Barry flicked his eyes open and looked around, seeing ash fall from the sky and the eerie echo of 'Silver Bells' playing from a broken speaker on a shop front to his left. The light and fluffy snow falling from the now-orange sky blended with the ash that fell and increased the scope of the disaster. Barry closed his eyes and felt all the open wounds on his body, biting his lip as he felt his left shinbone crack back into place. He rolled off of the destroyed car and could see the various firetrucks, police cars, and helicopters soaring and rolling past. He stood up and felt blood on his cheek, wiping it and finding his face wound to be healed. His suit was scuffed up and the polymer had slightly melted on his left forearm. He looked around and saw the people bleeding and crying on the streets. EMTs and police officers were rushing to help the injured and Barry ran over a flipped-over school bus, seeing small children inside, all with various wounds. Within a few seconds, all of the children were outside and safe from any more danger.
"I need a medic. I've got children!" Barry yelled at the top of his lungs.
A nearby EMT heard his call and swiped away a cloud of smoke and dust, seeing the Central City hero looking damaged and tired. The EMT ran over to him quickly with his medical bag and kneeled down to help the first child who had a severe cut on his arm.
"How many do you think are injured?" the Flash asked.
"I don't know. Thousands, I'd guess. Probably an equal amount are..." the EMT said before looking at the child's face and giving Flash a stare.
Flash understood and ran ahead, blowing away smoke from the streets so more first responders could see the full extent of the damage. He ran up the side of a nearby skyscraper, one of the lucky few that hadn't been hit, and looked at the destruction from high in the air. The city had been blown to Hell. Fires were everywhere, smoke covered most of the city, and the screams and sirens never let up. Flash bent down on one knee and shook his head. This was a crisis like no other. The biggest terrorist attack in the history of the world. And it had to be Central City. He pulled out his phone from his belt and quickly dialed Iris' number, praying to God that she would answer him.
"Barry?" he heard her voice say after a few painful seconds of silence.
"Baby! Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm stuck in our apartment building. After the first explosion went off, I ran down the steps and then, the Cattard Building got hit. It fell against our building and I'm stuck with about thirty or forty people in the stairway. We're trapped. Are you okay?" she answered.
"No. You don't know what's happened, Iris. Central City is gone."
He could hear Iris crying over the phone and heard her struggle against something on the other line. Scrapes and yelling was heard and Barry tensed up, eyeing the apartment building three miles out.
"Give me that damn phone!" he heard a man yell before the line went dead.
The Flash put the phone back in his belt and got a running start, leaping off the building at 900 MPH and shattering the section of the roof he had been standing on. He was more angry than ever before, all his emotions pouring out and letting him run faster than ever before. He screamed and cried at the same time, dodging traffic, people on the streets, and even a helicopter as he leaped fifty feet in the air, crashing back down to the Earth and making a small crater on the sidewalk below. He saw the Cattard Real Estate Building broken apart and leaning against their building, pieces of rubble falling off every couple of seconds. He ran inside the building, crashing through the front doors and zooming through the fire escape, scaling three floors every second until he came to the walled-off section where Iris was. He could hear lots of people yelling inside and pounded hard on the rock wall.
"Can anybody hear me?" he yelled.
No response.
"Hello?" he screamed.
Again, only more yelling.
He groaned in anger and punched at the wall, bits of concrete flying and his knuckles breaking. He flung his hand back and looked at his broken fingers in pain before seeing a crack in the wreckage. He waited a moment, hearing the bones in his fingers click back together and all the strands of muscle retwine again. He shook off the strange sensation of his healing and looked at the crack in the wall, beginning to rub his hands against the fissure, his hands moving extremely fast and grinding away at the concrete. His hands made a sound similar to a sand grinder and he leaned his head back, bits of rock bouncing off of his cowl. Flash saw the fissure grow by eight feet and suddenly, the sound of panicked people flooded through and a flood of people ran up to the hole.
"Flash! Flash!" a man yelled.
"Get us out of here! We're about to die!" another said, their bloodied face popping up.
Flash looked at them and tried to find Iris, finally seeing her run up and push her way through the crowd and give a small smile at him. Before their small moment could continue, a loud crash echoed from above and Flash looked up, seeing a large section of the skyscraper fall down. Flash zoomed out of the way and watched as the wall began to crack, concrete bursting apart and giving him a few precious seconds to act. He looked at Iris and looked deep in her eyes before motioning her to stand back.
"It's okay, everybody! Stay clear! I'm breaking this wall down." he told all of them.
They obeyed and receded back into the darkness of their entrapment and waited patiently. Flash backed up ten feet and moved his arms and legs at the fastest level his body would allow him. He had learned one thing since his discovery of his powers. The faster an object traveled, the more mass it carried. His entire body became nothing but a red blur and he slowed time down to a point where he observed small particles of dust standing in place. He saw the cracks along the walls increase in number and he prepared his stance. This place was going to fall apart. What he was trying to do was impossible. But then again, he could run faster than the speed of sound so maybe... there was a chance. He ran at the rock wall and could feel the power in every step he took. The floor crushed beneath him and at the last second, he jumped through the air, bracing for impact as he hit 800 MPH. He collided with the wall and his entire right arm was crushed and he felt his face dent in severely. He screamed in pain and watched as the wall exploded apart, blowing a person size hole in the concrete. He bounced back and flew down the stairs, breaking a few more bones as he lied in pain. The sides of the apartment building collasped and Flash looked around, seeing chunks break apart and about to fall down on the escaping innocents. He stood up with super speed, bones cracking back into place and his cheekbone pushing back out to its original place. He ignored the painful healing process and jumped up the stairs, running alongside of the wall as he grabbed Iris and another woman first, rushing them down to the second floor before going back for more.
Iris barely had time to catch a breath hearing her boyfriend break the sound barrier multiple times in just a few seconds. Her hair was blown back and she fell down, over thirty people standing in front of her, all shocked. Flash stood in front of them, blood covering his suit and his chest pounding in and out deeply. He locked eyes with Iris and she gave a small smile before he cleared his throat.
"Get out of the building... quick. It's coming down." he said before zooming back up through the building to rescue other trapped Centralites.
"You are the son of Atlanna? She was one of the greatest leaders we've ever known." Diana responded to Arthur as he had explained his whole story to her as they sat in the holding cells before being taken to seperate sides of the prison.
"Thanks. That's Mom for you. So, Princess... what did Serin do?"
"After refusing to sign the treaty, she was told by a guard that a bomb had been found. A bomb of Themyscirian origin. She immediately looked at me and Artemis and took us in. No questions allowed. It wasn't us. We arrived two hours ago and went straight to the court. We're being set up."
"Believe me, I know. There's something wrong happening. I'm was actually raised in the United States. Do you know what that is?" Arthur asked.
"Oh, yes. I work with the Pentagon. I'm friends with Colonel Steve Trevor. Do you know him?" Diana replied.
Arthur shook his head.
"Well, I think your High Council Queen is trying to start a war with America. I'm sure you are aware of the Orca?"
"Yes. I've heard a little about it. Just little whispers here and there. I try to spend my time between here and my place up in Maine. It's an Atlantean battleship, right?" Arthur said.
Diana nodded her head and looked around the cell, seeing a guard walk by and falling silent. Once the man had passed and aided by the chatter of prisoners outside of the cells, the two resumed their discussion.
"It contains special equipment that allows them to use sound as a weapon. There are no spears or guns used. Simple sound. It is devastating. My handler, Mr. Trevor, was sent on a hunt to find the Orca. They broke into Atlantis two months ago and found it. They took photos and video. The United States sent me here to make sure peace would remain between us all." she said.
"Wait," Arthur said, backing up and feeling a sense of distrust.
"How does the U.S. even know about Atlantis?"
"I told them." Diana said simply.
Arthur sighed and buried his face in his hands. Diana rose an eyebrow and was confused.
"What is the problem? I told them about us as well."
"Princess..." Arthur said.
"You told the government that there was a secret civilization down below the depths of the Atlantic. You told them that they were militarized and had weapons?"
"Yes." she replied bluntly.
"And you didn't expect them to want and come check it out?"
Diana looked at him, puzzled.
"It's an American expression. It means see for themselves."
She nodded in agreement. She gave a small smile and her dumbness to America's thought process shone through brightly. Arthur was slightly worried that because of this Amazonian's actions, she could start a war.
"I don't think you understand what the States does when they learn about something like this. They like to take over everything, Princess. And I mean everything."
"But they were so nice and calm about it." Diana said.
Arthur buried his face in his hands again. This woman was beautiful, grand, and elegant. But very, very stupid.