Flash

by Susan Griffith

  Green Arrow looked at the Flash. “Let’s get Rathaway now. Stop him and this… thing goes away.”

  “I’m ready,” the Flash told him.

  “Then throw up a schematic of the building,” Oliver said. “I need the layout.” Cisco complied, pointing out key aspects of the massive structure.

  “We’re here at the Cortex. There’s the Pipeline below. These are the prison cells. Each cell was specifically modified to match a metahuman’s power. We even have one for Rathaway.”

  “You kept your villains in an abandoned particle accelerator?”

  “Where do you keep yours?” Cisco demanded.

  “In an underground bunker on a deserted island.”

  “Well,” he said, crossing his arms as if that settled it. “No casting stones then.”

  The Flash continued to stare at the shots from the Pipeline. The weird sonic manifestation disappeared.

  “Wait, it’s gone.”

  A thunderous blow sounded at the main doorway leading out of the accelerator ring. The sonic construct reappeared in another view, pushing against the barrier, and then pounding again… and again.

  “I’ll go into the Pipeline and get Rathaway,” the Flash said. “Oliver, you and John take care of that sonic construct so it can’t get up here.”

  John asked, “What can we do to that thing? It’s made of sound.”

  “Yes,” Cisco said, “but from what I can tell, it’s corporeal—solid. It looks like Rathaway has the ability to focus sound in a limited space into a physical thing. So that monster can beat its way through the doors despite the vibrational field I built into the building. But on the other hand, you can probably hit it like it was a person.”

  “Probably?” John checked the magazine in his pistol.

  “Oh, wait!” Felicity went to Iris and took the gauntlet. “Would this help?” She slipped into her seat and made a few quick adjustments. Cisco watched and offered suggestions. After a few moments she handed it over her shoulder to John. “You may be able to disrupt the construct with this, or at least hurt it.

  “If it can be hurt,” she added quietly.

  John stared. “You want me to just walk up and punch it?” He frowned with exasperation. “Great.” Abruptly the lights dimmed.

  Cisco peered over Caitlin’s shoulder.

  “Hartley’s probing our force shield, and he’s got a lot of juice, so he could break it any time. Even if he doesn’t, we’ve only got about five minutes until it burns out the systems, anyway. And then we’re vulnerable.”

  “We’ll stop him.” Green Arrow headed for the doorway, followed by John. He spared Felicity a long glance, then the two men disappeared.

  “Where should I be?” Joe asked.

  “Outside with Iris,” Barry replied.

  “Now wait a minute—”

  “There’s nothing you can do against these forces. Take Iris and get out. Keep her safe. I’ll work better knowing you’re out of the danger zone.” He turned to Shawna. “You should go, too.”

  “Why?” She didn’t look up. “If he survives, I’m dead no matter where I go.”

  The Flash started to reply, then thought better of it. He gave a last look at his family and friends, and rushed after Oliver and John. Speeding down to the lowest level, he reached the entrance to the Pipeline before the two men arrived. When they joined him, they all heard deep pounding from the other side of the door.

  “You go in first,” Green Arrow said, speaking loudly over the din. “Distract that thing long enough for us to get inside, then you head after Rathaway while we handle the construct.”

  “Don’t make it long, though,” John said, and he gave the Flash a quick glance. “You won’t need more than a few seconds to take him out, right?”

  “Right.” Barry grinned, backing up a bit. “Cisco, open the door.”

  “Okay,” Cisco replied, “but remember, it’s not the fastest door in the west. It’ll take around ten seconds to cycle up, and then back down.”

  “Got it,” Green Arrow said. “Go.”

  The heavy barrier began to rise, revealing a shimmering mass. The Flash ran at the portal and slid under the door like a baseball player going into second. He banged against something solid—the thing’s legs maybe—before clambering to his feet. What felt like a heavy clawed hand fell onto his back, grabbing his costume.

  Sharp tingling sensations shot through him. He flailed back with an elbow, catching something solid. Blows struck his head and shoulders, knocking him to the side. A loud bang announced an explosion that rocked the large beast.

  “Flash, run!” Green Arrow shouted while pulling another shaft.

  The Flash shoved against the shimmering sonic mass, clearing a few inches of space. He broke away, and streaked down the long, curved hallway, leaving Arrow and John to handle the invisible monster.

  42

  The Flash vanished, and the door to the Pipeline slid into place behind Green Arrow and John, sealing them in with the construct.

  Both men fired, stepping back as they did to buy a little space. The air wavered with each blow, but the creature didn’t falter, and moved in their direction.

  They had to hold this thing here. If the creature got out of the Pipeline and made it to the upper floor, there would be no way to keep it out of the Cortex. Felicity, Cisco, and Caitlin wouldn’t stand a chance. This was the chokepoint.

  The weird distortion appeared to flow like water, though it was able to maintain a vague shape. With the fluidity of a cat, it sprang up toward the roof of the tunnel and then twisted, directing its momentum downward. It drove itself onto the Green Arrow, its weight crushing him against the steel.

  He coughed blood onto the floor. The thing swatted him, sending him rolling across the tunnel. It followed, and another blow sent him careening down the Pipeline. Massive footfalls vibrated the steel plates under him. He tried to get a fix on it, to determine where best to strike, but all he could make out was something large and vague, distorting the view of whatever was behind it.

  When it drew close, Arrow lashed out with his bow, striking something solid. The creature stumbled sideways, and took damage, but in the dimness of the tunnel, he couldn’t track its movements clearly. He cried out as a translucent appendage wrapped itself around him.

  Then Spartan’s hand with the sonic gauntlet snaked in and seized the glittering appendage. The arm sparked and froze. He pressed his pistol against it and fired. A chunk shattered like crystal, and the shards dissipated into the air.

  “Sweet,” Spartan muttered and raised the gauntlet to grab it again. This time something slammed him to the ground. The hulking shape loomed, and the air crackled. He threw himself to one side as it ripped jagged gashes in the floor. Pulling himself to his feet, he dodged another blow, staggering away just as the wall was dented.

  A way opened for them to slip past. Green Arrow pulled Spartan with him as he ran. With a quick glance over his shoulder, he got the sense of something on four legs, hurtling after them with long arced strides. The creature gained on them. Following the shimmer and the sound it made, Arrow could vaguely make out that it leapt across the tunnel, bounded off the opposite wall, and landed just ahead of them.

  The archer somersaulted over the barely defined mass, his legs tucked in tight to land on the other side. The creature swiped at him, but missed. While it was distracted, Spartan rolled under the beast. A concussive arrow rocked the monster to the side. Green Arrow reached down to swing Spartan to his feet, and they legged it down the hall.

  In his peripheral vision, the archer seemed to spot the Flash streaking past him several times, but he couldn’t pause. As they gained some breathing space, he pulled four more arrows from his quiver.

  “We need a better view of what we’re fighting.”

  “How do you propose we do that?” Spartan panted. “Cover it in paint?”

  The sound of the creature pounding after them made them both peer back, but all they saw in the shadows of the
passageway was a shimmering shape that filled their view.

  “Something like that,” Green Arrow muttered. He lifted the bow in a smooth arc and fired the four arrows so quickly it appeared as if they went in the same pull. Each one exploded against the translucence, casting a dark cloud of ash and smoke that clung to the target, slowly revealing a shape.

  Its bulbous head shook back and forth, as an unblinking eye socket turned toward them. Four massive clawed hands dug into the steel plates beneath it.

  “Damn,” Spartan said. “I liked it better when it was invisible. Do we stand and fight?”

  “Head to head, we can’t win.”

  They retreated again, the creature closer now, as an idea formed in Arrow’s head.

  “Felicity, do you copy?”

  Crackling static replied. The lines of visible sound traversing the Pipeline must have been blocking their signal—but he knew video still worked. The team up in the Cortex would be watching, and if they were paying attention, they would know what he was doing. If not, this was going to be a bad idea. A pain began to build in Green Arrow’s chest, and he still tasted blood on his lips.

  With Spartan racing beside him, he picked through his memory of the building’s schematic, trying to remember which cell had been Rathaway’s. The cells were set into niches along the outer wall, where the guts of the particle accelerator had been removed. The soot-spotted monster galloped after them on pitch-dark hands.

  They finally came to the area where Rathaway had been held, while a prisoner at S.T.A.R. Labs. The cell had been modified to be soundproof, and resistant to vibrations. A short hallway ran down to it.

  Cisco must have caught on.

  The doors stood open.

  Close on their heels, the creature lunged to block their way. A blow knocked Spartan to the ground. Glittering claws just missed Green Arrow as he leapt, banging into the corner of the hallway, and ricocheting into the open cell. He immediately put his back against the rear wall.

  The thing roared at him, pushing into the doorway. The air crackled and the archer’s ears rang. The creature raked at him. He spun aside and the wall sparked with a tremendous blow. The thing wriggled in, nearly filling the cell with its intangible bulk. Arrow fought the nauseating pulsations that washed through the small space.

  He darted back and forth, searching for room to slip out of the cell, narrowly dodging the claws that struck at him until one of the blows connected, and sent him reeling into the corner. Pain rolled over him, but the thing cried out, as well.

  Behind it, Spartan issued another vibrating jolt with his gauntlet. The beast seized up for a second. Spartan’s pistol blew a chunk out of its torso.

  The beast kicked back, sending the ex-soldier flying away from the cell. Green Arrow shouted as he struggled to his feet. They were terribly out-gunned for this, but the odds didn’t matter. He and Spartan would keep going until it ended, one way or the other.

  The bellowing construct turned its attention back to the archer and gripped him by the shoulders, lifting him off the floor. Dark claws dug in hard. Arrow shoved his bow into the gaping mouth. Clenching his fists around the bow, he found his last ounce of strength, preventing the jaws from tearing into him. His head nearly split from the incessant pounding. Searing knife-edge agony sliced along his spine. He couldn’t hear or see or feel anything.

  Green Arrow couldn’t take much more. His vision darkened.

  “Sh-shut…the door,” he gasped.

  “Not with you in there!” Spartan replied, stepping forward again, his head bleeding.

  “Shut… it!”

  “Like hell!”

  Spartan again thrust his gauntleted hand through the creature’s back. It reared in agony as its form disrupted for a moment, dropping its prey to the floor. Green Arrow struggled to hold onto consciousness. He knew none of the people upstairs would seal him inside with the monster. So he rolled weakly onto his right side, clawing for his discarded bow.

  The beast worked its massive frame around in the tight space to confront Spartan. It took a lumbering step toward him, and freedom.

  With his consciousness fading, Arrow dragged out a shaft and lifted the bow awkwardly. It took precious seconds to nock it and hold it steady. Then the arrow flew. It struck a control panel at the end of the corridor. The panel sparked, and the door to the cell started to close.

  “Damn it, Oliver!” Spartan let out a strangled shout as the door slammed shut. His panicked face appeared through the thick Plexiglas. His fists banged against it helplessly.

  Green Arrow suddenly felt a rush of cold air and a distant hissing sound. His fingers moved, and cold metal pressed against his cheek. Something touched him. A woman’s hazy face rippled into focus.

  Peekaboo? They were both trapped inside.

  Green Arrow tried to stand.

  The creature would be on them again. He had to be ready.

  “Stay down!” Her face appeared again. “Can you hear me?”

  Green Arrow blinked and fell back. “Look out. It’s coming.”

  “No.” John grabbed his arm. “You’re out. It’s trapped.” He pointed at the closed glass and steel door to the cell. They were on the outside. Glimmering air shifted inside.

  Oliver slumped. “Hopefully that will hold that thing for another few minutes so the Flash can work.” Then the lights went out. The background hum stopped, and the new silence was deafening. The entire structure began to shake.

  “There goes Cisco’s shield,” John said. “We’re out of time.”

  43

  The Flash streaked though the Pipeline back to where Rathaway stood, arms outstretched and with bright strings of sound penetrating him. As the speedster came close, he sensed the telltale vibrations put up by the Pied Piper’s force shield, and managed to veer off before smashing into it. He slid to a halt, spinning to face his opponent.

  “There’s no way out of this, Hartley. Just surrender.”

  “Funny. I was going to say the same thing, except for the surrender part,” Rathaway replied. “And I do have a way out. You see, I’m safe inside a protective cocoon, and when Cisco’s protection fails, I will destroy S.T.A.R. Labs. Then I will simply walk out through the smoldering walls, stepping over all your bodies.”

  The Flash started to reply, then thought better of it.

  “Wait here,” he said, holding up a finger. “I’ll be right back.” He sped down the Pipeline, past Oliver and John, and then Rathaway again. On he ran, around the circular path, over and over, building speed. By the fourth or fifth transit, Rathaway’s expression finally registered his surprise. Four more, and that turned to confusion.

  Lightning flared off his body. Power roared up inside him. He strained to contain it even as he generated more. The world narrowed with each step.

  Pied Piper began to pour energy into the tunnel. Crushing streams of sound began blasting the Flash, but he didn’t dare decelerate. Finally he veered straight toward Rathaway’s force field, slamming against it with incredible force. The barrier bowed inward, slowing his forward motion—but he refused to stop. He strained, fighting into the pressure. Bolts of lightning crackled out and over the barrier.

  In an instant, the Flash broke through and smashed Rathaway into the wall. Immediately he began to rain down blows. Rathaway tried to cover his head and face, but the Flash grabbed him by the jacket and yanked him to his feet. He pulled back his fist again.

  “It’s over!” he shouted. Another crashing blow sent Rathaway toppling to the floor. The smaller man looked up with his hands held out. At first the Flash thought he was surrendering.

  “It’s not over till this place is rubble!” Rathaway shouted.

  The Flash took a sledgehammer to the chest. He staggered, crying out in pain. Rathaway laughed.

  “I’m more powerful than you now, thanks to the crystals, and I’m going to use that advantage to kill you.” He leveled another blow, sending the speedster tumbling.

  Digging his fingers into the s
eams of the tile floor, the Flash came to a jolting stop. He jumped up, roaring into speed, feeling the vibrations in the air as Rathaway strafed the landscape behind him. Metal shredded into shrapnel and filled the enclosed space. The Flash ran up the wall, and the wave of destruction followed him, cracking spider webs in the pipes and concrete. Light fixtures exploded, sending out a shower of glass.

  The Flash crossed the ceiling above, and the thick beam of destruction followed just inches behind his streaking form. He cut a right angle, and then another, and finally a third. Without warning an entire section of steel and concrete dropped on top of the Pied Piper. The debris pummeled him to the floor, piling on top of him, burying him in an avalanche of wreckage.

  Sliding down the wall, the Flash came to a stop next to the dusty pile of rubble. He heard faint moans from underneath—Rathaway was still alive. With hands on hips, Barry hunched over, gasping for breath.

  Tiny pebbles at his feet began to quiver. Pieces of rubble shifted. A high-pitched screech shot through his head, and he staggered back. The wreckage blasted outward, catching him on the legs and knocking him to the floor. Rathaway struggled to his feet and shook off dust and debris. He looked stunned, blood ran down his face, but his bleary eyes fell angrily on the red-clad figure.

  He strode over to kneel beside the Flash.

  A knife of sound penetrated Barry’s head. He cried out and grabbed Rathaway, grasping his wrists. His arms went numb, but he didn’t let go. His ears rang. His ribs throbbed. He tasted blood.

  Everything went dark.

  Then the Flash realized it wasn’t just him. The lights were out. The power was gone. Cisco’s protective field had dropped, and the facility was vulnerable now.

  Emergency lighting came on. Rathaway grinned with excitement, grabbing the Flash’s wrists and pouring screeching vibrations through his bones.

  “I’ve got you. I’ve got all of you now. This is the end for everything Harrison Wells built—and that includes you, Flash.”

  Barry fought to stay conscious. He had to do something. He couldn’t strike back—his arms wouldn’t move. It couldn’t end this way. Down here, alone, with the others depending on him, trusting him to protect them. He had never failed before. Except for Ronnie.