Arcadia City, 2144 AD
Henry stood face to face with a mysterious figure, their suits a stark contrast to each other. Henry's white and gold suit gleamed in the sunlight, while the other figure's black and purple suit seemed to absorb the light around them. A mask covered the figure's face, making it impossible for Henry to discern their identity.
"You're quite the legend, Henry Myers," the figure said in a low, gravelly voice. "I've heard a lot about you."
Henry's eyes narrowed. "Who are you? And why have you been going around, pretending to be me?" he asked sharply.
The figure chuckled. "I'm someone who's been watching you. Someone who truly admires you. Someone… who's been waiting for the perfect moment to strike."
Henry's grip on his fists tightened. "What do you want?"
The figure chuckled, their mask glinting in the light. "I want to see how fast you really are."
Then….
WHOOSH!
Without warning, the figure took off, their black and purple suit blurring as they sprinted away.
Henry's eyes widened, and he grinned. "Game on!" he exclaimed, taking off after the mysterious figure.
The two speedsters tore through the city streets, their suits leaving trails of distorted air in their wake. As Henry left a trail of gold lightning so did the figure leave one of purple. Henry's Nitro suit glowed with a brilliant white light as he pushed himself to his limits, his feet pounding the pavement in a blur.
The mysterious figure was fast, but Henry was determined to catch up. He focused all his energy on the chase, his senses heightened as he navigated the crowded streets.
The city became a colorful blur as the two speedsters clashed in a battle of velocity and agility. Henry's heart pounded with excitement, his mind racing with the thrill of the chase.
Who was this person? And what did they want?
Henry was determined to find out. He kept running, chasing, increasing his speed.
As Henry closed in on the other speedster, he raised his hands, and a burst of electricity crackled to life. Lightning shot out from his fingertips, striking the figure with incredible force.
The figure stumbled, their speed faltering as they crashed into a nearby dumpster. The metal container crumpled under the impact, sending trash spilling out onto the street.
Henry quickly closed the distance, a sword construct of lightening materializing in his hands. He stood over the figure, the blade pointed directly at their face.
"You're pretty fast," Henry said, his chest heaving with exertion. "But not as fast as me."
The figure slowly sat up, their mask glinting in the light. "You're... impressive, I knew you wouldn't disappoint." they said, their voice strained.
Henry's eyes narrowed. "I'll ask one last time… who are you?" he demanded.
The figure hesitated, then reached up and grasped the edges of their mask. With the tap of the surface, the mask... or rather helm made an electronic sound and started to dissappear little by little until it was no longer there. And the figure's face was revealed.
Henry's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the figure's face. It was... his own. The same piercing eyes, the same sharp jawline, the same mischievous grin.
Henry's mind reeled as he stumbled backward, his sword slipping from his grasp. "W-What the hell?" he stuttered in shock.
This person had been pretending to be him for some time now… running round the city, saving people, stopping bad guys and claiming to be Mercury.
And Henry had been tracking him for months, he just didn't expect it to actually be his doppelgänger.
"It couldn't be... could it?" Henry pondered in his mind. "No, it's impossible, we merged. This has to be an imposter."
Henry began to make various assumptions about who this person could be. But all his thesis were either impossible, or unrealistic.
He just stood there, staring at his doppelgänger on the ground, who was still wearing a mischievous smirk.
Then the doppelgänger stood up slowly, a sly smile spreading across his face. "Hello, Henry," he said, his voice identical to Henry's own. "It's nice to finally meet you."
...…..
Five years ago (2139 AD)… The day where it all began.
A teenage boy was laying in a deep mud pit, he wasn't breathing and his body wasn't moving. He was probably unconscious.. or dead.
But then all of a sudden, his eyes flew open at the same time a gasp tore from his throat.
Cold.
Wet.
Smelly.
Those were Henry's first impressions of… whatever this was. His cheek was pressed into something damp and gritty, and the distinct scent of mud and questionable life choices filled his nose.
He tried to catch his breath, blinking up at a sky the color of dirty dishwater. For a few seconds, he thought maybe he'd just passed out on the roadside after pulling another all-nighter gaming. But no.. the sky was framed by jagged walls of dirt rising high above him. He was in a hole. A pit. A very deep, suspicious pit.
Henry sat up slowly, instantly noticing two things; His body felt different. Taller. Leaner.
And his hands were definitely not his. No faint scar on the knuckle from the time he'd tried and failed to cut open a packet of instant noodles with a butter knife.
"Okay… either I'm having the weirdest dream of my life, or I've been kidnapped by a beauty spa that specializes in full-body makeovers." he thought.
He shook his head, and that's when it hit him. Not just the throb at the back of his skull, but the memories. His memories. The ones just before he passed out.
He remembered running… chasing something, or rather.. someone. He remembered crossing the road. He remembered… a blue truck approaching him, tires screeching, honks blaring just before slamming into his very being.
He remembered hearing a woman's scream as his body went limp, and his vision faded away.
And then it dawned on him.
"Oh my God," he muttered, his eyes widening. "I… I died."
For a moment, he remained on a spot, lamenting and regretting his past life choices.
Henry's life had started like one of those fancy commercials… loving parents, a big house, the works. His father was wealthy, his mother so stunning people whispered about her in the streets. They were his world.
And then, when he was three, the world literally crashed. One moment, they were driving home from the cinema, his tiny hands clutching a toy from the movie. The next, screeching tires, shattering glass, and a blackness that swallowed everything.
When he woke, his parents were gone. He was the only survivor of the accident.
People called it a miracle. Henry thought it was more like a bad trade deal.
He spent the next fifteen years in an orphanage. Not the worst one, but it still had peeling paint, beds that squeaked every time you breathed, and food that tasted like disappointment. Henry learned to survive with sarcasm, stubbornness, and his one real passion… math.
Numbers didn't lie, didn't leave, and didn't accidentally burn your breakfast because they were arguing with the neighbor.
At eighteen, he finally moved out into his own shoebox apartment. He'd applied to his dream university to study accounting, and when the acceptance letter came, everything felt right again.
But then, it all went wrong.
The day everything ended had started so well.
He'd gone out to print his admission letter and other documents, practically glowing with pride. On his way back, he stood by the sidewalk, scanning the street for a cab. A woman in her mid-thirties stood beside him.. elegant, well-dressed, the kind of person who probably never had to eat instant noodles three nights in a row.
Henry, ever the polite type, greeted her. She smiled back.
"Nice lady," he thought. "Hope she's not secretly a cult leader or something."
Then chaos decided to join the party.
A man sprinted past, snatching the woman's bag. She gasped and shouted for help, hoping someone would come to her aid.
Henry's brain screamed; Not my problem.
But his heart screamed back; Hero time.
So without much contemplation, he ran, chasing after the mugger.
Henry chased the thief through alleys, around corners, and backstreets, the thief's ragged breathing ahead of him like a challenge.
At some point Henry realized two things; He had no plan for if he actually caught the guy. And this was already the most cardio he'd done in months.
They burst out onto a main road teeming with speeding cars. The thief darted between them like a ghost. Henry hesitated, because, you know, self-preservation.
Then, miraculously, the road ahead cleared. There wasn't a single car in sight.
"This is my moment," he thought.
But as he stepped forward…
The blue truck appeared out of nowhere. Literally.
There was a split-second to register the screaming horn, the wall of metal, and the overwhelming realization that being a hero is massively overrated… and foolish.
And then…
SCREECH!
CRASH!
Henry was hit. And all he could feel was… Pain. Numbness. Blackness.
And Death.
Until now.
Henry snapped back to the present, his face etched with despair and regret. But he didn't regret chasing that thief, no. Instead, he blamed himself.
"If only I had caught the thief before we got to the road. If only…" he clenched his fist. "…If only I was fast enough."
Then confusion started to set in.
"But… how am I even alive?" Henry asked, his reflection staring back at him through the puddle beside him… sharp jawline, cleaner skin, eyes that definitely weren't his old brown, and a leaner build that screamed: Not my body.
The clothes he was putting on were strange too: black trousers, a white tunic threaded with faint silver lines that pulsed as if alive.
Realization hit him like a truck.
"No way… I've been given a second chance in another life." he muttered, his voice carrying the weight of excitement.
"I've been.. Reincarnated!"