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[Superman] Chapter 218: The Meeting of Two Speedsters
🕑 Added 2024-09-04 03:35:22 +0000 UTC“Victor, are you serious?”
Aquaman, struggling to hold onto Barry, turned to Cyborg with a look of disbelief.
“Trust me, just do as I say!”
Cyborg responded confidently without much explanation.
“I believe in him!”
When the others looked to Barry, he nodded without hesitation, indicating his trust in Cyborg.
“Then follow my lead. Three, two, one! Let go!”
Superman used all his strength. After pulling on the black energy tentacles for a few seconds, he and the others released their grip with a sudden motion.
The moment they let go, Barry felt a tremendous pulling force from the dark energy wrapping around him.
Barry had anticipated this and chose to trust Cyborg. Without hesitation, he released all the Speed Force energy within him.
Crackle!
The immense Speed Force energy emitted an incredibly bright light, surrounding Barry’s body and turning into dazzling lightning.
The endless Speed Force lightning completely enveloped Barry.
At this moment, some of the Speed Force also came into contact with the dark energy wrapping around him.
Suddenly, the enormous Speed Force energy, gathered on Barry’s body, found a direction to pour into.
It rapidly flowed towards the dark energy tentacles.
The shining lightning streamed through the dark energy tentacles, rushing towards the entire portal.
“Is it… actually working?”
The others, who were focusing intently on the situation, noticed that the pulling force from the dark energy seemed to be countered by the vast Speed Force energy, no longer dragging Barry into the portal.
This strange situation left them amazed and curious.
Why would the dark energy, which even Superman couldn’t resist and which Wonder Woman’s divine sword couldn’t damage, be countered by Barry’s Speed Force energy?
“Victor, what’s going on?”
Batman turned, curious, and asked Cyborg.
“Just now, while I was analyzing this special dark energy, I felt an energy I was very familiar with, and that energy… is Barry’s Speed Force!”
However, Cyborg’s expression didn’t show any excitement despite the situation improving.
He slowly spoke, uttering a statement that left everyone stunned.
“What? The dark energy contains Barry’s Speed Force? How is that possible?”
Everyone was incredulous. After all, until just now, they had never seen such an incredibly bizarre dark energy.
“Wait, Cyborg, are you suggesting…”
Suddenly, Batman seemed to think of something, his expression turning extremely serious.
“I’m afraid I hope my thoughts are wrong, but…”
Cyborg nodded regretfully. When he sensed the Speed Force within the dark energy, he considered a possibility that was hard to accept.
“What are you talking about?”
Not everyone was as perceptive as Batman. Aquaman looked at the two with confusion and curiosity.
“If the energy contains Barry’s Speed Force, then it’s very likely… we might be too late to save Barry!”
Batman’s face showed a hint of sadness. Even though he had witnessed countless human deaths, losing a comrade still troubled him deeply.
“What? Barry is already… No, this can’t be! You must be mistaken!”
Even Aquaman, despite his usual simplicity, realized the gravity of the situation.
Clearly, Batman was referring to the Barry who had been kidnapped to another universe—the same Barry who fought alongside them.
...
“Alright, everyone, the Barry who disappeared is now in an unknown state, but there is another Barry who needs our help.”
“No matter what, we cannot lose two comrades, two Barrys, on the same day!”
Seeing the others lamenting and grieving over the possibly lost Barry, Batman steeled himself and interrupted their sorrow.
“That’s right, we cannot lose another Barry!”
Superman nodded slowly, his gaze resolute as he turned back to the Barry who was still releasing Speed Force energy.
They stood ready, prepared to act if any unusual situation arose, ready to seize Barry’s body if necessary.
Fortunately, no alarming anomalies occurred.
As Barry’s released Speed Force continued to flow through the strange dark energy, it seemed to stabilize the dark energy’s fluctuations.
“Everyone, are we just going to watch?”
Time ticked away, but for the others, it felt like years.
They watched everything in a calm state, knowing they needed to resolve Barry’s crisis as soon as possible.
“Wait a bit longer… That energy seems to…”
Seeing the impatient faces of the others, Cyborg asked them to wait a little longer.
“Everyone… I might be running out of energy…”
Barry, who had been continuously releasing Speed Force to stabilize the dark energy, now had a pale, weak appearance.
This was understandable, as he had just used Speed Force for several minutes to open the portal not long ago.
Now, he had been using nearly a minute’s worth of Speed Force to combat the dark energy.
Not feeling an immediate depletion of Speed Force was due to Barry’s youth and his status as the most powerful Speed Force host.
“Victor, should we intervene? The dark energy seems to have been completely eroded by Barry’s Speed Force and looks much more fragile!”
Seeing Barry’s energy almost depleted, Aquaman was struggling to hold back.
Barry’s full release of Speed Force energy for about a minute had indeed had some effect.
The dark energy, continuously ravaged and flowing with Speed Force, now seemed much less resilient than before. The darkness had faded significantly.
It looked like if Superman wielded Diana’s divine sword and unleashed his full power, there might be a chance to sever it completely.
“No, wait. I sense something special is about to happen!”
However, Cyborg remained serious, continuing to feel and analyze the dark energy.
He seemed to have a sense that something special was coming.
...
“Special circumstances? What exactly is happening?”
Cyborg’s words filled everyone present with curiosity, and their expressions grew even more serious.
After all, everything that had happened today was beyond their expectations.
First, a doppelgänger from another universe had kidnapped Barry from their own universe.
Now, as they were preparing to rescue Barry, such bizarre events had occurred. The dark energy, seemingly beyond the reality of the universe, had an indomitable nature, leaving them feeling somewhat powerless.
They could only rely on Barry’s Speed Force to barely stop the anomaly.
Now, it seemed like something even more unpredictable was about to happen, causing them all to be worried.
“Sorry… everyone, I… really… can’t hold on any longer…”
As everyone was feeling inexplicably anxious about the impending special situation, Barry, who was fully unleashing his Speed Force, finally could not hold on any longer.
He became extremely weak, and eventually fell into a state of unconsciousness.
“Damn it! We can’t wait any longer!”
As Barry fell unconscious, the Speed Force energy surrounding him dimmed gradually, seeming to disappear slowly.
The others were also uncertain whether, without enough Speed Force to counter the dark energy, it would regain its previous activity and resilience.
Thus, they could no longer wait for the special circumstances Cyborg had mentioned.
Superman took the divine sword from Diana, which had a crack, and quickly moved to Barry’s side. He slowly raised the sword, gathering his strongest power, preparing to strike the dark energy forcefully.
Buzzing!
At that moment, the dark energy seemed to sense the threat and began to vibrate violently.
The powerful dark energy instantly turned the entire portal into a strange black color.
The originally calm portal began to experience intense fluctuations.
“What… is happening?”
The sudden situation shocked the others, leaving them momentarily speechless.
Superman was also stunned by the event, but without hesitation, he swung the divine sword with all his might!
Suddenly, it felt as if time itself was frozen.
The flow of time became incredibly slow.
The smiles on everyone’s faces were clearly visible.
Even the air being disturbed by Superman’s swinging sword was observable.
Just as the sword was about to strike the dark energy, a golden lightning bolt suddenly surged from the dark portal.
It flowed along the dark energy, rushing towards the end of the dark energy!
Zzzz!
The golden lightning moved swiftly, reaching the end in an instant. Without pausing, it directly entered Barry’s body, which was wrapped in black tendrils.
As the golden lightning disappeared, Superman’s divine sword struck the dark energy.
Sizz!
Previously, when the dark energy had broken the divine sword, this time, there was no obstruction as it sliced through the dark energy.
The moment the dark energy was severed, the broken black tendrils dissolved into ashes as if they were melted ice.
“Ugh…”
Suddenly, a terrifying and eerie howl echoed.
It sounded like the unwilling scream of a demon from hell before its death.
In an instant, within the darkened, eerie portal, something seemed to be struggling to break free from its confines.
“Quick, shut it down!”
Seeing that their actions had effectively cut off the strange dark energy, Superman shouted without hesitation.
Cyborg also did not hesitate and immediately shut down the portal device.
As the unknown creature struggled to emerge from the portal, the portal began to slowly dissipate.
...
“Finally, it’s over!”
Watching the dark portal slowly fade away, everyone let out a sigh of relief.
“Let’s check on Barry!”
The group then turned their attention to Barry, who had been freed from the dark energy’s grasp.
Seeing that he was still unconscious, they couldn’t help but worry about whether the strange energy had caused him any unknown harm.
Soon, they placed Barry into the medical pod of the space station for a thorough examination.
“His body is fine; he’s just exhausted from overusing the Speed Force, which caused him to fall unconscious.”
“He will wake up soon once his strength recovers.”
After examining Barry, they received relatively good news.
However, the good news did not bring them much joy.
Today’s experiences had been incredibly unbelievable.
Moreover, they seemed to have lost a comrade who had fought alongside them!
“I feel like things aren’t going to end so simply!”
While everyone was immersed in the grief of losing a partner, Superman spoke with a serious expression.
Although they had successfully rescued the young Barry from the strange dark energy, he sensed that things might not end so simply.
The bizarre dark energy was far from ordinary! It might even possess the power to threaten the entire universe.
“Indeed, I also feel that this matter is not so simple…”
Batman’s thoughts aligned completely with Superman’s. He too sensed that the situation was far from over.
Perhaps it confirmed their current feelings.
In the medical pod, the unconscious Barry’s consciousness was experiencing something strange.
“Wait… how did I get here?”
Barry’s consciousness had unknowingly entered a peculiar space.
Everything around him was stationary.
Suddenly, a golden lightning bolt streaked across.
In front of Barry appeared a figure that was both familiar and strange to him.
A figure dressed in a uniform, shining with golden lightning.
“Who are you?”
Barry looked at the figure in shock, as if witnessing something unbelievable.
“You’re right; like you, I am a Speedster, Barry Allen!”
In the next moment, the figure slowly removed their mask, revealing a face almost identical to Barry’s, though looking more mature.
“Oh no, how is this possible!”
...
(End of Chapter)
