8 Flash Forward

Downtown Farmer's Market

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Ben was browsing the various boxes of produce. While he could easily grow fruits and vegetable seeds at home with a little alien help, Ben enjoyed getting the fresh air and talking to the people. Ben walked to his usual stand and waved to the owner. "Morning, Mr. Abernathy."

The middle-aged was currently helping another customer pack her order. Hearing a friend, he turned his head and waved in return. "Good morning to you too, Benjamin. I'll be with you in a minute."

Ben chuckled. "Like I always say, take your time."

Once he finished with the woman, he turned to his regular. "What can I do for you, Benny? The usual?"

Ben shook his head with a smile. "Not today. I'm preparing a roast, so I'll need onions, garlic, carrots, celery, and potatoes."

Abernathy grinned at the thought. "Ah, you're trying to savor those drippings, right?"

"I wouldn't cook it any other way."

"I still haven't had a chance to visit that shop of yours."

"If you ever do stop by, I'll give you the first one on the house." Selecting his food from the crates, he made his way to the register.

Forty Second Street

Ben was walking back to his car, groceries in hand. 'I wonder if Harley wants me to get her anything.' Ben pulled out his phone, but before he could call, a car flew through the air and landed twenty feet away from him. Several people ran in fear from the intersection. Peeking his head around the corner, Ben found the culprit. It was some weird robot rampaging through the streets. "Dammit... Is it so hard to have a nice day."

After looking around for any civilians nearby, Ben reached for the Omnitrix. The holographic interface appeared, and the hero activated his uniform. He glowed in white light before his clothes started to change. His signature green jacket, black shirt, and jeans changes into a black and green jacket, matching black pants and gloves, and silver boots. A black mask covered his face. The part covering the mouth was smooth while the area covering the eyes had a digital display. In place of his eyes were symbols. At the moment, they were simple X's. (X X). Taking cover, Ben's mask started analyzing the situation. His modulated voice came out. (# #) "So, Azmuth? What am I dealing with here?"

In the corner of Ben's vision, an icon of the Omnitrix's AI voiced his thoughts. "It's definitely on the higher end of level 3 technology. I'm detecting a fission power source."

(= =) "You know, I never understood why my Earth was level 2."

"The range of level three tech is quite large. While your Earth had electrical systems and engines, Interstellar law forbade alien technology greater than or equal to the planet's current technological age going to the public. With the rate you humans progress, your planet was due for an upgrade soon."

(~ ^) "Huh, good to know. Anyways, it doesn't seem like the robot has a target. It's just working at random." With recon done, he ran behind a dumpster. (^ ^) "It's Hero Time!"

One green flash later, the transformation finished. "It's time to face the Rath!" Considering that Rath already made a positive impression on the public, it would be for the best to not scare them with a different alien showing up. He's already had to deal with people back on the other Earth that he was starting an alien invasion.

Running down the block, he arrived at the scene. Several police officers were pinned down behind their squad cars, occasionally taking potshots at the rampaging machine. While the robot was still bashing against a storefront, Ben took in the entire area and saw officers attempting to help people out of their overturned vehicles. They kept getting pushed back by the flying debris. Taking a few leaps, Rath landed alongside the officers. They immediately pointed their guns at the unexpected arrival, but Ben wasn't fazed. "Let me tell you something, officers! You want a piece of Rath, you got a piece, but Rath's only here to stop that." He pointed to the robot. "And help them." He pointed to the trapped civilians.

Several officers were hesitant. While they usually worked alongside the flash, it was only recently that they heard of an alien running around their city.

Sergeant Ramirez glared at the intruder. "You ain't the Flash. Why should we take a stranger's help?"

Rath groaned. "If you haven't noticed, Flash ain't here. So, unless you have a tank coming anytime soon, Rath's clobber that guy so you can save those guys."

The group was silent before one of the lower rank officers spoke. "I say we trust him, Sergeant."

Ramirez turned to his subordinate. "What makes you say that? This alien might have been the one who unleashed this thing in the first place."

Rath rolled his eyes. "Ya gotta be kidding me! Why would Rath be involved with that bucket of bolts?"

She shook her head. "You and I both know who that robot belongs to. This thing broke out of the captivity somehow." She then turned to "Besides, he's the same guy who fought Sabertooth alongside Fire and Ice."

The squad leader groaned and turned to the alien. "Alright. I have faith in my people, so I'll put my faith in you just this once. Just know that if you make one wrong move, I'll have your hide in my den." He then bellowed orders to the other officers. "Prepare for emergency rescue. Carlos, you're taking point."

"Yeah... sure." Rath faced the female officer. "Thanks for having my back, uh..."

She coughed. "It's uh... officer Spivot."

"Got it."

She nodded. "No problem. It's not every day I get to meet an alien-like Superman. Now, we need you to get him at least thirty yards away from the civilians. I'm sure you can pull this off."

With that, Rath jumped into the fray to engage, and the officers went to work. The doors were jammed, so they had to break the windows open and pull them to safety. The two fighters traded blows as the people made their moves in the background. Once they were all free, Rath motioned them all to get out of range. "Get out of here if you don't want to end up as robot roadkill." They all followed the order immediately.

Rath turns back to the rampaging robot to see a mailbox flying at him. Crossing his arms, he braced the force of impact. Rath glared at the machine across from him. "Let me tell ya something, Chrome Dome. Rath's just trying to enjoy his day, and now you show up and ruin it along with everyone else's. It's time that Rath fixes his problems in the one way he knows how." Rath jumped on the metal torso and began jabbing at the head. "By beating them into submission!"

Seconds of a beating later, it managed to grab Rath in between hits and slammed him into the concrete.

In return, Rath headbutted it in the torso. "You think that hurt Rath? Let me tell you something. Rath has faced all sorts of enemies in the cosmos, and you're at the bottom of the totem pole!" The two began duking it out in the streets even further. Blaster bolts fired from its shoulders. Irritated, Rath ripped both of them off and crushed them in his hands to scrap. "That's your first mistake; When you shoot Rath, you just make Rath Mad!" Picking up a crushed car, he launched it right at the enemy. However, one of the hands converted in an energy saw, cutting the vehicle in half. This just enraged Rath even further. "You think you're so smart, robot man. I'm gonna rip you to pieces and turn you into a moped!"

Just as the alien hero was about to recycle the machine, a scarlet blur sped by and landed a kick against the machine, pushing it into a brick wall. The figure ran back right in front of Rath. He was a man in a red bodysuit with a lightning bolt on the front. The sides of his head also had the familiar colts. While his eyes were hidden by white lenses, his mouth and nose were exposed. This man was the iconic hero to all of Central City. "I hope you don't mind that I dropped by."

Rath blinked at the hero's arrival. "Flash?"

"That's me." Flash pointed a thumb at himself. "You're Rath, right? The alien hero I've heard about recently."

"You got that right." Rath crossed his arms. "Super speed my ass. You're late to the party"

"I get that a lot," Flash replied with a shrug. "Did you just throw that car at him?"

"What?! It was already busted!" Looking past Flash, Rath noticed the bot pulling itself out of the wall. "Whatever, let's take this thing hunk of junk down." Rath extended his blades and ran back into the fray.

Flash sprinted alongside him and spoke. "We have to stop it, but we can't destroy it completely."

Rath grabbed an oncoming metal fist with one hand and gave Flash a disappointed look. "What? Why not?"

"It escaped Star Labs. Originally, it belonged to Toy Man. They were trying to reverse engineer the technology for advances in prosthetic research, but the original programming reactivated."

Rath sighed. "Rath's got the picture." He dodges another swing from the robot. "You have a plan or are you just gonna stand there?"

Flash ran around the robot, striking the torso in specific points trying to find a proper access port. "If you can hold it down, long enough, I can find an access port, upload the override codes from Star Labs, and power it down.

Rath nodded back. 'This would have been much easier with Upgrade, but I'm already in this mess as it is. Azmuth, start scanning.'

The AI replied. "Understood." The machine sent a barrage of punches with its free arm before an enraged Rath grabbed the other as well. "Have him check under its left side."

"Check under its left arm!"

Flash narrowed his eyes on the area under. "I think I've found it. Good eye. I need you to keep him stable for me."

"Leg hook Camel Clutch!" Rath moves his weight to the right and drags the robot face-first to the ground. The alien Tiger gets on its back, places both of his arms on its thighs, and reaches around the head. Rath pulls his opponent's leg backward, and tucks it under his underarm and applies a chin-lock. Rath then leans back and pulls its head and torso, applying more pressure to the lower back with the leg's new position.

"Great job, Rath!" Flash quickly plugged in a device. Lines of code ran down the terminal screen. Below, a progress bar slowly grew. "Come on..."

Suddenly, a panel from the robot's leg opened, revealing a sparking prong. It stabbed onto Rath's hide and began shocking him with several thousand volts of electricity.

Rath grunted at the jolts, his fur all standing up. "Can you hurry it up?! Rath doesn't like being a lightning rod!"

"I would if I could! I'm just following Star Lab's instructions." Another panel opened up revealing a dagger. While the prongs were busy with Rath, the blade darted for Flash and the Terminal. "Holy crap!" The world began to slow. Flash contorted his body and the Terminal to avoid the numerous stab attempts. 'Not to self, don't underestimate Toy Man.' What felt like minutes to the Flash, he watched as the loading screen progressed. In the corner of his eye, he saw Rath gnawing on the taser. After what seemed like forever to him, the screen blinked, red and the robot's movements began to die down. "It's done!"

Rath released the metal body as it fell lifelessly to the ground. "Finally." Rath started patting down his fur to a more decent appearance.

From several yards away, cops, civilians, and a news crew were cheering and thanking them.

Flash smiled at the alien. "We did pretty well, there. Thanks for the assist. I wouldn't have been able to neutralize it as safely without you."

"Nah, it's cool." Rath checked his surroundings again while Flash answered a phone call. The destroyed street, walls, and vehicles were a real mess. Suddenly, his headset started ringing, and Beatriz's picture popped up in the corner of his eyepiece. He took a deep breath. "Hey, Fire. What's up?"

"Hey, Ben. I wanted to check up on you. I heard about an incident in the city."

"It's nothing Rath couldn't handle. Hell, Rath finally got to meet the Flash. Apparently, this hunk of junk is confiscated villain tech."

"Rath? Well, I'm glad to hear things went well. Tora and I were out of town sightseeing, and we had to deal with some guys trying to siphon off the local oil pipeline."

"Sheesh. They're really coming out of the woodwork now. Was starting to feel like a vacation."

"I know, right. It was a real pain trying to deal with them because of the oil everywhere. Thankfully, Tora was able to keep things under control. On a lighter topic," She paused. "You're still up for our date tomorrow, right?"

"You kidding. Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"You certainly sound excited. Tora told me what happened to her."

"Really, now. What did she say?"

"You're definitely better than some of the others we've met in a while. I hope that it'll be the same for me. I'll see you then."

Rath coughed at her seductive voice. "Won't disappoint. Pick you up at eleven. Later." Rath hung up at the same time Flash did too. "So, is this Star Labs gonna pick this hunk of junk?" Rath gestured to the mess around them.

Flash hung up. "I just got off the phone with them. They're on their way. As for the damage, it's in their budget. You won't believe what happens because of criminals trying to steal their tech or Star Labs confiscating their tech."

Rath looked over the street again. "Rath can imagine." 'I'm gonna have to come back as Clockwork and fix some of this. I doubt most of these people have Robot insurance. Hell, people back home were reluctant to buy alien insurance.'

Flash started walking toward the news crew. "Are you sticking around for the public? I still have to tell them what happened."

"Nah you go ahead. You know more about the robot stuff. I still have to take care of a few things."

Flash frowned but shrugged. "No problem."

Before Rath started to leave, he turned around. "Hey, Rath will be done in about a half-hour. You hungry?"

A grin grew on the speedster. "Are you kidding me? I'm always hungry."

Rath smiled back. "Cool. Once Rath's done with Rath's errands and you're done with them, we'll meet back here and go get some lunch."

Flash reached out and shook Rath's hand. "I'm down for that, but I get to pick the place."

45 Minutes Later

The Scarlet Speedster and El Tigre were ordering food at Chipotle. All around them, people were whispering with a few being brave enough to talk to them and ask for a photo or an autograph.

"Will that be all, sir?" the woman behind the register asked.

Rath turned to Flash. "You want anything else, man?"

The scarlet speedster read over the screen once more. "Nah, I think we're good. We can get more if we're still hungry."

She nodded. "So that'll be twenty beef burritos and blows with guac, cheese, and sour cream, twenty soft tacos, and six large sodas. The total is $655."

Rath pulled out seven hundred dollar bills from his pocket. "Keep the change." The two carried their food to an empty booth. As they ate, they struck up a conversation.

"I can't believe it took me this long to actually meet the new guy in town."

"When Rath came here, he heard about a speed demon living here."

Flash brushed a fist his chest "Fastest Man alive."

Seeing the opening, Rath went for it. "Must have been hard dating."

"You wouldn't imagine..." Flash took a sip out of his soda as Rath tried his best to hide his laugh. It took a few seconds for Flash to register his answer. "Hey!"

Rath stopped hiding it and let out a few hearty laughs. "Totally fell for that one."

"Ha. ha. Very funny." Flash grinned. "I will get you back for that."

"Sure you will. By the way, don't you have a mini-you running around too? Rath saw him on the news with you sometimes. What's his name? Speedy?"

Flash did his best to hide his own laugh. "Whatever you do, don't say that in front of him. He gets really angsty about it. Honestly, it's hilarious. We call him Kid Flash. Green Arrow's protege is named Speedy."

"Ah. Rath gotta hand it to that modern-day Robin Hood. He does good work."

"He's cool. He's much more of a conversationalist than Batman." he joked. Flash thought for a moment. "By the way, I almost forgot to thank you, Fire, and Ice for taking down Sabertooth while I was... indisposed."

Rath waved it off with a burrito in hand.

Flash paused a sip. "How'd an alien, like you, meet up with them, anyway?"

"Honestly, it was a coincidence. Rath didn't even know Fire and Ice till that night."

"I hope they were a good first impression of Earth sans Sabertooth." He scratched his chin in thought. "So, what brings a guy like you to our Solar System anyways?"

"Rath lived on Earth for some time when Rath was growing up, and Rath thought about coming back here."

"Wait. Wait. Wait. Are you telling me that you lived on Earth before?"

Rath nodded. "Yeah."

"I've met Martians and Kryptonians, but what kind of alien are you anyway?"

"Rath's an Appoplexian."

Hearing the name, Flash nearly choked on refried beans before coughing it back out.

Rath quickly handed the flash his soda. "Dude, you okay."

Flash took a gulp and breathed slowly. "Can you say that name again?"

Rath raised a brow. "Rath's an Appoplexian. Why? you've met Rath's kind before." 'Considering humans can evolve in another universe, there was a chance that other Alien species from my universe live here too.'

Flash breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god. I thought I had to knock you out a second there."

Rath glared and flexed an arm. "Give Rath one good reason why Rath shouldn't knock you out."

Flash tried to recover from the awkward threat. "The aliens that invaded Earth last time were called Appellaxian. Your species name sounds dangerously similar to theirs."

"Really?" The alien tiger growled. "Damn name stealing invaders! The next time Rath sees them, he'll show them what for!"

Flash laughed shyly. "Kinda too late for that, we already sent them packing."

Calming down, Rath grinned. "Let me tell you something, Flash. If anyone tries to invade this Planet. You let Rath know because Rath will shove his fist where the sun doesn't shine."

Flash laughed. "I'll be sure to do that."

After another bite, Rath remembered one of Flash's friends."Hey, you said that you met a Martian, right?"

"Yup," he took another bite.

"Has he ever mentioned popcorn before?"

"Not that I can remember... Why?" Flash started on another bowl.

Rath shrugged. "Might be related to Martian culture."

"Weird..."

Later

The two spent the next two hours talking before they both had to leave.

"I'll be honest, today was nice. If I see you around, we should hang out again sometime. Maybe I'll introduce you to Green Arrow."

"Rath's down for that."

With that, Rath saw the red blur speed off into the distance. 'If I ever meet him as XLR8, we should totally race.'