They say (S)Laughter is the best medicine (Open to 2)

Of course it was stupid.

Alex shouldn’t have turned his back on the speedster villain to deal with what felt like a bigger problem. Cypher and Proxy had said as much, though it didn’t hit him immediately. He saw him making contact but something told him it would take more than a half hearted bolt to actually take him down.  ”Doesn’t look like they were working together. Was a little too chaotic and disjointed,” Mostly for someone that had called their crime in beforehand.  If they were so confident they wouldn’t have called anything in beforehand.

Actually that sounded genius on second thought.

That was when it happened, something moving through at speeds too fast for humans to consider and too fast for him to react to now. He could have protected himself sure, but not these men. Only watching each one have a shard jammed into necks, sides and even knees as he slowly moved to respond. Electricity building within his fingers and watching it slam into a wall with a bright spark. He was far too slow but he was stuck with the bodies that all seemed to slump with eyes wide hitting the floor.

So there he was stuck with an arm stretched outwards with fingers splayed and a stupid look on his face. Lights began to flicker around him, and then all at once he felt pure electricity rush into him from every point possible around him into his body. A cloak formed from the energy of the building, though most of the energy found itself released in blind bolts of energy at the speedster responsible for killing...well he couldn’t even count them right now.

Did it matter if he could?

From behind the monitor, Proxy closed his eyes and let out a sigh. For him it had been seconds that passed, but he already watched the footage of many of the individuals drop dead with spikes in the neck. He leaned back and his eyes narrowed as he watched the man executing his foes in a rather viceral way. He needed to analyze this speedster a little more clearly. This visage was unique, and their combined powerset was already formidable.

“Woah. Our boy’s in trouble, huh?” Slim asked as he realized the overly serious nature of the air around them. He cleared his throat and seemed to back away a little bit. He clapped his hands and blew up his cheeks, forcing air through as if he were about to whistle.

“Bolt, you need to get out of there. He’s got formidable regeneration, he’s using their superior speed to their advantage. You’re going to get killed! Let them have whatever’s in the warehouse and please just get out of there! We can always stop them later...” Cypher was visibly concerned. Before two years ago there had never been a speedster move beyond Mach 5. Now between The Zodiac, Lightyear, Atlas and this new contender. Bolt was outmatched, outclassed in almost every way. She was genuinely afraid for his life, even though he seemed to be nothing more than angry. Slim put his hands behind his head and seemed to take the situation a little more seriously, especially with the welt on his hand.

They both looked to Proxy, who sat in the chair. He wasn’t very old, but he was smart. His words seemed to carry some ancient wisdom, some unique lens that filtered out all nonsense and fixated only on that which Bolt needed at that time. But even now, from under the beanie, and the knit black jacket he gazed at the flashing monitor from behind his glasses. His eyes analyzing everything about this new foe.

“Let me help him.” The offer was oddly serious and genuine in contrast to how aloof and laid back Slim often projected himself to be. Cypher looked at him and while she wanted to protest she realized that look in his eyes. It was the same look that Bolt got in his. There was no stopping him.

“Absolutely not.” Oooor maybe there was. Proxy’s voice was hushed as he stood up, crossing his arms over his chest and looking down at them from his slightly elevated flooring.

“Oh? That so? Says who?” Slim asked as he puffed out his chest, Proxy cocked his head to the side, his glasses coming down the bridge of his nose slightly.

“Can we please dial the testosterone back?” Cypher snapped at them both, sighing as she pointed to the monitor of Bolt’s vitals. “We need to help Alex-”

“Oh you’re so right. We DO need to help Alex. Which is exactly why I won’t send the FEAR-INDUCING UMBRA. INTO THE FIGHT WITH A FEAR-MONGERING DEMON SPEEDSTER.” Proxy was shouting now, slowly and deliberately as he drew in a long breath through his nose. “You really wanna help Alex? You do exactly what I let you join the team for. No matter how stupid you may think it is.”

“Out powers aren’t even similar. Mine draw from-” Slim couldn't even finish the thought before Proxy cut him off.

“Your powers offer diversity. His powers offer him diversity. Unlike you and your hood-thug-life teaching you adaptability, He has been sheltered, loved and coddled. Now I want Alex to survive this, and judging from how resolved you are to dive head first to try and save him, you want him to survive too. So teach him how to be adaptable.” Proxy said as he walked back to his desk. By now who knows what happened. Bolt might have been kicking ass, he might have been getting ass kicked. At this point it didn’t really matter….

*******************

There was one man left alive and that was the initial officer. Whom spoke to Bolt. He kept pressure on the wound. Watching sparks and shimmers every now and again as he lay bleeding out. He felt cold, and he knew his breathing was shallow. He didn’t know that he was going to survive this. He didn’t know what was going to happen next. Would it just be darkness? A hospital bed? Heaven or Hell? He wasn’t dead yet...but he was getting there. Motionless, barely able to keep the pressure on his back, unable to feel beneath his waist.

There was classical music playing, muffled from the other side of the elevator door. Guns all trained on the doors as they opened. There was nothing there. The units opened fire regardless, even the vibrational counter cannons fired off to ensure if the speedster were making themselves intangible by exiting their molecules, they’d get riddled with bullets. But there was nothing. Just the same, classical music playing. One man advanced towards the elevator, the guns trained on it still.

“This has been Mozart’s Piano Sonata Number 11. For all of you classical lovers out there we have some of the best of the best lined up for you, so make sure you don’t touch that dial.” A soothing voice came over the elevator.  As he stepped closer to the elevator there was a blur of motion, Zodiac dropped from the ceiling and with one fluid motion he gripped the man by the throat and began to choke him. The man’s guttural noises warranted.

“Oh really?” he asked as he cocked his head to the side, nodding as the man continued to make the horrific noises. The man squirmed, trying to hit Zodiac’s arm to get him to release.  “Yeah, I agree. Mozart just doesn’t do it for me either. I’m more of a… Beethoven fan myself.” Zodiac said as the V.C.C units began to blast him with vibrations, officers took careful shots at the man, but the bullets only bounced off the heavy plated armor. The officer’s face turned dark from lack of air.

“KEEP FIRING! ALL UNITS CODE RED!” He shouted into his shoulder clipped radio. Zodiac seemed to ignore the chaos surrounding him as he looked to the man whom he was choking.

“This is rotten luck. Your friends just fired on me with me holding you here. Do they not care if they hit you?” He asked rhetorically as he then let the man go, allowing him to gasp for air , the color in his face turning to bright red almost instantly. “Oh. I know just what song will get this party started. Beethoven’s Requiem the fifth. Conducted by yours truly.” He said happily as he reached up to his earpiece beneath his hood, pressing the button. The song played starting with the heavy guitar’s four aggressive strings. Zodiac seemed to completely withstand end endure whatever was thrown at him, making a mockery of the forces that stood in his way. His steps were only at regular speed, moving in perfect rhythm. At times he did utilize his speed to cut someone off.

He executed anyone he got close to with what he found to be hilariously thematic motions, as if conducting with his fingers he flicked his fingers, the sheer force generated form his hand moving so quickly generating an updraft which sent men’s heads crashing into the metal ceiling. Flicks to the side and exaggerated hand motions used to literally rip people’s stomachs open, eviscerating them all the way up to their lower jaw.

Bodies hit the floor as arterial spray patterns decorated the halls with the swift motions. Zodiac chuckled as he mixed the concept of creating “art” by conducting such music while painting the world red. It was not a desire, actually, though the uncanny humor was there. Finally he managed to kill just about anyone who posed a threat to him. He pushed down a door, and ripped open a pair of mechanical sliding ones, bypassing the bioscreening plate and stumbling into exactly what he wanted to see.

   Zodiac chuckled as he looked up at the large device. It was such a magnificent thing. The appearance was that of a small chair egg-chair of sleek black metal lined with purple interior and a matching cushion. The chair seemed to be melded into the floor, where several rings of matching black metal seemed to expand in a ten foot by ten foot diameter. From these small ringed plates there were several dramatically curved poles with small holes. They were all around the chair, to many different angles, though the chair seemed to be the vertex of the chaos. As he walked up and sat on the cushion he leaned back, the holes in the curved rods began to glow as the plated beneath them began to shift, the poles all rotating faster and faster, a high pitched trill following, like the sound of a jet engine before it all fell silent. An image appeared in the thin air, where the moving poles had vanished from sight. Well they would have, if Zodiac had not been as fast as he was.

   “To think it was possible. To make a thing such as this, in a time period such as this.” He said as the image of Bolt and Mad-Dash outside had been seen. Bolt’s tantrum and the death of the police officers. “Father...once again. Your creations leave us all in awe….” He whispered to himself as he stood up. The poles slowed quickly, coming back into view. The lights in the holes died down. Zodiac stood tall, lifting one foot up and vibrating it at his full speed he drove his foot into the floor. The piece he needed was beneath him.

   “Perhaps...I still have time to play.” Zodiac mused to himself as he leaned down and ripped out the small device he had been looking for, the component within this machine. With a chuckle, he would vibrate his hand and shove the device inside his armor. Withdrawing his hand, he would then speed off towards the conflict of the other two speedsters.

Mad Dash would be sidestepping as many bolts as he could when he noticed the electric effect wearing off. This meant he could use his phasing ability again. Mark lifted a corpse up off the ground. He'd hope that the suit would be able to protect him from a little bit of electricity.

"Poor, poor Bolt. Too slow to save those around him. A weakling just like the original. You may have speed, but I am faster. You have reflexes, but mine are faster. Your mind? I can think faster than you could ever hope to. Your only advantage is your electricity which can easily be worked around. I can see your fingers start to move as you aim allowing me to know when a bolt is coming and move out of the way. You will fail, Bolt. And I'm going to love watching your world crumble as you fail to save this facility."

Mad Dash would speed around in the protection of his new meat shield, using it to take the electric bolts. As he got close, he lifted the corpse fully off the ground, gripping its leg and attempting to slam it down upon his foe racing around near his top speed. It was coming. His ultimate move. Soon. Soon.

Mad Dash continues to block, dodge, and attack with the corpse. Seeing Bolt move his hands to aim, he'd be able to anticipate incoming attacks and use the corpse to dodge.

"And I know you have someone in your ear. When I kill you, I'll find them and kill them as well."

Bolt was struggling for sure. Each blast of electricity was another miss, something that left him wondering if he could do this. Mind racing with the many doubts all too willing to rise from their shadows. Proxy looked to the Umbrakinetic, tossing him a portable mic that could clip onto his jacket. Every second was something Bolt could waste. Slim put the mic up to his mouth and spoke.

  "Okay, okay. Bolt. You just gotta let a little bit of your energy out and feel it man. You just gotta feel it, ya know? When you feel it you'll be able to do stuff" Slim said, leaving Bolt likely more lost and confused than before. Slim's coaching wasn't horrible, but it lacked the actual process of how to do it.  It lacked the actual meat of the explanation. You can explain WHAT to do, but without telling or teaching HOW to do it it could be...difficult. Sometimes people couldn't tell the difference between WHAT and HOW.

    Bolt took more thundering blows. Proxy kept quiet. Finally with grit teeth and closed eyes, he broke. He tried not to watch, a faint irritation traced his voice, be he was probably far more irritated with Slim than he was at Bolt. He had that sound to his voice, like a calm in the storm. He wasn't scared, he wasn't angry."Bolt. I want you to let your electricity run through you. Coursing in your veins. I want you to feel the power in your brain, every synapses firing off faster and faster. He says he is faster than you. That's true. He says he has the better reflexes. That's true too. But your mind. That's one thing thing that he can't catch. Now I want you to call out to that lightning inside you, and I want you to do one simple thing. I want you...to breath."

Proxy's instructions were simple, and he did exactly as the man behind the voice said. He was breathing. He could feel the concentrated energy inside him moving rapid. Faster and faster. Everything seemed slow. He had a moment of silence. He couldn't move, or speak. But he could think...and it was all so clear! No pain, no hurry...just tranquility.

     The moment felt like it lasted an hour before he realized he had just been hit once again, tossed to the side like a rag doll. He could hear Proxy's voice again as all his bodily aches and pains returned. "You felt it. Good. Not i want you to do it again. But this time focus on my words and repeat them to yourself." He said. Bolt would hear the words he had to say and try to focus once more. Calling his energy from within. He repeated what he heard in his head, only hearing Proxy's voice walking him through his moment of stillness.

   "I want you to feel that power inside you. The lightning, the electricity that is powering you. Fueling you, making this moment of clarity possible. Feel it rattling within your body, dancing within your blood and pushing pure power into your heart and mind. Now i want you to feel that electricity in your muscle trying to be free. Feel the static on your skin the way it permeates into the air." Proxy's voice brought about a moment of clarity. but now it also brought him to realize something about himself. Like waking up and noticing a part of his body that he had always jad, but had never known was there.

"Let the static reach out, small little waves of electrical current, a built up charge. Let only the static. Like little hairs, feelers. You can't see him. But FEEL the static, all around you. A part of you. You're not faster than him Bolt. But he's not racing you now. He's racing your lightning. When he gets close you'll feel it, a disruption in the static. When you feel that, let your power run free. Let your soul RUN FREE!"

     He felt it. He actually FELT is just like proxy said he would. The disruption. It took his breath away. But he did it. It felt like a rush of wind leaving his body, he could feel himself slipping from his tranquil mentality, his serene state melting away as he saw a large sphere of electricity surrounding them, firing closing inwards, converging upon the speedster. This hit would hurt, but this was going to hurt the speed demon a lot worse. The energy coursed through him, chasing away the pain that came with being hit so many times.

Maybe he wasn’t fast enough but that didn’t matter.  ”I’m sorry. You were doing that thing again. Where you begin to brag because you looked like you were winning,” He spat a glob of blood on the floor, eyes brimming with energy like lightning. If he wanted to kill Proxy, Cypher and Shady he would have to get through the electric speedster and that was not going to be an easy task for him.  Besides, he started talking shit about his dad and that was no good. "you lose,"

Lessons would have to be learned.

That was it. There was no way to tell for certain that Bolt had genuinely won, but that was one hell of an ace up his sleeve. Proxy gave a slight sigh, a small smirk playing to his features as he stood upright. Cypher was jumping up and down, squealing with joy as she hugged Slim. The Umbrakinetic just looked to Proxy, as if he were lost or confused. Proxy looked at the screen staring down at the two speedsters with a look of smouldering intensity.

   "Come and get me, you second rate phobia." He whispered to himself with a scoff. Reaching over he pushed his laptop screen down. He eyed over the ones who called him a friend, and he nodded politely. "I trust you can wrap this up?" he asked, though it seemed to be a rhetorical question. Cypher was all to happy to oblige.

 "Absolutely! That was...Bolt could have this all his own now. That was...ingenius. electrical manipulation to increase cognitive capacity. Dangerous but you knew that it would work....how did-? She was amazed, turning to look at Bolt's vitals, only to turn back and realize that the young man she was talking to had walked off. She looked to Slim, slightly concerned now as she blinked. "He-He DID know Bolt was going to be okay, right?" she was met with a shrug from Slim as he turned and walked towards the kitchen, a glistening black tendril rising from his shadow.

 *******************
 
      Sometimes it was nice to walk. To take in the slow, agonizing sights of being human. He chuckled as he reached the elevator, the low rumble. By the time he reached the surface again it was at the pinnicle of battle. The electrical speedster seemed to deliver an impossibly difficult attack to the enemy. Zodiac actually chuckled when he saw it from the distance. That was a new trick, a rsther devious one as well. Even being several times faster than the speedster Bolt faced, he would have been incapable of escaping such an attack.

   They hadn't noticed him yet, staying to the shadows. He wondered if this MadDash would even both to stand up again, or if he was down for the count. Such a blow, it would be understandable. Bolt was always surprising his foes, one way or another. He was progressing. Advancing. Even now, he was watching this hero come one step closer to destiny.

  ...but still so many steps behind.

   His eyes were fixated on Bolt, his own focus trained and honed in. The eyes of the predator watching the wounded little lamb that was fighting off a fearsome lion. The lightning was difficult for him to follow, he could percieve it, he could see it clearly...but even HE wasn't fast enough to evade every chaotic arch of light. He was, once....and he would be again. He thoroughly enjoyed watching the hero and villain dynamic between this almost cartoonishly evil force of fright and the wide-eyed protagonist in their epic confrontation. Arms folded over he watched, waiting and ready.

   The officer who still lived groaned a little the sound of his radio making strange white nosie then sounding like a keyboard took to it. There was a form of music playing, but the voice that played would be so familiar to  Bolt. "Don't mind the noise outside the door. I'm just a Phantom-Nothing more! No need to give youself a scare, when you glance and no ones there~ I know just how to hurt you..."

Mad Dash would fly backwards, his legs hitting the front of a car, sending him into a flip. He would fall to the ground, gritting his jagged, uneven teeth. Markus would open his mouth, blood sliding out of his mouth, sweat running down his rocky skin, streaks of energy glowing hot.

He'd rise up, shaky and wobbly, throwing the fried corpse in armor to the side. As he tries taking a step, his leg would send a jolt of pain through his body. It didn't look right. Not one bit. It was twisted past what should be possible. It looked like a pretzel twist. Seeing his leg, he finally felt all the pain rush in at once and he actually, for the first time this fight, shown that he could be stopped.

"You did some d-damage, hero. You may be stronger than your father... You're still a weakling. I was j-just tired! I'll.. I'll rip you to shreds!"

Mad Dash would grab his leg and gritting his teeth, snap it back into place with a painful crunch. His glowing eyes would widen as he felt more severe pain. He'd fall over onto his rear, needing a minute. His breathing is labored.

"You're full of surprises, Bolt. You- you really are. I give you that. But what're tricks compared to.... Raw Power...."

Mad Dash would shift behind the car he was thrown over. He'd start diverting power from throughout his body directly into the broken leg. Markus knew what he had to do. But first, he had to heal. In the meantime, he'd use some banter to distract his enemy.

"You have some tricks up your sleeve? I have some too! Your father would be proud of that move. But I'm not. Heroes don't use tricks. Heroes fight valiantly, no? You're weak. So, very weak. I can run to the next city in seconds. Across the country in minutes. Your powers are insignificant compared to mine. I'll enjoy using my shards to slowly peeeeeel your regenerating flesh off your body. You're truly an interesting specimen. Perhaps I could advance my own powers with a bit of information on yours..."

Mad Dash's leg would've improved significantly, but he wouldn't be running as fast. Just a little longer and he'd be back up. He'd be able to use his ace.

"You think you can stop me with more of your tricks, don't ya. Well, you only made me more on edge, more aware. I'll be expecting it now. And I'll be ready."

What was he doing? According to hero code or whatevs, heroes don't kill. Had he not used the officer's dead body as a shield, he probably would've been slain. Ahh, who cares. As long as he was still able to make people suffer, everything was just peachy. He'd gaze at his hand to notice that it's vibrating erratically. Phasing is starting to come back from that first electrical blast. Just keep yourself on your toes and you'll be able to evade a few more shocks. Find some kids in the city, use 'em as bait. That and the ace. The ace. That would be something to behold. The look of pure fear on their faces will be beautiful.

Bolt felt it.

The electricity running through his body. Currents that touched every cell and only energized him further.  His perceptions themselves were even faster it felt, watching the slow moving speedster thrown back against a door and their leg twisting in slow motion from the impact against his own electrical cloak. Now made more effective than ever before. ”Oh, you’re still talking,” He noted to himself with an almost amused tone. That the villain felt they needed to talk him up to be powerful. An arc ran up his arm and sparked outwards, eyes focusing on the man trying to crawl away from him. No hope in escaping now with that broken limb.  At least that was what he assumed, because not all speedsters healed quick, right?

Something told him that was wrong.

That however didn’t matter when he heard the voice. Transmitting through the radio of a man he couldn’t tell was dead or alive. Only that it was still letting audio through in the form of someone singing, and the voice was familiar. Had he been wasting too much time dealing with this guy? Sounded like it indeed. Bolt cursed under his breath, glaring at the car the man hid behind and the fact he needed this to have been over a minute ago. If he even wanted a chance to go against Zodiac, who was a whole different kind of problem compared to whoever this was.

He drew upon his speed and moved. Vaulting over the car and everything felt….faster? Might have been the word for it, though he saw the speedster with their leg untwisted and felt the electricity flow through him again. Thrumming through him, the faint electro-receptive field around him and several outlets around him which let out bursts of their own electricity which all homed in on  Mad Dash.

He watched as Mad-Dash seemed to believe he could run away from this. The reason for it was unknown to Zodiac, but he could see the movements all too clearly. He could see the electricity’s arching from his body just before the release of the energy into the homing spheres. He sighed as he stepped forward his speed kicking in. He charged around Bolt, watching off to the side as he moved with incredible speeds, leaving both speedsters moving much slower. He chuckled as he ran past Bolt, running in front of Mad-Dash sticking out his arm to clothes-line the speedster. At the speeds they moved, Mad-Dash would have very little chance at all to even phase through the incoming arm. Though it would prove to be for his benefit.

“This won’t do….” He chuckled as the homing electrical attacks were discharged. With a hand out, Zodiac began to charge with his own current. The off colored cyan green energy radiated as he seemed to move himself as a shield, intercepting the energy before it could hit the demonic speedster. The Electrical current coursed through Zodiac, leaving him to tremor and shake for a moment as the electricity bounced over his body. It seemed to be effective for a moment, as effective as when Bolt had previously faced him. Then his eyes began to glow faintly and he started to chuckle. Unknown to Bolt, his durability had been fortified greatly since their previous encounters. With a violent shake of the arm, the electrical energy fired out from his arm and went arching to a telephone pole, sending a powerful charge through the city and killing power in the nearby area.

“Let’s make this…interesting.” Zodiac chuckled for a moment before his entire body began to vibrate, pulsating with electricity and speed as he ran off ahead, making sure to keep track of both Speedsters, especially this foreign demonic one.

"I'm a talker, what can I say?"

Mad Dash would watch the speedster propel himself over the vehicle, gritting his bone crushing teeth. He saw the look in his eye. The same look from a few minutes prior when he unleashes the armor frying bolt of electricity. Huh. He hadn't gotten to use his powers too much. This was it. Wait, why would this young speedster hero kill a villain? Eh, what the heck.

Mad Dash thinks depressing thoughts when suddenly he notices something. A blur, another speedster! The arm would collide with his face, sending him careening away from the crazed Bolt. What in the hell hit him? Maybe the electricity, but he should've been fried by that. Wait.

Mad Dash would shake his hand around a bit and it would vibrate. Phasing is back on! But wait, whobis the guy that was in his spot? Mad Dash narrows his eyes at him or it. He got saved, but he didn't want the other guy to get all the glory. Mad Dash would stand, his leg healed. Perfecto.

"Are you ready to die, Bolt? I'll make sure your family and team go with you so you'll have someone to talk to."

He watched the energy rip from his fingers and then suddenly there he was. Reaching out to negate the electricity that zipped through fingers and was undone with a vibrating body which left him staring wide-eyed at Zodiac. Well, it looks like the speedster was trying to sabotage him taking down this mad, cackling characiture that was more focused on saying he would kill him in the most terrible fashion. Terrible as in annoying.  ”Jesus Christ, do you have any other shit to talk than ‘Muahahaha i’m going to kill your family’?” He snapped with even more spark of electricity that ripped from his body as if trying to hit them and expecting it to fail.

He drew in as much electricity as possible, causing any lights that remained to flicker and go out.  This was unleashed in a blast of electricity at the speed demon, though also at Zodiac with the faint hope it would do something. Now he was dealing with two people faster than him and one of them could negate his only advantage. Once he unleashed these bolts and felt the energy rapidly drain from his body, he tried to get moving to a more closed area. Hopefully foce them to come to him and he could try out that one thing he had been working on.

“You’re new to this...aren’t you?” Zodiac asked as he turned his head back to MadDash slightly, annoyance prevalent in his voice. He didn’t need an answer. Because he didn’t give MadDash the chance to. “You’re either new...or you’re terrible at it. Let me show you...how it’s done.” Zodiac said as his vibrating voice was accompanied by the break of the first few limiters, allowing him to move at Mach 25 punching at the air several times, forcing a powerful wind to push Bolt backwards as he unleashed a powerful blast of energy that would drain the light from the area. Guilty Spark’s streak could still be seen as he moved quickly. Reaching out to grab at MadDash, even if MadDash somehow evaded his grasp, he would find sharp claw-like fingers firing out from his hand, twice as fast as he could move, the fingers propelling to pierce through the speed demon at Mach 30. Hopefully between that and the energy rush, MadDash would realize just how much trouble this way.

   “Lesson one. Don’t kill all the hostages. Drain their hope, slowly. The slower, the more agonizing. If you drain his hope to fast, the victim becomes angry and they are more likely to fight. More likely to win.” Zodiac said to the demonic looking speedster, chuckling and laughing as he used his superior speed to keep on the move, flashes and lines of the energy streaking behind. He rushed to collect the fingered spikes for his gauntlets, allowing them to reattach.

Mad Dash makes a Mad Dash for cover behind the vehicle he crashes into earlier, some of the bolts crashing into it. He suddenly felt a different feeling. Not pain, not anger. Hunger. Legitimate hunger. He'd been running at his maximum speed and required sustenance for his powers.

"I'll be back. Just a second, promise."

And in a flash, Mad Dash would be gone, nothing but dust left in his place. Speeding through the streets of downtown Chicago, Mad Dash would end up blasting by a food truck. He'd reverse back, hopping in the truck at high speeds. He'd spook the owner of the truck, pouring hot oil on him, scalding him. Markus would raise a talon above the man.

The man would flinch, pulling back and closing his eyes. As he opens them back up, the demon was gone. What in the hell was- The food truck would explode and a few pedestrians would fall back as the fireball expands. Mad Dash reappears back at the facility, still shoving a few hot dogs down as he arrives. Right as Zodiac finished his line about being new to this.

"You were saying something?" He'd slide a hot dog down, licking his fingers. Markus in demonic form would rub his stomach, smiling. "That was delightful. Anyway, back to the slaughtering."

However, he'd be grabbed and pulled about by the speedster. Yapping something about hostages and whatnot. It was pretty fun, actually. Like a normal person roller coaster.

"Huh, you make for a good carnival ride, pal, however, I just consumed enough hot dogs to feed a lion and you're taking me about faster than I can perceive. Don't make me vomit. You won't like me when I'm vomiting."

Mad Dash would activate his phasing, hopefully allowing him to escape this thing's grip. "And save the lecture. I'm doing this for the thrill, not as a profession. I really hate teachers and shit. I might just change teams for that. Are we even on a team? I mean, you're obviously the one who put this whole shebang together, but you're a pretty poor party host. Didn't even leave snacks out for your guests!"

Zodiac was fast.

Bolt had learned that before but his sudden burst of speed reminded him how far outstripped he was on the whole speed thing. In a rush of motion he was thrown back by a gust of wind, pulling him off from his feet and throwing him backwards against and through a wall he felt. The impact stung like hell, though he was lucky to not be as flimsy as anyone else. Still his body was sore. Thanks to all that electrical discharge and being literally thrown back through a wall he assumed.

”Cypher, you there? I’m really considering the running away approach you offered,” He managed with a voice that sounded pained, quickly leaping to his feet and knocking aside the rubble that had managed to fall down on him.  Power had flickered out in the compound but he knew there had to be some remnants of sparks within the place.  He rubbed his temple which reverberated with pain, eyes swimming  as he tried to draw onto any power around him.

Some sparks leapt from a socket and the pain lessened. Well, he would be able to get along for a little bit. Hopefully enough to get away, though something told him running away was not a thing. These guys were just too damn fast for him to deal with. When the ringing in his ears failed, that was when he heard what sounded like that speed demon speaking more and he had the feeling he was just like that. The one note kind of evil that enjoyed killing people and just being a general pain in the ass. Well that made him easier to hurt.

”Yeah no. I am never going to consider you part of me team.” He managed to growl, stepping through the hole in the wall, trying to drum up some electricity and realizing that he likely couldn't go slinging any more bolts like that.  Also the fact that he was maybe trying to kill them and then the shame came.  Depending on what was suggested by his team he might have unleashed a wave of electricity with everything he had left and tried  for a run. If not, well he would have to try and fight.

Maybe some smaller bolts or whatever. Anything to keep up with these two monsters of speed.

“I didn’t realize such poor quality would show by placing out an invitation. I expected something more...refined.” Zodiac said as he had watched the speedster make his comments and make a mockery of the night. He actually felt a genuine disdain for this being. Though he knew this being also had a purpose, the truth of the matter was that even Zodiac could not see what purpose that was. He learned long ago that the universe has a way of bringing people together.

   Bolt had his own retort, about never seeing the demonic speedster as an ally or a member of any team. Zodiac found some small amusement that he even had to state such a thing when it was so obviously known. Just as the world’s greatest assassin didn’t need to justify himself to some slug in his path. Now Zodiac found himself amused by the concept that the demonic speedster was actually going to challenge him, actually make an attempt to defeat him. He laughed, the reverbing sound of the vibration warping it to a rather twisted and demonic sounding thing.

   “You two against me. Yes. Excellent Idea. That’s the only way you’ll survive this...especially if Bolt's English skills are a sign of his energy levels.” He said, actually overjoyed by the edgy-murder demon suggested such a thing. The creature was horribly two-dimensional, but his cold and black heart being set on having fun seemed to be a perfect opportunity to hone in on his nemesis and gift them with valuable experience. If Bolt was to truly become the one who defeated Guilty Spark, then he would not be allowed to lose to weaklings.

“Bolt...T-this should have been wrapped up. We didn’t know Guilty Spark would be there. I’m trying to call Proxy back in. But...I think he would tell you to fight. This may be one of the only opportunities you get to observe The Zodiac Killer, learn more about him. If he wanted to kill you he’d have done it already. Play along...” Cypher said. She cut the connection after that, not completely blocking out Bolt from talking, but from hearing as  she sighed with an unsure and shaking voice.

“That’s the wisest deduction I’ve seen in this group yet, Cypher.” A voice came from the doorway, bags of food in hand as he seemed to smile with a sense of pride. He walked in and set the bags on the table before Slim seemed to manifest from the floor, the cloudy shadows rising up as he seemed to reenact a scene from Jaws, come up and snatch the hamburger from Proxy’s hand with his teeth, leaving a very angry and sour faced expression on the young man with the beanie.

Mad Dash would look to Zodiac, extending long talons from each fingertip. He'd then look to Bolt. He'd whip his head back to Zodiac, jabbing a finger in Bolt's direction. "Pffff. You want me to work with that guy? Sure, he slightly kicked my derriere, but still. I mean, you got whatever you came here for, and I got to test out my powers a bit. We could all speed back home. This was all supposed to be a fun game. Murder some security guards, steal something from a facility. We don't gots to challenge each other. That isn't fun. Maybe next week we join up and laser tag, but Bolt and I fighting you is no bueno."

Mad Dash would glance back at Bolt taking a long, sharp stick from his rocky shoulder. "I have a feeling he's gonna like charge at us and force us to work together anyway, so we should come up with a plan."

He'd start murmuring to himself as he catves seemingly random images into the pavement with the spike. "Carry the wxyz... Speed tornado... Ahh, and then a large shock... Rile him up...."

Mad Dash would finally stop and turn to Bolt once more. "Pal, do you have any secret super abilities? We gotta put everything on the table if we want to kick his rear end in."

Bolt did not look happy. Not at all. Might have been the fact that he was expected to work with a psychopathic manchild with superpowers or the fact that he was expected to fight this fight.  Maybe this was one big joke with Cypher, Proxy and even Zodiac all just hoping to make one big joke out of him. Make him work with someone that was less preferable to shooting himself in the head. ”You’ve got to be kidding me,” He muttered to himself, legs feeling weaker by the moment and Bolt aware of the fact that he might not be able to get away.

Sure an assassin would have already killed him if he wanted him dead but what did that mean then? Was this some kind of trap that lead to painful torture? Very possible considering he didn’t go through usual assassin motions.  Now he was being told to play along and maybe even ignore all of the moral things he liked to believe he had. ”Oh yeah, definitely have a secret move. It’s where I turn into a pterodactyl and shoot laser beams from my mouth,” He growled,  trying to focus on the Speed Demon with minimal success.

”No! I shoot lightning and run fast. Almost out of lightning so I just got speed mostly, and...” He shrugged, realizing that he might be alone in the matter. Cypher and Proxy...well they had their own things.  ”so, got anything other than the super speed thing? Maybe something that could mix with my electricity,”

He questioned, not even wanting to deal with this guy. ”Also...don’t call me pal,” He added, trying to draw on what remained within his body. ”have a feeling if this doesn’t work...well I don’t need to say what happens.” He was probably going to die. Zodiac might not kill him but he was more worried about the guy next to him.