Flash Turns on Me – Venom Breath's Explosive End
After recovering nicely, Flash's gaze toward me was icy cold.
Ziiiiiing—!!
Flash suddenly fired a beam right at me.
"Hup…!"
It was a clean shot aimed at the hand holding my weapon—a perfect subduing strike. I twisted my body desperately and barely dodged the attack.
"Flash. Your real enemy isn't me. Right now, teaming up to take down that puff-puff bastard seems like the smartest move."
I started trying to persuade Flash. What the hell's gotten into her all of a sudden?
"No."
Flash, looking seriously pissed off, fired beam after beam at me. I stepped nimbly, dodging her consecutive attacks one after another.
This wasn't in the plan.
"Hmph. Looks like the one cornered here is you."
Seizing a momentary opening, Venom Breath grinned and launched a direct attack at me. Half gas, half physical force—like a whip—his arm surged toward me.
Maybe because I'd been dodging Flash's beams nonstop, Venom Breath's sloppy thrust didn't seem all that threatening. I eyed the trajectory of his solidified fist—not the gas part—and swung my bat with all my might, like smacking a baseball.
Crackkk!!
Venom Breath's fist, stretched out long like gas, collided with the shockwave-charged bat. The clear sound of human bone snapping echoed through the entire space.
"Gaaaaahhh!!!"
Venom Breath clutched his arm, now bizarrely bent like a floral arrangement, and screamed.
No matter the crisis, swatting away a scrub like Venom Breath was easy.
Zeeeeeng—!!
More threatening than Venom Breath was Flash, coming at me with a seriously sulky expression. Dodging the beams she kept firing was exhausting.
"Slippery…."
Flash clicked her tongue and loaded the next beam into her finger.
"Wait!! Flash!! You and I aren't enemies!"
Did she forget all the fun memories of hunting Crusher together?
"Blank. I get that you're different from other villains, that you have your own code."
Flash glared at me, loading another beam into her finger.
"But I'm done being dragged around by you one-sidedly. I'm capturing both you and Venom Breath right here. No room for negotiation or compromise."
Her words made it clear this wouldn't be easy. From Flash's perspective, I was a villain she had to arrest. She clearly hated just being toyed with by that villain.
The innate gulf between villains and heroes, I suppose.
Fine then. No helping it.
"Do whatever you want."
First, I'd knock out this Venom Breath, then find my escape route.
Zeeeeng—!!
Venom Breath, having turned more than half his body into gas, charged—not at me, but at Flash. Flash could've handled him easily, but right now, she was overly wary of me. She couldn't block his rush in time.
She's too fixated on landing a hit on me.
She was pouring all her firepower at me, fingers raised like dual pistols.
"Pew. Pew. Pew…."
So focused she didn't even notice the goofy mutterings coming from her own mouth.
That was Flash's habit from the original story too. When concentrating on her superpower, she'd unconsciously go "pew pew" while firing beams. I'd always thought it was adorable in the manhwa, and seeing it in person? Even cuter. I barely suppressed the urge to run over and pat her head.
"Ha!! Flash!! Die!!"
Venom Breath spread his body wide, turning fully into poison gas, and enveloped Flash. Not a striking attack—just pure gas emission.
The gas poured into Flash's nose and mouth.
Stagger.
Thinking it was a physical hit, Flash had braced for impact, but her body swayed violently. Too slow to react to the gas.
"Ha!! Die!!!"
Venom Breath froze for a split second, not expecting his attack to land on an S-rank hero like Flash. But he tried to follow up and seal the win.
Obviously, I couldn't let that happen.
I closed the distance to Venom Breath in a flash. High on the thrill of landing one on Flash, plus the desperate need to press the advantage, his body was full of openings.
Boooom—!!!
I unleashed a strike loaded with concentrated shockwaves right at the back of Venom Breath's head.
"…."
Venom Breath wasn't total trash—he twisted to dodge—but the shockwave's range was wider than expected.
Crunchhh!!
The bat connected squarely with his face. He'd tried converting it to smoke, but too late. The bat smashed clean into Venom Breath's mug.
Splaaat!!
His face mask crumpled. Through the crushed gas mask filter, blood sprayed like juice—a prelude—then his head exploded.
Splat!
Headless, Venom Breath's body tumbled across the asphalt.
"Whew."
Venom Breath was done. I'd successfully stopped his mass terror attack too. The hotel was sealed off, and there was probably a hacker inside, but the cops and remaining heroes would handle that fine.
A refreshing thrill washed over me from removing this one tripping stone that would've ruined Flash's life in the original.
Good job, Venom Breath.
And hey, nice final play. You'd turned the tables on the original by shoving instant-death gas right into an S-rank hero's lungs.
I worried briefly about Flash's condition, but she'd be fine. As an S-rank hero, her baseline physical specs were tough.
"Cough!!! Hack! Ptoo!!"
Aside from the hacking coughs and streaming tears, she looked okay.
Even in the original, Flash shrugged off Venom Breath's gas. It was canon that his attacks didn't work on her. I'd trust the official setting.
"Ngh…. Blank…."
Unable to steady herself, Flash glared up at me with her eyes alone.
"Y-You planning to attack me…."
She had zero trust in me.
"Just wait a bit. If you have convictions…. don't run. Wait for me. We'll settle this…."
Even mid-sneeze from the gas, she burned with the mission to capture me personally.
It stung to be misunderstood despite my good intentions, but that's what made her Flash. Stubborn and upright—that was Seo Ha-yoon.
Job done. Time to head out.
I left the fallen Flash behind and slipped away from the scene.
Oh. Before that.
Wonder if it's there.
Maybe check the panel van Venom Breath's crew rode in. Just in case that item was there.
'Damn. What a mistake.'
I'd lost my cool seeing Blank and let Venom Breath land a hit.
It wasn't life-threatening, but my body felt weak.
Why was I so pissed? Seeing Blank show up all calm as ever, spouting cryptic nonsense—it just boiled my blood. I wanted to ignore Venom Breath and capture Blank right then and there. An intense desire, like thirst, to arrest him myself and probe who he really was through close conversation.
Was it my duty as his assigned hero to investigate him thoroughly? Even that didn't fully explain the confusing emotions swirling in me.
'Temporary alliances are just temporary….'
We'd handled the Brain Buster case together, and the Crusher one too.
Wasn't it time for him to come clean about what he was and what his goals were?
I couldn't endorse his direction, but I saw myself as Blank's understanding ally.
'But treating me like some convenient pawn….'
Once again, Blank slyly dodged the important topics.
It felt like I was the only one being used by him.
Ah. Rage welled up, and strength returned to my body.
A bit more power and….
That's when Blank, who I'd thought had fled, approached me.
"Here. Drink this. Antidote. Looks like the guys planning that gas terror on the hotel came prepared. One of his underlings had stashed some in case of poisoning."
It looked like an energy drink from a pharmacy, but this was the antidote.
In the original, one of Venom Breath's minions drank this after gas poisoning but still died. I'd hoped it might be in their van—and sure enough.
I set the antidote down next to where Flash lay.
She could tough it out and heal naturally, but an antidote made it easier.
"Wait…. Blank."
Ignoring the antidote, Flash wriggled like a worm, trying to close the distance to me.
"Rest up. See ya."
The antidote was my 'bribe.' Let me go next time. Not that her personality would allow it.
I unleashed a shockwave on the ground and sped away from the scene.
Mid-escape, another familiar face appeared.
"Ohohoho!! Villain Blank!! I'll repay last time's humiliation!! With Flash rolling pathetically on the ground right now!! This is my moment to shine!!"
It was Midas Girl.
This chick again?
"I'll be the one to capture you!!"
Midas Girl pointed at me dramatically and declared.
"Get ready!!!"
Midas Girl slapped her hand on the ground in my path and sped after me like speed skating. Creak. Alloy sprouted like plants from the asphalt, forming a barrier to block me.
Kaaaang!!!
I smashed the alloy wall with my bat, then stomped the ground near Midas Girl hard, releasing a shockwave.
Rumble!!
The asphalt where Midas Girl and I stood shattered. She lost balance and fell flat on her face spectacularly.
"Ughk!!"
Facedown and defenseless, her hero suit skirt flipped up, fully exposing her panties.
"…."
Like last time, she always ended up in these humiliating poses when fighting me. Some kind of jinx?
Whatever. I converted the stomping impact into kinetic energy, leaped high, and escaped the scene.
I wonder if Flash took the antidote.