Confident Barry

Barry focused, electric arcs flickering in his eyes as his legs coiled with stored power.

Mardon roared furiously, "Coward! All you know how to do is run? Is that all you can do, run away?"

The Compressed Blade Knife flew from his hand once more, slicing through the air.

Yet all it did was shear through a birch tree, sending the tree crashing down with a rustle.

The instant Mardon made his move, Barry had already become a yellow bolt of lightning, a red blur, dodging aside.

Mardon, this time, I won't run.

A determined look shone from Barry's eyes as he continuously encouraged himself.

Following Lin Li's instructions, he swept around behind Mardon in a slanted arc, trailing yellow lightning.

Barry assumed a boxing stance and drove a straight right into Mardon's back.

Mardon suddenly felt searing pain explode from his back, as though his internal organs had been violently jolted.

He staggered several steps forward, his waist bent backward from the blow, the pain unbearable.

Mardon roared in pain and fury, "You hurt me! You hurt me! You worthless coward! You weakling who only knows how to run away!"

Having landed the hit, Barry did not press the attack. He was intoxicated by his excitement.

He said happily into the communicator, "Lin Li, I hit him. I did it."

Lin Li encouraged him, "Of course you did. You're The Flash."

Ever since Joe had doubted him last time, and after Mardon had beaten him so badly that he was nearly killed, Barry had never had much confidence. He had always felt that he was running, just as Mardon had said—running away. He had been running ever since childhood, running to save people, running while lost and confused. Joe's distrust had left him disappointed and doubting himself, so he had run more than six hundred miles in search of answers. After returning, he had continued to run. His heart had felt empty, and only running made him feel real. But this punch, delivered against a formidable enemy who had once nearly killed him, shattered his confusion. It let him truly feel his own power. He was qualified to face any powerful enemy. He could protect Joe, protect others, protect his city. Just as Green Arrow had said, believe in yourself. Believe in yourself.

Barry taunted Mardon confidently, "Hey, Mardon, do you want to take a few more punches?"

With that, Barry turned into a yellow arc of lightning and began circling Mardon.

Dazzling yellow lightning raced around Mardon, enveloping him.

Run... run... run...

Lin Li was right. If I run, if I keep running, I can do whatever I want.

Barry smiled confidently. His red afterimages mixed with yellow lightning, radiating a shining will. At that moment, he felt fearless.

Mardon's eyes reddened, his disheveled hair whipping wildly around him. He looked left and right at the yellow lightning circling him, trying to find the red figure.

Suddenly.

Barry's confident face appeared before him, and Mardon saw the faint smile on Barry's lips.

Then Mardon felt a vicious blow strike his left cheek—a right hook. His gums bled, his teeth loosened, and a burning pain swelled across his face.

Blood sprayed from Mardon's mouth as his body tilted, about to collapse.

Through the haze of pain.

Barry appeared in his line of sight again. A left hook landed on Mardon's right cheek.

Blood sprayed again. This time, his already loosened teeth were knocked out, and the blow sent Mardon staggering upright again.

Teeth, saliva, and blood drifted slowly through the air.

Time seemed to slow.

The yellow lightning still circled Mardon, moving so fast it seemed like an illusion. Mardon's cheeks had swollen up, making him look like a hamster with its mouth stuffed full of food.

Pain and humiliation surged from Mardon's heart. The person he had despised, looked down on, beaten to the brink of death—a useless, cowardly man who only knew how to run—was now brutally striking his body and injuring him. It felt unreal.

The pain in his face told him it was real.

The agony of it drove him mad.

Mardon pressed down with his hand. Everything around him seemed to freeze, then violently reacted as though a bomb had detonated.

Boom!

A blast wave erupted, its powerful impact rolling back and flinging away trees, dead leaves, and the yellow bolt of lightning circling him.

Mardon created a massive air explosion around himself, blasting Barry away directly.

His eyes were bloodshot, and the fury in his heart erupted like lava. With swollen lips, he howled, "You deserve to die! You all deserve to die! You need to die to atone! Destruction! I'll destroy all of you!"

Heaven and earth seemed to stop for an instant.

Then a fierce wind rose, sending trees and dead leaves spinning backward while dirt and dust were torn apart by the swirling air.

Countless white mists gathered around Mardon and began to rotate, the vortex drawing in everything around it.

Broken trees, dead leaves, and soil were swept toward Mardon by the rising air currents around him. Unsteady trees were nearly uprooted, and it would not take long before they were torn out completely.

Mardon had created a tornado.

Barry was blasted away, tumbling to a stop not far from Joe. Fortunately, the Speed Force healed his body exceptionally quickly, and the pain faded rapidly.

"Barry... Barry..."

Joe called out to him anxiously, terrified that something had happened to Barry.

Barry raised his head from the dirt, exhaled, and said, "That was exciting, Joe. I'm fine."

Barry stretched his aching, stiff waist and used his hand to clear the dirt and dead leaves stuck to his face.

Barry smiled at Joe. "Joe, don't worry. I'll protect you."

Joe felt a little moved, though he was still worried.

The violent wind intensified, and the air currents converged along the tornado Mardon had created.

The dead leaves, dust, and sand swept up by the tornado turned it gray and murky. The sky and earth seemed about to connect through it.

Barry watched the tornado rage in shock.

He said into the communicator, "Hey, guys, we've got big trouble. Mardon made a tornado."

Caitlin had already detected it from the control room. She said urgently, "Barry, this thing's wind speed is rising fast. It's already reached eighty, one hundred, one hundred thirty miles per hour, and it's still increasing. I have reason to believe that if the wind speed continues to rise, it may form an F5 tornado."

An F5 tornado was the most powerful type of tornado. It could completely destroy the houses in Central City, hurl cars like cannonballs, strip asphalt from the roads, and lift trucks, trains, and railcars off the ground.

Once it formed and swept through Central City, the destruction would be nearly total.

Upon hearing about the tornado, Lin Li nearly jumped up. Mardon, was he handing him a gift? Or was it just like before, creating a tornado? Lin Li already felt as though he could predict the outcome.

Barry shouted into the communicator, "I can't stop him! What do we do?"

Seeing such a massive tornado, Barry did not think of any other solution. His first thought was that he could not stop it. Once again, he felt powerless and helpless, just as he had when he was eleven years old, when his mother had been killed and he had been too powerless to do anything.