Chapter 116: The Man Who Saved Central City
The first thing that Barry noticed was how slow Zolomon was now.
He charged and he swung fast and hard, but Barry dodged the blows with ease. There was no super speed needed for that, just pure agility and skill. To his opponent's credit, he didn't stumble or give in to any fear when he failed to land a hit, just kept going — an uppercut, a hook, a jab. Combination after combination, and Barry dodged them all, until he caught the older man's arm into a tight hold. "Too slow," he whispered into Zolomon's face, and then kicked forward, right into Zolomon's chest.
Barry let go of the arm at the same time so he wouldn't be dragged forward, sending Zolomon careening back onto the floor. He didn't bother to follow up, however, allowing Zolomon to regain his bearings while he waited with something of a bored expression on his face. This seemed to anger Hunter, who charged forward again, only to be met with a knee to the stomach. He stumbled back again, his face growing even more red.
Another flurry of punches followed, as Zolomon desperately tried to land one punch, just one, on Barry. And Barry… Barry just dodged. He ducked and weaved under and around every single blow. He didn't retaliate, didn't counter, didn't fight back. Just avoided every blow, slowly leading Zolomon out of the office and into the hall. Through every corridor, until they were outside near the front of the building, where the displays were. By the time they got there, Zolomon had worked himself into a complete frenzy.
It was only then that Barry attacked. He ducked under another punch aimed at his face and delivered a powerful palm strike to the solar plexus in return, making a big show of the buildup. Zolomon grabbed his chest as he tried to steady himself with the railing of the barrier. He had taken a lot of abuse to that part of the body, and without his speed healing, he was feeling the full effect of it.
"Let me tell you a little secret about me," Barry stated casually as he approached Zolomon, grabbing a wildly swung arm and using it to slam Zolomon face first into the railing, eliciting a groan from the other man. "I was fast before I got my speed. The people who trained me used to call me Al Sa'iqa — the Lightning. Because out of all their students, out of all the countless people they had trained over the millennia, I was the fastest of them all."
Zolomon hurled forward again, this time with another uppercut. Barry stepped back to avoid it, then grabbed the punch and twisted the arm attached to it. His opponent let out a short cry, as Barry whispered into his ear. "What about you? What were you before your speed? Oh, right. A serial killer," he spat out the last two words like they were dirt beneath his shoe.
He slammed Zolomon face-first into the railing again, before shoving him back hard against the wall, pinning him there. "A narcissist who used his own personal tragedy to lash out at the world," Barry continued, planting a fierce combination into Zolomon's abdomen, before flipping the other man to the floor.
"A sociopath who gets off the power he has over everyone, who does all these terrible, horrible things because he can." Barry kicked the other man's side, sending him rolling towards the stairs. Zolomon used his new position to leverage himself up and crawl away from Barry, slowly and urgently. Barry didn't bother to pick up the pace, instead leisurely following Zolomon to the bottom floor.
"Come on!" Barry couldn't help but taunt the other man. "At least make this fun!" That statement seemed to enrage Zolomon again, and he pushed himself back to his feet in record time with a roar, once again swinging another punch at the other man. Barry blocked the blow, then pulled Zolomon forward, wrapping himself around the man's back and locking his arm around his neck. "I used to kill people like you every other week for work."
That finally said, Barry unwrapped his arm and kicked Zolomon again, this time in the back. It was time to end this. The moment Zolomon landed on the floor again, Barry dived after him, going directly for the legs. He twisted Zolomon's right leg into a hold, bending until he heard a vicious and audible snap! As Zolomon screamed from the pain, Barry went for the other leg and did the same, leaving the other man writhing on the ground in pain.
The fight was over. Barry got up to his feet and dusted himself off, before nonchalantly going to Zolomon, grabbing him by the hair and lifting his head up. The man glared up at him defiantly with tears of pain in his eyes. "I should kill you," Barry noted, face growing dark. "And after everything you've done, it would be no less than what you deserve."
"So… why… don't you…?" Zolomon bit out, still trying to fight through the pain.
"I've already killed your time remnants, for one," Barry pointed out. "And as for the other… well, death is release. What you deserve is to suffer."
Despite the agony he was in, Hunter Zolomon couldn't help but shiver.
Mayor Leonard Snart of Central City straightened his tie as he stood in front of the growing crowd of reporters. Due to the recent metahuman activity in the last few days, including the army that had just up and disappeared and the continuous brawl Zoom had all over the city with another, unknown speedster, he had thought it prudent to have a press conference to reassure the citizens of Central City of their safety. While his sister Lisa, the Police Commissioner, was investigating the matter thoroughly with the help of S.T.A.R. Labs (though recently the owner and head scientist, Harrison Wells, had gone missing, which would've prompted its own investigation had the current situation not been so dire), it was up to him to make sure that panic didn't spread.
He walked up to the podium and cleared his throat. A nod from the camera man signaled to him that he was live, so he gave a few taps to the nearest microphone to make sure it was working before speaking. "People of Central City, my name is Mayor Leonard Snart. I am here today to give an official statement on the recent metahuman activity—"
WHOOSH!
Gasps and shrieks. The sound of an approaching speedster had been one of dread ever since Zoom murdered Jay Garrick, and that hadn't changed even as Zoom's appearances decreased in frequency. The crowd broke away, leaving a wide berth between them and the arriving speedster — the mysterious one in red, who had been caught on video battling toe-to-toe with Zoom. People whispered and stared at him, only to gasp again when they saw who was in his hands.
Zoom.
The Speed Demon, the great conqueror of Central City, was hanging limply in the mystery speedster's hand, held by the scuff of his neck. He looked beaten, his legs twisted in odd directions, and his hands held together by no less than three meta-dampening cuffs. And his eyes — they were no longer the inhuman, pitch black color that terrified so many. They were just normal eyes beneath that mask. It made him look silly.
"Central City," the speedster spoke in his own otherworldly voice, "For two years, you have been terrorized by this man, the speedster you call Zoom. I am here to tell you now that this man's reign of terror is over. He is beaten, and he will never bother any of you ever again."
Breaths hitched at that, including the mayor's. The speedster's words… they seemed too good to be true.
"But more than that, it is time you learn the true depth of his deception. The truth about Zoom." He walked towards the stage, next to the podium where Mayor Snart was still standing, and turned around. He then pulled up Zoom so he was up straight, though his legs still dangled a bit. And then, he removed Zoom's mask.
The world stopped.
"Jay Garrick?" Leonard breathed out in disbelief. The surrounding roar from the crowd showed that he wasn't the only one in shock.
"No, not Jay Garrick," the speedster corrected, shaking his head. "You know him by another name: Hunter Zolomon."
That caused another uproar from the crowd. That name was well-known too — that of an infamous serial killer. One that had disappeared two years ago when Harrison Wells saved Central City by piping the Particle Accelerator Explosion beneath the city. One that was thought to have died.
The mayor had to call for order, and after the crowd quieted down again, the speedster began his explanation. How Zolomon got his powers, what he had done with them, how he had stolen the Jay Garrick identity from a speedster from another earth and used it to bring hope to the people of Central City, all while fully intending to rip away that hope as Zoom. And as every crime fell from the speedster's lips, the faces around the room grew darker and darker. When the speedster finally finished with the murder of the false "Jay Garrick", only then did Leonard Snart speak.
"Is this true?" He asked the newly-revealed Hunter Zolomon, voice deathly quiet and furious.
Zolomon finally looked up, looking directly at him.
And then he smirked.
"It is," the man admitted, his smirk widening into an insane grin. "All of it is true! EVERY SINGLE BIT OF IT!" He shouted, now screaming it into the surrounding crowd. "You have no idea how much fun it was, pretending to be your hero! Watching you all cheer me on, praise my name, make statues in my honor, all while you were completely unaware of how it was me who was slaughtering your police officers, breaking out your metahuman criminals, terrorizing you each and every night!" He laughed, long and hard, reveling in the deadly looks being shot in his direction, the tears in so many people's eyes.
"You son of a bitch!" One reporter couldn't help but shout, voice quivering. "We believed in you!"
"You did!" Zolomon agreed, nodding. "And that was the most hilarious joke of all, wasn't it!" He laughed again.
The speedster, having had enough, socked him in the jaw, knocking him back down to the ground. Mayor Snart gave a nod to two of the police officers present, and they stepped forward, roughly hooking Zolomon by the arms and dragging him away. The speedster picked up Zoom's mask as they left, clutching it tightly as he glanced at the mayor once more.
"Just recently, Zoom attempted to conquer my earth, starting with my Central City. He did this by killing and replacing his doppelganger on my earth, then by having some of the metahumans under his control replace their doppelgangers as well. He then weakened the dimensional barrier between our worlds, and brought over an army — the army you saw outside your city a day or so ago — to wreak havoc upon our world. However, my allies and I were able to defeat the army with the help from a scientist from your world: Dr. Harrison Wells." Leonard Snart raised an eyebrow. Well then, it seemed Lisa wouldn't have to open up an investigation after all.
"Zoom tried to escape in the aftermath back to your world, and I followed him. We fought all over this Central City, as you saw last night, and only recently did I finally manage to defeat him. And now, I hand him off to you to finally face justice for the crimes he has committed on both our worlds. I expect the authorities on my world to contact you soon to ensure that, along with a discussion over what to do with the army for their crimes as well."
Leonard nodded. "I expect that this is something beyond my duties as Mayor of Central City, but I will nonetheless cooperate with whoever I need to in order to ensure they all face justice for what they've done."
"That's all I need to hear," the speedster began to walk away.
"Wait!" Leonard stepped forward, "Where are you going?"
The speedster turned around to look at him, uncaring of the cameras filming him and taking pictures a mile a minute. "Back to my world. I need to help with the cleanup, make sure that we've caught every single criminal that participated in the chaos. Zoom is in your custody now. I am no longer needed here."
"Can we at least know your name?"
That question caused the speedster to stiffen. He hesitated for a moment, before finally speaking. "… The Flash. The Flash of Earth-1."
A hush fell over the crowd. The Flash. That had been the name Hunter Zolomon had used as their false hero. The irony was not lost on any person here.
Leonard Snart swallowed. "Well then, Flash of Earth-1, I think I speak for most, if not all of the people of this earth when I say this." He smiled. "Thank you."
A series of cheers followed that statement. The Flash looked stunned for a moment, before nodding, giving Leonard a final salute before speeding away in a flash of golden lightning.
"… Understood, Director. We'll send in a group now. Arrow, out." Green Arrow turned towards the curious Black Canary and Green Lantern and sighed. He looked at Lantern first. "Could you head over to the main camp and have Sub-Director Yamashiro send in a squad over to S.T.A.R. Labs? No, three squads. Director Waller is there with a team of ours and they've restrained the metahumans there, but they have no way to bring them over to containment."
Lantern nodded, glowing green and flying off into the sky. Now alone, Canary gave her partner a pointed look, crossing her arms. "What else?"
"You weren't the only metahuman who woke up their powers during the battle," Arrow explained, not even bothering trying to deny there was other news that he could not speak of in Green Lantern's presence. "Caitlin and Dante did as well. Both have their doppelgangers' powers, like you."
Black Canary frowned. "How many metahumans do you think were created by the Dark Matter Explosion?"
Arrow grunted. "Too many. Central City is already going to take a while recovering from this fiasco, on top of the Dominator Invasion three months back. The last thing this city needs to deal with is more metahuman criminals on top of that."
"Freaking Zoom," Canary moaned in response to that, burying her face into her hands. "Bathing the city in the dark matter, creating new metahumans, breaking out all of Iron Heights, exposing the multiverse to the public — that bastard sure as hell knows how to leave a mark, I'll say that much."
"We're going have to stay in Central City for a little while," Arrow nodded, implicitly agreeing with her statement. "Help out with the relief efforts. We won't be able to stay too long, however, without causing unrest with our own cities though."
"Do we at least have some excuses lined up?"
Arrow winced. "Sort of?"
Canary groaned.
"I take it things aren't well over here either?"
Supergirl and Archangel floated down from the sky, both looking completely untouched. Arrow couldn't help but envy them slightly for this. Freaking Kryptonians and their invulnerability. He silently grumbled in his thoughts. "Canary just realized what kind of fallout we're going to be dealing with for the next couple of days," he said out loud.
Both Kryptonians winced at this. "Ah, yes. That's not going to be fun," Kara commented, rubbing her arm.
"No, not fun in the least," Arrow concurred. "Now what are you doing here, Supergirl, Archangel?"
"Just checking in," Archangel explained. "We've corralled as many Earth-1 criminals we could find and brought them to the proper authorities. Vixen and Steel are watching over the handover right now. The city seems to be mostly criminal-free now, by the looks of it. All that's left is…" she trailed off, cringing.
"… finding survivors," Supergirl finished.
Everyone grimaced. While a lot of the city had managed to barricade themselves within their homes or flee, a fair number hadn't, and had paid the price. Zoom's army had been mostly focused on wanton destruction, and the state of most of the infrastructure was homage to that. Even so, the tally was beginning to rise as more and more of the deceased were found. It was already estimated that over a thousand people had died, to say nothing of the numerous other casualties.
No one had gotten out of this unscathed. No one.
"Arrow!" Suddenly, all four of their comms buzzed to life.
"Yeah, Lightning?" Arrow asked, prompting the other man on the other side of the line.
"We've got another breacher coming through!"
"What?" Another breacher, now? "Tell me the coordinates! Canary, Supergirl, Archangel and I will all be right there!"
The four superheroes quickly arrived to the scene, where Black Lightning and Zatanna were already there, both standing at the ready for a possible attack. Around them were a group of soldiers, along with Martian Manhunter and Thunder. Supergirl and Archangel dropped off Green Arrow and Black Canary next to the group, floating above them and waiting. Arrow notched another arrow (his very last arrow, in fact) while Canary drew her tonfas and electrified them. They were not getting caught off guard this time. They refused to.
They waited as the breach stabilized, and then… out came the Flash.
Almost immediately, everyone relaxed, many dropping their weapons in favor of relief. Behind them, a reporter and her cameraman, the first on the scene in the aftermath of the attack, began filming a live feed of the Flash's arrival to the entire world.
Green Arrow stepped forward. "Is it done?" He asked softly.
The Flash didn't answer. Instead he lifted a mask — Zoom's mask, many realized — and then used his super speed to rip it to shreds. The meaning was clear.
There was a silence and then cheers. A raucous cheer, not unlike the one that had occurred when the Dominators had finally been defeated three months ago. Soldiers embraced each other, whooping. The present Justice League members did the same, exchanging smiles. And Green Arrow and Supergirl… they went to their brother, and hugged him close.
Flash returned the double hug, closing his eyes.
It's over. It's finally over.
And now, all that's left is the aftermath. I predict that'll be two, maybe three chapters. After that, the story will go on hiatus again while I fully plan out Arc V.
Not as many people died in this arc as I thought they would. Then again, this was about giving the heroes a great victory, because the next arc, well…that would be giving out spoilers.
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