VELOCITY

A Justice League Fan-Fiction by neomage

(DISCLAIMER: Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, and all characters therein are owned by DC Comics and the Warner Bros. animation studios.)

Chapter 25

Central City Shopping Plaza, 2:00 p.m.

"Lord…" Marla's eyes widened in horror as she saw, through her camera lens, the mother and baby being tossed off the skyscraper's roof in opposite directions. The other bystanders, seeing this, immediately began to scream in panic.

"That guy threw them too far apart—does he want Flash to choose between them or something?" Linda exclaimed, even as far above them, Flash's familiar streak of red was already running down the side of the skyscraper. "Come on, Flash—hurry and do something!"

"No good, Linda—those two are falling too far away from the side of the building for Flash to just reach out and grab them!" Marla countered. "And even if he jumps for either one, he can't fly!"

"But still…!" Linda flinched as she continued to watch the two falling bodies and the charging Scarlet Speedster.

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Up on the skyscraper's wall, Flash was running at a pace fast enough that he wouldn't lose his sense of gravity traveling on the vertical surface, yet at the same time he would be able to keep pace with the screaming mother and crying baby even as they fell on either side of him. Wonderful…this skyscraper's a hundred floors high, and already we've gone seven floors…and they're both too far wide from the wall! If I try to jump and grab one of them, we might all go splat! Only one chance…a slim one, but I'd better make it count, or else…!

"Lady!" he shouted to the woman. "Gimme your hand! I'm gonna try and grab you!"

"I—I can't!" the woman screamed back, the terror still etched on her face. "I'm not close enough! You'll never be able to reach me!"

"Nothing tried, nothing done!" Flash shot back. "Give me your hand!"

Breathing sharply and audibly in her fear, the woman stretched out a hand to Flash. He, in turn, reached out to her—but there was still a considerable distance of two feet between them! "Aw, man!" Flash cried out.

They were on the seventy-fifth floor by this point. Flash again tried reaching for the woman…no success. Then—an idea struck him. "Hey! Take off your belt!"

"What?" the woman exclaimed, incredulous.

"Take off your belt! Hurry up!" Flash yelled.

With a disbelieving look on her face, the woman began to unbuckle her belt—but then she screamed, "LOOK OUT! BEHIND YOU!"

Turning his head slightly, Flash saw—to his horror—Zoom rushing down the side of the building, coming straight toward him with the speed of a bullet train! "Whoa!" he exclaimed, jumping slightly to one side and causing Zoom to miss him by scant inches.

"You didn't think I was going to let it be that easy for you, did you?" Zoom shouted at him, even as the yellow speedster slowed his pace somewhat so Flash could catch up to him again.

"Buzz off, dude!" Flash snapped. "They'll both die if I can't save them in time!"

"That's the general idea!" Zoom responded, even as he flung his arm around in a backhand that Flash just narrowly missed. "And you'd better hurry up about it, too—we just went past Floor 64!"

Scowling at this information, Flash turned back to the woman. "Is your belt off yet?"

"Almost…yes!" the woman answered, and she held up her newly-removed belt.

"Good!" Flash nodded. "Now, buckle it so that it makes a loop—ACK!" He suddenly choked as Zoom wrapped one arm around his neck, simultaneously sending three-hyper-fast punches with his free fist into the Scarlet Speedster's stomach.

Gritting her teeth nervously at this development, the woman did as instructed, looping the belt through the buckle so that it formed a pseudo-lasso. "Got it!" she cried.

Swiftly Flash fired an elbow right upward into Zoom's jaw, knocking the other speedster off-balance. "You got it? Swing it here!"

The woman wasted no time in doing so. Flash reached out and made several attempts to grab the belt-lasso…and then managed to grab hold on the fifth try. "GOT IT!" he yelled jubilantly. "All right, now I'm gonna drag you in! Hold on to your end and don't let go!"

Nodding, the woman held on tightly to her end of the belt, allowing Flash to pull her in to his position. Flash promptly grabbed her around the waist, while she in turn wrapped her arms round his neck. "Okay—now for your kid!" Flash told her.

"Hurry, Flash!" the woman pleaded. "We're getting closer to ground level, you know!"

Flash gritted his teeth at the reminder. She's right…we just passed the forty-first floor!

"Hey, Flash! Heads up!"

Glancing to his right, Flash saw Zoom coming at him again, this time with one fist upraised and ready to strike. Snarling as he saw this, Flash gripped the woman's belt in one hand while maintaining a firm hold on her with the other—and suddenly shifted to one side, heading straight for Zoom himself! "What the—" Zoom started, his eyes widening in surprise at this tactic—but then all of a sudden his face stung all over as Flash slapped him multiple times at super-speed with the belt. "AAARGH!"

While Zoom flinched, covered his face in agony, and slowed down so as to fall behind, Flash sped on ahead and further to the other side of the wall…and now he was only a few feet away from the wailing baby, even as his mind barely registered that they were currently on the thirty-sixth floor. "All right, lady…for your kid's sake, it's all or nothing!" he declared loudly. "Time to rope him in!"

Swinging the lassoed belt around a few times, Flash cast it toward the baby—and missed. Frowning, he cast it again—no dice. "Flash, please! Hurry!" the woman implored him.

Thirtieth floor…not much time! "Hang on, little guy!" Flash yelled as he cast the belt again…and the loop went around the infant's shrieking form.

"GOT HIM!" Flash cried triumphantly. "All right…now I gotta reel him in, real nice and gentle…"

At that moment the woman looked over Flash's shoulder—and blanched. "Flash! That guy's coming back again!"

And indeed, Zoom was rocketing straight for Flash's back, a picture of real rage plastered on his face. "You're going down!" he yelled as, much to Flash's shock, he took a flying dive and shot straight toward the Scarlet Speedster, hands clasped behind his head in a prepared hammer-punch.

Flash's eyes widened at this. Oh, no! At the speed he was going just now—there's no way I can dodge him and keep this belt lassoed onto the kid! There's no way! No—HUH?

And a confused look was suddenly emerging on Zoom's face, too, even as he inexplicably appeared to be left far behind from Flash's viewpoint. "HEY! Where'd this—this energy come from?" he exclaimed in shock.

For now Zoom's body was outlined by a mysterious glowing blue energy field, suspending him in mid-air! He tried punching and kicking, but the energy wouldn't dissolve. "WHAT'S GOING ON ALL OF A SUDDEN?" he bellowed.

Blinking in confusion himself, Flash then glanced around…and got his answer. "Dr. Fate! Booster! You're here?"

Indeed, flying in with both hands outstretched in Zoom's direction was Dr. Fate, with Booster not very far behind him. Dr. Fate's hands seemed to be glowing with the same blue energy that currently surrounded Zoom. "Don't worry, Flash—we've got your back!" Booster yelled to him. "Just get those two to safety now!"

"Got it!" Flash yelled back. "Okay, then, in that case, where was I…?"

Resuming his firm grip on the belt, he carefully pulled the infant toward him. Carefully…carefully…and then the child was within the woman's grabbing reach, and she pulled him out of the air and close to her. "My baby!" she sobbed, even as the baby whimpered into her neck.

"Don't worry; you're both safe now," Flash assured her…and he himself breathed a sigh of relief as he noted that now they were swiftly approaching the tenth floor, and he could hear the screams of the bystanders on the ground turning to cheers. And then—a few moments later, he, the woman, and the baby were all safely on the ground.

"Way to go, Flash! You really did it, man!" the civilians were cheering him.

The young mother, comforting her baby, wrapped an arm around Flash's neck in a grateful embrace. "You saved us both…thank you so much," she whispered, sobbing quietly.

"Sure thing," Flash nodded with understanding. "You gotta thank those guys up there, too—if they hadn't come along when they did…" He briefly pointed out Dr. Fate and Booster, still hovering several floors above them. "Anyway, why don't you take your little man out of here? Something tells me he's seen enough excitement for one day."

Not far away, Linda breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Whew…almost had a heart attack…"

Marla, however, kept her camera pointed upwards. "Linda…check it out…now that I've got a proper shot of that super-criminal, I can't believe what he's wearing!"

Linda looked upward and frowned. "Uh…am I going blind, or is that supposed to be a reverse-colored copy of Flash's suit?"

"Not unless we're both going blind," Marla answered.

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Up above the crowd, on the skyscraper's twenty-second floor, Zoom scowled at Dr. Fate and Booster even as he himself remained trapped in the mystical blue energy field. "Let me guess…two of Flash's Justice League buddies?" he asked sarcastically.

"You should be more concerned with your fate once you are handed over to the authorities," Dr. Fate said sternly. "Endangering the lives of a mother and child is nothing short of unforgivable."

"Aw, can't I knock him out? It's not like he's gonna be able to resist, with that spell you cast on him just now," said Booster.

"There's no need for that—he's already incapacitated as it is," Dr. Fate rebutted.

But suddenly Zoom smirked. "Actually, magic-freak, you would've done better to take that suggestion…although it wouldn't matter one way or the other. Allow me to show you why."

Then, holding both hands up, he clapped them together once, at super-speed…and all of a sudden the skyscraper's very foundation was rocked as the immense sonic boom blasted the glass out of the building's windows and out of the windows of all the other buildings within close proximity. Knocked off-balance by the boom, both Booster and Dr. Fate were sent spinning head-over-heels toward the ground, only barely managing to correct themselves at the last moment. "OW!" Booster cried out, holding both ears with his face contorted in agony.

"Uh…" Dr. Fate appeared to have been dizzied by the impact of the sonic boom, even as the noise itself still reverberated through his helmet.

As for Zoom—he was free-falling now, along with several thousand shards of broken glass from the windows! "Look out below, cretins!" he shouted, even as the citizens scattered for cover from the falling glass.

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"Flash! That guy—he's gonna get himself killed!" Linda exclaimed, even as Marla kept the camera focused on the falling Zoom.

"You guys get clear!" Flash ordered. "And take these two with you!" he added, ushering the newly-rescued mother and baby over to the news crew.

As the group hurried off, Flash turned his attention to Zoom and the falling glass. Raising both arms to the sky, he began to rotate them at super-speed, until he'd created a miniature whirlwind that halted the fall of the glass and swirled it above his head—but as he did this, to his surprise, he saw Zoom rotating his own arms at super-speed as well, only pointing his arms down toward the ground! "Hey! What d'you think you're doing?" he shouted.

"What's it look like, boy?" Zoom yelled back at him. "I'm not going to let myself be rescued by YOU!"

The two whirlwinds created by the two speedsters collided with each other, resulting in an intense blast of wind that fairly knocked Flash to the ground and sent the glass shards flying in every direction. Many of the bystanders, watching from a distance, had to duck down and take cover as the numerous pieces of glass got forcefully embedded in the gravel and in the trunks of nearby trees! Zoom himself, his fall having been sufficiently slowed by the colliding super-speed winds, landed on all fours with ease. "All right!" he snapped. "I'm seriously getting tired of this now—no more playing games with you!"

Out of the corner of his eye, though, he saw Booster flying toward him with one arm drawn back to punch him. "You meddlers need to learn to mind your own business!" he yelled as, with abnormal reflexes, he grabbed Booster's arm just as the other man punched at him, spun him around twice, and slammed him hard onto the ground. But even as Booster got the wind knocked out of him at the force of impact on the concrete, Zoom swiftly raised one foot and stomped down hard on Booster's shoulder even as he continued holding the other man's wrist in both hands.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Booster screamed in agony as he felt a crack in his shoulder-joint. Automatically he reached his opposing hand to his shoulder—and there Zoom was, crouched over his torso, firing machine-gun punches into his face and chest.

"Get off him!" Flash yelled, jumping up and running toward Zoom. Raising a fist, he prepared to strike—but suddenly Zoom stood up, grabbed Flash's oncoming punch in one hand, and countered with three super-swift punches of his own—one to Flash's stomach, one to his chest, and the last to his face, knocking him back.

"Wait your turn, Flash," Zoom said stoutly. "Once I finish dealing with your two buddies, I'll have plenty of energy left to take care of yo—AAAH!"

A blast of energy hit him in the side, knocking him several yards back. Meanwhile, holding one hand to his head even as his other hand glowed with mystic power, Dr. Fate staggered a little. "Ugh…"

"Hey, Doc…you all right there?" Flash asked worriedly, picking himself back up and holding himself where Zoom had punched him.

"Still…still disoriented…from that…sonic boom…" Dr. Fate fell to one knee. "But…I can still fight!"

"Aaaagh…" Not very far away, Booster sucked air through his teeth and grimaced as he sat up, holding onto his injured shoulder. "Guys…how about a little help…?"

A sudden yellow blur shot past him, even as from that same blur a red-booted foot delivered a kick to Booster's face, spinning him around and knocking him back down! The yellow blur then ran up to Dr. Fate, materializing into the form of a very enraged Zoom—and he held up both hands close to the sorcerer's head and snapped his fingers several times at super-speed! "AAAAAAAAHHHH!" Dr. Fate howled in torture as the noise of the resulting sonic booms reverberated inside his helmet, even as the impact of the booms themselves sent him rocketing off into the side of a nearby building, slamming into its wall with crushing impact!

Flash took in what had just happened at a glance. "Fate! Booster!" he cried out—just before Zoom shot up to him, grabbed him by the throat with one hand and the waist of his suit with the other, and force-ran him right into the front entrance of the skyscraper they'd raced down the side of only moments before, smashing the revolving doors out of place in the process.

His breath cut off by Zoom's sudden grabbing of his neck, Flash had no time to react as the other speedster ran him straight into a tall stone column inside the building's main hall. As the column shattered into pieces from the speed and force of the impact, Flash involuntarily coughed up a mixture of saliva and blood—and then Zoom slammed him into the wall beyond the column, cracking the wall's tiling in the process. Pain suddenly wracking his body from the double-whammy, Flash slumped…but Zoom forcefully held him steady with his hand still clasped around the Scarlet Speedster's neck. "What's the matter, Flash? Did I break a few of your bones while I was rushing you through here just now?" Zoom asked derisively.

"Been there…done that," Flash grunted.

"What's that? You like broken bones?" Zoom laughed. "Then maybe you'll relish this!"

The next thing Flash knew, he felt seemingly endless sledgehammer-like blows to his entire midsection as Zoom's arms became a barely discernible haze…

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Unbeknownst to Flash or Zoom at that moment, Linda and Marla were watching the brutal bashing from the relative safety of the building's entrance, with Marla catching it all on her video-camera. "Ouch…" Linda flinched as she watched Zoom pummeling Flash.

"Yeah…that reverse-Flash is really laying it on!" Marla whispered. "I just wish those other two guys could see this!"

"Well, those two noble-hearted members of our crew did say they were gonna stay with that mom and her baby, after what they've been through just now," Linda reminded her, with a wry chuckle. "Although, I don't know whether to be grateful that they're not here to see this, or to feel sorry they're missing out…"

Marla suddenly blinked and looked at the camera. "Uh—oh, nuts, the camera battery's almost run dry! I better get my spare from the van…"

"All right, fine, but hurry up—we don't want to miss too much of this!" Linda urged her.

"As if I hadn't got enough footage of this nutty character already," Marla muttered as she turned and headed off.

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Zoom's hands slowly rematerialized into solid form, at his sides; Flash promptly slumped to the ground, his hands crossing over his torso. The chest of his costume was now in tatters, and his now-revealed chest sported some very large and ugly bruises. Zoom himself merely flexed his fingers, tightened them into fists, then flexed them again. "Seems you're still conscious, even after all of that," he remarked. "I just hit you a little over nine thousand times in forty-five seconds…and my knuckles only feel slightly tender at the end of it all. Impressed? I know I am."

Flash tried to breathe deep—he ended up choking, coughing up blood. "Argh…gonna…take more than that…to get rid of me…" he rasped.

"Oh, that can be arranged, without a doubt," and Zoom reached down and grabbed Flash by the throat, forcing him to his feet and up against the wall again. "Now, boy, here's what's going to happen…" he continued, as he held up Flash with one hand and held the other in a fist—and as that fist began to vibrate. "I'm going to take this nice, friendly fist that you see here…and send it straight through your skull. And I know for a fact that one of us is going to enjoy it immensely."

Then he frowned. "However, before I do that…there's just one question I want you to answer."

In spite of the pain wracking Flash's face, he managed to level a glare at Zoom. "And…what's that…?"

Zoom's eyes narrowed. "Everybody in Central and Keystone believes that you're such a trustworthy guy. Well, Flash…if that's true…then why keep your face hidden behind this mask?"

With one abrupt movement, he lunged his vibrating hand forward, grabbed hold of the top of Flash's mask, and ripped it off—and his eyes widened in just-as-sudden astonishment. "…wha…?"

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From her hiding place at the doorway, Linda blinked as she saw the face underneath Flash's forcibly-removed mask. "Wally…?" she whispered, one hand slowly coming up to her mouth as she stared incredulously.

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Wally West, despite the blood leaking from the corner of his mouth and the deep grimace on his face, put on a small smirk. "Guess you…were expecting…somebody else, huh?"

Zoom promptly dropped the Flash mask he'd only seconds ago pulled off of Wally's head; releasing Wally himself, he staggered back a few steps. "No…why…why the heck…you…you, of all people…but you're Zolomon's friend!" he sputtered, shaking his head wildly.

Wally slumped to the ground again, wincing as his hands automatically moved to cover his battered midsection. "Hey…" He coughed a little, flinching as his body jerked with each cough. "You said it yourself…you and Hunter…aren't the same guy. So…why should you care…whether it's me…or some other dumb punk…under the mask?"

The surprise slowly ebbed out of Zoom's face, replaced with a bitter scowl. "You…all this time, it was you…and he had faith in you…trusted you…talked with you like old friends…and all this time, you were betraying his confidence in you. Well, buddy…"

Again he reached down and grabbed Wally by the throat; again he raised his fist. "You know, you're absolutely right—why SHOULD I care who it is that's wearing the Flash's mask? No matter who it is…even if it's somebody Zolomon worked with…somebody Zolomon confided in…they'll be made to pay for the wrongs done to him regardless!" His fist began to vibrate again. "Now—you DIE!"

WHACK!

Zoom reeled forward as a huge piece of granite slammed into the back of his head, breaking into pieces on contact. "What the—!" he sputtered, letting go of Wally in shock. "Who…!"

Wally's eyes widened slightly at this new development. Then he looked past Zoom—and his eyes widened some more. "Oh, no…"

Standing there was Linda Park, a determined expression on her face, standing next to the broken stone column even as she tossed a piece of cement from said column up and down in her palm. "Leave him alone, you fraud—or else you'll get another taste of my softball-pitching skills!" she snapped.

Zoom scoffed at the threat—and a second later he emerged right in front of the suddenly startled Linda, grabbing the cement piece from her hand. "Well, I'm sorry, little lady, but this coach says you need to go sit back on the bench." And as if to emphasize the point, he slammed his fist into the cement piece, smashing it to bits.

Linda gulped at this display. "Uh…okay…maybe this wasn't such a good idea…"

She turned to run, but Zoom grabbed her by the shoulder and forcefully turned her to face him again. "I know who you are," he said acidly. "You're that little reporter-girl Wally had his eye on. Seems Chyre and Morillo were right—reporters are more trouble than they're worth."

In an eye-blink, he zipped around Linda so that he was now behind her, in the process wrapping one arm tightly around her and pointing his other hand's index finger ten inches away from her head. "Now, girl, one wrong move on your part and I'll scramble your brains right now!" he threatened.

"No! Leave her out of this!" Wally cried, attempting to stand up—and flinching again as pain hit his whole midsection once again, causing him to collapse face-first.

"You know, I would, except for one thing—she got herself involved the second she threw that rock at me," Zoom replied coldly. "But you still have a chance to save her, Wally—because the next thing that happens to her all depends on you. And considering your pathetic little state right now, I'll be generous and give you five seconds to get her back from me. And for every second that you don't…" He waved his vibrating finger ominously. "Now. Five." And he moved the finger one inch closer to Linda's head.

Linda looked worriedly at Wally. "Wally…"

"Four." Zoom's finger moved another inch.

Again Wally tried to get up, groaning as pain tore through his midsection, but he managed to raise himself up on his hands.

"Three." Another inch closer.

Holding his midsection with one hand, Wally summoned his energy in spite of the pain and lurched forward—and Zoom pulled Linda slightly to one side, raised his foot, and delivered a swift kick to Wally's chest, knocking him back down. Then: "Two."

"Aaaaagh…!" Wally clutched his chest where Zoom had kicked him in pain, even as his face developed an anguished look.

"One." And Zoom began to push his finger dangerously closer to Linda's head…

CHAPTER 25 COMPLETE! CHAPTER 26 COMING UP!

(NOTE TO BE MADE: Just something I thought I'd point out—in Wonder Woman #214, when Zoom's fight with Wonder Woman brought them to Themyscera, he punched one of Diana's sisters 200 times in one second. Thought I'd amplify that amount in his beatdown of Flash here in this chapter. I just hope I didn't overdo it…)