THE MOMENT
"My name is Harry Bellin; I am the fastest man alive. No, two 'L's," The scenery was a blur as Harry sped across the country. The pleasant voice in his ear was a news Anchor from L.A. that insisted on conducting the interview while he was running. She had even gone as far as arranging a route for him to take so that he ran by cameras on his way to work.
"And why are you running, Mr. Bellin? Teleportation exists, and as a Super, you'd certainly be welcome to make your home in L.A." The anchor asked as Harry saw the New York camera up ahead. He stopped in front of it to answer the question.
"It's good exercise and good practice," he smiled. "I may be the fastest man alive today; but, the last thing we need is a villain that can run faster than me. I have to stay in shape, and I like Maine." He waved at the camera and he was gone again as he continued to the next camera on the route; somewhere in Wisconsin.
"It takes you about half an hour to run across the country, is that your fastest?" The anchor asked.
"Just about," Harry answered. He'd managed the cross-country run in 15 minutes before; but, it wasn't something he could do regularly and it took a lot out of him. And, he didn't want to give all his tricks away on television; villains might be watching.
"Uh oh, I'm sorry Mr. Bellin; it looks like there's someone waiting for you at the next camera. Please feel free to skip it and go on to the next one. He looks rather dangerous." Harry heard the warning; but, it was too late to change directions; he was already practically there. He came to stop where the camera was set up and found a lean man dressed like a clown. His hair was bright blue and stringy like rubber. His face was painted white and he wore a bright red nose that matched his oversized shoes. He had a pair of rainbow suspenders holding up his colorful patchwork pants. Despite his chosen outfit, his lean frame rippled with muscle and he almost seemed to have a sinister aura around him.
"I heard some idiot was calling himself the 'fastest man alive'," the clown said. He was shorter than Harry; but, somehow still managed to look down on him. "...that's a bold claim to make when you haven't even left your Earth," he said. "I find the statement personally offensive; you Sir, are a liar!" At the end of his statement, Harry saw the strangest thing happen. The single clown became a crowd of dozens surrounding Harry in an instant; and, they all laughed. The rolling laughter around him reminded Harry of the type of canned laughter that TV shows used.
Harry knew some ninjas that could clone themselves; but, he felt the speed at which the clown moved. He was fast enough to be in a dozen places at once. Harry could almost manage to be in two places at once if they were close enough; but, this was another level entirely. Then, as suddenly as they all appeared, the clowns faded away one by one leaving only the single one in front of him again.
"Let's race!" the clown said. "I'll prove you wrong right here and now."
"You don't have to race him," the TV anchor advised Harry. "I've notified the Great Lakes Super team, they're on their way to deal with him. You can keep going," she said.
"Don't," Harry said. "They're useless." He wasn't trying to be mean. If this clown could move as fast as he thought, even Harry was useless to stop him. He hadn't done anything overtly villainous yet and Harry was hopeful that he might not be evil.
"Huh?" The clown heard Harry and he knew he wasn't talking to him. He glanced at the camera and smiled.
"Hey, no backup!" he said. "As a matter of fact, I have an idea...," Harry watched the clown disappear and he heard a faint, high-pitched sound running away from him.
"HEY!" the TV anchor shouted in his ear. But, he only had a couple of seconds to worry before the high-pitched sound approached him again.
"...our race needs a flag girl!" the clown appeared holding a limp, well-dressed body with only a few strands of long blonde hair still attached to her scalp. "Oy, I guess she wasn't built for speed," the clown sighed as he let the body slump to the floor; then, the crowd of clowns appeared again to laugh at his own joke.
Harry was horrified. It wasn't necessarily the murder he witnessed; as a Super, he'd seen his share of horrible crimes. It was the fact that this clown ran from Wisconsin to L.A. and back again in mere seconds. While carrying someone on the way back. He'd hoped that maybe there was a trick that allowed him to appear in several places at once; but, now Harry knew he was just that much faster than him. And, he was obviously a villain. He only had one shot; he had to act fast and catch the clown by surprise. Harry focused all his speed; he pushed himself to move as fast as he could to punch the clown square in the face.
"Whoa there, speedy," the clown caught his hand; but, it wasn't even the main one. He was surrounded by speed clones that all laughed at the comment and the one clown that caught his fist faded out of existence. "I just wanted to race; but, now you've gone and made it personal," the main one said. Harry panicked. He ran away as fast as he could. He wasn't surprised to see the clown, almost skipping happily, next to him at top speed; but, he was still surprised to see a group of clones also keeping pace.
"Yeah, that's a good idea!" the clown said; the rolling laughter kept up with Harry as they ran. "You're smart to run away," the main one said.
"Run, Harry, Run!" the chorus of clowns cheered him on and continued laughing.
"Well, you're smart to try anyway," the clown said. He reached over and placed a white-gloved hand on Harry's shoulder. Suddenly, Harry was stopped. He didn't feel like he ran into anything; it was like all his speed and momentum simply vanished. One second he was running at top speed; the next, he was standing still with the clown in front of him.
"My name's Laughtrack, by the way," the clown grinned at Harry. "And you are neither the fastest man...," Harry felt intense pain as the clown squeezed his shoulder; it felt like a machine was crushing him. "...nor are you alive...," The pain was blinding and everything started to go black. But, in the blackness, he heard one final chorus of laughter around him.