Angel from the right.
The arrogant smirk on that particular copy was wider than the rest!
That was the true Angel- Wally could just tell from his condescending attitude.
Knowing this was his only chance, Wally used his fastest speed to clear the distance. Moving at his full peak of 800mph!
Both of his hands were fully vibrating; there was no way he was going to miss this chance.
The other copies tried to stop him, but he sped through them, swinging his hands like a duo of blades, cutting the copies down into rainbow mist.
And then he was there. Barely ab inch from his shocked opponent.
Angel's eyes widened as Wally's fingers curled around his neck.
'For my uncle! For Dick!'
Wally screamed inside, pushing Angel towards the edge of the arena. It was over.
'I'm going to wi-'
'Thwack!'
The speedster heard the sound of something hard smacking onto something soft.
Then his surroundings flipped, and Angel's neck, tightly gripped in his fingers, deformed into rainbow mist.
No...
'It...was an illusion?'
The thought unwillingly passed through his mind.
That seemed to be the cue, as a distinct pain blossomed from the side of his face.
His cheek felt raw, and his jaw ached as something hot filled his mouth. Something that tasted like blood.
In addition, a white object sailed out of his open lips.
'Is that...a tooth?' he asked in his mind.
'Oh, I see...he baited me in and punched me. I think...I'm going to pass out.'
That was his final thought as his body slammed onto the arena floor.
He ragdolled across the wooden platform before falling off it and smashing onto the sands of the Training Grounds.
Breath left him and his vision blurred at the edges.
His momentum carried him to the fighter's section, only to stop right below Speedy's feet.
"W- Wally?"
A disbelieving Speedy called out, kneeling before his friend, whose cheek was already swelling, and blood dripping off the corner of his mouth.
"I- I'm thorry Thp- Thpeedy, bur h- he fot me. He fot me food."
(I'm sorry Sp- Speedy, but h- he got me. He got me good.)
Wally said through swollen lips, his words containing a lisp.
Eyes rolling to the back of his head, Kid Flash fell unconscious.
On the Arena, Angel scratched his head staring at Wally's fallen form.
"Aah man, guess I hit him too hard. I didn't even get to see his Trump card."
If someone asked him if he had any regrets, this would be it.
He had wanted to keep fighting to get more data from a real speedster. Though Kid Flash was more like a dollar store version.
According to his nanites, which had been recording and analyzing the whole fight, Kid Flash's conduit to the speed force was of lower quality in comparison to Angel's.
Despite them being almost evenly matched speedwise, that could be attributed to Angel being a relatively new Speedster.
In the future, this would change as he would get faster the more he got used to the Speedforce.
The gong sounded amidst the surprise from the stands.
Sensei, having walked onto the Arena, shared a look with Angel.
"Well done my pupil. You displayed a fighting spirit worthy of being called a warrior."
Sensei clasped his hands together and lightly bowed at Angel.
Angel repeated the gesture of respect.
"Thank you Master."
Sensei then turned to face Ra's Al Ghul, who stood up from his seat on the second balcony.
"Master Al Ghul, I present to you the champion of the Lazarus Tournament, Angel Savage."
Sensei announced.
A loud cheer of adoration and appreciation rose out of the stands, surprising Angel, who had not expected it.
The cheers went on for a few seconds before everyone quieted down upon the Demon's Head raising a hand.
"Angel Savage, as the final victor, what is it you wish for?"
Ra's Al Ghul asked.
"Go on."
Sensei lightly pushed him forward.
Angel complied.
His eyes, set on a determined face met Ra's Al Ghul.
Everyone waited with bated breath, curious about what he would ask for.
A smile spread across Angel's face.
"What I wish for, is the Demon's Head Crest. I want...full control over the League of Shadows."
There was a shocked silence. One which was only added to by the Demon's Head response.
"In accordance to our traditions, your wish will be granted. The Demon's Head crest is yours. And with it, the entire League of Shadows."
Ra's declared.
And immediately, every Shadow in the Training Grounds, whether on the stands, around the Arena or guarding the perimeter, followed Sensei's direction and kneeled down before Angel.
On the fighter's section, the stunned silence was broken by Ravager,
"What. In. The. Actual. Fuck?"
As if to further break everyone's mind with shock, the Arena Angel and Sensei were on, lit up with a magical formation.
And the Justice League, with Zatara at the lead appeared.
The sight that met them was not only surprising, it answered the biggest question in Batman's mind.
"He was here to gain control of the League of Shadows."
The Dark Knight concluded after witnessing every Shadow on their knees in subservience to Angel.
"We were too late."