I wanted do something unique again. XD So this is basically a 'modernized' How to Train Your Dragon crossover to The Flash. Now for you fans for both of these I would like to let you know there will be that will not be many characters from Httyd present in the story. They may be mentioned but that is all. And for the quotations around modernized I have my reasons for that ;) Anyways please enjoy this and review.
And wow I cant believe how many people voted yes for this on my poll :) Thank you so much whoever you are!
Warning: Minor cursing and some crime scene detail. I am trying to make this more like the show which is PG-13. But nothing else besides that!
Disclaimer: I own only minor OC's but Flash characters belong to DC comics/the CW Channel and HTTYD characters belong to DreamWorks. Cover is not mine either :) It is from one of the episodes. Shout out to the one who recognizes it ;)
Sometimes there are things out there that even the impossible cannot explain. Oh yeah isn't this suppose to be the intro thingy? Well if you want that then fine...maybe let's start with the basics...my name is Barry Allen. I am the fastest man alive. I received my powers when I was struck by lightning after the particle accelerator at S.T.A.R Labs exploded (please don't get any ideas kids) and was in a coma for nine months, I woke up blah, blah, blah and the rest is history. You should know it. Anyways enough about me and let's get to the important stuff. There are others out there that are similar to me. Very few use their powers for good. But there are some without powers that do evil as well. And occasionally there is someone there willing to stand up to them even though they may be powerless to stop them...
~~~...~~~
A man dressed in a large overcoat passed by several people in the crowded streets. He was about five foot six with a bulky appearance and he his greasy dark brown hair slicked back so that came down to his shoulder. An angry bumpy scar curved from his right cheek bone down to his neck as if a hot iron in the shape of a talon had branded it there. Despite his unkempt appearance many people politely smiled at him as he passed them. He smiled back showing white teeth that glinted in the lights coming from the stores and lamp posts. He lumbered off toward the side to allow a group of high school kids to pass by him trying to enter a movie theater.
"No sign of him yet...good. That moron must have mistaken him for someone else" he said to himself under his breath, "Maybe Drago does not need to worry about him after all."
As the man passed by the movie theater he bumped into someone exiting it.
"Pardon me sir I did not..." the man cut himself off when he caught sight of the person who had bumped into him.
It was a tall young man who stared wide eyed at the stranger in recognition. The man did like wise.
"You!" he gasped.
Instantly he sprinted away from the younger man pushing his way through the crowd pouring out of the movie theater.
"Calder..." the young man breathed before running after the older man.
The older man kept sprinting knocking several people over in his way, trying to escape the younger man who was trailing him. Shouts of protests followed him. After running down several blocks he threw himself into an alley way and took in several ragged gasps of breath. The young man from the movie theater ran pass the entrance cursing under his breath. He bypassed the alleyway and continued to push his way past the crowd going down the block.
The man waited for several minutes with bated breath. The young man never reappeared again. People continued to pass by the alley way without noticing the man lurking in the shadows.
"Lost me didn't you squirt?" the man smirked to himself.
"Actually no..." came a voice from behind the man.
The man spun around startled. The young man leaned causally against the graffiti covered wall a serious expression on his face. A street lamp from outside the alley faintly illuminated only his face showing a small pale scar on his chin. His hair was rich auburn color that went done to his shoulder as well. Unlike the man he was confronting, his hair was wind blown as if he had spent a lot of time flying in an airplane with his head hanging out the window. He also had a pale complexion as if he spent a lot of time in high altitudes.
"You thought you could hide from me Calder? One who has been in the US military several times and picked up a few tricks?" the man said in a mocking tone while standing up straight to show he was at least six feet or more in height, "Now tell me...where is Drago?"
He was thin compared to 'Calder' but still looked tough and battle torn. His dark green eyes retained a haunted and sad look as if he had seen something horrible and never forgot it.
"I'll never tell ya... You can go to hell for all I care," the older man 'Calder' sneered with a faint Norse accent, "He would be pleased to know you are after him though. Tell me...did you enjoy seeing your family die boy?"
The younger man's face went stormy with rage but he managed to say in a controlled voice, "Tell me were he is...and I promise I will not come after you again. This is for his own good as well as mine."
He started to walk toward the man slowly and in a peaceful manner.
"I rather die than tell you where Drago is," Calder snarled whipping a gun out from his coat, "But why won't I start by killing you and saving Drago the trouble?"
He fired a single round at the young man but his shot went wide hitting a nearby trashcan. Outside the alleyway people screamed and started to panic and flee from the scene. It would not be long before the police arrived to investigate the noise. The young man clutched a strange necklace around his neck before backing away from the man. He then drew a long thick pole with carvings on the ends of it from under his belt and held it uncertainly in his hands. His hands shook slightly and he bit his bottom lip nervously.
"You can't do it can you? Ha!" Calder snorted, "That silly little trinket of yours will not save you anyways. Any last words?" Calder ginned leveling the gun at the younger man's head.
Before the young man could respond a high pitch banshee-like screeching noise filled the air. A ghost of a smile appeared on his face but it slowly turned to horror and panic. He turned around as if to confront whatever was coming.
"No..." Calder started to say as he started backing away from the young man.
Then a massive explosion bathed the entire alley way in a whitish purple light.
...^^^^^^^...
"Dude...you can't even have caffeine affect you? That is so uncool!" Cisco grumbled.
Catlin had wanted to see if Barry's metabolism would be able to even burn through caffeine which was why they were at Jitters near closing time.
"Says the guy who drank two lattes and can't sit still right now," Catlin smirked.
Cisco glared at her and struggled to keep himself from twitching, "I'm not going to get any sleep tonight thanks to you two. Why couldn't we go out for a real drink ?"
"Because I can't get drunk? Life at this point sucks for me. First I find out I can't get drunk and now this...what's next...I can't get sick? Which by the way would be really cool," Barry smiled as he drank his third cup of coffee.
He didn't even feel the effects that three cups of caffeine would have on a normal person. Cisco on the other hand was feeling the full blown affects; increased heart rate, twitching etc.
"I don't think you are that far off with that prediction," Catlin admitted shifting her caffeine-free coffee cup around, "After all you burned through five hundred milligrams of horse tranquilizer in a matter of seconds. That means you will be immune to almost any microbes that would get normal people sick."
"Good point..." Barry admitted as he swallowed the last of his coffee, "But after receiving the tranquilizer arrow, it was not fun receiving a flechette to the leg either."
He grimaced remembering how painful it was to remove it.
"Hey after Bivalo's rays stopped effecting you, both you and Oliver kicked his ass," Cisco grinned.
"You do realize we are in public right?" Barry grumbled annoyed at Cisco almost revealing his hero identity as well as Oliver's.
Iris walked up to their table just then fortunately not hearing the discussion. She was in her waitress outfit even though she did have a part time reporter's job.
"How many cups of coffee did you have tonight mister?" she asked as she picked up Barry's empty cup.
"Um...three..." Barry admitted.
Despite lying to her about other things he didn't want to lie to her about this.
"You're not going to get any sleep tonight..." Iris laughed.
Eddie then walked up, "Hey guys...want to go see a movie together or something? Its not to late to go."
Before anyone could respond Eddie's phone rang. Something had to be up.
"There was a gun shot followed by an explosion in an alley by the Vogue Movie Theater..." Eddie said looking at the screen.
Barry shared a quick worried glance with Catlin and Cisco who nodded encouragingly. Great...it was time for him to suit up. Couldn't he ever have a relaxing evening without having to go stop crime?
"I have to go Iris..." Eddie said turning to her and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
He quickly left the coffee shop.
"Well my shift is about over so I should be going to..." Iris said briskly leaving.
No doubt she was leaving to see if she could catch a glimpse of 'The Streak' or 'The Flash' as some people were calling him.
"I should be getting home as well..." Barry said faking a yawn.
He hated doing this public. So annoying.
"Dude...just go...nobody is looking" Cisco said gesturing at the door.
Within a few seconds Barry was racing down the street at five hundred miles per hour. He skidded to a stop in front of the alley way sending sparks from under his feet everywhere.
"Am I in the right place?" he asked lightly touching the microphone on the side of his mask.
"You are...just be careful..." Catlin cautioned over the com, "We don't know what we are dealing with."
Barry wrinkled up his nose when he caught the smell of something burning. There was little light in the alley way but there was enough to see some details. He glanced down at the ground and jumped out of fright. There was a man curled up in a fetal position about five feet away from him. The man's face and chest was charcoal...literally. His hands were blackened and covered with third degree burns. Worst of all the man's mouth was open as if he were screaming in agony or fear. Barry covered his mouth to keep from throwing up. He had seen some pretty nasty things in his time as an CSI assistant investigator but this was the worst he had seen in a while. Just out of reach of the man's body was a gun that must have been fired recently as a single shell lay on the ground several feet from it.
"Barry you there? What happened?" Cisco asked.
He must have heard him heaving.
"I'm to late...someone was killed by the explosion..." Barry said letting out a heavy sigh as he looked up away from the body.
Police sirens started getting closer. Barry glanced out the entrance of the alleyway and raced out of it seconds before the police entered the crime scene. He quickly raced back to the back of Jitters and shoved his Flash suit in a backpack before walking in to join his friends.
"Well?" Catlin asked.
"Its not normal I can tell you that much..." Barry sighed.
He had a feeling that this case was going to be interesting.
"Why aren't you heading over there?" Cisco asked.
"I have to wait until they call me over there..." Barry explained as he sat down at the table, "I don't need suspicion about how I know about this already."
Just then his phone rang. That was quick...well the police were arriving the second he left so that explained why the call came so quickly.
"Allen get your butt over to the alley about three blocks down from the Vogue Movie Theater," barked Captain Singh, "ASAP."
"Yes sir," Barry groaned and he hung up, "My job awaits...see you guys back at S.T.A.R Labs I guess?"
"Sure man...they're about to close up shop here anyways" Cisco said and then he grimaced, "Damn eye twitch!"
Barry rolled his eyes and grabbed his backpack on the way out of the shop just before the manager put the CLOSED sign up on the door.
"Maybe this is a lesson not to out drink Barry..." Catlin smirked picking up her purse, "I learned the hard way at that bar. Seems you did to..."
...~~~^^^~~~...
"Its about time you got here Mr. Allen..." Captain Singh grumbled.
"Sorry sir...I had to push through the crowd and also get my equipment," Barry muttered ducking under the yellow crime tape.
It was not a total lie. He did have to quickly race over to the crime lab to get his briefcase of equipment (and made a mess of his room with papers flying everywhere). Also he had to keep his identity a secret by arriving late. Barry glanced behind him quickly and saw that the police were asking people in the gathered crowed if they had witness anything.
"Well get to work," Singh snapped.
Barry turned to him and nodded furiously before bending down to the ground to access the crime scene. After pulling off the tarp he respectfully tugged the man's wallet out of his trench coat pocket to identify him. The smell of burning flesh still filled the air and it was pretty hard to keep himself from throwing up. Seeing the body wasn't the bad part; it was the smell.
"Name is Calder Brant. Fifty eight years old," Barry said handing the wallet to Joe who scrutinized it.
The wallet was slightly singed but the man's driver's license was still legible.
"How was he killed?" Eddie asked standing several feet away.
He seemed hesitant to step any closer to the murder victim. Barry could see his face was slightly green. He couldn't blame Eddie. The deceased man was in really bad shape.
"I see no signs of gun powder or C4 charge..." Barry said scrutinizing the black blast radius surrounding the man as well as the surrounding walls and the nearby trash cans, "Victim fired at least one shot out of his Glock 19 before being instantly killed by the blast which was fired. No doubt it was fired from somewhere up high, maybe a least ten or so feet in the air. Um...which meant who ever fired it had leapt up into the air before doing so. This blast must have been extremely powerful based on how widely spread the blast radius is. And there is something else..."
Barry strapped on some black surgical gloves and used a pair of tweezers to pull a single shiny black object lying next to the man. He held it up to the faint light and watched as it reflected off it dully. It was about the size of a quarter but felt lighter than it should have weighed.
"Is that..." Joe West asked his eyes wide.
"A scale...yes...no doubt from some species of large lizard," Barry said sealing it in an air tight bag, "Or some guy wearing a costume with quite a lot of detail in it. But I think it is the latter so let's go with that."
"We should check the zoos to see if they had any of their Komodo Dragons escape..." Eddie spoke up.
That was a pretty stupid idea; since when did Komodo Dragons blow things up? Unless one was effected by the Particle Accelerator then that could be possible.
"Good idea..." Singh said (did he have any clue how far fetched the Komodo thing sounded?) before ordering, "You call them Thawne. Allen and West ask any of the witnesses what they saw."
Barry nodded and got to his feet. He snorted thinking about what zoo staff would think when Eddie called them about his theory on Komodos. They probably would tell him he had been drinking to much or something of the sort. Joe walked up to Barry and pulled him out of earshot before saying, "What really happened here?"
He gave him the classic 'don't even think about trying to lie about this one' look.
"I don't know Joe...whatever killed this man it was not natural. Maybe some animal effected by the Particle Accelerator...I really don't know..." Barry admitted nervously while running his fingers through his hair, ""Hopefully Cisco will be able to identify whatever it was from this scale."
Together they walked over to a small group of witnesses the police were able to gather. And it only consisted of two people. Not much to go by but hopefully they had plenty of information.
"What did you witness?" Joe asked one of them; an elderly lady who had two shopping bags at her feet.
She adjusted her glasses slightly before saying, "I didn't see anything. But I did hear something. Please forgive me officers...for my memory is not as it usually was."
Great...this was going to complicate things.
"Of course," Barry smiled, "Please go on mam."
The woman gave him an approving look before saying, "I just happened to be passing by the alley way after a grocery visit when I heard two men getting into quite a heated conversation."
"Do you recall what was being said?" Joe asked.
The woman wrinkled up her forehead and said, "One of the two was younger than the other. No more than twenty; I would assume perhaps slightly older than twenty...The other man was much...much...much older. This is what I recall hearing..."
Barry leaned against the alley wall in a comfortable position to listen carefully avoiding the blast mark.
"The younger man said, 'You thought you could hide from me Calder?'" the woman said changing her voice to mimic the man before switching back to her own, "He had a faint...Norwegian accent. Very faint..."
Apparently the suspect was a foreigner.
"So apparently this young man knew Calder," Joe said writing the info down in his notebook, "We might be able to find out a motive behind this using that information."
Barry nodded and said, "Continue."
"This is a continuation from what the youngster said," the woman frowned before continuing, "These may or may not be his exact words I'm not sure. Anyways he said...'Now tell me...where is Drago?"
"Drago? What type of a name is that!?" Joe chuckled as he continued to scribble on the notebook.
And he claimed he didn't have a sense of humor...
"Sshh..." Barry glared at him before turning back to the witness, "Please continue."
"Calder said something about...he would never tell the young man where to find him..." the older lady said before frowning, "That is all I can remember before the gun shot was fired and I fled...I'm so sorry."
Joe and Barry exchanged looks. This case was already starting to sound interesting based on the information given.
"Thank you...you gave us some info that can be helpful in finding the murderer," Barry smiled, "Feel free to call the police if you remember more information."
The elderly lady smiled at him back and said, "Happy to help you and police any time young man. I hope you catch that rascal who was responsible for this."
She then tottered off after picking her shopping bags up. The second witness stepped forward. He was much younger; maybe eighteen with a nose stud that glinted in the faint light.
"Look man...I wasn't present for the part of the conversation that old lady was talking about okay? So don't be asking me about it, yo," the teenager said scratching something on his neck.
Typical teenage language of this era.
"We won't..." Joe huffed, "Continue unless your info is not worth the police time young man."
He said young man as if it were an insult.
"Of course officer," the teen smiled," This is what I recall after the explosion. I happened to walking by a few seconds before it happened so I witnessed hearing the gun shot. After the gun shot I was confused about what to do next. Everyone else had fled. First I heard a high pitch screeching noise...it sounded like one of those banshee things on horror movies. Seconds after that, the explosion happened. It threw me to the ground and made me go death for about fifteen seconds in both ears."
Banshees? Those things were so made up. But the sound that was emitted before the explosion sounded eerie. Some type of high tech gun?
"That explosion sound pretty powerful," Barry commented as Joe scribbled the information down.
He had guessed right based on the evidence at hand. But it was good to clarify it with a witness.
"It was man...and that sound...I'm going to have nightmares about it. Anyways I caught a quick glimpse of whatever it was that caused it," the teen licked his lips nervously and quickly glanced at the roof of the nearby building before continuing, "It was large and there was something red on it. But it disappeared up the wall of this here alley way so quickly that I could not tell exactly what it was. And believe me...I didn't want to stick around to find out. I hid behind one of those parked cars on the streets until the cops arrived. Well...the Flash entered first, looked at the dead dude and then took off after a few minutes when he heard the cops coming. One thing I have to say his costume is pretty sick. I wish I had my phone to take a picture so I could give that Iris lady it so she could post it on her blog."
Joe quickly glanced at Barry with a raised eyebrow before turning back to his notes.
"Could you define the shape you saw?" Barry asked trying to keep a poker face about 'The Flash' comment as well as making a mental note to ask Iris (again) to remove her name from the blog.
It was quite difficult to not respond to the name Flash. After all it was his alter ego.
"Let me see a paper...and I need a pencil," the teenager yawned, "Sorry man...my ears are still popping from that damn screeching noise and explosion. Also I'm not a particularly good drawer so I hope I can manage."
Barry handed him Joe's notebook which was on a new page as well as Joe's pen. The teenager quickly scribbled a rough sketch of what he saw. Despite it being a silhouette it was not half bad but it really didn't give much insight to what ever caused the explosion. The shape looked kind of like a panther; not like a Komodo thus erasing Eddie's theory. But how or why would a panther be responsible for the death of this man? Wouldn't there have been silence and a much messier crime scene? And how did the suspect escape getting harmed himself?
"To many questions and not many answers," Barry thought to himself with a sigh.
This case was going to be difficult to solve.
"That's all I have man...sorry," the teenager said scratching his nose.
Barry pulled himself out of his thoughts and tried to pay attention in case the witness had anything else to say.
"This is pretty good to go by son. Thank you," Joe said smiling taking his notebook back.
The teenager shuffled his feet uneasily and wouldn't move.
"Is there something else you want to tell us?" Barry asked.
Good thing he shook himself out of his thoughts in time.
"Yeah man...just one more thing...its about the dead dude. Before he fired the shot he said, 'I rather die than tell you where Drago is. But why don't I start by killing you and saving Drago the trouble," the teenager said, "Then came the screeching noise and then the explosion after he shoot at whoever."
Very interesting what happened prior to the explosion.
"Thank you...you may go," Joe said making a shooing motion with his hand.
The teenager nodded and hurried off through the crowd who parted for him.
"Weird...sounds like this man Drago and our man of interest seem to be going at each other," Barry said turning to Joe.
"I wonder why..." Joe murmured scratching his chin, "Why don't you bring the DNA sample to S.T.A.R Labs and come home to get some sleep. I'll order pizza for you."
"We will have to release a radio broadcast with a warning not to walk around at night until whatever that thing is...is found," Captain Singh said walking up on the two of them, "I don't know what the hell killed this man but I really don't want any citizens getting hurt."
"Understandable..." Joe said.
He and Singh started talking about the evidence that had been found. Besides Eddie (who was talking to Iris in the entrance of the alley) everyone else had cleared out of the alleyway. Barry got the uncomfortable feeling that something was watching them and he glanced up at the building on the left. He briefly caught sight of two acid green eyes staring down at him from the pitch darkness of the rooftop. They were catlike, predatory, and eerily ancient looking. Barry blinked a few times to make sure he was not seeing things. But those eyes remained there...just watching him curiously. He heard something rustling around on the rooftop as well; something smaller than whatever was looking at him.
"Barry?" Joe asked.
Barry turned to him startled and grateful for Joe pulling him out of the hypnotizing gaze of the whatever was watching him. Above him the creature withdrew its head back from sight. Barry realized that he was shaking from fear and his heart was beating faster than normal (for him). Whatever was watching them was not natural. It seemed to be out of place in a city that would be considered safe to outsiders.
"What are you looking at?" Joe asked worriedly.
"You okay Allen?" Singh asked raising an eyebrow, "You look like you have seen a ghost."
"N-n-n-nothing sir," Barry stuttered feeling sweat drip down his neck, "I thought I saw something watching me from up there."
He pointed to the rooftop and found that whatever it was had disappeared. Great...now everyone was going to think he had been seeing things.
"You've been watching to many horror movies with Cisco," Joe chuckled, "It also could have been the light."
He did have a point with the horror movies. But Barry never recalled being scared of them. Heck he rated zombie movies for crying out loud and never was scared of them! Also he went up against Metahumans with powers from your darkest nightmares. But was so different from the encounter he had right now?
"I guess..." Barry muttered glancing up at the rooftop again.
He couldn't help but shake the feeling that whatever he had seen, was watching them as they left the crime scene waiting for the right moment to strike.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"I still can't believe you managed to sleep last night," Iris commented when Barry walked into Jitters the next morning to get a cup of coffee.
"I did manage to sleep last night," Barry smiled drinking from his cup.
He sat down at a vacant table. In truth he had slept the night before but those green eyes he had seen had haunted his dreams.
"You must be immune to caffeine or something," Iris chuckled sitting down in a chair in front of Barry, "Now may I ask you something?"
"Sure," Barry said taking a swing from his cup," And aren't you suppose to be working?"
"I'm on coffee break right now. Anyways that's good...because it is about the murder you investigated last night. The police were saying it is very mysterious in the newspaper today as well as a few details; but not enough. Can you tell me about it so I can write it on my blog?," Iris smiled holding her coffee cup in her hand, "That way if the Flash sees it he can help them solve it."
Barry nearly spewed coffee. Why did she have to start that stupid blog? And his plan on trying to convince her to stop as "The Flash" totally failed. Sometimes it seemed she had a stubborn streak a mile long.
"What's wrong?" Iris asked worried seeing his pained expression, "Are you alright?"
Great...he acted like a fool again. He painfully swallowed the coffee nearly choking as he did.
"Ah...nothing," Barry grimaced and before wiping his mouth, "You do realize I cannot discuss an ongoing police investigation just so you can write it on your blog."
He had said this very similar with the Leonard Snart case. And in turn Iris had a similar response to him.
"Since when Mr. Blabbermouth? You normally are so talkative," Iris smirked punching him in the shoulder lightly.
"I haven't been since Singh chewed me out about the last time I discussed one with you," Barry smirked back.
Before Iris could make any sort of retort a man tripped behind their table sending papers from his portfolio when he hit the ground. He was young; maybe twenty three or so.
"Oh my gosh...are you alright?" Iris gasped running over to him in order to help him with his papers.
She started to pick the papers off the ground. Several other customers stopped to help her.
"Yeah I'm fine," the man who spoke with a faint Norwegian accent winced but smiled to shrug off the pain, "You would think after eight years of having a peg leg I would be able to walk. But apparently my leg hasn't met these tile floors yet."
"What do you mean...oh," Barry cut himself off embarrassed.
The man's left leg had been replaced by some sort of metal leg that looked a bit low tech to the ones that were out today. Either way it was impressive looking.
"Oh don't worry. I'm not insulted," the man smiled following Barry's gaze, "Lost it when I was fifteen in a car accident."
He started to pick up his scattered papers. The few people helping him handed him piles they had already collected. Barry started to help him as well and stopped when he noticed the papers were covered in drawings. Very good drawings of people, places, objects, and animals that looked so realistic they looked like a photograph. There were also a few blueprints for inventions.
"You take art lessons?" he asked showing the man one of his pictures.
It was of jagged mountain cliff overlooking an ocean with buildings perched on its rocky crags. It was breathtakingly beautiful even though the buildings looked ancient.
"No," the man chuckled as he shoved his pictures into his art portfolio, "Self taught believe it or not. Been drawing since I knew how to write as well as inventing. In fact I designed my own leg after I lost it. Well...the second one anyways. I outgrew my old one around seventeen."
He gave his metal leg a proud look.
"These are incredible..." Barry marveled looking through a few pictures that lay on the ground.
"Who is this?" Iris asked holding up one of the drawings.
It was a profile of a young woman with a beautiful braid dangling down her back. Even though it was roughly sketched in charcoal you could still see her beauty. Her eyes seemed to calculate what was going on right in front of her.
"That was my fiancé, Astrid," the man sighed taking it gently from Iris, "I keep it around with me when I travel so I remember her. Keeps her close...you know."
His voice retained great sadness when he stated this and he choked up for a moment.
"You said was..." Barry faltered.
The man's eyes filled with tears and he said with great emotion, "She's dead now...horrible accident...killed her."
He wouldn't state what the accident was.
"I'm sorry for your loss..." Iris smiled sympathetically.
The man smiled back at her slightly; his dark green eyes twinkling gratefully. Barry handed him the rest of the drawings he had collected which the man took gratefully. The customers that had helped got up and went back to their respectable tables.
"Thank you; both of you for your help," the young man said standing up slightly wobbly while holding his portfolio in his right hand.
Barry was startled when he noticed how tall the young man was. He was roughly six foot two; maybe even taller.
"Yeah I'm tall...doesn't seem like it at first. And ironically I used to be a shrimp," the man chuckled seeing Barry's surprised gaze, "Name's Hector by the way."
"Barry," Barry said getting to his feet and shaking Hector's left hand, "and this is Iris."
He found it odd that Hector used his left hand and right. He must have the ability to use both which was extremely rare to find in people. The condition was called Ambidexterity. Great...he was going full nerd again mentally.
"You wouldn't happen to be Iris West by the way?" Hector asked his brow crinkling as he retracted his hand.
"I might be..." Iris said getting to her feet and brushing her server outfit off.
"Ah...you're the one writing about the hero of this city aren't you?" Hector chuckled scratching a small pale scar his chin, "The Flash right?"
At least he wasn't saying the annoying nickname 'Streak'.
"Yes...you read my blog?" Iris asked.
Again with the damn blog...
"Sort of...I just like looking at the photographs. I try sketching them but ever since most of the photos are blurs its not particularly good," Hector smiled with a shrug.
"This is why I told you not to put your name on the blog Iris," Barry groaned shaking his head, "It brings in the crazies...err...no offense Hector."
She shot him a dirty look.
"I'm not one of those Internet creeps don't worry; I'm not insulted," Hector smiled holding up his hand in a forgiving gesture, "I never even knew she was here until you told me her name."
"Oh...oops" Barry blushed knowing he was being slightly over protective.
Hector just chucked and shook his head.
"So what brings you to Central City?" Iris asked.
Hector sighed deeply before answering, "Trying to...track down an old friend of mine. I plan to see him tonight."
He shifted his portfolio to his left hand. This temporarily exposed a Nordic style necklace around his neck; an ever twining circle. However it looked to be half of one as if it had been cut neatly in half. It looked extremely strange and out of place. Why would he be wearing something like that? Before Barry could get a closer look at it Hector shifted his weight again and the necklace disappeared from view.
"Well if you are going out tonight you better be careful," Barry warned remembering what Captain Singh had said the night before in the alleyway.
He also kept his thoughts about the strange necklace to himself.
"How come?" Hector asked curiously shifting his left leg into a more comfortable position as it started sliding out from under him again.
"Did you not hear about the warning the police issued last night after that murder in the alleyway?" Iris asked, "That was about all I was able to find out about it. Thanks so much Barry."
Barry noticed that Hector paled slightly at the mention of the murder. What was with that?
"Hey...I already told you I couldn't say anything about it," Barry protested out loud keeping his thoughts on Hector's reaction to himself.
"You work for the police?" Hector asked raising an eyebrow before he set his portfolio down on the table next to him.
This was the same reaction Barry received from several people. And it was pretty annoying each time he received it to.
"Yeah CSI assistant," he sighed, "I know...I'm too young. Believe me I've been teased about it numerous times."
Hector let out a bark of laughter, "No...no...that's alright. You're not that young."
"I guess..." Barry shrugged.
"Don't feel bad," Hector chuckled, "I've had my fair share of bullying mostly from my cousin because I was shorter than he was when we were kids. Now the tables have turned; I'm taller than he is now...I mean I'm taller than he was. He has...um...past away."
It seemed that Hector had lost a couple of his loved ones.
"I'm so sorry for your loss again. But I bet he deserved being shorter than you," Iris smirked.
"Believe me...he did..." Hector grinned before he frowned, "I miss him though; annoying as he was."
Barry decided he kind of liked the man's positive attitude toward everything. And it seemed he didn't feel like teasing Barry about his situation either. It must have been with his bullying problems as a child.
"Anyways so what was warning?" Hector asked, "I don't need to be mauled by something by stopping to tie my shoelaces...um...make that shoelace since I have only one foot."
He seemed very interested in the subject but he treated it with some dark humor.
"The warning issued stated that everyone should avoid dark alley ways and traveling alone because of some mysterious creature that has been lurking there or something," Iris said handing him another of his pictures that had been caught under a chair.
It was some type of reptile thing but Barry couldn't get a really good glance at it (even with super speed) before Hector took it gently from Iris. All he could tell it was some large species of reptile.
"Ah...thank you milady," Hector smiled looking at the picture before folding it and sticking it in his pocket, "And off topic...I must say the coffee here is quiet good."
What was the milady term?
"Thanks," Iris blushed.
Barry rolled his eyes at her.
"Once again thank you both for your help," Hector smiled, "I guess I will be seeing you around."
He picked up his portfolio and left nearly slipping on the tile floor again on his way out. He cursed loudly and yanked the door open crossly muttering something about wearing a shoe over his peg leg so he wouldn't keep slipping on tile floors.
"What a strange character; he spoke old fashion," Barry commented dryly.
He decided not to mention to Eddie that Iris had talked to another guy.
"So?" Iris glared at him.
"Nothing its just weird..." Barry said watching as Hector disappeared into the crowd in front of Jitters.
Then his phone rang drawing his attention off the entrance door.
"What's up Cisco?" Barry sighed answering it.
He knew what his friend was calling about.
"I ran that DNA sample and you might want to come over here to check out the results," Cisco said cheerfully, "They are quite interesting."
"I'll be right there," Barry grimaced and hung up.
If Cisco was acting this excited about something like this then it had to be something out of the ordinary. Something to do with a Metahuman.
"Job is calling you?" Iris snorted picking up an empty glass a customer left behind.
"Yep...I will see you later," Barry promised.
He picked up his coat and pushed his way past some people entering Jitters. Hopefully they would be able to identify whoever or whatever murdered the man in the alley.
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Yeah...done with this chapter. I don't know how long this story will be :P
I figured Hiccup would be calling himself Hector (because I think people would give him a weird look if he said his real name). Also with the part with the plasma blast? Yeah...Httyd is very particular with how it displays things since its rating it PG. However The Flash is PG-13 so I needed to up the injuries a bit. This is how I pictured an injury sustained from a plasma blast. -shrugs-
Also Toothless was based off of a panther which why I described his silhouette as one.
Anything else I forgot? Oh yeah...Hiccup 'is' 23 in this story. So three years 'after' Httyd 2.
Btw...I don't know if you guys know that Grant Gustin did the ice bucket challenge. It looked extremely painful and cold...brrrrrrr! But hey...its for a good cause no?
Anyways please review because your feedback is helpful!
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