PART SEVEN:
"Crushed!"
Titan Fall cracked his knuckles and readied himself for the fight. He then removed his upper armour and dropped it with a thud to the ground. It was felt it would weigh him down and without it he could move more freely. Nightwing decided to keep his costume intact after his binds were discarded. He didn't need to expose half himself to fight. This may have constituted as a gladiatorial fight according to Thawne—in ancient Roman most gladiators actually fought naked so their opponent didn't have any clothing to grab a hold of—but because his costume was skin tight, he already felt free to fight as he was, footloose and fancy free.
"We should do it right and pay homage to the gladiators of old," Titan Fall said before the match began, indicting that Nightwing should also discard his upper costume. "I hate it when things are done cheaply."
"Like you," Nightwing had quipped.
Titan Fall sneered. "You'll pay for that remark!"
Titan Fall began with a classic starter move. His right elbow came up above his head and his arm readied to deliver a heavy swing. Easily avoidable, Nightwing ducked to the left. But with lightning speed, Titan Fall delivered a super fast roundhouse kick to Nightwing's face that sent him to the floor. For a big man, he moved like someone half his size. Impulse did say Thawne had endowed him with immense strength and agility.
Nightwing shook his head dazed, but he got to his feet quickly and faced Titan Fall again.
Titan Fall followed his last attack with a series of quick punches to Nightwing's chest and gut, and then one crushing uppercut to his chin,that sent Nightwing flying backwards and to the floor once more.
Nightwing spit out blood.
"C'mon, brother," Mitch Grayson said. "You're not fighting back. Give me a challenge!"
Nightwing gritted his teeth, got to his feet, and charged Titan Fall. This was not his brother Mitch, so he didn't have to hold back. He admitted, Titan Fall got a few lucky shots in because he hadn't seen his style of fighting yet. Now that Nightwing knew Titan Fall was nothing but a brawler, he could plan his own attacks accordingly.
And instead of punched and kicks, Nightwing did something unexpected and head butt Titan Fall. But the only loser in that strike was Nightwing. He staggered back and felt his head, moaning in pain. Titan Fall's head felt like it was made of stone. In retaliation, Titan Fall delivered a head butt of his own and the force knocked Nightwing to the his hands and knees. The hero withheld a cry, but the pain was beyond anything he felt before.
Titan Fall grumbled and then looked back at Thawne sitting in his golden throne.
Thawne mused. "It appears Nightwing is having difficulty differentiating between survival and morality. Instinctively he feels the need to fight, but when he sees the face of his brother it creates an internal conflict," he said retrospectively, standing. "The psychology of a superhero is complex. It would appear he needs further incentive."
"I have plenty of incentive," Nightwing said through clenched teeth. "That monster isn't my brother Mitch. My real brother—and my parents—are dead! They were murdered by a mobster who wanted to make a name for himself."
"Did you ever evoke justice upon him?" Thawne asked.
Nightwing didn't answer immediately.
Dick Grayson had thought Tony Zucco was dead, or at least that's what his street contacts had told him. But later he found out the man had just changed his name and moved to Chicago. He hunted him down, but, in the end, they teamed up to battle a deadlier foe that threatened the city, and they ended up parting ways on a forgiving note. Dick was thankful he hadn't taken revenge on an innocent man in anger. He later found out Zucco had only taken credit for murdering his parents, because street-credit was everything in the mob. Instead, it was some low-life who took the shot. A bullet hit the trapeze rope that caused his parents and brother to plummet to their deaths. He learned through Jason's contacts the real murderer later died in a drive-by shooting from another crime syndicate.
"That's my personal business," Nightwing said firmly, getting to one knee. "But I'm sure you can find out everything by reviewing history when you get back to your time."
Thawne laughed. "True, very true. I can review history all I want, thanks to Inertia. You probably already know this, but Impulse—Bart Allen—has a right to hate me. I murdered his parents and sister when they wouldn't cater to my whims. But he seems more orientated towards Inertia, Thad, my son, who is a clone of myself and Impulse's DNA. Funny, the human condition — how someone can form a misconceived notion of misdirected anger towards another."
Nightwing's head pounded, but he had suffered worse head butts. Even Alfred had a harder head.
Thinking, he could understand Thawne's reasoning. Bruce Wayne was at the circus when Dick's parents were killed. Dick became Bruce's ward after he took him in. Over the years, they had their quails, and eventually they parted ways when Batman got so angry at a villain that he almost broke his cardinal rule of "No Killing". Dick fought with Bruce, and after Bruce slapped him and called him childish, he had had enough, and left.
And moved to Bludhaven to start anew.
Suddenly, Inertia burst through the innermost stratospheric barrier field surrounding the Slip Dimension and skidded to a halt on the floor. He surprised everyone. He held his hand that Impulse had broken by stomping on it. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Thad cursed. "Damn that little snot! Next time I fight Fart Allen, I'm going to kick his ass!"
"Thad!" came Thawne's voice. "What happened? And don't call Impulse "Fart Allen", that's unbecoming of my son."
Thad momentarily looked at his father angrily, but then steadied his emotions. His father was a very scary man. Thad knew he was a genetically enhanced speedster with great powers, but he was also a creature who had a ticking time bomb in his body. President Thaddeus Thawne knew how to kill a speedster. He had murdered Bart's parents easily. But Thad had never been privy to that secret, so it was a death threat that continuously hovered over his head.
"Forgive me, father," Thad said calmly. He tried to squeeze his hand together but cringed in pain. Quickly, he used his powers and sped up time for his DNA, vibrating his hand, using the Speed Force. After, he clenched a fist and smiled. It was fully healed. He then used the same technique to heal the rest of the injuries Impulse had given to him. "Impulse got lucky, but I'm afraid with Kid Flash, they'll combine their powers and find a way inside, father."
"By vibrating through the barriers," Thawne poised. Thad confirmed it, nodding. Thawne had limited use of the Speed Force—out of practise was more like it—so he depended on Thad to do most of his bidding against his enemies. "Then you need to stop them, Thad. Do what is necessary and keep those speedsters out of here."
"Yes, sir," Inertia said. "And I just thought of a brilliant plan to crush Impulse once and for all!"
x x x
"Okay, we've wasted enough time," Damian sounded orderly. "Get us in there, now!"
Impulsed looked at Damian and then at Kid Flash, said: "I can see the resemblance with Bruce Wayne," he said. "And when in his costume, he sounds like Batman, too — so pushy, so staunch, like some sort of little general."
"That's just the way he is," Kid Flash said. "We've all become used to it since he entered the fray. And he can get a little annoying from time to time."
—Tt— Damian hissed from between his teeth. "I heard that!"
"Good!" Impulse said with slight annoyance. "I came from a world where a dictator rules. Don't make me hurt you."
Damian gritted his teeth. Tim knew Damian had a short-fuse and immediately stepped in to defuse the situation, he slapped a hand on Damian's shoulder with more than the usual pressure. Damian cringed. He looked at Tim. With a stare that mirrored Nightwing when he was serious even behind the mask, Damian knew this was not the time.
Damian folded his arms across his chest and huffed, remained silent.
Both speedsters turned back around to face the building. They had been prepared to combine their powers to vibrate through Inertia's three stratospheric barriers before Damian's childish interruption, now they affirmed their readiness. But it came at a great risk. The vibration technique was rarely used because if even one speedster miscalculated their vibration ratio and didn't sync with the other perfectly the less powerful one could become absorbed within the other and disappear completely, their essence and consciousness vanishing like smoke.
They had to get it right, to build their powers to balance with the other, before they could attempt to vibrate through the barriers. But as both were masters of their gifts, and each knew this of the other, they didn't see a problem. Thinking as one, once through the stratospheric barriers, they'd enter the Slip Dimension and confront Thawne.
The concept was like ripping a hole through space and time and then keeping it open with the Speed Force, so they could then get the others through. But it all had to happen within a fraction of a nano-second, or Tim and Damian's metaphysical energy would dissipate and be spread butter thin across the whole of the omni-verse.
The speedsters locked hands, and then began their combination vibration technique. The technique had a name, but Kid Flash failed to recall it at the moment. He had used it only once with Barry Allen and they were successful. But that was with a speedster he knew. He knew little about Impulse's abilities, despite knowing him on a personal level. Learning of a speedsters powers and experiencing them were two very different things.
But Impulse was fast, and they quickly synced their ratios.
Just then, a giant, green, photonic hand burst forth from the outermost stratospheric barrier that surrounded the office building and grabbed Impulse, breaking the combo-technique. It squeezed tightly, and Impulse screamed in pain as it began to crush his body. Clutched in its grip, a second attack came. With Kid Flash distracted by this mysterious hand, a powerful green blast hit Kid Flash in the chest and sent him heralding towards the Bat Plane.
Kid Flash hit the side of the plane and bounced off, landing with a thud to the ground. Tim immediately went over to help him. But Kid Flash was tough, and he was already beginning to crawl to his feet.
"Kid Flash! Are you okay?" Tim asked out of courtesy. "Anything injured?"
"Only my pride," he said, feeling his back. He used his powers to quickly heal himself. "That sneaky little bastard!"
Inertia stood proud and laughed. "Whatcha going to do now?" With one hand cupped on his hip and the other acting as a surrogate appendage, gripping Impulse with the giant green hand, he had the upper hand. "Don't anybody make a move, or I'll crush him, breaking his bones into speed-dust!"
Impulse cried out as the pressure increased. Inertia chuckled sinisterly.
"But this time, I'm not going to waste my time here with you all. I think I'll take my prize now."
And the last thing Impulse felt was the hand envelope him into the energy barrier, and Kid Flash screaming, "Nooo!"
To be continued…
