[hr] [hr] [center] [color=f7976a][h3]T H E F L A S H[/h3] [b]Revelations:[/b] [sup][i]NOT FAST ENOUGH[/i][/sup][/color] [/center] [hr] [hr] [color=fff200]"You know that's a terrible mask, right?"[/color] Iris looked up from her plateful of pancakes. Benefit of superspeed? Fast metabolism. She could eat as much as she wanted and not gain any weight. [color=f7976a]"What do you mean?"[/color] Barry pushed forward the newspaper, the headline read [i]FLASH DEFEATS HEATWAVE[/i] and below was a picture of Iris in her full costume standing over a defeated Heatwave. What the image didn't really tell you was how much she wished she had also been blessed with superstrength, carrying people around wasn't exactly easy. [color=fff200]"The mask. It barely covers any of your face, it's more like a... cowl."[/color] [color=f7976a]"Sho?"[/color] Barry flashed a scowl in her direction and she swallowed. [color=f7976a]"So, lots of heroes use [i]cowls[/i]. There's that Batman guy-" [/color] [color=fff200]"Nobody has a single photograph of him. So that's a terrible arguement."[/color] [color=f7976a]"Okay, well..."[/color] She paused for a second. [color=f7976a]"Superman."[/color] [color=fff200]"What?"[/color] She pointed her fork right at Barry. [color=f7976a]"Superman. He doesn't even [i]wear[/i] a mask. Ever think about that. Huh, [i]smart guy?[/i] Okay sure there's a chance someone gets a photograph of him, and the guy behind the... well. Behind the cape, then sure they can maybe put the dots together. With me, you don't even gate a full face shot. Besides, nobody can get suspicious for me being near the scene of a crime because I'm a journalist. I get paid to stick my nose into other peoples business."[/color] Barry just sighed as he turned back to his laptop. He was running diagnostics on her suit in her appartment, these 'sleepovers' were getting more and more frequent, in fact both their fathers raised eyebrows at what they were doing. Part of her wondered if they'd be happirer with the truth that she was secretely a superhero, or if they would rather they were sleeping together. She knew at least her father would rather she was sleeping with Barry. He had fought her tooth and nail when she used to entertain the idea of joining CCPD like her father, he wasn't terribly happy with her being a reporter either. The only consolation he had was that [i]she didn't partake in the chaos, merely monitor it[/i]. Iris usually heard those words twice everytime she met with her father, as if he was trying to brainwash her to keep her out of trouble. It was a little too late for that, two months so. In all honesty the suit could use some tweaking. She wasn't entirely sure how aestethic she wanted to get with it, though she knew she wanted to include lightning in the design somehow, more than just having the jagged edges and the yellow. [color=f7976a]"Tell me my suit sucks when you find a fashion designer who'll design my supersuit."[/color] [color=fff200]"Your-"[/color] Barry looked up at her with a raised eyebrow, before sighing and bringing his palm to his temple. There was silence before he laughed. [color=fff200]"-Your supersuit? That's real original.[/color] There was an explosion in the distance, and before Barry could blink the suit was off the table and Iris had it on. Hairs atop his head moved slightly as they were displaced by the movement.[color=f7976a] "Well, that's my cue."[/color] [color=fff200]"You'll be back in a Flash, right?"[/color] [color=f7976a]"Oh please, don't say that."[/color] She playfully smacked him on the back of the head, and then was gone. When running, it wasn't that she was fast. In her mind the world was slow. Like sitting inside of a car, to her everything was normal it was the world outside that moved away from her. Iris wasn't entirely sure how a mix of chemicals and a stray lightning bolt could cause someone to gain the ability to run at super-speed but she didn't question it. At first she thought it was all some crazy dream. One after four weeks she had yet to wake up from. One she didn't want to wake up from. The rush was incredible. It was as if her runner’s high had taken steroids. It took seconds to reach the scene of the fire, by that point she heard Barry’s voice in her ear. [color=fff200]"What do you see Iris?"[/color] It was always hard to slow down her brain enough so that she could hear him at 'normal speed'. When she was running her brain seemed to run with her, letting her react to the world around her. People speaking droned on for what seemed like forever, it took a conscious effort to react to things in the 'normal' timeframe. It was as if when she was the Fflash she had her own timebase, it wasn't the easiest thing to get used too. She allowed her brain to get carried away, as she took in all the details of the fire in less time than it took for anyone to blink an eye. As she brought herself back everything seemed to speed up again. Similar to the scenery outside of a car when accelerating seemed to pull away faster and faster. [color=f7976a]"It's a twelve story building, fires on the fifth."[/color] [color=fff200]"First thing’s first Iris, you have to get every-"[/color] She ran towards the building, dodging between people. They were virtually statues to her, she moved between rooms on the ground floor. Obviously they were the ones closest to the doors so had already left. [color=fff200]"-on-"[/color] Climbing the stairs she found an old lady halfway down to the ground floor, moving closer she lifted her as delicately as she could. Cradled in her arms, she took a deep breath before running her outside and putting her down gently. It was times like this that she really wished that she had also been granted with super strength. [color=fff200]"-e ou-"[/color] She sighed as she turned back towards the building. First floor cleared. [color=fff200]"-t th-"[/color] Second floor was pretty much clear, bar a group of frightened kids hiding in a closet. Their parents would be worried sick, or at least she hoped so. Easier to carry than the old lady at least. [color=fff200]"-en-"[/color] Third floor was the hardest, an entire family had seemingly taken the time to [i]pray[/i] rather than escape. She was getting tired, not in the sense that she was fed up of saving people, but she really needed to start working out more. Fourth was clear. [color=fff200]"-yo-"[/color] She moved running up the stairs when she was confronted by flames. She could feel the heat radiating from them and she panicked. She couldn't get past them, these were the only stairs in the building. The elevator was out and there was no way if anyone was trapped further up the building she could run up and down the wall carrying them. She had yet to fully master doing that by [i]herself[/i] let alone while carrying someone else. [color=fff200]"-u need to stop the fire-" [/color] [color=f7976a]"[i]Barryshutupasecond.[/i]" [/color]Iris hadn't really been paying attention to his drone this entire time, she knew what needed to be done. Yes, until recently she had only been a reporter, but she wasn't an idiot. [color=fff200]"Slow down, Iris. What's wrong?"[/color] [color=fff200]"I can't get access to the fifth floor, the flames have spread to the stairwell. I can't get any further-"[/color] [color=fff200]"What about running up the wall?"[/color] [color=f7976a]"I can't carry people that way. I got super-speed, not strength."[/color] [color=fff200]"Then you need to put the fire out."[/color] [color=f7976a]"How?"[/color] [color=fff200]"Spin your arms at super speed, you should be able to create a vacuum. Hold it for long enough and the fire should go out-"[/color] [color=f7976a]"but-"[/color] [color=fff200]"Just do it Iris! I believe in you, you can do this."[/color] Lightning crackled over her arms as she began to spin them, at first the fire seemed to pull closer to her but then gradually it began to recede. To her it seemed to take far too long, many things did these days. Slowly they receded, and she breathed a sigh of relief. There was no time though, she busied herself for the next couple of seconds emptying the rest of the building. Thankfully no-one seemed too badly injured, at least as far as she could tell. She'd probably need to brush up on her first aid skills so that she could better tell if someone was actually wounded or not. She took a breath as everything returned to normal, there were squeals, screams and complaints as everyone took a moment to register their surroundings. It didn't take them long to realise that the woman in the fancy suit was responsible for getting them out of the building. As some of them approached her she held up her hand to dissuade any praise. [color=f7976a]"All in a day's work for the Flash-"[/color] Then in a blink of an eye she was gone. [center]⚡ ⚡ ⚡[/center] [color=fff79a]"No. No. [b]No![/b]"[/color] He couldn't help but voice his disdain as he looked over the scene. He had heard the rumours of course, seen the news clippings. He hadn't wanted to believe it, The Flash was a woman? This was all wrong, this wasn't how thing were supposed to be. Everything had been planned meticulously ever since he got here, this wasn't the way things [i]worked[/i]. The fire was meant to be his way of seeing that the rumours were false, that the pictures were fake or that the Flash was somehow disguising his identity. Instead it was this, this woman?!