The strangest thing about the creatures of this world, Phos mused, was how they felt. They had soft skin that would give easily to the slightest pressure. Different from Phos, who would crack at the smallest touch of another gem.
Looking at them too closely made them seem unnatural. Their faces uneven and soft, unlike the gems who had smooth skin and sharp edges. The skin full of texture, like nothing they ever felt before. Feeling it was strange, uncanny even. Underneath the spongy outer layer, it pulsed, something that never occurred in gems.
Phos blinked, the being they had run into let out a stream of words. Although Phos couldn't understand what was exactly said, they understood that it was apologizing. The sight of bright red hair reminded them of Cinnabar before they snapped back to reality, pulling their hand out of the stranger's grasp. Phos uttered a small apology, seeing the stranger's concerned look slide off their face and light up in realization as they walked away. It was odd, to run into another being and not break. Phos rubbed their arm where they were bumped into.
Phos walked around the city, observing the landscape and making a mental map of where they were going. Phos nearly bumped into someone when they suddenly stopped, seeing an illustration of the being who brought them here. Stalking up to the stand and grabbing the paper, they flipped through the pages. It seemed to be reporting on the portals that appeared two days ago and what came out of them. The illustration of the black clad being was front and center.
Glancing around, Phos stuffed the paper in their pocket, making sure no one saw before they casually strolled away. Turning the corner into an alley, they pulled the paper out of their pocket. Shaping their alloy into a blade, they carefully cut out the illustration of the black clad being before discarding the rest of the paper. Folding it, they placed the illustration back into their pocket.
Phos walked back into the main street, taking in the sights of the strange new world before they saw a strange sight. Two large statues of a being in the process of running. They were centered before a building, a lightning bolt symbol being proudly presented at the top of the building. Curious, Phos wandered in, taking in the view. There were life size statues dressed in strange costumes. Walking into the next room, Phos eyed the weapons being displayed. It seemed a bit risky, having it be publicly displayed. Anyone could find a way to steal it and use it for themself.
Passing into another room, Phos stared at the gems, homesickness hitting them full force. Their hand tightening on the strap of their bag. Tearing their eyes away from it, they settled on watching the others in the room. Retreating from the room, Phos collected themself and went back to the entrance. They had already spent enough time there. If they wanted to explore the rest of the city, they had better get a move on.
Exiting the building, Phos felt a sudden temperature change, their arms stiffening from the cold. Looking around, they saw others beginning to realize something was amiss. A scream tore through the crowd, snapped them out of their thoughts. Looking over, a being dressed in a fuzzy blue and white jacket slowly walked towards the building, a weapon in hand. Instantly, the crowd split away from him as he lifted his gun, shots of ice coming from the weapon.
Phos's eyes widened, the surge of the crowd unwillingly guiding them elsewhere. They panicked. Being pushed around wasn't good, they could shatter if enough force was applied! A particularly harsh shove confirmed their guess. Phos could feel a thin crack widening the longer they stayed in the crowd. Clutching their waist, Phos focused on looking for a remote area, somewhere away from the crowd. There!
Before Phos could run to the isolated area, they heard a cry. Whipping around and making sure to dodge beings rushing in their direction, they saw an abandoned being sobbing, the tiny creature crying out for someone. Seeing such a vulnerable sight, Phos couldn't help themself, running over and scooping the being in their arms. The tiny thing held on tight to their sweater, continuing to cry as Phos spun around, their skirt flaring as they ran.
Dashing over to the remote area they spotted earlier, Phos felt a sudden tug on their waist, the world blurring around them. The pressure building before they came to a sudden stop. A sharp cracking sound pierced through the air. Clutching the being to their chest with one hand and the other holding their waist, Phos looked at the being who grabbed them with wide eyes. It was dressed in a skintight red suit adorned with a jagged yellow symbol, oddly similar but different to the being they met the other day. The being made a face at the sound, opening its mouth to say something but was cut off with a distant yell. Its face hardened before it sped off, leaving the scent of ozone behind, moving too fast for Phos to see.
Phos blinked, never before seeing such speed. Even Yellow Diamond wasn't that fast. Looking down to the little being in their arm, Phos suddenly didn't know what to do with it. It calmed down significantly and was looking around innocently, craning its neck this way and that. It was oddly cute in a special sort of way now that Phos was looking at it closely. Still strange looking, though.
Phos surveyed their injury before wrapping their gold alloy securely around their waist. Picking up the larger pieces that fell off, they frowned. They didn't want any more pieces to dislodge themselves. They already got hurt twice in three days, which was a new personal record. Who knew how long they would stay in this strange world. They needed their body intact to get back. They shoved the pieces in their pocket, making a note to attach them to themself once they were alone.
Hiking the little being higher on their hips, they moved forward, striding back to where they found the little being. They couldn't bring themself to just abandon it. Arriving, they noticed how cold it was, sharp pieces of ice jutting out from numerous places. The locals were lingering around the place, lightning flashing by every once in a while. One particular being loudly yelling out for something. When they caught sight of Phos, they rushed over, babbling tearful words of thanks when Phos held out the small being towards it.
Content that they found the being's caretaker, Phos walked away, sending one last glance at it. The beings of this world were very bizarre. Phos longed to go home. They would make sure that whoever sent them would regret it.
Speaking of—
Checking their pockets, they found it empty of the illustration. Groaning internally, Phos set off to find another copy, walking the streets once more.
After some time, they found a building with some illustrations of the portals. Going inside, there were stacks of them, some with illustrations of one of the local being—again in red. What is with this world and red?— fighting what came out of the portals. That reminded them. If they approached the being, would they also be treated with violence? They also came out of a similar portal after all. Phos tugged on the strap of their bag, thinking it over. No matter, Phos thought determinedly, they would find a way back with or without this world's being's help.
Glancing around, Phos slowly approached their target, Though pausing when they caught sight of what appeared to be a map. Turning to walk towards the map, they eyed it. Compared to the map back home, this one was enormous. Large landmasses took up the space, and even larger oceans between them. Holding it up, Phos truly felt how out of place they were. In such a humongous world, how would they find the being that would take them home? Shoving that though out of their mind, they placed the map back down, grabbing a smaller map next to it. It showed one of the landmasses with a big red star over a certain point. Glancing at the other maps nearby, they showed the same image. Perhaps the red star indicated where they currently were? A small arrow underneath presumably confirmed it. Although they couldn't read the language, the small curly script was most likely the name of the area they were in.
Keeping it in hand, they returned their focus to their original target, grabbing the paper and flipping through the pages. Phos drew nearer to the entrance with every step. A sudden harsh shout alarmed them. Turning around, they confirmed that their theft was discovered before booking it out of the establishment. The heavy footsteps alerted them that they were being chased. Turning the corner, Phos glanced back, seeing how many were pursuing them. They counted three.
They were annoyingly persistent, Phos thought irritatedly after they had been running for a while. They stuffed the newspaper and the map in their pocket, weaving through the streets and back alleys quickly before hitting a dead end. Turning back, they slid to a halt once they saw their pursuers turn into the alley.
Harsh words were thrown at them, two of the pursuers puffing up, marching forward towards them. Another spoke, jutting its chin towards Phos's bag. It seemed like they had no other choice, Phos thought as they tugged off their gloves. One of the being's steps faltered. Raising their arms, Phos aimed for the two aggressive beings, engulfing most of their body and squeezed, repeating what they did two days ago. Muffled shouts of alarm rang out in the otherwise quiet alley, the one still standing frozen in shock. The beings fell limp a couple moments later. Phos let their arms reform, the two beings hitting the floor with a loud thud. Looking at the one still conscious, Phos smiled as they put a finger to their lips, taunting it. That seemed to snap it out of its stupor as it turned tail and ran.
Sighing, Phos stored their gloves in their back pocket, making sure to also put the illustration there too as they discarded the extra pages. Reaching up, the gold alloy attached itself to the roof of the neighboring building, pulling Phos along. They landed and immediately aimed for the next roof, aimlessly passing time as they leapt from building to building. That encounter soured their mood, they felt unwilling to mingle among the locals for the time being. They knew theft would upset anyone, there would be arguments, but getting physically violent over it? Phos shook their head, they had never seen that for as long as they existed.
Stopping to rest, Phos gazed at the city, watching as the locals went about their day. Randomly, there would be flashes of lightning in certain streets before it faded away. Phos guessed it was that one fast being. That reminded them. What gave the beings of this world abilities? The one from two days ago could fly! And todays could run faster than the eye could see! What made them so different? Although they were curious, Phos didn't want to be around long enough for their questions to be answered.
Deciding that was enough lazing around, Phos lowered themself out of sight before rejoining the crowd. While they were watching the city, they saw certain metal beasts that would allow transportation. Locating one wasn't hard, neither was sneaking in. Sitting down at the back near one of the doors, Phos let out a sigh. It's been a long day for them, and they were ready to just go to sleep.
An hour passed, then another with Phos nodding off. Phos felt it when the metal beast rolled to a stop, getting up from their seat in a hurry and grabbing their bag.
Perhaps Phos should have paid attention to where the metal beast was going. They spun around, seeing that they were on a desolate road, the land all around them barren of civilization. Sighing, they shouldered their bag, deciding to follow the road. Hopefully they would come across a safe place to spend the night before the moon rose. They began their trek, their hope to sleep in a building lowering the longer they walked.
With the moon beginning to show itself, Phos thought they saw a building in the distance. Speeding up, they stopped near the building, seeing another building on the same plot of land. It was covered by the first building from a distance, so Phos hadn't seen it initially. Snooping around, there were no lights or movement coming from it. Even if there were beings inside, Phos would be gone by the time it would wake up.
Closing the door, they plopped themself on a thick stack of straw, rolling to their side. Phos fell asleep quickly, the day wearing them down greatly. They dreamt of rolling hills and gems flitting in and out of the School.
Flash loved his city, he thought as he sped across the city. With the adoring citizens, and the beautiful cityscape, he didn't know why everyone didn't want to live here. Though that could be attributed to the annoyingly stubborn villains. They never seemed to learn, coming back time and time again after they lost.
That's why it didn't surprise him when Captain Cold decided he wanted to attack the Flash Museum, again. For the nth time. He honestly lost count at this point.
Rushing over, he took a millisecond to take in the scene, Captain Cold shooting his Cold Gun, bystanders running around in a panic, and people who still hadn't noticed milling around at the entrance of the museum. Zooming into the museum, he cataloged the amount of people there, getting them to safety before they could even blink. He repeated this process outside, grabbing the waist of a mother holding her son and taking them to a far enough distance from danger. A loud cracking sound emanated from the pair. He eyed them, worried that they broke a limb during the run over. Checked them over, however, found nothing wrong. Just a mother and her child in good health staring blankly at him.
He was about to ask but was interrupted by a shrill scream. Groaning internally, he sped off towards the sound, taking his mind off of the weird noise he heard. There, he found a civilian in the grasp of Captain Cold. Scowling, he raced over, extracting them from the villain's hold and setting them down away from the battle, then coming back to Captain Cold.
He brought any remaining civilians to safety, quickly taking care of Captain Cold with a swift chop to the neck. Confiscating the Cold Gun, he handed over the villain to the just arriving cops.
Taking off, he resumed his patrol, checking every nook and cranny of the city. It was a quiet day overall, with nothing much happening. Slowing down, he grabbed some food, pausing to eat his hot dog before he took off again.
Circling the city, he noticed a man rushing down the sidewalk hurriedly. Running next to him, he addressed him, asking what the rush was for teasingly. The man paused, looking at him in shock before grabbing his hand and stuttering out the words. Comforting the man, Flash asked him to repeat himself. What he heard was surprising. He knew that Captain Marvel's meta probably skipped town, but he hadn't expected her to be in his city.
He ran over to the location the man had stated. Surveying the extent of the injuries, he gathered up the two unconscious men and deposited them to the hospital. Racing back to the scene, he looked for any clues to the meta's identity. Finding nothing, he raced back to Carter, the man who ran away from the meta, intent on hearing a detailed description of what happened.
After getting the description, he sped around the city, looking for anyone matching that description. Hours passed before he had to stop, his presence at the watchtower being required. It was Captain Marvel and his turn this week for monitor duty at the watchtower.
He did one last loop around the city, a light hitting his eye at an odd angle as he sped by. Backtracking, he found the source, a mint-green shard the size of a nail with small golden flakes adorning it. Picking it up, he recognized it as a piece of the meta, Captain Marvel showing him a photo of the meta the day before.
Looking around, he noticed that this was near the area that was attacked by Captain Cold. Did this mean that the meta was here during the attack? It was shown that blunt force could chip away at the meta, so it was possible she got hurt during the attack. If she was here, then how did he not see her? They went around this city multiple times already and the meta was pretty distinct.
Unless she were wearing a disguise. Thinking back, he thought of anything out of place that had happened during the attack. His eyes widened, remembering the suspicious cracking sound.
The mother—no. The meta. That sound must have come from the meta. Perhaps when he pulled her away from danger, he harmed her? After all, her body was presumably made from gems, which isn't as flexible as regular human bodies. The amount of force could have made her body crack, he thought guilty. The meta…
The meta with a child. There's no way that was the meta's child. Why didn't he think of it earlier? They don't even look the same, for goodness sake! Did that mean she kidnapped the baby? No, he remembered now. He saw that same baby with another woman after the attack. She clearly gave the child back. That's one less thing to worry about, he thought relieved.
Holding the shard securely, Flash dashed towards the nearest Zeta Tube. Typing in his destination, he arrived at the watchtower. As he strode into the monitor room, he saw Wonder Woman already there. Waving at her, he zoomed towards one of their examination rooms. Opening the latch of the processor, he placed a few of the shards in it, keeping a piece on hand.
Starting the machine, he went back to the monitor room, grabbing his snacks first, and sat down, chatting idly with Superman.
Seeing Captain Marvel passing by, he spoke up, "I've got a lead on that meta of yours, Cap." Captain Marvel turned towards him, his face lighting up in surprise.
"You do? What is it?" He asked, walking into the room. Superman glanced at them, curious about what they were talking about.
"She was in my city today." He answered, lifting the mint-green shard up to show Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel's eyes widened, he didn't look very surprised that the meta wasn't in his city anymore.
Superman also looked over, eyebrow lifting at the shard. "Is that a piece of the meta's ability?"
"Nope." Flash answered, popping the p, "It is the meta." Superman's eyes widened in alarm, eyebrows flying up.
"What?!" He exclaimed, taken aback, "What do you mean by that?"
Walking over to the computer and pulling up the photo of the meta, Captain Marvel faced the monitor towards Superman.
"This is a possible meta that was seen in Fawcett two days ago. They hospitalized a civilian. I've been looking for her since." Captain Marvel explained. "When she gets hurt, it seems parts of her body chips off. See?" He said, showing Superman the camera footage of the attack.
"And this meta was in Central City?" Superman asked.
"Yep. There was another attack. Two men this time. And theft." Flash answered, opening a bag of gummies and picking out a handful to throw into his mouth.
"Theft?" Both Superman and Captain Marvel questioned.
"A map and a newspaper. The newspaper had an image of you, Supes." Flash said, jutting his chin at Superman.
Superman frowned, leaning back on his chair, "Are you saying she could be looking for me?"
"Possibly, It's just a theory. After all, with how many times you're targeted, it's a plausible theory, no? " He stated, raising his hands up innocently.
"Why were the men attacked?" Captain Marvel spoke up, perturbed. Flash knew why he was so concerned. The last attack could be labeled as self defense but for another attack to happen so soon? It could become a pattern, ending up with a new villain emerging. And that was never good.
"They chased after the meta when she stole their goods. Apparently cornered the meta before they were attacked. A third guy, one who didn't get hurt, said that the meta was taunting them after the attack. But who's to say he was telling the truth? Guy couldn't keep his story straight." Flash shrugged, throwing an empty snack away before digging through his snacks again.
"Hm. Did he give a description of the meta?" Captain Marvel asked, grabbing a seat for himself.
"He said she wore a black hat and long black skirt. She also had a duffle bag. Super pale skin along with arms made of gold that could expand." Flash replied. "Tried to search for her, but couldn't find anyone that matched. I think she skipped town, but I can't be sure. I'll look around again tomorrow."
"I'll also be on the lookout, just in case she really is looking for me." Superman chimed in.
"Maybe we should bring this up at the meeting tomorrow. With the way she's going from city to city, she'll eventually hit another hero's city. The hero should be at least warned of the possible threat." Captain Marvel spoke as he got up from his seat, tucking the chair into the table.
"That's a good idea, it'll also broaden the scope of the search." Superman added, turning back to face the large screens.
They chatted for a while more before going back to their respective tasks, Flash's going by fast, even for him. Usually things were slower for him due to his superspeed. Stretching, and hearing a pop, he got up. Ambling to the coffee machine in the break room, he filled a cup for himself and Superman. Returning to the room, he sat back down and handed Superman his cup, which he grabbed with gratitude, and waited for the next shift to arrive as he stared at the screens.
Finally Green Arrow and Hawkgirl arrived, relieving Flash and Superman from their duties. Greeting them as he darted past, he arrived at the Zeta tube. Typing in his destination, he landed in a deserted alleyway.
Sprinting across the city, he went through the day's events, analyzing everything, looking for any clues he could have missed. Nothing stood out to him as he ran home, finally arriving, he unlocked the door and changed. Heading to bed, he kissed the top of his wife's head as he laid next to her, curling himself around her body. Eyes fluttering shut, he fell into a peaceful sleep.
Edited: 10/15/2023
