Disclaimer: I don't own Worm, Wildbow does.
Author's Note: Totally forgot to paste over a short segment involving Jon Murphy last chapter. Please go back and read it if you haven't been following the thread on Sufficient Velocity. As usual, reviews (but not flames!) would be appreciated :).
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever." -George Orwell, 1950
Sergeant Garcia groaned as he gazed down, staring into a picture of the perp.
He was of average height, standing around five foot nine inches tall with a thin, wiry runner's build. Preliminary analysis of his voice and facial structure had determined that he was of south-east Asian descent, likely hailing from New York City's outer boroughs.
Impulse was highly recognizable - a shade of blue light would coat his eyes and legs whenever he ran, and the light would flare whenever his trademark physics-defying right angle turns through crowds in a chase. He wore an ill-fitting yellow Professor Zoom costume, and loved to taunt his pursuers incessantly, as if his grand larceny were nothing more than a stupid game.
As far as his actions went, Impulse had been a innocuous petty thief - taking mostly to stealing money from cash registers as they were open, or grabbing valuables such as jewelry and phones that were left out in the open.
He had made a sport out of taunting and frustrating the NYPD as he led them on hour-long wild goose chases that he could easily escape from, but chose not to.
On this quiet Monday evening, Impulse had struck again.
Anthony Nguyen was a blur, dashing through the maze-like side streets of Wall Street with multiple police units in hot pursuit. Time and again the police vehicles tried to cut him off in vain.
What a bunch of clowns the man in the yellow costume thought to himself.
They had left his family's little neighborhood in the South Bronx to rot at the mercy of the Bloods after all, and the NYPD had never failed to prove their gross incompetence over the years. It was because they had abandoned his neighborhood that his older sister Rose had died, an innocent victim of a gang shootout between 2Fly YG and the Brims. His father had also been mugged and killed delivering fucking noodles of all things, and the racist assholes had left him as nothing more than a lonely footnote filed in the corner of a police report.
He held a large bag of money he had stolen from a payday loans booth in hand. Tony had simply jammed a metal lipstick tube in the shark's back and convinced him he was being held up with a gun. Tony had never seen a man empty a safe that quickly.
Even now, they can't even catch a single twenty year old stopping to BROADCAST his location!
He ran down an alley and braked - the result of trying to stop or turn mid-run while his power was active.
Tony froze in mid air and dropped to the ground, his momentum halted entirely and stored in the blue aura. The world outside his tiny bubble turned a shade of blue, slowing to a crawl for a few seconds as he caught his breath.
He leaned forward and took care not to leave the radius of the bubble and maximized the time he had to collect himself.
He smiled through his mask at the camera as he mentally counted down the seconds. The barrier dropped.
"Hello, hello my friends of the first, fifth, sixth, and seventh precincts!" he grinned. "This is Impulse, the Fastest Man Alive! I'll be turning down Pine Street up and up Water Street shortly. Take heed this is probably your last chance to catch me before I disappear again on our merry chase. Hope to see y'all soon!"
Impulse turned away from the camera, then dashed down the side street.
He braked, cancelling his momentum, then turned at a sharp ninety degrees, repeating the process as he zigged and zagged down the side streets.
Mom would have a heart attack if she knew how I was getting enough money to get all these fresh, hot meals. How would she react if she knew that I quit my job at the construction site last month?
Still, it was worth it to stick it to the pigs. It was honestly more disappointing than sad that could never do anything right.
Tony turned the corner to Water Street, and scoffed as he spotted multiple officers waiting for him behind a blockade.
You're too slow! He mentally chastised them.
He sped ahead, taking care to zig-zag through a crowd of yuppies. Hopefully their presence would dissuade any trigger happy cops from getting any ideas.
Tony knew he was fast - not stupidly, reality-breaking fast like his childhood hero, The Flash, but he could match most conventional vehicles. He also had a ludicrous amount of maneuverability to go along with that the speed.
His injury had ended his varsity track career, as well as any prospects he had in being able to afford higher education, but the second chance he had gotten through his power was arguably much better.
Whatever happens - Mary, Daniel, Lena, I swear on our dead father's name that none of you will ever go hungry again.
He zipped up Water Street, with police units falling further and further behind him.
Looks like I'll be clear soon.
He turned on James Madison Plaza, and zoomed through the park in a yellow streak. It wouldn't be long before he arrived at the Chinatown tenement apartment complex he used as his Downtown safe house.
An officer suddenly stepped out of the alley, intent on catching him with a well timed clothesline to the head.
Tony's heart skipped as he braked. He took a deep breath and ducked under the arm as it slowly arced out at a fraction of its speed. The arm made contact with the edge of his bubble, and the police let out a yelp of pain as his arm cracked on something solid, shattering the bubble.
Crap.
Tony rolled to the side as he felt his connection to his power source waiver for a few seconds. The officer reached for his gun, and Tony felt panic grip him before he felt the connection re-assert itself.
He watched as the officer's eyelids dropped in a blink, and in that moment, Tony had run behind him, taser raised.
Tony thrust the taser at the officer's neck, and he dropped to the ground, twitching and convulsing.
Way too close, I'm outta here.
He ran up into alleyway, and began to dash through the sprawling backalleys that made up Chinatown. Eventually, he made his way to an innocuous looking garbage can.
To his relief, the spare clothes he placed there had not been stolen by any homeless scavengers.
Taking care to check for witnesses, he hid his Professor Zoom costume in the garbage can. Activating his power, he made his way up the fire escape.
Tony heard the police sirens approach breathlessly, then sighed in relief as they faded off into the distance.
He opened a window and crawled into his tenement apartment, placing the bag of money on his couch before moving to turn on his lights.
Before he could react, something flew out of the darkness and wrapped around his legs, dropping him to the wooden floor with a painful thud.
What the fuck?
Two pairs of bolas of all things were wrapped around his arms and legs. His powers were negated and he was completely helpless.
Shit shit! shit shit shit shit!
"Mister Win?" a feminine voice spoke out.
Is it weird my first thought was 'Wow, she got the name somewhat right?'
"I have a proposition for you." she continued, walking out from the darkness.
Even in the darkness of dusk, Tony could tell the woman was young. She was wearing a white dress shirt, jeans, and combat boots. She had brown, wavy hair and oval shaped brown eyes, and was clearly Caucasian mixed with something else. Her thin, expressive lips were curled up in a smirk and she held a pistol in her hands. She smelled faintly of strawberries.
He squirmed against his bindings.
Think Tony, think! There's got to be a way out, maybe if I...
A click against his head made him freeze.
"I think you'll find it worth your time to listen."