Chapter 09 - Where Is Rhino?
Written By Dr Armstrong
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->Flash POV<-< p>
Flash felt a heavy weight pushing against his solar plexus as he ran, it was like he was piercing through the air itself as a trail of wind followed him as if they were dragged along.
A trickle of lightning brushed up against his skin, the crackle sending shivers down his spine.
Flash knew not why there were streaks of lightning whenever he ran, they wouldn't appear whenever he stayed in place even with Superspeed, only running would create them.
Perhaps it was the heat and friction generated by his sprint, manifesting into the shapes of lightning rather than just mundane explosions.
He wasn't a Physicist by any means, but he knew this thing called common sense and it had told him about a simple fact; his Superspeed defied every sort of normal logic.
Realistically speaking, he shouldn't even be able to survive moving at such speeds, but he did. There was more to the Flash's powers than simply accelerating every fibre of his being.
Was his body's durability naturally adapting to his speed? Scaling up so that he wouldn't literally vaporize?
No.
If that were the case, Flash wouldn't have had to resort to continuously using random materials and objects he picked off of the ground to attack Rhino's ass with his signature backshots.
If he were to use his hands to punch the Rhino's metallic armour, perhaps a little kick or two as well, there would only be mountains of hospital bills ahead in that self-destructive path.
There had to be some Voodoo-like force or complex mumbo-jumbo science that protected him from this whole...dying thing. It also seemed to protect his surroundings, as there were no flaming flames or explosive explosions in sight.
Those caused by him, that is...
*KABOOM~BLAM~BROOM*
"SPIDER...MAAAAAN!" The man in the Rhinoceros machine shouted at the top of his lungs, a hint of his Russian heritage bleeding through as an accent.
Walls, pillars, and even entire small buildings were reduced to rubble as the Rhino's stampede left a harrowing trail of destroyed property behind him.
Flash zoomed past him with no trouble as he left a scarlet streak in his wake, with the previous method of trying to stop the Rhino via backshots not working at all, he quickly thought of a different way to subjugate the metallic terrorist.
The previous method could work, that is if he were to strike the Rhino with supersonic speeds, which Flash thought would just straight-up kill the Rhino, something he wasn't willing to do for now.
Spiderman got a lot of shit from breaking a lot of criminals' bones and giving them a lifetime debt of hospital bills, imagine the bullshit big media would weave if Flash killed on his debut...not worth it at all.
The distinct sound produced by the spinning blades of a helicopter filled the skies, driving away any and all flying critters from their homes.
Flash's vibrating crimson eyes briefly glanced at the sky in less than 1/5th of a second as his blurry form continued to run.
3 helicopters were circling the scene, 2 NYPD aviation units and 1 helicopter Flash didn't recognise, most probably to give a live broadcast of the event.
He also noticed dozens of police cars chasing the Rhino from a safe distance, though only bothering him with bullets from the side as they were smart enough to not try to shoot from the front.
Even if the Rhino wouldn't even flinch after getting shot by Flash, a man would still be impeded if they were bitten by a thousand ants.
The Flash knew he couldn't do much to stop the Rhino's charge...well, he probably could in some way, but he still hadn't thought of how yet at the moment. So he opted to stay ahead to ensure no one would be crushed by the incoming bulldozer.
If only Spiderman was here, he'd probably know how to handle the damn beast with his like...6-7 months of experience—Flash on the other hand was still a bonafide first-timer!
Ignoring the fact that Flash was a superheroic virgin, a term he had just made up on the spot, he earnestly knew that something was off with Rhino here, what on earth was he planning up there in that unicorn head of his?
He knew for a fact Rhino wasn't just running away here, that would be brain damage levels of stupidity—that guy was going to do something, something dangerous.
'Oh...this guy is going to!?' Flash finally realized what Rhino was going to do as he briefly left Superspeed and beheld the sight before him.
Traffic, lots and lots of traffic.
Flash silently cursed the citizens of NYC for their casual attitude when a supervillain rampages around, it just happens too often, but that doesn't mean you should treat it like a passing rumble on the ground!
He glanced back toward the charging Rhino, now a smirk on his face as glint in his eyes became clear.
'You're faster than me, but are you fast enough to save everyone?' Was what Flash could glean from the giant's body language.
He cursed again at the circumstances, maybe he shouldn't have so arrogantly wasted time trying to assert his 'big dick' dominance over the damned Rhino, he had wasted stamina just to dodge Rhino's strikes, let alone play with him.
Flash should have just subdued him the moment he had saved Wally. Rhino's armour defended him from bullets, but if Flash were to knock the giant down and point the Glock straight at his jaw...would have been a job well done right there.
There seemed to be another weakness of the Flash besides his lack of superhuman strength; his energy levels, although boosted to almost god-like degrees, were still finite.
And as every sprinter on planet Earth knew, the more tired you were the slower you became.
Still, that wouldn't have mattered much in a chase, a slightly slowed Flash was still the fastest man alive, after all. But in a situation like this where a lot of people needed to be saved?
Flash swallowed an anxious breath as he ran up to the nearest vehicle, a bus. He phased in with no problems as he then forced open the door from inside.
Once opened, he began carrying the passengers on board, one at a time. First was some old grandma, he vaguely recognized her from somewhere but didn't put much thought into it as he carried the slow-motioned woman in a princess carry.
Putting her well out of Rhino's path, he returned before carrying another passenger, a child, then another, a middle-aged Asian man, then another, a tough-looking bodybuilder, another, another, another, and finally, the last one; the driver.
Putting the bus driver's fat ass on the sidewalk, Flash returned to the busy traffic with a frustrated expression on his face as sweat trickled down from his brow.
A cute girl riding a motorcycle, saved. A family of four with two daughters inside of a Toyota, saved. Some yoghurt male young master with his two trophy girlfriends driving a supercar, saved. A moderately famous pop singer Flash recognized, saved.
A stray cat crossing the road, saved.
Some shady-looking thug with meth hidden in the back, saved.
The owner of a nearby pizza restaurant, saved.
Saved.
Saved.
Saved.
Saved.
Saved...
...Saved.
"Cough...Cough..." Flash coughed heavily as he clutched his stomach in pain, the cloth of his suit torn apart like he had been jumped by a group of rabid racoons.
His feet were black and blue, and the running shoes he employed looked worse for wear like they had been mauled by a miniature bear.
Pants of hot air left through his mouth as he gritted his teeth, his eyes watery with tears, his entire body bruised up and slightly bloodied from all the friction and abrasions.
He saw in slow-motion, the many vehicles now left without anyone to control their movement, slowly but surely crashing into one another.
The price of life, Flash pitied all of these people who no doubt, would lose their precious cars, motorcycles, and other such things.
He hoped they would have an easy time with the insurance companies. Hopefully, they had superhuman-related insurance contracts...they probably did, let's be honest.
Flash swallowed the pain and discomfort accumulated in his soul as he chose to ignore the blood and sweat that engulfed his body in a foul odour.
He ignored, there was still a lot, a lot, a lot...
Saved.
Saved...
Sa...
...Ved
....
Flash couldn't save them all, deep down in his heart, he knew of this objective fact. He was the fastest man alive, but he was not fast enough for this...
The bus he had saved the first batch of people crashed against the nearby streetlamp, various cars met face to face in explosive dates, he watched in all in slow-motion.
The people that had been placed far away from their vehicles, had their faces morphed into that of shock and horror as they were suddenly outside, only to watch the many automobiles crash into one another.
For the Flash, he had to witness this scene in slow motion. He knew the Rhino was coming sooner or later as he leaned against a nearby wall, his heart beating thousands of times at their regular speeds.
'I-I...I'm...sorry...' He couldn't save all of them, he didn't—couldn't watch them die in slow motion.
He returned to normal speed, kneeling on the ground in a heap of sweat as he looked at the calamitous scene ahead.
Instantly, all hell broke loose as the traffic imploded upon itself. The record for most vehicular accidents occurring right before him.
But as the expected took place, the Flash couldn't help but feel a sinking sensation drilling right through his heart as he continued to behold the scene, his bloodshot eyes refusing to look away.
...
...
...
Rhino...where are you?
Flash made a mistake, a grave one.
--->Author's Note:
Thoughts?
Rhino isn't the Hulk, he's dumb, but not dumb-est.
More reviews, please. Will double-update overmorrow if I see more, though don't just spam with nonsense reviews, I want helpful criticism.
No Harem sect has won, this Patriarch is no match =(
Just promise you gays won't comment shit when I reveal the female lead, you guys are quick to jump the gun.