SPEED FORCE
(JUSTICE LEAGUE, the JUSTICE LEAGUE icon and all names and characters therein are property of and owned by DC Comics and Cartoon Network. Any attempt to use any such property of these companies without their proper authorization and/or permission can and will result in civil liability and criminal prosecution.)
(I do not own JUSTICE LEAGUE, nor am I in any way affiliated with Cartoon Network or DC Comics. I'm just a diehard fan who loves the show.)
(This fanfic is rated PG. It contains mild violence.)
CHAPTER 03 TIME: 0840 hrs. PLACE: A hidden laboratory in the Central City subway
The device looked like some sort of hallway mirror frame, except it was mechanical and had a console with various buttons, levers and wires at the bottom. The middle of the frame was about 15 feet by 6 feet, big enough for someone with a big body to walk through with ease. "Hmmm...I wonder what this thing does?" Flash wondered.
Suddenly he grimaced and held his head, screaming in agony as he fell over. Behind him came the ominous form of Grodd. "Didn't anyone ever teach you not to touch things that didn't belong to you?" he demanded as he raised his mighty fists to crush his opponent.
Flash dashed out of the way at the last moment, however. "Hey, Grodd! Just what are you up to?" he asked.
Grodd grinned maliciously. Then, his eyes glowed – and the next thing Flash knew, he was being suspended in midair! "What the – " was all he could manage as Grodd's powers slammed him from one wall to another, then on the ceiling and floor. Finally, Grodd grabbed Flash by the throat and pinned him to the floor.
"Well, since you're so inquisitive, and since you're going to die anyway, I suppose I might tell you," said Grodd, his eyes shining with murder. "That device is a time machine I've been working on for some time now. As soon as I make it active, I intend to go back to the era when apes still ruled the world. After that, everything you know now – hot dog stands, movie theaters, sports magazines – all of that will cease to exist, because humanity will never exist in this reality, this timeline."
Grodd then raised one fist. "And the first thing I'll do to ensure that nothing interferes with my scheme," he said, "is to smash your puny skull into jelly!"
Suddenly, from behind Grodd, there was a loud BANG! The next thing, Grodd howled in pain as, releasing Flash from his grip, he instinctively reached behind him to find the foreign object that had penetrated his skin. His fingers quickly found it – a dart that dripped fluid. Snarling in his animal rage, he turned to see who or what had been responsible.
Standing at the entrance was Hunter Zolomon, a gun in one hand. "Tranquilizer darts," he announced. "Even for someone as intelligent as you, Grodd, they still always have the desired effect."
Flash, coughing as he fought to catch his breath, cried hoarsely, "Hunter, no! Get away!"
Grodd roared, "You pathetic, meddling human! I'll show you respect!"
Hunter trained his gun on Grodd again, backing away as he did. "Try me, you dumb gorilla."
Howling, Grodd rushed at Hunter. The officer quickly fired four more tranquilizer darts at the maddened gorilla, but next thing he knew Grodd reached forward and grabbed him by his scalp.
Hunter's eyes widened in sudden fear. "Oh, man."
Now roaring in his fury, Grodd slammed Hunter against the wall five times, each time harder than before. Then, holding onto both of Hunter's ankles with his free hand, he raised the hapless cop over his head.
What happened next seemed to take place in slow motion.
Realizing that Hunter was in mortal danger, Flash staggered to his feet and started to race toward Grodd, screaming, "Grodd, no! DON'T DO IIIIITT!!"
But Grodd did it, anyway. Letting out an unthinkable shriek, he slammed Hunter's back against his own head; a split half-second later a sickening crack could be heard.
Hunter's eyes widened in agony, and his screams of torture could be heard throughout the subway. Grodd, having satisfied his fury, tossed Hunter aside like a rag doll. "So much for him," he said, speaking normally once again. "Now...where was I? Oh, yes – I was going to pound your brains out of your head," turning to face Flash.
"God...no..." Flash just stared at Hunter's limp body, passed out on the floor. "How...how could you, Grodd...?"
Grodd's grin became even more malicious. "I could," he replied, "because I can."
Flash looked from Hunter to Grodd, then back again. Then – all of a sudden he was no longer there. Not even a whiff of dust to say he'd just been there. Not even a streak of red to say he'd moved.
Grodd, of course, was taken quite by surprise. "Huh? Where'd you – "
"YOU MONSTER!" Flash's scream ricocheted around the room as he sped all around Grodd, hurling super-speeding punches at him in frenzy. So unprepared was Grodd, and so fast and hard-hitting were the attacks, that even to try and block the attacks made him dizzy. Flash delivered machine- gun punches in rapid-fire succession, all aimed at Grodd's head and face, finally ending with one solid uppercut that, in his rage, he put extra power behind – enough to send the much bigger gorilla sailing across the room, crashing into several crates.
Grodd's face was all swollen and bloody, and one eye was swollen almost shut, but Flash wasn't done just yet, Tightening his fists harder, he started to walk, very slowly, toward his beaten-to-a-pulp adversary. Seeing this, Grodd now became very frightened.
"N-no! Stay away – stay away from me!" In desperation, Grodd attempted to use his telekinesis to wear down Flash; but, to his shock, Flash merely tightened his jaw and kept walking forward. Then, reaching down, the speedster roughly grabbed Grodd's neck with one hand. As he held up the other in a fist, he spun it until it resembled a mini-tornado on his wrist.
"Now, Grodd...you love that brain of yours so much, huh? Well, say goodbye to it, 'cause I'm gonna drill my fist straight through it," said Flash in an icy overtone.
Grodd's eyes widened in even greater fear. "No...no, please, don't...!" he screamed, holding up both arms to shield his face.
Before Flash could land the blow, however, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Flash, no...he isn't worth it," said Lantern softly.
Flash turned to look at Lantern, his eyes blazing with rage. Lantern continued, still softly, "Listen to me, man...he may deserve it, but if you kill him, you'll be no better than him."
Flash wavered. Then, roughly, he shoved Grodd back on the ground. Turning away, he walked over to Hunter's now unconscious form. Gingerly taking up the body, he turned and dashed out to the subway entrance.
**************************************************************************** ****************
TIME: 1100 hrs. PLACE: Central City General Hospital
"Thanks to the efforts of the Justice League, Gorilla Grodd and his accomplice, Giganta, are now back in maximum security at the Central City Penitentiary...however, that victory has come at a high cost to the city, as Officer Hunter Zolomon was critically injured during the battle. The authorities have not given any comment on his status at this time, but have assured our newsroom that we will receive further information on his condition very soon."
Lantern switched off the news report and sat back glumly. "So much for the win over Grodd," he lamented.
"That's all right," Wonder Woman assured him. "At least, when the doctors give the news on Flash's friend, we'll be the first to hear it."
"Speaking of Flash, where is he?" Lantern wondered aloud.
"Still talking to the doctor, no doubt," said Wonder Woman.
"I'll go listen to what they're saying," said Lantern, getting up. "Coming?"
Together, the pair walked to the door, just in time to overhear part of the conversation between Flash and the doctor. Lantern, signaling Wonder Woman not to move another step, paused to listen himself.
"...as I've been telling you, Mr. Flash," the doctor was saying, "Officer Zolomon's spinal cord suffered severe trauma when Grodd, er, bent him the way he did, so..."
"So, cut to the chase, Doc. Will he, or won't he, ever walk again?" Flash's voice came up.
The doctor sighed. "I won't lie to you, Flash. With a few days of rest, he should recover from his other injuries, but...unless he's extremely careful, chances are he could permanently lose the use of his legs. We'll do everything we can to ensure that that doesn't happen, but...I'm only sorry I can't give you any better news than this."
There was silence for a moment. Then Flash said, "It's all right, Doctor. Just make sure that, if you have to tell him anything negative about this, that you do it gently. Please."
"I understand."
At that point Flash turned and walked away. As he stood at the entrance to the waiting room, he beckoned to the other two to come with him. "Is there any hope?" Lantern asked.
"Very slim, the doctor says," Flash replied.
Wonder Woman put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry about your friend, Flash," she said quietly. "I hope he'll be all right."
Flash looked up at the ceiling woefully. "Me, too. Listen, I'm sorry, guys, but could you head back to the Watchtower without me? I need some time to think."
Lantern and Wonder Woman looked at each other, then at him. "Sure, buddy," Lantern replied. "Take all the time you need."
Flash nodded, then turned and sped out of the hospital, leaving his friends behind.
(JUSTICE LEAGUE, the JUSTICE LEAGUE icon and all names and characters therein are property of and owned by DC Comics and Cartoon Network. Any attempt to use any such property of these companies without their proper authorization and/or permission can and will result in civil liability and criminal prosecution.)
(I do not own JUSTICE LEAGUE, nor am I in any way affiliated with Cartoon Network or DC Comics. I'm just a diehard fan who loves the show.)
(This fanfic is rated PG. It contains mild violence.)
CHAPTER 03 TIME: 0840 hrs. PLACE: A hidden laboratory in the Central City subway
The device looked like some sort of hallway mirror frame, except it was mechanical and had a console with various buttons, levers and wires at the bottom. The middle of the frame was about 15 feet by 6 feet, big enough for someone with a big body to walk through with ease. "Hmmm...I wonder what this thing does?" Flash wondered.
Suddenly he grimaced and held his head, screaming in agony as he fell over. Behind him came the ominous form of Grodd. "Didn't anyone ever teach you not to touch things that didn't belong to you?" he demanded as he raised his mighty fists to crush his opponent.
Flash dashed out of the way at the last moment, however. "Hey, Grodd! Just what are you up to?" he asked.
Grodd grinned maliciously. Then, his eyes glowed – and the next thing Flash knew, he was being suspended in midair! "What the – " was all he could manage as Grodd's powers slammed him from one wall to another, then on the ceiling and floor. Finally, Grodd grabbed Flash by the throat and pinned him to the floor.
"Well, since you're so inquisitive, and since you're going to die anyway, I suppose I might tell you," said Grodd, his eyes shining with murder. "That device is a time machine I've been working on for some time now. As soon as I make it active, I intend to go back to the era when apes still ruled the world. After that, everything you know now – hot dog stands, movie theaters, sports magazines – all of that will cease to exist, because humanity will never exist in this reality, this timeline."
Grodd then raised one fist. "And the first thing I'll do to ensure that nothing interferes with my scheme," he said, "is to smash your puny skull into jelly!"
Suddenly, from behind Grodd, there was a loud BANG! The next thing, Grodd howled in pain as, releasing Flash from his grip, he instinctively reached behind him to find the foreign object that had penetrated his skin. His fingers quickly found it – a dart that dripped fluid. Snarling in his animal rage, he turned to see who or what had been responsible.
Standing at the entrance was Hunter Zolomon, a gun in one hand. "Tranquilizer darts," he announced. "Even for someone as intelligent as you, Grodd, they still always have the desired effect."
Flash, coughing as he fought to catch his breath, cried hoarsely, "Hunter, no! Get away!"
Grodd roared, "You pathetic, meddling human! I'll show you respect!"
Hunter trained his gun on Grodd again, backing away as he did. "Try me, you dumb gorilla."
Howling, Grodd rushed at Hunter. The officer quickly fired four more tranquilizer darts at the maddened gorilla, but next thing he knew Grodd reached forward and grabbed him by his scalp.
Hunter's eyes widened in sudden fear. "Oh, man."
Now roaring in his fury, Grodd slammed Hunter against the wall five times, each time harder than before. Then, holding onto both of Hunter's ankles with his free hand, he raised the hapless cop over his head.
What happened next seemed to take place in slow motion.
Realizing that Hunter was in mortal danger, Flash staggered to his feet and started to race toward Grodd, screaming, "Grodd, no! DON'T DO IIIIITT!!"
But Grodd did it, anyway. Letting out an unthinkable shriek, he slammed Hunter's back against his own head; a split half-second later a sickening crack could be heard.
Hunter's eyes widened in agony, and his screams of torture could be heard throughout the subway. Grodd, having satisfied his fury, tossed Hunter aside like a rag doll. "So much for him," he said, speaking normally once again. "Now...where was I? Oh, yes – I was going to pound your brains out of your head," turning to face Flash.
"God...no..." Flash just stared at Hunter's limp body, passed out on the floor. "How...how could you, Grodd...?"
Grodd's grin became even more malicious. "I could," he replied, "because I can."
Flash looked from Hunter to Grodd, then back again. Then – all of a sudden he was no longer there. Not even a whiff of dust to say he'd just been there. Not even a streak of red to say he'd moved.
Grodd, of course, was taken quite by surprise. "Huh? Where'd you – "
"YOU MONSTER!" Flash's scream ricocheted around the room as he sped all around Grodd, hurling super-speeding punches at him in frenzy. So unprepared was Grodd, and so fast and hard-hitting were the attacks, that even to try and block the attacks made him dizzy. Flash delivered machine- gun punches in rapid-fire succession, all aimed at Grodd's head and face, finally ending with one solid uppercut that, in his rage, he put extra power behind – enough to send the much bigger gorilla sailing across the room, crashing into several crates.
Grodd's face was all swollen and bloody, and one eye was swollen almost shut, but Flash wasn't done just yet, Tightening his fists harder, he started to walk, very slowly, toward his beaten-to-a-pulp adversary. Seeing this, Grodd now became very frightened.
"N-no! Stay away – stay away from me!" In desperation, Grodd attempted to use his telekinesis to wear down Flash; but, to his shock, Flash merely tightened his jaw and kept walking forward. Then, reaching down, the speedster roughly grabbed Grodd's neck with one hand. As he held up the other in a fist, he spun it until it resembled a mini-tornado on his wrist.
"Now, Grodd...you love that brain of yours so much, huh? Well, say goodbye to it, 'cause I'm gonna drill my fist straight through it," said Flash in an icy overtone.
Grodd's eyes widened in even greater fear. "No...no, please, don't...!" he screamed, holding up both arms to shield his face.
Before Flash could land the blow, however, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Flash, no...he isn't worth it," said Lantern softly.
Flash turned to look at Lantern, his eyes blazing with rage. Lantern continued, still softly, "Listen to me, man...he may deserve it, but if you kill him, you'll be no better than him."
Flash wavered. Then, roughly, he shoved Grodd back on the ground. Turning away, he walked over to Hunter's now unconscious form. Gingerly taking up the body, he turned and dashed out to the subway entrance.
**************************************************************************** ****************
TIME: 1100 hrs. PLACE: Central City General Hospital
"Thanks to the efforts of the Justice League, Gorilla Grodd and his accomplice, Giganta, are now back in maximum security at the Central City Penitentiary...however, that victory has come at a high cost to the city, as Officer Hunter Zolomon was critically injured during the battle. The authorities have not given any comment on his status at this time, but have assured our newsroom that we will receive further information on his condition very soon."
Lantern switched off the news report and sat back glumly. "So much for the win over Grodd," he lamented.
"That's all right," Wonder Woman assured him. "At least, when the doctors give the news on Flash's friend, we'll be the first to hear it."
"Speaking of Flash, where is he?" Lantern wondered aloud.
"Still talking to the doctor, no doubt," said Wonder Woman.
"I'll go listen to what they're saying," said Lantern, getting up. "Coming?"
Together, the pair walked to the door, just in time to overhear part of the conversation between Flash and the doctor. Lantern, signaling Wonder Woman not to move another step, paused to listen himself.
"...as I've been telling you, Mr. Flash," the doctor was saying, "Officer Zolomon's spinal cord suffered severe trauma when Grodd, er, bent him the way he did, so..."
"So, cut to the chase, Doc. Will he, or won't he, ever walk again?" Flash's voice came up.
The doctor sighed. "I won't lie to you, Flash. With a few days of rest, he should recover from his other injuries, but...unless he's extremely careful, chances are he could permanently lose the use of his legs. We'll do everything we can to ensure that that doesn't happen, but...I'm only sorry I can't give you any better news than this."
There was silence for a moment. Then Flash said, "It's all right, Doctor. Just make sure that, if you have to tell him anything negative about this, that you do it gently. Please."
"I understand."
At that point Flash turned and walked away. As he stood at the entrance to the waiting room, he beckoned to the other two to come with him. "Is there any hope?" Lantern asked.
"Very slim, the doctor says," Flash replied.
Wonder Woman put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry about your friend, Flash," she said quietly. "I hope he'll be all right."
Flash looked up at the ceiling woefully. "Me, too. Listen, I'm sorry, guys, but could you head back to the Watchtower without me? I need some time to think."
Lantern and Wonder Woman looked at each other, then at him. "Sure, buddy," Lantern replied. "Take all the time you need."
Flash nodded, then turned and sped out of the hospital, leaving his friends behind.