Speed Kills

[Thevshi]

Pleased that the goon was finally down, Velocity focused back on the room beyond the door. She did not really like the implication of what might be in there, but needed to try to check things out. Accelerating to high speed, she ran towards the wall with the door. Vibrating her body, she passed through, skidding to a halt in the other room as she quickly scanned the area, moving quickly to make herself a harder target.

[Veiled Malice]

Nothing immediately jumped out at her after passing through the hatch, greatly pleasing Velocity. Any time people didn't leap out of the shadows and bash her upside the head, like with a fire extinguisher for example, was a good day for her. The hallway ahead seemed to be more of the same. Aside from the tracks continuing along the ceiling, likely for the pod from the previous room, it seemed to be the same pipes and concrete from before. Kinda boring, really.

The pathway opened up near the end, leading onto a catwalk suspended above a factory floor. But that wasn't what Velocity was looking at. No, the pods, the hundreds upon hundreds of pods, most with people suspended inside them, that was what she was looking at with a sense of detached horror. The entire factory floor was devoted to the creation of the pods themselves, robotic arms whirring almost noiselessly as they continued their work without human supervision. Clamps lifted the completed product off the floor and hung them on the wall with the others, filled and not.

A control center, up a small stairway and nestled into the wall seemed to be the only place not on the factory floor itself to find out exactly what this place was for. However, there already appeared to be someone there, only at this range, Velocity couldn't tell who.

[Thevshi]

“Oh my god.†Velocity quietly muttered as she looked at the room before her. How could so many people be missing and this not have made the new somehow? Where did they all come from?

But her questions were quickly pushed aside as she saw the control center further in. With a burst of speed, she ran towards the control center, to try to see who the person inside might be.

“Hello there?†She called out as she sped to the door of the room.

[Veiled Malice]

Surprised, the figure whipped back to look at Velocity from it's hunched over position in front of an open pod. Velocity instantly recognized him as Robert Luciano, the boy she'd seen earlier. He was now far more nervous than the last time she'd seen him with the kidnappers, though, looking back and forth between her and whatever was in the pod before finally walking towards the door and opening it up.

"Oh, thank god you're here!" he exclaimed in gratitude. "They were trying to put me in one of those things!" Robert pointed over towards the open pod.

[Thevshi]

“Well, don’t worry, Raven and I will get you out of here.†Velocity replied as she took a quick glance over at the open pod Robert had pointed towards, looking to see if there was anything inside.

[Veiled Malice]

There was. Inside the pod, connected to all the life support gear... was Robert Luciano. The boy was unconscious, probably from whatever was being pumped into the IV drip attached to his arm.

"It's not what you think!" the other Robert piped up, desperately trying to get Velocity's attention. "He kidnapped me! I thought I was some kind of joke until all those guys in suits showed up and dragged me off! It wasn't until all of them left that I was able to knock him out and put him in there!"

[Thevshi]

Velocity looked back at the Robert that was talking to her as he began to explain what happened. He seemed nervous, and wasn’t looking directly at her. As if that was not enough, there was the fact that the Robert in the tub was all attached to the life support equipment.

“Really? That’s pretty impressive.†Velocity replied, with fake awe. “You beat him up and hooked all that stuff up to him? That’s amazing.â€Â

Her face then got serious, and she tensed for an attack. “How about you start telling the truth?â€Â

[Veiled Malice]

"Robert" edged backwards nervously, hands held up in front of him in a placating gesture. "No! I didn't... He was already..." He continued babbling out nonsense until his back bumped into a table by the rear of the control booth. Once backed into a corner, he looked around desperately for something, anything to help him. He seized upon a large flashlight, and picked up, brandishing it before him like it was a sword.

"It wasn't even my idea!" he screeched, his hands shaking terribly. "They forced me to do it! I didn't even want... I didn't even want this..." His voice had dropped to a whisper by the end. A single tear ran down his face, and his head sagged before the super heroine as the full weight of his situation made itself known to him. "I didn't want this..."

[Thevshi]

Velocity did not move, but she was ready incase he tried to do anything. She looked over at him, giving him a slightly sympathetic look. “Listen, I am not sure exactly what is going on here, but if you say you were forced to do something, I am sorry you have been put in this position. Let’s just put down that flashlight and make our way back upstairs and get the police in here so things can get all sorted out. Okay?â€Â

[Veiled Malice]

Robert hesitated for a moment, gripping the flashlight so tight his knuckles turned white. Then all the resolve, what little of it he had left, seemed to leave him in a rush. "All right," he capitulated, setting the light down on a nearby table.

"But you don't understand. They'll make me disappear. I'm not even supposed to be here!" He settled down and looked about anxiously while walking towards the entrance to the control booth alongside Velocity. "Listen, all these people here," Robert said, motioning towards the pods, "aren't actually missing. Every single one has a double out there, doing what they usually do, living their lives. It was supposed to be the same with me. I was going to go back, take over Robert's life and wait for instructions - until you came along." Oddly enough, he sounded relieved instead of angry when saying the last part.

[Thevshi]

Velocity was relieved when the “Robert†before her put down the flashlight and seemed willing to talk things out. When he continued, she listened closely, and was not happy with what she was hearing. She did not even want to think about what the impact of all these people that had been replaced being reveled.

“Well, I will have something to say for you just disappearing, and I am sure the Freedom League will as well.†She replied as she started towards the exit to lead Robert back to where she had left Raven. “Do you know why they were having your replace Robert?†She asked, wondering if she should free the real Robert now or wait till Deadalus or someone got down here to see what more he could learn about what was going on.

[Veiled Malice]

"It's the same everywhere," Robert said. "They're replacing people who have the most influence, now and in the future. They've already gotten the chief of police and half a dozen politicians. Now they're working on heads of industry. That's why he was at North Bay Academy today. He's..."

Before Velocity could inquire about whom "they" or "he" was, the noise of footsteps on the catwalk made her and Robert turn to look. Robert instantly paled, and began slowly backpedaling towards the control room, murmuring, "Oh no..." under his breath. There, coming across the metal grating, was Johnny Rocket - but at the same time, Velocity knew it wasn't him. The face was the same from the pictures she had seen of the man, but the yellow tracksuit that was his trademark had made a stark transformation into a jet black version of the same design.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?†he drawled slowly, a leer out of character for a homosexual man crossing his face. “Now that is a very interesting costume. I like the checkerboards. Very…†his leer turned into a full-on wolfish grin. “… alluring.†His gaze flicked over to the steadily retreating Robert. “And you have been a very bad boy, Mr. Luciano. Filling this poor girl’s head with the inconsequential. I thought you were a team player, kid. Guess I was wrong.â€Â

[Thevshi]

Velocity looked at this man dressed as Johnny Rocket, and who seemed to move as quickly as he did and tensed slightly. She did not know where he was looking at her certainly was out of character for the other speedster hero.

“Thanks.†She said flatly at his lewd comment about her costume. “If I were you, I would clear out of here, for Robert and I were just on our way to meet up with some members of the Freedom League that are upstairs and bring this operation down.â€Â

[Veiled Malice]

"Are they now?" the fake speedster said in mock surprise. "Oh deary dear. I guess I'll just have to give myself up and go to jail for the duration. I mean, it's not like I could have bounced bird girl's skull off the ground a couple times before coming down here to take care of you." By the end of his speech, his grin had gone from wolfish to downright vicious.

"But I digress." He began walking towards Velocity, seemingly almost stalking her. "As I at least hope you've deduced by now, I'm not your precious Johnny Rocket. You might know me by another name - Johnny Speed. Or as Lady Anarchy is so fond of calling me... Johnny Rotten."

"Charmed, I'm sure."

[Thevshi]

“I think that’s what Lady Liberty calls you.†Velocity replied, keeping her composure cool despite the fact that she seemed to be in some trouble. “And if she was here, I’m sure she’d smack that grin right off your face. Since she isn’t, I guess I’ll have to do that.â€Â

[Thevshi]

Velocity had fully expected the duplicate Johnny to move first, but as she realized she had the drop on him, she decided not to waste the opportunity. Streaking forward, her fist shot forward at his jaw in an attempt to carry through with her last comment.

[Veiled Malice]

Almost owlishly, Johnny Speed could only watch as Velocity's hyper fast punch connected cleanly with his face, blowing him off his feet. The back of his legs nailed the railing around the walkway, tipping the man over and sending him head over heels into the machinery below. It was there that she lost track of him. Too much motion blinded her to his position after he'd fallen... which meant he could still be anywhere.

"Did... did you get him?" Robert's quavering voice piped up from behind her. The boy had taken cover behind a control panel for the walkway's lateral movement function, shivering slightly and looking about in barely-contained fear.

"Not yet," a voice boomed from... everywhere, seemingly. The PA system had crackled to life, easily carrying over the sound of the machinery below. At the other end of the walkway, the door sealed shut, cutting off Velocity's possible escape route. "You don't get to go just yet, girl. And you certainly don't get to leave with the traitor there."

[Thevshi]

Velocity muttered a curse when she lost track of Johnny Speed. The booming of the voice over the PA system had her looking around, trying to spot a possible door that would lead to the place that housed that equipment. She could easily get out of this place, but the voice was right, she could not do so with Robert, or whoever he was.

“Big talk from someone hiding!†She yelled out. “Why don’t you come on back and prove it!â€Â

[Veiled Malice]

From the corner of her eye, Velocity's enhanced time sense caught a blur of motion coming towards her, and managed to turn just in time to dodge Rotten's punch. Unfortunately, he quickly moved out of range and back among the machinery.

"Wow, you are a quick one!" the PA system crowed again. "But do you think you can dodge me all day? I don't. I think that, eventually, I'm going to get lucky, and then where will you be?"

[Thevshi]

Velocity frowned slightly at the evil speedster’s running away, though knew she shouldn’t, she had used the same tactic plenty of times herself. “Then we will find out if you hit like a little girl!†She shouted out, just before she was off in a blur of movement.

A faint “BOOM†echoed through the underground facility as she broke the sound barrier, starting off down the direction the evil Johnny had gone after his attack attempt. She then began fanning out, looking for him.

[Thevshi]

Bingo. Velocity thought to herself as she spotted the evil Johnny up at a control panel. Speeding up the stairs onto that level, she zipped over to where he was and tried to punch him once again.

She then continued past and off into another part of the factory, trying to continue the cat and mouse game herself

[Veiled Malice]

Velocity's punch whizzed past the alerted supervillain, and Rotten took off after her. Though he lost track of the impossibly quick girl for a moment, his speed up search pattern allowed him to find her in short order.

His first punch narrowly clipped Velocity's shoulder, and soon both speedsters were caught up in a deadly game of superspeed roundabout tag. At this range, she could all but see the manic look in Johnny's eyes as he zoomed around the area, fists stabbing out at her. "You're out of your depth, girl!" he yelled at Velocity. "This is where the big boys play! You're nothing but a pretender to the speedster throne! Even that fairy, Rocket, is better than you!"

The taunt must have worked, because the next thing Velocity knew, pain blossomed in her jaw from a viscious hit she had barely seen coming.

[Thevshi]

While she had just barley seen the attack coming, Velocity’s reflex’s were as quick as ever, and she was able to move at the very last second with the impact, causing it to barely register. Spinning around, she faced off with Johnny Speed once more and grinned. “Maybe, but you DO hit like a little girl!â€Â

With that jab, she shot forward, her right fist coming up in a powerful uppercut.

[Veiled Malice]

Rotten saw the punch coming, but it was as if Velocity herself held him in place as it landed, square on the false Johnny's jaw. For the briefest of moments, the two speedsters looked into each other's eyes, seeing all there was no know about the other. And in Rotten's, all that remained was surprise; shock that this girl whom he'd dismissed as a pretender had gotten him so badly.

And then the moment was broken as the man flew backwards, propelled across the room by Velocity's supersonic uppercut. His legs struck a low lying pipe, causing his limp, ragdoll-esque body to cartwheel crazily through the air before slamming into a stasis pod that was being transported via overhead rails to another part of the factory. He slumped bonelessly to the ground.

The noise of the factory cut out suddenly; the dim of servos and assembly lines ground to a halt. The building itself seemed to be holding it's breath, waiting to see if Rotten would get back up again. But after a few moments, when nothing changed, an unsure voice called out from up on the catwalk. "Um... I think I pressed the right button..."

[Thevshi]

Velocity glanced up towards the sound of the voice, expecting to see Robert. “Seems like you did.†She replied. She then focused back on her opponent, and started to quickly look for something to tie him up with.