03 - A Far More Literal Bullet Time

Chapter 03 - A Far More Literal Bullet Time

Written By Dr Armstrong

---

->Flash POV<-< p>

"That would be, uh...22.99, sir." The Cashier said as he finished calculating before glancing back at this customer, just some blond guy with a somewhat impressive physique.

Must have been a Gym-goer, which would also explain all of this crazy food he was buying.

The blonde dude casually pulled out his wallet before giving the cashier 40 dollars, a smile adorning his face.

"Keep the change, I feel like doing some good today." Such luck!

"Thank you, my brother!" He gratefully received the extra money, pocketing the tip with a satisfied smile.

"Come back again, sir..." He paused, wanting to know this charitable guy's name.

"...Flash, call me Flash." Flash gave his name to the cashier as he took the plastic bag containing all sorts of food-related groceries.

"Damn, that is one cool name, come back at another time, my brother. There's going to be a sale on Sunday next week, they're calling it Sweet Sunday or something..." The cashier decided to give Flash a heads-up in advance, simultaneously trying to convert him into a returning customer as well as repaying his recent debt with the Speedster via exclusive information.

Surely, if this guy got a promotion, he'd be a great marketer.

"Thanks, I'll make sure to come on Sunday." Flash lied through his teeth, this small-time grocery store was way across the city from him, no way would he want to speedrun through that traffic just for some milk chocolate or fresh Dorritos.

It didn't take a Mister Fantastic to figure out that running like this burnt a ridiculous amount of calories. Flash felt his head was as light as a feather after his first run, and these days, it was like there was a constant rumbling disturbing the peace of Stomachia, Hungary's new-age capital city.

Unless he pickpocketed some wandering young masters with his Superspeed or somehow spontaneously developed the ability to photosynthesize like a tree, getting food here was both calorically and financially unprofitable, it would simply burn more energy than he would get in return.

However, he guessed that it would prove to be a somewhat valuable checkpoint whenever he ran through the city, which is what he was currently using the store for anyway.

Flash walked out of the store with casual strides, a heavy plastic bag being carried in his right hand. He then headed to the nearby shadowy alleyway where he would presumably enter Superspeed without anyone having to see someone suddenly vanish into hot air.

Taking in the damp and humid air, which was like methane released from a woman's bum, he prepared himself to run as his eyes started to glow red before the rest of his body vibrated in superspeed, blurring his true appearance.

"HEY!" His form froze into a complete stillness before turning slowly to confront whoever had called for him, his eyes returning to their normal green colour.

"Hands in the air, this is a mugging!" You...you can't be serious...

"Is…is this real?" Flash's face wore a confounded expression, his mouth slightly apart as he looked at the current situation.

Some homeless middle-aged white guy with an unkept beard, oil black hair, and smelly breath was holding a Glock in his direction, a damn mugging.

"Real? Of course, this is real! Put your damn wallet on the ground, and hands to the air! I'll shoot if you try any funny shit…" The mugger said whilst waving his tiny pistol around. Had it been yesterday, Flash would have been a tad bit intimidated, but now…?

"Wow, this is...this is really happening to me...wait a sec, let me put this down first..." To the mugger's complete and utter bewilderment, there was not even a singular molecule of fear or panic in Flash's tone as he calmly placed his groceries on the floor.

Rather, He seemed quite...excited!?

The mugger felt that something wasn't right, he should have the position of power here with the gun and all, but it was as if he was holding a stick to confront a bear! 

"So, uh...why me? There are hundreds of thousands of people in this city, and you chose me to rob?" Flash asked with a smirk as he hid his left hand behind his back.

"...Cause you're not homeless and not carrying a weapon? Just give me the money man, you seem like a moderately cool dude, would be a shame to pull the trigger." The mugger stopped trying to be intimidating as that wasn't working at all, he just got straight to the point.

"I know, I just...I can't believe it you know? It's like someone buying me the Lego Millennium Falcon for Christmas." Flash said as his left hand rummaged through his back pocket, seemingly about to pull out his wallet.

"Let's see here..." Flash muttered as the mugger let his guard down, a bit relieved that he didn't have to shoot someone just to get enough money for tomorrow's meals.

"Wha—" The mugger shuddered in instinctual fear as he felt something had just brushed up against his side, though looking in that direction, there was nothing but the wall.

Returning his sight back upon Flash, his eyes let go of their wariness as he opened his mouth to say something.

"You don't have to give me the wallet and all, just the money inside, I ain't want your IDs and shit." The mugger assured him, as he just didn't have any use for such things.

"Yeah, yeah..." Flash muttered as he opened the wallet before pulling out what seemed to be an ID...card...

It was the mugger's ID, not his.

"John Simmons, right?" Flash said with a shit-eating grin as he beheld the mugger's shocked and despaired eyes.

John frantically tapped his pocket with the other hand he wasn't using to hold his Glock, it was...it was still there.

Maddeningly confused, he pulled out his wallet and opened it. Only to find his...ID card, it was still there.

"What the hell, what's going on here...?" He said quietly as he raised his eyes to meet the alleged perpetrator, a seemingly random suburban brat, which wasn't really an incorrect description.

In his hand, Flash held the Glock, which had been pointed at him just a couple of seconds ago. The mugger felt a sinister tingle travel down from his brain, practically telling him to...run!

"John Simmons, you just won the goddamn lottery today..." Flash said with an oddly sincere smile.

"Out of all the 2 million people living in Queens, you chose me to rob! Well..." Suddenly, his smile didn't look so sincere.

In fact, it looked quite sinister.

"R-Reverse mug-mugging!? I don't have anything, kid. I'm just a—" John seriously tried pleading, now legitimately afraid for his life as he faced this...Mutant? Probably! He never signed up for this shit...

"You know how fast a bullet goes?" Flash asked with a genuine tone as he considered the question whilst adopting a standing, one-arm variant of the 'thinker' pose.

"Uh, n-no? What does that have anything...to...do...no, please! I have a dog to feed, and, uh...I don't have anything else but—" Flash pointed the gun in his direction, just a couple of meters away from his heart.

"You want forgiveness, John Simmons...?" Flash—no, the Flash sported a grin that gradually faded away into blurry afterimages as his form vibrated in place while his eyes shone a light scarlet.

"Wh-what are y-you...?" John's eyes widened in fear as his form legs collapsed to the floor, not out of dramatic fear, but because someone literally knocked him down a peg, presumably the boy—no, the demon in front of him.

"GET RELIGION!" Satan said as he pulled the trigger on John Simmons, using John's own weapon against him.

—BOOOM

The shockwave recoiled against his skin as he felt the hot blistering wind and the smell of gunpowder permeating through the air, the Flash's heartbeat raced in Superspeed as the bullet he shot rapidly slowed down, and down, only reaching half of its intended destination as he looked over at John Simmons, the poor man in the process of turning around to flee from the red-eyed demon.

"I...I'm really faster than a bullet!?" Of course, he wasn't really about to kill a man just for a light mugging. He was confident that he was faster than a bullet, which is why he'll be naming his ability to enhance his reaction time with Superspeed; Bullet Time.

But it was still out of this world. Faster than a bullet, seriously? That's like...uh, a thousand miles per hour! Well, not exactly, but he wouldn't know such trivial facts without a reason to remember them...of course, he had a reason now.

Flash glanced at his gun before letting go of it, the weapon floated in the air as it very slowly fell downwards. Amazed at this new perspective of the universe, Flash decided to take a step forward as walked up the bullet, leaving slight afterimages after every step.

When running around the city, he hadn't been this fast, even when he ran with momentum. Perhaps his theory about the 'force' that enabled his weirdly convenient speed powers feeding off of his adrenaline or some other hormone of the same kind was correct, boosting his speed the more adrenaline was pumping through his body.

Is...is the Speed Pump just some kind of drug that makes the body over-produce adrenaline? That would explain the uncontrolled need to run... 

Flash decided to think about it later as he observed the bullet piercing through the air, it wasn't slow to the point of being like a turtle or a snail to him, but more like an average Joe participating in a world-class sprinting competition.

Wordlessly, he placed a small plastic bag over the bullet, before placing it in the ground, making sure it wouldn't have momentum to ricochet or something like that.

Initially, Flash wanted to just catch the bullet mid-air to save John's life as a power move, but realized that wouldn't be wise as a bullet shooting through the air would be very hot, potentially even burning hot.

'Not as hot as you though, haha.' If only he had an actual girlfriend instead of being forced to talk to the schizophrenically-manifested daemons of chaos that observe his life, he would always hater Parker because of this...

Why are there so many supermodel teenagers after him? He's just...the class nerd, Flash really did not know why he was so popular, it frankly didn't make sense to his entire world view...

Looking back at the terrified mugger, he walked up to him casually before standing in front of him, all fingers raised to his eyes.

"Don't see me...? You really can't see me..." He said before doing a certain hand gesture to his own face, imitating a certain other John.

After having a good chuckle, Flash threw the guy on his back and started running in a certain direction.

"D-damn, you are heavy for a hobo. I can't imagine how those comic books Speedsters do it so casually, this is harder than it looks..." Flash was almost out of breath as he had carried this fully grown smelly man for quite a distance, surely more than the average guy his age could, but still reasonable.

Flash sighed as he realized one of his biggest weaknesses; he didn't have any form of Superstrength, he'd have to get really strong by himself in the Gym.

Speaking of working out...depending on the perspective, this Superspeed lifestyle is really really good or really really not good for fitness. It could ruin all chances of becoming bulkier, though on the other hand, cutting would be egregiously easy.

"I...re-really....have come...to see everyday b-become cardio day!" Flash settled his sentient baggage down on a nearby bench as he regained his breath.

For everyone else, maybe it was super-fast. But with Bullet Time, carrying this random mugger became a hassle that took more than half an hour for Flash, it was really boring yet cool at the same time seeing everyone go in slow-motion...

He really couldn't be bothered by the previous runs and had just prevented his reaction speed from being as fast as his running speed, ironically speeding up the running process, in his perspective, at least.

The mugger stirred lightly in his back as in that guy's perspective, he should be seeing himself zoom across the city with the occasional streaks of lightning. It's like a damn biblical event falling upon some guy with a flimsy gun.

Seeing that he was finally about to reach his destination, Flash slowed down his running as he started to walk normally (In Superspeed) to the building in front of him.

The damn Chuch, a famed house of God. He had recalled the quip he had given John Simmons, it was pretty funny if you were there but a bit weird in hindsight.

So to connect everything together, Flash decided to drop off the starving mugger at the Church's door as he was born and raised to be Christian.

Gently placing John down to the ground, as Flash knew something more reckless would have broken a few bones at this speed, he then pulled out a pen and paper before writing on said paper.

Feeling satisfied, Flash gave John one last kick in the balls for the laughs before deactivating his Bullet Time, he'll just run back in the same direction and phase through the traffic, no problem.

He wondered what would come of today, but he just laughed it off before heading to his real destination, retrieving his groceries first, of course...

--->Author's Note:

Thoughts?

Guys, please give me more power stones. This fic practically has 200 collections, but only 7 stones? That is so proportionally underwhelming, like a white girl finding out her black boyfriend has a micro-penis, it shouldn't be!

Is there something wrong with the formatting or is it because of the update schedule?

Do you guys want:

The same, 3-3.5k chaps but takes a bit longer.

New, 1k+ chaps, releasing frequently?