Central City—this is the city of lightning. No one's ever seen the real face of the Flash, but a lot of people have caught a glimpse of a streak of red lightning rushing by. People talk about him all the time, because the Flash is always out there protecting the city.
"Hello, Central City." After handing over the movie project to Ada Wong, Liu A'dou arrived in this city.
Once again, he was standing on the tallest building, with Kaitou Kid overlooking the glittering, peaceful night market below. The Flash was somewhere in this city.
That white cape was like a flag in the night. After splitting up with Batman that afternoon, Kaitou Kid appeared in the city center that evening. He had to complete the Justice League recruitment while Ada Wong was still on vacation.
It was simple to get the Flash's attention. Just the sound of a police siren was enough—he'd always beat the cops there. Tonight, red lightning and the white thief would meet in this dark city.
A city like this had crime even during the day, let alone at night. So the Flash never had much free time. Sure enough, Liu A'dou spotted a streak of light darting between car headlights, racing into the distance.
He was fast—way too fast. Even with a glider, Liu A'dou wouldn't have caught up. But Liu A'dou had his own ways of getting the Flash to show up. All it took was a little firework to catch his attention.
There was a reason Batman called the Flash the most efficient superhero.
He did everything fast. Right after he rescued people from a fire, he saw fireworks in the sky—and spotted the person who set them off. Instantly, he turned into a bolt of lightning, sprinted straight up a glass wall, and landed on the rooftop.
"According to regulations, fireworks are not allowed on non-holidays without government approval, whether by individuals or organizations." The Flash stood in front of Kaitou Kid at top speed.
"It's not a firework, it's a signal," Kid replied, standing right across from him, sizing up his future teammate. "Fourteen seconds. You got here fast."
"You were looking for me?" The Flash was confused. "You're Kaitou Kid, right?"
"Guilty as charged."
"You're not hoping I'll turn a blind eye next time you steal something, are you? Because that's not gonna happen." The Flash said, already hearing his team going wild in his earpiece—movie geek Cisco was clearly a huge fan of Kaitou Kid.
"No, no. There's nothing here in Central City I want. I'm here to invite you to join the Justice League."
"Justice League? Is that a comedy troupe, or some second-rate thief club?" The Flash laughed. "Cut the chatter—since you dared show up in front of me, let's see your real face."
Before Liu A'dou could react, he saw the Flash pull back his hand and look at Kid with suspicion.
Just now, the Flash had tried to use his super speed to pull off Liu A'dou's disguise, but the moment his hand touched the thief, it was like he'd been shocked by electricity.
Of course, Kaitou Kid had prepared before coming. He'd already covered himself with Ripple energy, so when the Flash tried to grab him, the Ripple reacted. But the Flash really lived up to his name—he was so fast that, without burning his Microcosmos, Liu A'dou couldn't even see his moves.
"You can try again," Kid said, holding onto his cape with a grin. "Maybe you'll be even faster this time."
The Flash wasn't dumb. If the thief didn't care about getting touched, he must've prepared some defense. The Flash kept a close eye on him, but couldn't figure out what the trick was. It really was like magic. Maybe there was electricity running through that monocle. The Flash thought for a moment, then decided to just tie Kid up.
The Flash zipped down the building, bought some rope at a supermarket, and sped right back.
Kaitou Kid saw the rope in the Flash's hand and couldn't help but feel speechless. With the Flash's speed, catching a robber was basically nothing.
The Flash grinned with confidence. "Kaitou Kid, you picked the wrong city. As long as I'm in Central City, you won't have the chance to cause trouble."
In his earpiece, Cisco was telling him not to be too rough, to tie him up gently. This was Kaitou Kid after all. Cisco couldn't understand why the famous thief would walk right into the Flash's hands like this.
"Don't blink," the Flash warned, getting ready to run—then suddenly stopped, realizing he'd almost forgotten his signature line. "Now's the time to witness a miracle."
He totally stole Kid's line, but in the next instant, the Flash turned into a red blur and tied up Kaitou Kid.
Done.
Kid looked down at the ropes and couldn't help but laugh. "So, you planning to turn me in to the police now?"
"Of course. You're a thief, so you're going to the police," the Flash said.
"Really? Well, that's a problem."
The Flash froze, then saw Kid drop a small sphere. Instantly, it burst into blinding light. From a distance, the rooftop looked like a dandelion, with the glowing seeds floating away.
When the light faded, the Flash squinted and saw only the rope left behind on the rooftop. Kaitou Kid was gone. How was that possible? He hadn't held back—how did Kid escape?
The rope wasn't damaged at all.
"Cool, I knew you couldn't catch Kaitou Kid," Cisco said. "Get back here and tell me—is he really as cool as he looks?"
The Flash thought to himself, 'How would I know? I never even saw his real face.'
Cisco hung up, only to find the Flash already standing right in front of him. To be honest, Central City wasn't really that big for the Flash. Even the whole world wasn't. But right now, the Flash was still young, not fully trained. In his prime, he could circle the globe in an hour. At this stage, he was just a fast kid—run for two minutes and he was already exhausted.
Sometimes your powers could be incredible, but actually using them always had limits. It wasn't the Speed Force that was lacking—it was the Flash's body that couldn't keep up.
If the Flash had unlimited energy, he'd really be unbeatable.
"Barry, turn around," his teammate suddenly called out.
"What's up?"
"Turn around," Caitlin said. She pulled a card off the Flash's back, with a cartoon drawing of Kaitou Kid on it.
The Flash stared in confusion. He had no idea when Kid had managed to stick that thing on his back.
"Yes! I finally got a Kaitou Kid card!" Cisco didn't care about the mood, snatching the card to take a closer look. Then his smile froze.
On the back of the card, a small flashing transmitter was blinking, almost like it was mocking them.
Cisco's face changed immediately. This wasn't a joke. It meant Kaitou Kid had found the Flash's secret base. That meant he probably knew the Flash's real identity, too.
Caitlin grabbed the card and threw it on the floor, stomping on it with her heel, but it was already too late.
From the security monitors, they saw Kaitou Kid already standing at the entrance to S.T.A.R. Labs. He just knocked lightly, then walked right in, sending a chill down everyone's spine. The way he opened doors was just unreal.