chapter 6

"Aggg." I got up and crawled, my eyes still hurting and my ears still ringing. I didn't know how much time was left, but I only had a few seconds to escape before Flash recovered

The bombs I threw on the floor, along with the remote he stole, were all fake. They were meant to take down his guard since I didn't have too many of them – those things were costly, so much so that I couldn't make my rent. 

Instead, I strapped the real ones I had to my chest and tied the pins to a cord. Just so he couldn't stop me, I mentioned the name of Iris West, who I remembered to be his wife, to distract him. I didn't know what their relationship was like right now, but it was better than nothing.

"Uffff." Despite fortifying my vest with a board, I could still feel the unmistakable pain of a few broken ribs.

I pulled my mask off, but I still couldn't see anything. The blast had left me blind too. However, it didn't matter because I had memorized this street like the back of my hand for this exact situation.

Following the plan precisely, I reached a manhole cover I had opened and crawled right into it.

"Thud." I landed hard, probably breaking some more bones. 

I crawled to the side and pulled on the rope that I had set to close the cover. It was a waiting game now; in about a minute, I would know my fate. Either I would go free or get caught. With the Flash on my tail, no amount of running would save me now.

I waited, drenched in sewer water, cold and shivering. My clothes were blasted off, and my pants were barely hanging on. Time went by slowly; every second felt like an hour. 1 2 3 4 …

(Flash pov)

I got up and looked around. My ears were still ringing, but it was quickly getting better, thank God for super-speed healing. I ran out to see if he was even still alive from the blast. I mean, what the hell was he thinking?

I ran out, but he was nowhere in sight. It looked like he survived, which only made me worried. 

He knew about Iris, and I didn't know to what extent he knew about me. Maybe there was someone behind him. 

That's when I noticed a trail of blood on the road; he was not uninjured.

I was about to follow him, but right before I could, my phone suddenly rang.

I pressed the comms on my ear and answered it.

"Barry," it was Iris, her voice tinged with worry, and suddenly, a foreboding feeling settled in. The kid mentioning Iris couldn't be just a coincidence, right?

"Iris, are you okay? What's happening?"

"Barry, I'm okay, but Cold is here along with several others. We need you, Ba... ahhhhhh," her sentence was abruptly cut short by screams and the chaotic sounds of a fight in the background.

"Iris, Iris, hello! Iris, can you hear me? Shit!" I sprinted to the Flash Museum, the entrance a blur as I sped inside. The place was surprisingly quiet; the screams had ceased. Signs of a fierce battle were evident, but an unusual stillness lingered. As I scanned the scene, I discovered the cause—Cold, Boomerang, and Mirror Master, all bound with a green light emanating from a ring.

Wielding that ring was a lantern I knew

"Are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost. And when did you change your suit's color?" asked Hal as soon as he saw me. I glanced at myself, realizing part of my suit had turned black due to the earlier blast, but I had more pressing matters than worrying about my appearance.

"Iris, where is she? Is she okay?" I asked Hal, grabbing him by his shoulders.

"Okay, okay, calm down, lover boy. She's safe; she evacuated with the others. What's up with you?" He pushed my hand aside, seemingly not thrilled about being shaken at super speed.

"Sorry, it's something that happened earlier. Now that I think about it, it might have been a diversion. I'll tell you about it later. By the way, how are you here?" I asked him.

"Ask the guy in black," he said, pointing to Batman. I hadn't even realized he was here.

I turned to him, and he looked back at me.

"I calculated a high chance of some disruption and brought Lantern along for any contingency."

That's Bats for you, but whatever it was, I was thankful. I fell back down on my ass as I relaxed; this night was a hectic one.

(Meanwhile back in the sewers) 

After a few minutes, which felt like a few hours, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"I did it. I faced the Flash and survived to tell the tale." I had specifically chosen this day because there was a high chance of someone doing something stupid during the Flash Museum opening. These kinds of things happening peacefully were almost unheard of.

I smiled as I slowly got up; the pain was getting better, but my chest still hurt. I began to walk toward my planned exit, taking cautious steps.

But my smile soon vanished. 

"My bag," I realized I had lost the bag in the blast, and there was nothing I could do. All that work, gone to waste. Going back now would be suicide, so whether I liked it or not, I had to continue.

Still, I had some rings and stones in the fanny pack that survived, so not all was lost.

After a long walk, I emerged from a tunnel. Scanning my surroundings, I found myself on the outskirts of the city with trees providing cover. Looking around, I soon spotted a light and quickly walked towards it. There, I saw a man waiting beside a van. I raised my hand and called out to him.

"Joshua!" I shouted.

He looks in my direction and rushes to me, putting my arm on his shoulder as he helps me walk toward the van.

"You took your sweet time; I had half a mind of leaving, thinking you were dead," he says in a cheery tone.

"Ran into some complications." Joshua was the unfortunate friend from whom I had acquired the grenades. He lived in the same building as me, just a small-time thug who had tried to mug me, but it didn't go the way he planned. Despite his initial misguided attempt, he was harmless once you got to know him and had connections, which I sorely needed. So, for some cash and some physical persuasion, I was able to enlist him as my getaway driver and set me up with a buyer for my stolen goods.

I got inside the back of the van and lay down, and Joshua took the driver's seat.

"You okay, boss?"

"Yeah, just drive. Wake me up when we reach," I gave him instructions and blacked out. I was out for now.

"Next stop, San Francisco," he announced with cheer.