Barry's Confidence

Barry focused, arcs of electricity flashing in his eyes as he coiled his legs, ready to spring.

Mardon bellowed in rage, "Coward, all you do is run? Do you just run away?"

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

However, it only managed to break off branches from a birch tree, causing the wood to rustle and fall.

The moment Mardon made his move, Barry transformed into a yellow streak, a red blur, and dodged.

"Mardon, this time, I'm not running."

A resolute gaze appeared in Barry's eyes, and he kept encouraging himself.

Following Lin Li's advice, he whirled with yellow arcs of electricity, circling behind Mardon.

Barry struck a boxing pose and landed a straight right punch on Mardon's back.

Mardon suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back, his internal organs violently jolted.

He staggered forward a few steps, his waist bent backward from the impact, experiencing immense pain.

Mardon roared in pain and anger, "You hurt me, you hurt me, you worthless piece of trash, coward, you weakling who only knows how to run!"

Barry, having landed the hit, didn't press the attack. He was lost in exhilaration.

He happily spoke into his communicator, "Lin Li, I hit him, I did it."

Lin Li encouraged him, "Of course you could do it, you're The Flash."

Ever since Joe's distrust last time, coupled with being severely injured by Mardon, Barry had lacked confidence. He had always felt like he was running, just as Mardon said, running away. He'd been running since childhood, running to save people, running in confusion. Joe's disbelief had disappointed him and made him doubt himself, so he ran over 600 miles seeking answers. After returning, he continued to run, feeling empty inside. Only running made him feel real. This punch, facing a formidable enemy who had once nearly killed him, shattered his confusion. It truly made him feel his own power. He was qualified to face any strong enemy, could protect Joe, could protect everyone else, could protect his city. As Green Arrow had said, believe in yourself, believe in yourself.

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

After speaking, Barry transformed into a yellow arc of electricity and began circling Mardon.

The dazzling yellow arc zipped around Mardon, engulfing him.

Run… run… run…

Lin Li was right, if I run, I can achieve what I wish.

Barry smiled confidently, his red afterimage mixing with the yellow arcs, shining with a brilliant will. At this moment, he felt fearless.

Mardon's eyes were red, his disheveled hair wildly flying. He looked around, trying to spot the red figure within the yellow lightning encircling him.

Suddenly.

Barry's confident face appeared before him, and Mardon even saw Barry's smile.

Then Mardon felt a hard blow to his left cheek, hit by a right hook. Blood gushed from his gums, his teeth felt loose, and his face swelled with intense pain.

Blood sprayed from Mardon's mouth, and his body tilted, about to fall.

Lost in the pain.

Barry reappeared in his vision, a left hook appearing on Mardon's right cheek.

Blood sprayed, and this time, his loosened teeth were knocked out, also forcing Mardon to stand upright again.

Slowly, teeth, saliva, and blood flew out.

Time seemed to slow down.

The yellow lightning still circled Mardon, so fast it was like an illusion. Mardon's cheeks swelled up, like a hamster stuffed with food.

Pain and humiliation surged within Mardon. The person he had scorned, looked down upon, the guy who was weak, cowardly, and only knew how to run, who had beaten him within an inch of his life, was now physically striking him, making it feel almost unreal.

The pain in his face told him it was real.

This agony drove him mad.

Mardon pressed his hand, and everything around him seemed to freeze, then violently exploded as if a bomb had detonated.

'Boom'

A shockwave erupted, a powerful impact rolling back, blowing away trees, dead leaves, and the yellow streak circling around.

Mardon created a large-scale air blast around himself, directly blasting Barry away.

His eyes bloodshot, his inner rage erupted like lava, his swollen mouth roaring, "You deserve to die, all of you deserve to die, you need to die to atone, destruction, I will destroy you all!"

The world suddenly stopped for a moment.

Then a strong wind blew, dead leaves and trees spun and swirled, and dirt and dust were torn apart by the rotating air.

Countless white mists condensed around Mardon, beginning to spin. The vortex sucked in everything around.

Broken trees, dead leaves, and dirt were pulled towards Mardon by the updraft near him. The precarious trees were almost uprooted, and it wouldn't be long before they were completely pulled out.

Mardon had created a tornado.

Barry was directly blown away and tumbled near Joe. Fortunately, the Speed Force's recovery for his body was incredibly fast, and the pain quickly dissipated.

"Barry… Barry…"

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

Barry looked up from the dirt and gasped, "This is really exciting, Joe, I'm fine."

Barry stretched his stiff back and used his hands to wipe dirt and clinging dead leaves from his face.

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

Joe was a bit touched, mixed with concern.

The wind began to blow, and the airflow intensified as it converged with the tornado Mardon had created.

All the dead leaves and dust swept up by the tornado made it appear dark and grim, as if the sky and earth were about to connect with the vortex.

Barry watched the tornado's rampage in astonishment.

He spoke into his communicator, "Hey guys, we're in big trouble. Mardon's created a tornado."

Caitlin, who had already detected it in the control room lobby, said rapidly, "Barry, this thing's wind speed is very high, already reaching eighty, one hundred, one hundred thirty miles per hour, and it's still strengthening. I have reason to believe that if the wind speed continues to increase, it could form an F5 tornado."

An F5 tornado is the largest type of tornado, capable of completely destroying houses in Central City, flinging cars around like cannonballs, and ripping asphalt from the ground. Trucks, trains, and locomotives would all be lifted off the ground.

Once formed, if it passed through Central City, it would essentially be destroyed very thoroughly.

Lin Li almost jumped when he heard about the tornado. Mardon, are you just handing us an easy win, or is this like before? Creating a tornado... Lin Li already felt like he knew how this would end.

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

Seeing such a powerful and imposing tornado, Barry didn't think of any other solutions. His first thought was that he couldn't stop it. He once again felt his own powerlessness, his inability to do anything, just like when he was 11 years old and his mother was killed, and he was helpless, unable to do anything.