Flash

by Susan Griffith

  She thought about the people they had left in the crumbling house, about to plunge into the lake. But there was nothing she could do for them now. She had to focus on herself, as always. She had to find a way to get out of this hell she was trapped in.

  “Well? This is what you’ve been waiting for, isn’t it? Just destroy it already.”

  “It’s not that simple.” Rathaway knelt and put a hand on the asphalt, sending vibrations through her feet. He said, “I helped build that place. It can withstand a hydrogen bomb.” He looked up at her. “From the outside.”

  “So we’re going inside?” Shawna twitched at the memory of that terrible mirrored cell, deep in the bowels of the building.

  “Yes. They’re in there right now.” Rathaway stood up, tilting his head as if listening to radio signals. “Dr. Snow. Cisco Ramon. That woman from Green Arrow’s team, and another woman I don’t recognize. I can hear their desperate communications. They’re distracted because they can’t reach the Flash and his friends. So our moment is now.”

  “What about security?”

  “Security?” Rathaway laughed. “At S.T.A.R. Labs? Even if they had any, it wouldn’t matter.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a smartphone—only thicker, and with keys, more like an old calculator. He powered it on and began to tap. “You see, I left a little loophole in the system—but we can only use it once. As much as I hate Cisco Ramon, I know that as soon as he’s aware, he’ll find a way to plug it.”

  He paused with his thumb over the button.

  “You need to stretch your powers. When I activate the sleeper command, a live, real-time image of the Cortex will appear on this screen. You will teleport us there.”

  “From a picture?” Shawna wasn’t sure she had heard him right. “I can’t do that. I have to see the spot itself.”

  “No, you don’t. You can teleport any place you can see. You will see it, and we will go there.”

  “But I’ve never done it before. What if I do something wrong?”

  His grim expression told her there would be no arguing. “Are you ready?”

  “I don’t—”

  “Here it comes.” Rathaway pressed the key.

  The screen lit up with an overhead shot of a clean, high-tech facility. Three people sat at computer stations. There was no sound, but they looked frantic. A fourth person entered the shot. Iris West. Shawna groaned.

  She liked Iris.

  “Shawna,” Rathaway growled, and she stared hard at the screen. She had never teleported this way. She didn’t have any connection to the destination. She didn’t know how far away it was, only that it was inside S.T.A.R. Labs, but she didn’t know where.

  He’s crazy, she thought. He’s going to get us killed. But if she refused, he would just kill her.

  “Shawna. Now.”

  She cursed under her breath.

  Suddenly Shawna knew where the room was located. Her gaze flicked up to the building, and she could actually visualize the space inside. A little thread of attachment slid through space and she felt it anchor where she needed to go.

  This might work.

  “Do it!” Rathaway shouted.

  When she looked back at the screen, she saw one of the people, a blonde woman with glasses, staring at her computer. She slowly turned around and lifted her eyes directly to the camera Rathaway was using. The woman said something and Cisco looked up, too, gaping at the camera. The woman dove back onto her keyboard.

  Here goes… Shawna triggered the teleport as if she was jumping into a cold swimming pool. She saw pixelated lights and darkness. It took longer than normal. Something terrible had happened.

  Before she could panic, she stood in a clean, brightly lit room. They were inside S.T.A.R. Labs—at the spot she had seen on the screen.

  “I did it!” Shawna shouted.

  The people at the computers leapt to their feet. Rathaway walked toward them with his arms spread wide, sweeping his hands before them. They all covered their ears with silent screams of pain, then collapsed moaning to the floor.

  “Hello, my colleagues.” Rathaway squatted so he could peer under the table at the writhing foursome. “I seem to have forgotten my key card, but I’ve found my way in.”

  “You’re not… wearing your gauntlets.” Panting, Caitlin tried to brush the hair out of her eyes, and only partly succeeded.

  “There’s nothing I’d love more than to chat, just like our old lunch hours, but, I’ve got things to do.” Rathaway pulled a small plastic tube from his pocket. He popped the lid and slid a crystal into his palm. Closing his hand around the stone, he concentrated for a few seconds. “Nobody leave this room.”

  “Or?” Cisco said.

  “Or bad things will happen, although no one deserves it more than you.” He pulled several more of the plastic containers from his pockets. When Shawna started to follow him out, he put his hand up. “Stay here and watch them. If they try anything, if you teleport out, I’ll sense it, and destroy you all.”

  “Stay here?” Shawna stammered. “But I’m with you.”

  “Do as I say. They always try something, because they think they’re smart.” He glared at Cisco, and left the Cortex.

  They pinned Shawna with their eyes, but didn’t move. She shuffled to the far side of the room, almost comically disengaged, as if she was waiting for a friend to show up. Whispering to each other, they made her very nervous.

  After nearly ten minutes of their hushed conversation, she turned suddenly to Iris and whispered, “Look, I’m sorry. I’d like to help you, but I can’t. He’s got these weird crystals and he’s going to use them to blow this place up and kill all of you. He put the crystals in me, so if I don’t help him, he’ll kill me too.”

  Iris came around the workstation. “Where’s the Flash?” she asked. “Where is everyone who was with him?” Her voice held a near-panicked tremor. Her eyes were wide with fear.

  Shawna put a finger to her lips and moved closer. “You have to be quiet. He can hear everything. Hartley blew the house into the lake and we teleported out.”

  “Blew the house into the lake?” Iris exchanged frightened glances with the others.

  “So what’s everyone talking about?” Rathaway reappeared in the doorway. “Why all the whispering?” He eyed Shawna suspiciously.

  Felicity’s phone buzzed and she leaned over the console. Happiness played across her face.

  Caitlin asked eagerly, “What is it?”

  “They’re alive.” When Iris whipped around, Felicity nodded at her with a huge smile. “Yes. Joe too.”

  Iris put a thankful hand to her head. “What about the Flash?”

  Felicity pointed across. “You mean him?”

  Rathaway spun about.

  The Flash stood in the entrance to the Cortex. His red costume was torn and streaked with dirt. He stared with furious intensity.

  “Hartley, I’d really like to punch you several thousand times,” he said, breathing deeply. “But if you want to surrender, I’ll accept it.”

  “I don’t want to surrender, you idiot.” Rathaway started to vibrate. “I want to kill you in the most painful way possible.”

  40

  The Flash streaked forward, and just inches from his target he slammed against something he couldn’t see. The speedster bounced into the air, crashing back into one of the workstations.

  “It worked!” Rathaway laughed with amazement. “A sonic force field! An actual force field.”

  The Flash shook his head like a boxer knocked to the canvas, and leapt up. He raced for Rathaway, and again caromed off, skidding across the floor to hit the wall with a grunt. He climbed back to his feet. This time he walked across the Cortex holding out his hands, until he touched the barrier in the air. It felt pliable, but when he pushed into it, his hands slowed to a stop.

  “What are you doing now?” Rathaway watched with concern.

  “I’m betting you can’t do more than one thing at a time, Hartley.” Red-gloved hand
s began to vibrate. “And right now, that one thing is your force field. So I’m going to vibrate through it.” Barry knew from the flicker in Rathaway’s eyes that he had surmised correctly. If he could penetrate the shield, he might be able to get to Pied Piper and take him down before he could retool to another, more offensive ability.

  His hands slipped into the invisible spongy wall, pressing deeper, moving closer to Rathaway’s worried face—but then he felt the texture change. His hands were pushed away and a painful shock shot up his arms. Rathaway gave him a smug smile. He was altering the resonance frequency of the field.

  The Flash shifted his own frequency and again pushed within inches of Rathaway before the field shoved him back.

  “We’ll see how long you can keep it up, Hartley.” The idea of beating his opponent to the floor became more attractive by the second, and he had to calm himself. “This sort of power is new to you,” he continued. “You must be tired already, but it’s old hat to me.”

  “But what if you blur, Barry?”

  The Flash jerked his head up.

  “Oh yes.” Rathaway chuckled. “I’ve been listening to your team’s communications. I know you are Barry Allen, but I couldn’t care less. This ‘blurring,’ however, intrigues me. It must refer to going out of phase in some fashion. Is that what Nimbus saw when he thought you had a new power? You don’t, do you, Flash? You have a new weakness.

  “So by all means, let’s keep playing.”

  The Flash stepped away from the shimmering force shield. His arms tingled and he flexed his numb fingers. He found himself moving into his tactical breathing. His arms found feeling again. Oliver would be proud.

  “Poor Flash.” Rathaway grinned in triumph. “All right, it’s time for the final act, so to speak. Shawna, come here.”

  “No.”

  Rathaway tilted his head. “I said come here.”

  “No,” she repeated, louder this time.

  “Don’t be an idiot,” he growled. “Don’t let the Flash trick you into thinking they have a chance. He’s wrong—I have no limits. I can kill you with just a thought, and keep my force field up the entire time.”

  “Then do it!” Shawna shouted. “Just do it and shut the hell up. I’m so sick of you, you smug punk. But remember, I beat you two out of three in chess.”

  “I let you win because your ego was so fragile.”

  “Sure you did, you little weasel.” She stepped closer, hands on hips, leaning forward with an angry sneer.

  “Hey, maybe you should dial it down,” Iris said, trying to pull her back.

  “Hell no.” Shawna tugged her arm away and stepped closer to Rathaway. “Kill me, Hartley, and trap yourself in here. You think you’re getting out, with Red standing there waiting to beat you like you owe him money. Are you planning to blow this place up with you still inside? I doubt it. What are you gonna do, smart guy? What?” Shawna laughed at him. “That looks like check to me. You got no moves left.”

  “Then I suppose I have nothing to lose.” Rathaway stared at her like death. Suddenly Shawna choked, and doubled over. She clutched her head, staggering. With a strangled cry, she fell to the floor.

  “Hartley, no!” Barry ran to the crumpled body. “Don’t do this. She has nothing to do with us. Leave her alone.”

  Nothing in Rathaway’s eyes showed that he intended to relent. The Flash charged him, fighting to vibrate through the force shield. Anything to distract the man, force him to refocus his powers.

  Iris and Caitlin sprinted to Shawna’s side.

  “Everybody back away from her.” It was Cisco. He was wearing one of Pied Piper’s gauntlets, and holding the other. “I’m going to try something.”

  Iris stretched out her arm. “Give it to me. I’ll do it.”

  “Nah, it’s too dangerous. I don’t know if it’ll work.”

  “Give it to me! We need you for other things. This is something I can do.”

  Cisco pulled off the glove and tossed both of them to Iris.

  “You wear one and put the other one on Shawna’s hand,” he explained. “Then hold the two together, establishing a connection. That should create enough resonant resistance to—”

  “I don’t care about the science.” Iris tugged the gauntlet onto her right arm. She pried one of Shawna’s palsied hands off the floor.

  “N-no, Iris. D-don’t,” Shawna stammered. “He’ll hurt you.”

  Iris ignored her, jammed the glove on Shawna’s hand, and then clasped the gauntleted hands together. Then the air around them shimmered. A deep hum spread. Iris gasped in pain. However, Shawna took a breath of relief, and tightened her grip.

  “Iris?” the Flash shouted over his shoulder.

  “I’m good.” Her trembling frail voice made it sound as if she was speaking through a rotary fan. “We’re okay.”

  He redoubled his attack, vigorously assaulting the force shield, a shadow of red as he cycled through vibrational frequencies. Rathaway stood his ground, but his teeth were clenched. Sweat poured down his face. His eyes locked on the red fingers that slowly inched toward him.

  Abruptly he released an eruption of sound. The Flash’s head felt as if an axe had cleaved into his skull. His hearing exploded and his vision sparked white. Losing his balance, he staggered back, fighting to stay on his feet.

  41

  When the brightness faded, the Cortex came back into focus. Everyone in the control room lay sprawled around the room. Some were moving, others weren’t. The shattering pain abated, and only a thick pounding remained in the Flash’s ears.

  Rathaway had fled.

  He spun around. Iris still held Shawna’s hand, and they leaned against each other, stunned. Caitlin propped herself unsteadily against the workstation table, gasping in the aftermath of the burst. Cisco and Felicity slumped over their keyboards, struggling to sit up. He went to each one. They all assured him—with closed eyes or gaping mouths—that they were fine, or would be.

  “What was that?” Felicity moaned.

  Barry knelt next to Iris, receiving a comforting nod. “He must have accessed the power of the crystals he placed around the facility,” he said. “We must’ve pushed him to his limits.”

  “He’s still here somewhere,” Shawna muttered. “He wants to tear this place apart, and now he’ll want to kill me, as well. He won’t leave until he does both.”

  “He’s not doing either one.” The Flash stood. “I’m going after him.”

  Through the pain, Felicity offered a warning look. “Wait for Oliver and John. They’re almost here.”

  “If we give Rathaway time to recharge, he could blow this place to pieces, and we’ll still be inside. I can’t wait.”

  “Actually, you can.” Cisco played feverishly on his computer keyboard. The lights dimmed and the tone of the background hum altered. “If I’m right, we’ve got him. I’m sending resonance pulses through the internal communications and electronic systems. I’m using our own network to weave a sonic shield into the structure of S.T.A.R. Labs. The building itself is now a force screen against sonic or vibrational attacks. It should block his attacks.”

  “It will now.” Felicity typed as if she had superspeed. “I just added a subroutine that will fluctuate your frequencies. That way you won’t blow out your system in the first thirty seconds or so.”

  Cisco nodded approvingly. “Thanks,” he said. “Next time, though, could you give me my moment, please?”

  The Flash sensed the subtle vibrations around him. They were light, but profound. He smiled in admiration.

  “How did you guys figure that out on the fly?”

  “On the fly? Please, we’ve been working on this ever since we knew Hartley was involved.”

  Felicity bounced in her chair. “Found him!”

  Internal cameras projected an image of Rathaway lurching through the Pipeline, far below. He stopped and pressed his hands against the wall. Suddenly he looked confused, slapping frantically on all the surfaces he could reach, as if feeli
ng for something. They couldn’t hear him, but it was clear he was cursing up a blue streak.

  Cisco laughed. “That’s right, Hartley. You’re not the only genius who can do force fields.”

  Rathaway looked up and saw the camera. He reached into his pocket and produced a crystal, holding it up. He grinned and the crystal glowed. Suddenly strange lines of energy sparked from the crystal’s many facets.

  “Well, that’s weird,” Cisco muttered. “I think that’s physical sound.” Felicity called up other camera views from around the Pipeline. The luminescent energy streams filled the space. Wherever they coalesced, there was a crystal.

  The beams glittered around Rathaway, quivering and glowing. Wherever the streaks intertwined, the energy grew more vivid. A massive, indistinct shape appeared. Colorless and undulating as if alive, it filled the space.

  “Huh.” Cisco stared at the screen. “Okay, I did not see that kind of thing coming.”

  “What is that?” Barry asked.

  “Some sort of simulacrum,” Felicity replied. “Made of sound apparently. Amazing.”

  “This guy…” Cisco shook his head in annoyance, making adjustments to his network. “This guy is a pain. A brilliant fracking pain.”

  Three men rushed in through the main entrance to the Cortex. Green Arrow and Spartan each held Joe by an arm. They were as disheveled as the Flash, their faces covered in dust and dried blood. Felicity raced to Oliver and Iris enveloped Joe in a worried embrace. John stood alone, with his helmet under one arm and a bemused smirk on his face. Caitlin looked up at him from her seat and gave him a welcoming smile.

  Joe saw the bulky sonic gauntlet on his daughter’s hand. “What is that? What crazy thing have you been doing?”

  Oliver noticed Shawna, slumped in a chair. “Got one. Good. Where’s Rathaway?”

  The Flash pointed at the monitor. “Pipeline.”

  “What the hell is that?” John stepped toward a screen and pointed at the wavering mass of energy.

  “It’s a sonic construct.” Cisco continued to type, joined by Caitlin at her own keyboard. “And I’m betting it’s coming up here to shut off my brilliant defensive systems by killing us all.”