Gold Rush: The Quick And The Dead

A black and red blur moves past the gold clad figure. Drops of red now mixed with the amber. The golden figure falls to his knees. Pain rushing through his entire body. Red pours from his mouth onto the ground as his vision becomes blurry. His whole body is weak. He's not sure he can go on. He's not even sure he can stand. How did it come to this? How did the golden man fall to his knees in a pathetic display of weakness and defeat?

Approximately thirty minutes earlier, a young man sits in a small metal chair. His eyes scanning a computer screen. His ears listening closely to radio chatter. This young man, no older than twenty-five, waits patiently. He waits for the right words to be said. The words that would guide him and shape his future. Finally, he hears them. "Immediate assistance required at the First National Bank! Repeat, immediate assistance required at the First National Ba-" The voice stops abruptly. The young man stands up, his eyes wide in shock. He clenches a fist and pushes the chair out of his way before he springs into action. He runs over and opens a closet door. A large brown trunk lays on the floor inside. Reaching into his blue jeans, he pulls out a small key and hastily places it inside a silver and gold lock on the trunk. He flips the now unlocked trunk open, revealing a gold and grey suit laying beneath a grey metallic looking mask and dark goggles. A pair of grey boots on top of that. With inhuman speed, the young man puts on this gold and grey suit. He quickly slips on golden gloves and he attaches a grey belt with gold trimming around his waist. He places two knee-high grey boots with gold soles on his legs. Finally, he takes the grey metallic looking mask and slides it over his face. He takes the dark goggles and places them over his eyes, completing the transformation. In the span of a minute, he is no longer a simple young man. He has become something greater than that. Closing the trunk quickly, he slams the closet door and bolts up a flight of stairs. His speed and agility is greater than most normal humans. But then, he is not a normal human. Like an amber arrow, the man zips up the stairs and out the door. It locks behind him as he closes it shut.

It doesn't take long for the inhumanly fast man to reach the First National Bank of Millennium City. Outside, several police cars with flashing lights sit unattended. It is eerily quiet in the area. The gold man looks around, trying to figure out what is going on. "Where is everyone?" He mutters to himself. Suddenly, the sea of silence is interrupted by a loud popping sound coming from inside the bank. Alerted like a deer hearing movement in the brush, the gold man runs up the stairs and through the door. This should be quick, he thought to himself as he entered the building. After all, his superior speed was unmatched. Or so he thought. Entering the bank with great haste, he looks in shock and horror as the bodies of a dozen police officers lay on the ground before him. They lie motionless. Some have their firearms drawn, now laying in lifeless hands. But most were not able to draw their weapons. Most were sadly too slow for the threat they faced. The golden man stood speechless. His eyes followed the trail of deceased men and women, until he saw something perhaps more horrifying. A shape of a tall figure clad in black and red. In the clawed hand of this shadowy figure was the lifeless body of a young police officer. A slim blonde man, probably no older than the golden individual was. His legs dangle in the air as the ghoulish black and red figure holds him up by the neck. The gold man opens his mouth, but no words come out. What could he possibly say? It was then that the shadowy man turned his head to face the golden individual. A dark mouth-less face with large red eyes now peered at him. A shiver crawled up the gold man's spine. Again his mouth opened, but this time words came out. "What the Hell did you do?!" The golden figure stood with trembling hands waiting for something, anything to happen. A word. A sentence. Something to explain what horror took place. The shadowy figure abruptly drops the young police officer on the ground in front of him.

A light thud followed by a crack is heard. Now clenching his fists the gold man speaks again, now in a louder voice. "I said, what the Hell did you do?!" The dark red and black figure tilts his head slightly at the question. Silence. Seemingly endless silence. It was only a few moments, but it felt like hours to the golden man. Suddenly, a gravelly voice broke the silence. "I killed them." The gold man's eyes widened behind his dark goggles. That voice, that response seemed to cut through him. "Wh- Why?" That was all the golden individual could say at such an answer. What else could he say? A light chuckle could then be heard. A disturbing laughter. "I killed them, because they got in my way." The gravelly voice again spoke, with a muffled chuckle following. "Any more stupid questions?" The gold man's fists began to shake and his teeth clenched. He breathes deeply, his eyes darting around at the room full of death. He swallows and his mouth opens once more. "You kill-" But that's all he could say before a black and red blur came in his direction, stopping right in front of him. Now standing mere inches before him, the dark figure seemed to tower over the golden man. Those large unblinking red eyes gazed down at him, almost as if they were scanning him. The tall dark figure tilted his head once more, before another sickening chuckle was heard. "Who are you supposed to be exactly?" The gravelly voice now sounded even more terrifying up close. Almost as terrifying as the figure himself. Caught by surprise, the golden man bolts backward in an attempt to put some distance between himself and the shadowy figure. With another tilt of his head and chuckle, the gravelly voice returned. "You are a fast one eh? Interesting." A black clawed hand stroked the shadowy figure's chin as he pondered what he had just witnessed. The gold man, now farther away from the ghoulish figure, spoke boldly. "I'm called Gold Rush, you sick freak. And I'm taking you in." The gold man shifted his legs as he prepared to dart forward at this dark figure. He dashes forward in a magnificent golden blur, his fist prepared to make contact with the shadowy man's face. But just as a golden hand was about to meet a black and red face, a sharp pain was felt in Gold Rush's wrist. The ghoulish figure gripped tightly around Gold's wrist, narrowly stopping his punch from landing a hit. The shadowy man tilted his head and a muffled sickening laugh was heard. "Gold Rush huh? Call me..." As he paused, his grip on Gold's wrist tightened until a popping sound came from his now dislocated wrist. "...Breakneck."

A sharp pain ran through Gold's entire arm has he winced from the injury. With his other clawed hand, Breakneck formed a fist and punched Gold Rush hard in the abdomen. The pain shot through his entire body this time as the wind was knocked out of him. Gold Rush fell on one knee, clutching his abdomen and struggling to catch his breath. "Break- Breakneck huh? That sounds as dumb as you look." Gold's taunt was met with more disturbing laughter. Breakneck cracked his knuckles and peered at Gold Rush before his gravelly voice broke through the laughter. "That's funny Golden Boy. I may kill you slowly so you can make more asinine statements, right before you die." These words made Gold Rush uneasy as he stood back up on his feet. He quickly popped his wrist back into place. A jolt of pain shooting through his arm as he does so. But he wouldn't let that feeling show on his face. Instead he would smirk and chuckle back at Breakneck. "Please, spare me the death threats. I hear them all the time you know." Breakneck would tilt his head, his unblinking red eyes still seemed to analyze Gold Rush. "Oh but the difference is, I intend to make good on my threat." Just as soon as his gravelly voice stopped speaking, he would dart quickly forwards toward Gold in a terrifying black and red blur. Gold Rush reacted quickly to this bold attack an dashed forward to charge his shadowy opponent head on. A streak of gold slammed into the black a red blur, as it hit back. Like professional boxers, the two speedsters would bob and weave as one tried to hit the other.

A punch here. A punch there. Gold and black fists flew at each other trying desperately to connect. A golden fist would make contact with the black and red figure, as Breakneck's face was hit directly by Gold's knuckle. As this happened, a clawed fist would once again hit Gold Rush in the abdomen knocking the wind out of him. The two figures, light and dark, would appear as nothing but streaks of gold, black and red to any outside observers. Gold Rush would recover from his punch and send a knee into Breakneck's abdomen, attempting to do to him what he did to Gold. A gravelly voice groaned in pain before Breakneck rushed backward to tend to his injury. Although his eyes were hidden behind a mask, Gold could almost feel Breakneck's angry gaze even before he spoke. "That will cost you Golden Boy." Gold's eyes widened behind his dark goggles as the shadowy figured bolted towards him. A flurry of dark fists would be unleashed on the golden hero like a hailstorm. While he was able to successfully dodge several hits, the rest connected directly on his face. Blood splattered from the sides of Gold's mouth with every punch as he gasped for breath. The flurry stopped seemingly as soon as it began, but the damage was evident. Small blood droplets fell to the ground, while trickles of it dripped down his mouth on to his chest. Gold Rush stood gasping for air as Breakneck tilted his head and chuckled in amusement. The chilling sound of his laugh seemed to echo throughout the bank. "Still standing? I'm impressed." Gold finally catching his breath, wiped the blood from his mouth and stood confidently. A small smile formed on his face. "That's it? My grandma hits harder than that, Whiplash." Gold's snarky remark seemed to annoy Breakneck, as he stood up and straightened his back. His eyes narrowing behind his mask. "Breakneck. Allow me to show you." And like a bolt of lightning, the dark figure lunged forward. A clawed hand reached outward aiming for Gold's neck. But Gold Rush was no sloth and like a matador, he turned quickly out of the way of his grasp. As he turned he raised his leg and delivered a spinning kick directly at Breakneck's back, sending the black and red speedster flying forward in an almost comical display. Falling to the ground hard and grunting in pain, Breakneck made a large thud as he hit the floor. Gold Rush stood triumphantly over his opponent, a slight chuckle coming from the golden hero as he watched the black and red villain fall. "Oops. Sorry buddy. Did that hurt?" Gold smirked as he spoke down to his adversary. He would come to regret his cocky attitude very soon.

With an almost inhuman growl, Breakneck shot back up just as quickly as he went down and leapt forward at Gold Rush. Even with his quick reaction time, the black and red blur was just too fast for him to avoid. Tackling into Gold, Breakneck continued running until he and this golden annoyance went flying through the bank door. Gold Rush went tumbling down the stairs, with every step sending a jolt of pain into him. Breakneck stopped at the top of the stairs hunched over like a beast. His breathing was heavy like a lion hovering over his prey. A clawed finger would point down at Gold Rush as he hit the bottom step. "You have a big mouth Golden Boy." Grunting and wincing in pain, Gold stood up. His knees buckled, but he refused to fall back down. "Yeah... it's a... character flaw." His smirk was broken up with a few coughs. A small stream of blood trickled down his nose, which he promptly wiped with his arm. Breakneck walks down the steps slowly, almost savoring the moment before he killed his prey. "You may be fast, but I promise your death will be slow." Maybe it was the gravelly voice, or the ominous walking towards him, but Gold shivered at the remark. Most of the time when he fought with a criminal or self proclaimed villain, he was the fastest one around. But this was not one of those times. Now the thought of death was seriously considered. The dead bodies of the police officers flashed before his eyes. Men and women. Young and old. This dark speedster didn't care. He killed them. And now, he would kill Gold Rush too.

With all the courage he could muster, he spoke plainly and boldly to the approaching shadowy figure. "Blah blah. You already said that, didn't you?" Gold backed up slowly in an attempt to again put some distance between the two, while Breakneck reached the bottom of the stairs. Police sirens could be heard in the background, slowly getting louder as they approached. Breakneck turned to the sound before a raspy chuckle could be heard. "You hear that Golden Boy? That's the sound of more dead cops." Gold Rush grimaced at the thought of more innocent lives being lost because of this homicidal maniac. "You hurt any of them an-" Gold paused as he swallowed hard. He knew what he wanted to say, but the words couldn't come out. The horrific image of more dead officers was too much to bare. Breakneck mockingly raised a clawed hand to his ear and taunted Gold Rush. "You'll what? Take me to jail?" Gold clenched his fist and shifted his legs to prepare to dash forward but before he could, a black and red blur ripped past him. The dark blur moved back and forth, striking Gold Rush repeatedly with every pass. After the thirteenth strike, Gold fell to his knees. Blood poured out of his mouth onto the ground. He gasped for breath and struggled to stay conscious as his vision began to blur, until the shadowy figure resembled an actual shadow.

The sirens grew louder. They would be there any minute now. The hoarse muffled voice laughed disturbingly. "Almost here. Almost dead." Gold Rush was taken back by this comment. But what could he do? He was barely able to stay awake. And what hope would the cops have if he collapsed right now? If he closed his eyes and drifted off into the darkness? The faces of those dead police officers flashed before his eyes again. He couldn't give up. He had to fight. If he died, he would die knowing that he did his best to protect others from this man. This monster. As the sirens became louder, Breakneck turned and laughed to himself. Although he couldn't see it, Gold pictured a devilish smile across Breakneck's face. A smile that he would keep while he butchered the police one by one. "Maybe I should let you live long enough to watch me kill them all. I promise that the ones that surrender will die quickly. The others, well..." Breakneck let out a sinister chuckle. "...They will know the meaning of pain." That final remark was too much for Gold Rush and while Breakneck boasted and threatened what he would do to the police, Gold quickly stood up and tackled him. The speed in which he lunged at Breakneck took the murderous speedster by surprise, and he fell on his back hard. But Gold didn't stop his assault with a simple tackle. He rushed Breakneck as he tried to get up. With lightning speed, he unleashed a flurry of fists at the black and red suited man.

Gold Rush continued his barrage of punches while Breakneck tried his best to avoid getting hit. A clawed hand swiped across Gold's face, with him narrowly dodging it. With all the courage and might he could summon, Gold Rush vibrated his fist and struck Breakneck in the knee. A sickening crack was heard followed by a muffled scream of pain, and Breakneck lay on the ground holding his leg shouting all the while. "Y- You stupid son of a-" But before he could finish his sentence, Gold struck him in the face hard enough to flip him over. A slight muttering could be heard, but no words as Breakneck lay face down on the ground writhing in pain. Gold Rush stood over his fallen adversary, breathing deeply and panting like a dog. He fell on one knee and took another deep breath before speaking. "You're done killing..." It wasn't long after this statement that the police cars pulled up around them. They drew their weapons and pointed them at the pair while they were on the ground. "Don't move!" An annoyed Gold Rush raised his hands and sighed before standing on his feet. "I said don-" And in the blink of an eye, a golden streak zipped past the officers and disappeared. The officers looked around stunned and confused. Some ran over to the villain as he lay on the ground to subdue him, while others ran inside the bank. To their horror, the bodies of a dozen police officers lay in front of them. One officer looked around at the carnage and with wide eyes managed to mutter "My God..."

Moments later, more police have arrived at the scene as well as paramedics with gurneys. Breakneck is handcuffed to a stretcher and placed in the back of an armored truck. A crowd of people has also formed, being kept back by police and crime scene tape. Among the crowd is a familiar, albeit bruised face of a young man who silently watches the black and red clad villain as he is put in the back of the truck. Six police officers with weapons drawn pile in with him, as one outside closes the truck's doors. The young man observes the vehicle drive away, his eyes following it as it moves. He sighs and walks back quietly past the crowd. The faces of the dead still haunting him.