Dave Akerman had been sedated for a while now. "Where am I?"
"Welcome, Mr. Dave! I heard you were not very fond of me. Is it true?" Black looked hurt and retorted in a sarcastic manner. "Don't worry, this won't take much of your time. I am just going to educate you about what may happen, if you turn down my proposal at the meeting next week…Your wife and kids are very beautiful, I must say." Black held the pictures of Dave's family in front of him.
"You swine! What have you done?! Please spare them….not them please!" Dave was moved to tears thinking of the position his family might be in.
"Oh my, did not expect it to be this easy. Mr. Dave they will be fine as long you comply with the rules I have set. You are family man, so you ought to understand the importance of one. I have a family too. I really enjoy their company. Won't know what would happen to me without them." Black sounded somewhat melancholy but picked up the pace of sarcasm soon afterward. "So Mr. Dave, hope you understand the situation you have put me in."
The day had arrived for Parker and Matt to trade blows and finally decide who was the strongest.
"Are you sure you want to do this? I don't know, I feel you are putting your relation with Parker at stake here." Alice tried to make Matt give up the idea of brawling with the speedster.
"You are wrong this time, Alice. The relation will remain strained, if I don't do so. This time around Parker and I can only talk to each other through fists. Words won't do any good."
"Please don't kill each other. I may not understand the lingo you talk in. But losing my friends, you, I cannot handle."
Parker was bare bodied, throwing a series of fast punches and kick against a test dummy who just lost its head.
"Hey! Hey! Go easy on this poor creation of mine, dude! Its pretty rare for you to be here. Pumped up?" Kellum tried reassembling his shambled dummy.
"He is my toughest opponent. Fighting him would make me stronger. I want to see for myself, how can Shadow a normal human be on par with Bolt? He is going to show me the difference and I want to be prepared to handle it." Kellum had never seen Parker so serious before.
Flashback:
Paradox and Flash emerge from a portal, engaging in a speed battle on the lone streets of the city. However it did not stick to only the streets. Across buildings, in the air, the 2 arch rivals exchanged blows.
"Don't you admit this is fun, Flash?!"
"This is not going to last long, Paradox!" The Flash dominated Paradox in the battle of speed. However, Paradox was ready to do anything to win. Just as when they got into close contact combat, he injected the Flash from his blindspot with what seemed to be some kind of toxin.
The Flash quickly burnt through it, however it was enough for Paradox to deal a critical blow. Tripping the Flash and flinging him at high speed through the glass door.
"Your speed is now mine!" He dug his hand into Flash's body stealing away his source of power and vanished from plain sight.
Present:
The alleys of Churchwood street were empty apart from Matt and Parker preparing to indulge in their battle.
"This is really happening." Parker was getting psyched.
"Shadow or Bolt? The question of the day!" Matt was ready to prey.
"I cannot watch." Alice and the team were observing the fight through the microcam on Bolt's suit.
"3….2….1!" Parker closed in on Matt and circled him around in frenzy. Punches came out in an unorthodox manner throwing Matt from one end to the other. Yet Matt was calculating every move with his eyes. There was not even a moment, he lost sight of the streak. When Parker thought he had gained advantage and was about to throw the next set of punches, Matt ducked.
His punch was dodged! Matt threw in his fist as an uppercut rendering Parker in a daze for a moment. But that was enough for Matt to close in on him with 2 more punches to his chest and rib area throwing the speedster back to the wall.
"You slowed down, Parker! Thought I could not handle it?! Guess again! Come at me seriously or I may end breaking you!" Matt taunted deliberately.
"You are talking to a speedster here. Challenging me will cost." Parker smirked with bolts surging through his eyes and veins. He changed his attack pattern. Using the alleys to his advantage to gain momentum, his punches connected with the vigilante of the dark. Matt was thrown several feet away. He lay down on his back staring at the sky. "So he is serious after all huh?" He thought to himself. Getting back up, he tried to gasp for breath when Parker snatched his quiver.
"So much for being tactful, right? Your quiver is now with me, Matt. I guess we can conclude this match now." Parker was sure of himself.
"I have other gadgets too, you know." Saying this Matt activated the freeze bomb he managed to attach to the speedster's body just before he snatched the quiver away.
Parker's leg started enveloping in shard of cold ice rendering his ability to stay on his feet useless. "Dammit! Right on my legs!" Parker was unaware of this frontal when Matt kneed him on the face taking his quiver away.
"Never take away my prized possessions." Matt retorted in the same manner Parker did before.
"This fight is the best I have ever seen. While Matt is a calculative fighter, Parker is more unorthodox and his moves are more flashy and out of the place. However his speed fairly compensates for the handicap." Kellum was assessing the fight till now, not being able to predict a clear winner in any case.
"Not only that, I feel Parker has the advantage due to his superhuman stamina and cellular regenerative abilities. If the fight were to extend, Matt may run out of gas leaving Parker as the victor." Molly joined in too.
"Please don't tell me, you guys are having this conversation right now." Alice was worried for both of heroes and did not want any casualty which would bring about a strain in their relationship.
Parker's vulnerability to extreme cold temperatures slowed him down. He vibrated his arms at a fast pace and rubbed it on the affected area, generating enough friction to melt away the accumulated ice. Suddenly 2 arrows just flew right at him, with parker catching them mid- air. "Still worth a shot." Matt shrugged.
"Its payback time!" Parker started circling around Matt initiating a vacuum to suck up all the oxygen in the confined space.
Due to the lack of oxygen, Matt started to feel dazed. His consciousness was fading. Using his grappling hook arrow he got away from the zone, but before he could reach the top of the building, Parker reached there cutting off the hook. Matt was now falling down 20 meters, however he slowed down in his momentum using another of his grappling hooks. However , before Matt could react Parker landed a series of blows of him. Hooks, jabs were all over the place.
Just when Matt was about to react, Parker backed away at full speed. "Maintaining distance from me, huh? Well you have been learning your lessons." Matt thought to himself. But he had no choice to but to close in on the speedster. Close combat was the only thing he could dominate him in. Matt launched an arrow with a poker-face. Parker did not feel the need to catch it midair and simply dodged it.
"Won't work on me, Matt!" Parker grinned thinking that he was in the best position to win now.
"You laid down your guard again!" The arrow which Parker dodged ended up exploding behind throwing the speedster off balance due to the impact. Just then Matt closed in on him and with no opening dealt a strong blow to the head to render him unconscious. However healing capabilities proved to be the vigilante's disadvantage. Nevertheless Matt continued his onslaught, hitting Parker at pivotal areas. Slowly throughout the barrage, the speedster was learning too. He increased his guard against the attacks that were coming in. Matt was indeed fast in close combat. However, every human ceases the zone at some point of time. Parker used this opportunity to react. He dealt strong rapid blows to Matt's torso pushing him back and created a wind funnel with his arms blowing the vigilante away.
"Matt! I knew you injected me with some kind of tranquilizer during the fight! However, my metabolism burnt through it!" Parker was gasping for breath while Matt stayed down on his knees.
"This guy was fast enough to slip in a tranquilizer without me noticing. His knowledge in close combat is insane." Parker thought to himself.
"As expected from a speedster. Even the smallest of opportunities I get is sealed away due to the god-like speed he possesses." Matt proceeded to get up.
"He is strongest opponent I have fought till now." Both of them had this synchronous thought which inspired them to be stronger. They were now not fighting to determine the strongest, but simply fighting for fun. This was the best way to enjoy each other's company.
"Let's end this!" Both of them prepared themselves.
"Oh God! Time has come! Shadow or Bolt? Who is the victor in this seamless battle?" Kellum exclaimed sounding just like a news reporter not being able to contain his inquisitiveness.
Parker and Matt were about to trade blows, when a thunderous sound made a debut and both the heroes found themselves hit by an unseen impact throwing them a considerable distance away.
"Guess what?! I am back!" This menacing voice, Parker had clearly memorized this. It was none other than Paradox's.
"The arrow and the flash in the same frame! Wow, this is so exciting!"
Matt launched an arrow, but in a split second found it retracing it path back to him! Matt just caught the arrow before it pierced his neck. A drop of sweat fell down his cheek. Paradox was on a whole new level. A split second later and the vigilante would have been dead.
Paradox glared at Bolt. "I hope you are better than before, Flash. Don't disappoint me tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day, I outdo both of you, destroy you and hang you over the top of the city making you a subject to their cries and false hopes."
"Just who are you?!" Parker was infuriated over the torment he had faced last time. "Catch me to find out!" Paradox flashed out. Parker could have followed but did not. He knew he could not handle Paradox alone, not at this stage. He needed Matt's help to gain an advantage.
"Do you still want to continue or…?"
"Nopes. I got my answer. You are very strong, Matt and I want your help to defeat Paradox."
"We need each other to protect our backs. " Matt forward his hand for a lifelong truce and Parker accepted it knowing that the next time they fought, it would be for each other and not against.
