KEYSTONE CITY, 2 MONTHS FROM NOW
The thousands of people gathering around the Keystone City Cathedral had been marching for hours. While a reasonably sized portion of the population were residents of the nearby Central City, the vast majority of the 72,665 people that marched upon Keystone City that dreadful day came from various other cities in the United States. Places like Metropolis, Gotham City, Ivy City and countless others. Despite the thousands of people, not a single person was talking. Instead the whole area was filled with a hushed silence as though they were waiting for something.
"HUMANS OF EARTH!" A voice echoed from one of the many loudspeakers dotted around the nearby area. "BEHOLD... YOUR NEW REGENT!" A caped figure stepped onto the Cathedral rooftop allowing the crowds to see him in his eternal glory.
"EMPEROR GRODD!"
A cheer roared from the crowd as Gorilla Grodd removed his cape and tossed it aside with utter disdain. As the sounds of his victory filled his simian ears he allowed a small grin to etch across his face.
He had every right to be happy. After all... the Flash was dead.
_________________
Central City, Now.
"Hurry up, Match!" Tina Mahay yelled as she stood above the crowd of hostages cowering before her, she towered above them due to the obvious fact that she was stood upon one of the overturned bank tables containing all the boring types of paperwork she preferred to avoid when making transactions. "You gotta hurry before the freaking fuzz comes!" She snapped loudly. She could hear the sound of the police sirens from miles away. This was partially due to her innate superhuman ability of superhuman senses. Better hearing, sight, smell... she had it all. Too bad she didn't have the sense to choose better friends.
"I AM FREAKING HURRYING!" Match Armstrong screamed from inside the bank's vault. Match wasn't his real name. Just a little codename he'd started calling himself... and with a name like MATCH, it definitely fit. "IT'S NOT MY FRIZZIN' FAULT THAT WE AIN'T GOT A GOD DANG BAG TO CARRY THIS SH-"
FFFFZZZZZZ!!!!!
The bank doors blew open as a streak of lightning dashed through and shoved straight into Tina knocking her to the ground. The end to Match's sentence was drowned out as Tina stared at the red and yellow figure materializing before her upon the table she'd been stood upon.
"Not the best thing to forget for a bank robbery." The man said calmly. He was wearing what seemed to be lightweight armour with a bright yellow lightning bolt in the middle of his chest. A small grin of amusement appeared on the man's face as lightning started to crackle around his body.
"Fl.... fl... Flash." Tina muttered in a mix of horror and surprise. The Flash smiled.
"Got it one, kiddo." He said cheerfully. "Now..." Tina blinked and then realized that every single person in the bank that had been cowering on the ground only a few seconds ago had suddenly disappeared into thin air. The Flash seemed to have moved as well, having stepped off the table and reappeared across the room. "I'm going to have to ask you, two young whippersnappers to halt your previous transactions..." He cracked his knuckles. "...and come with me." An awkward silence echoed between the three meta humans, each one trying to think about how to handle the situation. Tina was too terrified to even move. Any bravado she'd had whilst lording her powers over the powerless humans had vanished. Now she was a girl who could hear slightly better then other people against a man who could move faster then she could blink.
"GET HIM!" Match screamed, a blast of fire shot from his hands directly towards where the Flash was standing. Fire engulfed Match's skin coating him in a faint lava like substance that sent the building's temperature through the roof.
"Match do-" Tina started to say, however before she could even finish her sentence a gust of wind shot by her and when she blinked once again, Match had disappeared. "-n't?!" She finished, the flames hit where the Flash had once been standing. Tina glanced around in surprise, she looked around in desperation for where her colleague and their new found enemy could have disappeared to. That was before she heard the blast of wind again and felt herself being lifted off the ground. When she opened her eyes once more she was stood outside the bank with half a dozen police officers staring at her in surprise. Match was being shoved into a police van to her right. "Wait no!" She screamed as a guard with handcuffs gripped her by the wrists and clamped his cuffs around her. He slammed the side of her face against the front of a police car and Tina heard the same thing she'd heard a dozen times on every Cop show she'd ever watched.
"You have the right to remain silence." The Police Officer told her. "Anything you say can and will be-" Blah, blah, blah. Tina couldn't believe this was really happening. As she was dragged into the nearby police van she saw the man in the red and yellow seat staring at her from across the street. The two stared at each other for a second before the Flash disappeared in a streak of lightning down the street.
____________________
Iron Heights Penitentiary
"He's late again..." Patty Spivot muttered, she glanced her watch for what felt like the fiftieth time that day. "...how can he be late to his OWN meeting?" She asked the woman seated next to her.
"I really have no idea, Patty." Iris West admitted. "I've known him since we were kids... and I still have no idea what goes through his mind." The two women sighed before slinking back in their seats. The prison waiting room was not the most romantic of places to be kept waiting. Patty stared at one of the prison guards walking towards them.
"You've gotta tell your friend to be on time." The Officer said with a stern voice. Patty glanced at his chest and noticed the word Zoloman on his name tag. That was a pretty unusual name for a prison guard. "Otherwise it'll be harder to schedule meetings for him." He muttered.
"We'll take that into account." Iris said in the sweetest voice she could muster. The guard seemed satisfied as he turned to walk away immediately after.
"Do you think something could have happened to him?" Patty asked. She was really thinking out loud, a small little concern that she couldn't keep bottled inside. "Maybe he got injured... or mugged... or maybe one of the Rogues found him and th-"
"He's probably just caught in traffic." Iris muttered before taking a sip of the plastic cup of water on the table next to her. The two women remained silent for the next few minutes, both trying to ignore the awkwardness between them.
"SORRY I'M LATE!" Barry Allen yelled as he stumbled through the door, the police guards glanced at him in surprise as he fell into the chair between the two women. He gasped for breath before placing a kiss on Patty's cheek. "Traffic was murder..." He muttered.
"Told ya." Iris laughed before digging Barry in the arm. "Better make sure you set off early next time, Allen." She said cheerfully. "Otherwise you'll have a bit more trouble then you like when you next come to visit."
Barry smiled to himself before standing up. He glanced at the doors leading to the prison's meeting room and seemed to shudder slightly at the thought of entering the place.
"Do you want me to go in with you?" Patty asked, her eyes etched with concern. Barry shook his head slowly.
"I'll be fine, babe." He told her. "I'll meet you two in the canteen in 10 mins. Okay?"
Patty smiled. "Since when did you start calling me 'babe'?" She asked. Barry smiled back at her.
"Since we started going out." He said as he started to walk quickly towards the door. Police Guard Zoloman opened the door for him before following Barry inside.
"You've got 5 minutes." He told him as they approached the table where the person Barry was meeting was seated. "If you hand anything to the prisoner, you lose your right to visit."
"I've got it Hunter." Barry patted the guard on the shoulder. "Keep up the good work!" He yelled before taking his seat at the table across from the woman he'd known all his life. "Hi Mum." Barry took his jacket off and hung it on the end of his chair. "Let's talk."
"Hello Barry." Nora Allen's elderly face parted into a smile, the wrinkles on her face from the 22 years of stress were clearly visible and every little look of pain sent a jolt of anger down Barry's spine. "I have something VERY important to tell you."
To be continued.
Log in to comment