Interval #3
Volume 1. Story 2.
Cold Logic
Chronology:
Pre-Young Justice #1
"The unexpected weather continues this week with local authorities seeking federal help in alleviating the stress that the twin cities have endured," the newscaster spoke with a positive attitude echoed throughout the homes and buildings of both Central City and Keystone City where the dividing peaceful river had become a frozen sheet of ice with heavy coverage of snow falling upon it. The vanilla white explosion covered every building top but as opposed to its natural smooth and fluffy texture, the snow had become hard chunks of ice that turned the smooth glass surfaces of the skyscrapers into bumpy ridges that portrayed the appearance of its shattering but somehow forever stuck in the moment before the shards could break from their holdings.
"Thanks for helping me out here," the Flash blistered down the empty cold streets of Keystone city admiring the emptiness of all the buildings and abandoned vehicles but regretted that the weather be the one to drive them away. She stuck the full scarlet flash but with the slight modification of a full cowl like her father's protecting her head from the cold, her jacket for was tightly bound with the belt strained to the tightest notch, "I know you haven't had much time to settle in...I had no idea that this would be such an issue, the government should be sending some dispatches soon to evacuate the city till this is all over."
"I do as I'm instructed," Jace responded with earnest clad out in his acquired uniform from his previous adventure and holding pace with his mentor, "mind you I'm having difficulty keeping up; how are you able to maintain your energy in this cold?" he shouted out.
"It's quite simple once you understand your capabilities completely," Flash responded as the trail behind her turned to dirty mush, "you have to channel your molecules at the proper frequency keeping yourself solid but unaffected by resistance."
Jace came to a stop in the centre of the street letting the wind from his speed catch up to him. He immediately clawed his hands to his upper arms feeling the cold and seeing his breath make smoke patterns in the air. The Flash came to a quick stop and quickly made her way back to him, "how is this feat accomplished?" Jace questioned her, "I've nearly exploded objects I've passed through, I have no desire for my body to undergo the same process," Jace watched as The Flash approached him while growing in reverberating intensity and shaking uncontrollably as she got closer.
"I'll help you get started," The Flash stated as she extended her arm out and was close to placing it firmly on Jace's shoulder, "but if you have difficulty controlling the process you better stop immediately with no hesitation; you have a better chance surviving the cold than dissipating into the Speed Force," Jace closed his eyes tightly as he imagined himself in constant movement with the feeling and sounds of The Flash's hand passing through his shoulder and down his chest. Jace felt an unbelievable strength of calmness come over him as the surrounding weather, the wind and falling moisture, seemingly passed through him as though he was not there. Pulling himself out of his visionary state, he pulled up his hands and watched as they seemingly fluttered around across his spectrum as through there were five of them. The Flash had a smile upon her face as she appeared to him as being solid, "you got a hold of it."
"I think so," Jace commented unable to leave the concentration of his hands, "I'm not falling through the ground."
"I find it better to concentrate on other forms of movement, the particles of your body will start taking care of themselves so long as you're conscious and breathing efficiently; if that ceases to be you probably will be sailing through the earth."
"Can't have that, must survive," Jace commented as he placed his hand down, "what's needed of us out here?"
"There are plenty of people that are deciding to stay or are having difficulty getting out," The Flash responded as she started up and turned to continue down the road leaving into the central avenue of the people, "let's see if we can't be any help. Keep open mic on and follow me, my path should break the ice."
"People...?" Jace muttered to himself as he too picked up his feet and followed into the running motions.
The two speedsters darted off down through the iced over concrete jungle and frost bitten sewer holes seeking out what trouble may be commencing all around them whether it be the looting of abandoned homes and businesses or the remaining people becoming frozen popsicles on their front lawns waiting for commissioned vehicles to lift them out of the city. Within the first minute of their examination, The Flash had spotted an unfortunate situation unfolding, "Jace, we need to get those people out of that room," she looked back at her comrade and pointed ahead at the the two story office building with the glass walling seemingly cracking with the frozen moisture; much of the stone and steel beaming had seemingly given into the cold was quickly crumbling under the intense pressure of the heavy weighted snow and ice above. The people therein where huddled near the long oak table, "The roofing's already collapsed, and I don't think the second floor is going to take for it. The Flash paused in front of the building and looked around in all direction encountering the white wafers falling upon the ground before recognizing further in the distance the full metal hummer like vehicles floating above the surface wading through the freezer burned buildings, "they'll be here soon, let's get them somewhere safe."
Jace stood a few metres away as he watched his heroic mentor run at an incredible speed into the glass walls vibrating her molecules further causing the already brittle glass to hammer down into small pieces that blew out into the cold wind outdoors, "pay attention, I'm here to help, a convoy will be here soon but you need to get out of this building fast," a half dozen people sat silently on the floor looking up at the Flash while holding tightly to their jackets and keeping their legs there within. The Flash looked up at the ceiling as she began to see the moisture peeking through the soft panels; sound crept in as the sound of upper pipes were beginning to burst under pressure, "quickly, come with me," The Flash commanded loudly.
"We can't go out there," a saddened man with many wrinkles stated as he attempted to get up off the floor, "we'll freeze to death...they said they'd be here soon."
"Are there others in the building?" The Flash asked when the man had fully risen.
"There may be a few others that did not make it down here with us," his deep voice crusted and coughed into a light whisper.
"Come with me, I'll keep you protected from the cold...the convoy will be here shortly," The Flash hoisted up two of the more rounded infirm beings as the others quickly followed suit taking to a standing position while buttoning or zipping up their coats to the fullest extent. They followed The Flash towards the door blocking the cold wind with the rims of their jackets and hands all while keeping their eyes tightly shut and foreheads wrinkled. The Flash appeared outdoors ahead of them violently shaking further as they clambered out of the hole in the window she had smashed through. Jace watched her intently as a bubble seemed to form out of her constant movement refracting all the wind around the area in the circle that she ran. His vision shifted away at that moment as he heard the snow and ice finally taking a plunge through the second floor of the building and aiming downwards towards the floor, in quick tones he heard her, "save her Jace, move!" time slowed as it did for all speedsters as he watched without movement as a younger woman attempted to make it towards the cracked window and into the pocket that The Flash was still forming, "Jace, get her!" she continued to plead. Jace watched the movements of the Flash as they slowed down in his perspective creating the optical illusion of her being in all places at once with the trail of light in her wake all while dwindling the movements of the normal humans to that of slowest of animals. The Flash's jaw dropped and close producing her pleas but he refused to move watching intently as the debris of piping and roofing made the decent to the earth waiting firstly though to crush the young lady's head. With blistering speed, The Flash dove back into the room and grabbed the woman pulling her free from the debris which finally crashed down smashing the oak table into jagged wooden pieces which became buried under the snow.
The outdoor survivors were once again in the cold and feeling the ultimate effects of this other worldly storm as The Flash was forced to recreate her cocoon for them till the proper authorities could arrive to alleviate their suffering. Jace watched on analyzing every step she made while closely examining the slow movements of the humans' faces as they tuckered themselves dry in finding warmth among all that had happened to them.
"Did you freeze up?...why didn't you move to save her?" The Flash pulled down her full headed cowl revealing her long flowing red hair which she exemplified with a shake, "she could have been killed, worse yet, all those people could have frozen to death."
Jai appeared in the entrance way to the West home and was unamused by the puddles of water that had formed around Iris and Jace as they shook down their costumes staining the smooth wood panels of the floor, "I have the thermostat near max, the cold reflectors are at full strength and the generators are already operational...hot tub rooms broke," he muttered quietly before returning to an upper voice, "but if this continues we might have to play things out from the basement," Iris looked up briefly and nodded in affirmation to her brother's conclusions.
"I'm not sure if we had the right to interfere..." Jace commented as he took down his cowl and unstrapped his gloves as he shook his body down back into its solid state.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Iris barked back at him with contempt, "lives are at danger, we are to prevent that danger from persisting..."
"No we don't," Jace remained calm and looked up at the two siblings whom had taken him in, "death is a natural occurrence, you've only managed to stall an inevitable consequence of their current existence."
"That kind of talk has never been sufficient to justify the ignorance of our responsibilities," Iris responded as she took off her jacket and pulled a chair from the wall and sat upon it. Jace continued to stand as he shook his uniform so he could stand in a more comfortable position.
"Weather is a natural condition of this planet, it is an order...I've learnt recently that any tampering in it the slightest often produces the greatest of consequences," he breathed deeply, "consequences that we cannot overcome even if we have accomplished this desirable ability to conquer it."
"The world has been running on that notion ever since the United States got started," Jai knocked in, "they're still people in need of help, if we can't be allowed to conquer it than at the very least we can help overcome the consequences of it happening."
"But why?" Jace questioned sharply, "if a natural event causes death, and for the most part this storm has, then why must we enable ourselves to intervene; I thought we were trying to prevent ourselves most of all from becoming these masters of the universe that your foes are so inclined to make themselves."
"We do not act in deception as they would, if ever we crossed a line they're will be others watching," Iris responded from her relaxed position, "how would you take to it if you were allowed to be killed by that collapsing floor because someone with the capabilities to prevent it left you stranded?"
"I wouldn't be harmed, nor stranded."
"How do you figure?" Iris leaned forward on her chair eyes wide open.
"I have abilities that separate me from this humanity," Jace responded looking away from them and towards the living room where the long green couches sat frazzled, "I, along with yourselves, we conquered the natural human condition to become much more beyond whatever natural weather event could cause; we will survive where others will perish..."
Jai clasped his coiled fist to his mouth gesturing a moment of thought while Iris fell back in her seat with uncertainty in her eyes, "what exactly led you to this conclusion?" Iris beckoned with sympathy.
"No," Jace through his hands across one another, "don't worry about that; maybe there is something unnatural about this weather. I'll set about some research, you two do what you think is needed," Jace headed towards the kitchen, "isn't unusual for this weather to be so central to this part of the country?" Jace passed through the entrance disappearing from the view of Iris and Jai.
"I've never known any member the Allen family to have taken that kind of stance," Iris leaned forward on her chair placing her elbows on her knees and using her hands to support her chin, "I've only ever heard, or as Dad always told us, this is the thing of the Zooms and Thawnes...never us..." he looked up to Jai with a sympathetic look that was beginning to fall upon moisture ridden.
"I'm not sure what to think about this really; maybe he's right," Iris's jaw dropped as her eye brows bounced, "I don't want to think he is...from what we can tell he's been through the other side and has seen what happens when it's been pushed; we never thought the treadmill would be returned, that was just too much power for one person, especially a person of his age, to be using...but he saw it to the end of it and from Max said, he proved himself to be quite capable with a lot of potential."
"Perhaps too much potential," she crossed her hands and bowed her head down, "we need to be pointing him in a direction that we can manage...in this current state of mind I fear he may be greater an adversary than an ally; especially since he knows so much about us...I have to stay more powerful than him!" she looked up at Jai and clenched her fists at her sides.
"OK," Jai nodded his head uncertain of Iris's state of mind, "I'll go talk to him; maybe we can build up an understanding that will make things run more smoothly."
Jace placed his hands against the far wall of the kitchen feeling its smooth tan coloured wall paper as he push up against it ever so slightly till he heard a rattle occur somewhere behind it. He took a look around the kitchen, the nearby counter, the hanging pots and pans connected by metal chains to the ceiling, the long wooden table further away beyond the small adjacent wall that held the stove top, and the window above the table which was fogging over and reaching unimaginable heights of compacted snow which seemed to glow in the reflection of the lights in the kitchen. He stood there for a few moments longer analyzing the outdoors unable to see the same lights existing in the other homes that looked just as pleasant as this house; the West's house. He let out a deep sigh and pulled his hand back allowing for the steel door within the wall to slide to his left towards the stove.
Ahead of him now were stairs that led down into the darkness; however upon taking his first step down he watched as the full width of the steps began to light up brightly all the way down revealing its length of nearly thirty single steps. Jace took every step at a normal human pace which allowed him to think through himself carefully, not of the steps ahead, but of the ideas that infected his head and to what logically conclusions those ideas would reach. At the bottom he took in a deep breath and watched the above light panels light up furiously upon his toes reaching the basement floor. He was in the West's home lab where the two siblings, like their mechanic father before them, would set themselves to work on finding and analyzing the Speed Force in the natural world and develop extraordinary machines and potential weapons which entail and work upon their discoveries; however, with this understood, the basement lab had become most useful in the multitude of activities that have befallen the new age of heroics: cameras, satellite tracking, community connection, villain profiling and various other listed statistics that presented for the uncorrupted heroes and heroines the opportunity to overcome their worst fears.
The room was long and wide, extending all the way to the back and fronts of the house; a true basement though quite a ways down further than what the house sitting above would dictate. Along the wall to the left were flat rectangular screens built into the walls standing above the white topped desk that straddled along that facing wall as well as along the two adjacent walls possessing upon them various mechanical items of strange origins and configurations. The ceiling was littered with large blue steel pipes that ran in all direction connected to half a dozen circular balls with little open sockets where a camera light could be witnessed. The much larger constructs, such as the larger metal wheel and half-constructed treadmill, sat at the very back where the space was much more open for to the wall closest to Jace were the computer system: a large single screen and desk panel that gave one control over what was to appear upon that main screen. It was white, it was clean, but it had been worn well and always in operating condition.
Jace pulled the five prong swivel chair out from under the wide encompassing computer desk and while keeping his eyes upon the white large screen, he pulled himself inward placing his hands on the built in command panel. He had grown quite attached to his acquired costume, despite its origins, feeling it flex around his body as he contorted to fit within the chair. He stretched out his fingers adapting to their current glove-less state and pressed on hard on the desk panel which immediately caused the main screen to flicker black and open up into the mainframe of the inner computer system. There he sat motion less, save for his eyes which darted to and fro analyzing the images that appeared upon the screen whether they be of the twin cities of Keystone and Central from space or from the live camera of a news station checking out the traffic and conditions on achieving a gate way out of them.
"Jace," Jai stepped down the last five steps, "you find much of what you were looking for?"
"Possibly," Jace responded taking a quick glance at Jai then back at the screen, "the primary civil concern is upon the emptying of hospitals and care homes; thankfully though, weather stations are still doing their job," he extended the index finger of his right and pressed down on the keypad then pushed himself away from the screen. Jai came and stood up beside him looking at the screen also, "one meteorologist did a complete temperature scan of the twin cities, as is shown, there are four specific large regions which are much colder in intensity than all the surrounding areas and what's more is that intensity is duplicated in smaller bulbs throughout the city," Upon the screen the two cities stood on opposite sides of a frozen Mississippi river which cut diagonally across. While the majority of the frame was white, there were four large blue circles that dominated the laid out map, one close to the river on the Central City side, another far out in the corner of Keystone and the other two closer to the centre of their respective cities. Little blue dots shined throughout the map at irregular intervals.
"looks like Christmas lights kind of," Jai looked down at Jace but didn't get a reaction, "you know, but four months too early..." he cleared his throat, "so what does it all mean?"
"I'm not certain," Jace pulled up his fingers to the front of his face and placed the tips of his fingers together, "the meteorologist is waving this off as a common occurrence."
"But you're seeing otherwise?" Jai questioned his friend while continuing to gaze at the screen.
"No," Jace forehead wrinkled as he dropped his hands and turned on the chair to face Jai, "this is completely normal," he then immediately turned back to the screen, "I'm just thinking..."
"You're looking for some rational reason for helping people."
"I suppose I am," Jace began fiddling around with the command screen while his gaze concentrated once more upon the flashing figures and pictures and zoomed on the main screen.
"Have you come across the thought that perhaps there is no rational reason? Maybe you ought to just do it because it feels right...you do feel it's right?"
"A feeling is unique to one person's being," Jace leaned forward and placed his elbows on the desk and supported up his chin, "just because I feel things 'ought' to be doesn't mean I that is or that I have the right to make it that way."
"Jace what happened between you and Max Mercury?" Jai said solemnly while standing firm hoping to gain Jace's attention, "you can be honest with me, Max was certain your potential but I think he was holding back on something that even he was afraid to discuss."
Jace kept his head up towards the screen but looked down to the side opposing Jai, "I got to emotional," he turned to Jai and eyed him down, "Mercury is afraid of what I was to become if I was left alone in my time...it's the reason why I'm here; I didn't grow up in a virtual world where life could be restarted with a button nor did I grow up with mutated abilities that excelled my growth, I grew up normal like any other being but then..." his head turned to the command panel and nodded from side to side, "then I lost someone I loved, the only person in my life that mattered, but it was from that I was given the capabilities to prevent that death from happening..." he looked up at Jai once more, "I thought that was the purpose, the reason, for why I was given this ability but I was never satisfied, I could never achieve that 'state of happiness' I thought I justly deserved."
"Why this then? You can still save lives, doesn't that make you happy?"
"I've met myself," Jace placed his hands on the command console and refocused his gaze on the screen, "my future self; he was everything my predecessors weren't. There was nothing heroic about him, all he wanted was to change the natural order of things but every time he did...everything I tried...it just kept getting worse till he finally snapped and allowed himself to self-destruct...anything to be free of the prison he had made of himself."
"But you stopped that?"
"Yes, I did but I'm just one version of myself that did...the one that broke away from the endless pattern, the one interval in time that managed to break the mould which would have ended with the death of all our forefathers and whatever future generations they may have had: the end of a legacy."
"But that was such a rare occurrence; we're in this business where we save people regardless of the circumstances that any rules of nature unfold upon us. It's not like we're rewriting the natural order to prevent these natural occurrences from happening."
"But we are," Jace looked up at Jai once more, "the technology to manipulate weather is ever more present to us, a past enemy of your father's, the weather wizard, he could change the warm and cold fronts to achieve whatever weather outcome he desired; he rewrote the rules and your father made him suffer for it...now we rewrite the rules to allow ourselves to prevent the normal people from perishing from whatever nature sends towards them."
"But we're not them, there's no deception. We're the heroes. Doesn't it feel right?"
"Does it feel right? Yes," Jace said so sternly, "but if I decide to accept this one bend in the rule, that it's OK to rewrite the rules as a hero, someone whom would otherwise uphold the law, then the reasons of Mercury's fear would ring true and that potential to be a great hero would be turned towards being the greatest of adversaries...I will have become this warped versions of myself where my 'feelings' make what ought to be a reality."
A brief moment of silence passed all the time of which Jai looked down at his feet feeling unable to reach an effective point of argument for his personal beliefs, "So, have you found enough to convince you to investigate any further into this unusual weather?"
"I believe I have, I should present my findings to Iris and we can move out from there."
"I'll have to call her back in."
"She back out already?" Jace relaxed in his chair as Jai headed towards the steps.
"She's gotten quite bit of calls from her contacts throughout the city; everyone is in a bit of a panic."
"Alright," Jace stared blankly at the screen.
"What have you got for me?"
"I've been researching the weather patterns in this region and I've been drawing a string of theories and conclusions you might find interesting."
Iris, still garbed in her Flash uniform with the cowl pulled down, place her inward arm around the top of the large chair Jace sat in and leaned forward looking at the screen, "you mean you've been looking to justify the acts of a good hero?"
"If that be the way you understand it best, then yes," Jace responded coldly as he pulled up the temperature scan of the twin cities for Iris to take a look at, "its evolved since Jai and I looked at it a half hour back," Jai nodded from the corner of the room and became shocked as he stepped forward to take a better look at the evolved image, "as can be plainly seen now, there are still four central hubs where the cold is most intense, but it's the smaller notations of cold...they've formed some kind of grid that runs throughout both cities."
Iris eyed the screen up and down, "something's causing this weather to occur?"
"It would seem most likely...but it could have been just a strange coincidence."
"Could have?" Iris tilted her head in puzzlement as she looked down at Jace.
"This is the temperate division of the ground; I've placed a second map of the city itself on top of this image," his hand moved through the control panel while the main screen showed the transition of a satellite image of the city being transposed on top of the image of the temperature outline, "of course someone whose just doing a temperature division would not have noticed this..."
"They're all in buildings..." Iris said softly analyzing the new image.
"It's a possibility that these are not just regions where the weather is most severe but perhaps maybe they are the source for this weather like situation," Jace rolled himself back as Iris became independent of her lean, he looked up at her, "do you know of the operational status of the rogues, I was considering the idea with Jai that the technology of the Weather Wizard could be amplified to create this kind of weather."
"They're infrequent in their actions," Iris continued to analyze the screen, "the originals' successors aren't as organized as they could be...still, I suppose it is possible."
"I suggest we check out these major hubs...if this is nothing but a strange coincidence then we can leave it be but-"
"Jace," Iris interrupted him. She looked down at him locking eyes, "we'll check this out for anything, under the assumption that there is something more human behind this; if you see anyone in need of help you better well help them...is that understood?"
Jace let out a large breath, "I understand."
"After this is all over, we'll set ourselves to cleaning up this mess."
"I'll connect my mobile to yours; the map should come up clean."
"Keep the comm open also, Jai," Iris turned to her brother, "keep watching from here and let us know if anything changes."
"Ey," Jai responded quickly with a nod.
Jace pounded the cement roads once more trailblazing the ground causing the ice the thaw a bit and turn to mush. Keeping his head faced forward towards his objective, he ignored all things around him till it became apparent that such things stood in his pathway but even then he would vibrate the small intricate parts that made him whole just enough so that he passed through them with ease, "I'm near the inner city point of Keystone...there's nothing noticeable where the dots are," he called into the little microphone that ran down his cheek, "natural phenomena is more likely from this assessment."
"Check out the point first, I'm nearing the river," a static laced voice of his mentor came through into his ear.
Jace neared the corner at the end of the long narrow street; his desired objective being apparently within or above the structure there. He came to a halt at the edge of the empty soulless sidewalk and turned to look up at the three story square structure that operated both as home and convenience store. The metal bands that decked the large windows of the store did little to block out the cold; they were frost ridden and beginning to crack. Jace felt them down but found his consistent movement preventing him from whatever effects the temperature would have upon him. He vibrated his hands quicker and followed through with the rest of his body causing the metal at hand to wilt and fall apart further as the quick acceleration of speedster pushed him within the stone building.
Now within, Jace was present to the lawlessness of basic building requirements; the square home had become an iced hole with the walls heading upward covered in ice and a man sized hole seemingly etched in perfectly in the ceiling, "must be human," Jace muttered with a whisper. He slowed down his speedy movements to the normal pace of his human counter parts and proceeded to feel the wall with this glove hands noting its smoothness and drips of moisture that followed his hand as he slid across it, "something's not right here...Flash?" he called out.
"I've lost contact with her," Jai responded from the comfort of their basement floor, "some electronic interference I've been trying to compensate for...last I heard she was fine...what have you found there."
"It's warm here," Jace threw out his arms and absorbed the change in temperature.
"Warm?"
"Yeah, almost like the cold ceases to be...and there's a well-designed hole in the roof...I have to admit that the evidence would produce the conclusion that some human hands are up to work. Has anything on the map changed, perhaps the high temperature points have turned to heat?"
"No, still good and cold,"
Jace circled the hole looking up at it and noting the increasing circular cloud formations as they dipped through the greys, blacks and whites of the shade spectrum, "must be something in here...these points may still be sources...we just got to figure out how and hopefully be able to reverse the process." Jace continued to circle but aimed his vision down at the area immediately below the hole, "I bet you there's a reason for why the hole exists above."
The young speedsters stopped and looked across to the opposite side of the room but felt his vision to be increasingly blurred as his staring continued, "something's reflecting it from view," he raised his hand and held it for a moment, with a deep breath he pressed it forward and immediately came into contact with a pillar of sorts. He watched with a surprising interest as a thin black strand of energy immediately flowed from around his hand and revealed the pillar he had come into contact with. With the cloaking shield down, he was able to ascertain what he was looking at. The metal pillar that reached just two feet short of the hole in the ceiling was a careful design of foot sized metal bands that curved all together all the way up however in much closer coils at the top where the last piece produced a glowing yellow wand that was lighting up with electricity, "this technology is quite familiar to the Flash records."
"What do you see?" Jai questioned.
"It's a cylinder pillar of sorts, but at the top there appears to be weather wand, the same kind used by weather wizard...could he be behind this?"
"Doubt it; never attempted anything on this scale and we haven't heard much from him, we've mostly encountered poor kids whom have collected his old belongings and used them to their own purposes."
"I think there's something more...I'm hearing a small hum coming from inside," Jace placed his hand and leaned in closely on the metal circles and travelled all around it once more coming to a stop on the opposite end where he felt his hand dip into a small depth square sheet that appeared to be bolted into the side. Vibrating his hands through it he pulled back and felt the metal break free of the bolts and fly over his shoulder, "that's interesting."
"What have you got now?"
"It's another smaller pipe pillar that runs all the way up to the wand, its a dark blue...looks like a bit of Captain Cold's later designs."
"You sure know a lot about the rogues."
"I spent all of yesterday researching your father's villains just in case I would come in contact with them."
"And you've put everything to your head?"
"I remember everything that enters my senses," Jace responded as he further examined the inner workings of the pillar. Jai's head fell back in his chair as his eyes glazed the screen with uncertainty to his new friend's ability, "there's something more; the inner sides of the metal bands have been built with heating conduits," he placed his hand on the inner sides and felt the gushing of hot steel even through his gloves, "they look like the same charges that Heat Wave would use to power his flame thrower...someone's been monopolizing the Rogue's technology, even the cloaking field rings Mirror Master, it must be someone who knew them well enough to get a hold of their technology and modify it."
"This would mark the first time it's been used for a larger purpose outside of basic weaponry."
"It's possible that some government operation, one that would have stockpiled all their equipment; they would have the resources to update this technology and combine it for this kind of effect."
"What would the government want with two frozen major cities?"
"Uncertain; it is a theory with lacking evidence," he moved back from the cylinder and headed back towards the wall he had phased through to get in, "we should get back in contact with The Flash, I'll head over to her last coordinates, maybe she's come across a similar device...first though I think I have to work something out here," he turned to look back at the conglomerate of Rogue weaponry.
"Jai?...Jai can you hear me?" The Flash placed her waving hand to her ear and pressed hard against the earpiece. She let out a brief moan to encapsulate the technical failure. She had come to a stop in the middle of a parking lot that faced out towards the Mississippi river which appeared to her more as a white plateau blended in slants that raised up on either side; the meagre beaches and surrounding terrain had become a rock like mountain landscapes. The buildings that surrounded its edges had not turned out much better but were more or less noticeable through the climate and snow fall that had befallen the twin cities.
With her abilities preventing the wind-chill from taking her body over, The Flash headed down the bank of the river and took a good look across the frozen landscape towards the northern bounds where she began to notice an increase in the size ice forming on top of the surface. Taking steps across the frozen river she became startled by the formation that had appeared ahead of her; the objective of her search had taken the form of an castle of ice. "Well, Jace you've gotten what you've wanted," she said to herself quietly as she pushed her self forward to take a more analyzed look at the structure. It was long and narrow taking up the majority of the centre of the long river in a straight line, it had high rising pillars of ice and spear like shards of ice shooting out from a circular atrium like arena that appeared to have formed beyond the seeming entrance way which looked like a foot deep wall of ice that was heavily blurred to the point of being solid from which even under the best of vision standards, the Flash was incapable of seeing through, "I suppose the time of subtlety is long over."
The Flash picked upped the speed on her vibrating molecules forcing them to the extremes that she could take them to and pressed forward trailblazing through the cold snow revealing the window into the river. With every pounding step, the snow covered ice melted to its window like phase which continued at a heightened state before suddenly stopping as she had gotten much closer to the distant castle where the ice became rocky and bubbly. The long yellow and red streaks made it to the wall and phased straight through it as though it were never there leaving the strange trail of thawed moisture.
Pacing around the inner entrance way, The Flash proceed to take steps towards a slanted edge that headed up towards an opening in the wall that separated this small waiting room from the larger main room with the large open circular roof structure. The walls appeared to be as solid as any normal wall blocking out any view of the world which would routinely be viewable in its blurriest through any ice surface. The Flash stepped up the slanted platform keeping her molecules well in checked but slowing down to a walking pace intent on giving herself time to react to whatever may befall her above and beyond the platform and the entrance way therein.
She stepped across the smooth surfaces till she arrived and found herself to be in what appeared to be the master chamber, ahead along a narrow pathway was a circular floor that was held up above the river surface a near story. To each strong wall was a pathway of equal size extending from the entrance way that she stood from. Down below was the ice surface of the river which appeared more pleasant with the ice having formed over strongly but in part because of the roofing, the snow was kept out from interfering with the view. A gruff sound echoed sharply and deeply through the cavernous arena.
"This is the Flash," Iris cried out looking up at the dome of ice that extended further into the distance of the cave, "to whom am I addressing."
"The Flash," A mechanical voice appeared to come from the distance, "A true legendary myth, a relic of an ancient time..." the voice continued as it grew closer and louder with a deep attitude, "I have faced him and his family too many times," Iris watched as a darkened figure in the distance along the left sidewalk drew closer, "but I suppose its tradition now, though I hardly expect I can return to my youthful vigour as this generation has evoke upon us."
"Who are you?" Iris called out as she watched the figure come a stop and produced a pistol from the side of his waist. Iris fell back to her outstretched leg and prepared to make a daring run. The pistol however aimed at the floor of the river and immediately shot down producing a curtail of ice that shot up from the surface to the height of the walkway producing a veering intersection. The figure walked upon it and continued to shoot the invisible rays ahead of himself as his walk took him closer to the circular plateau, "Your father may have deduced this, but not you, the young ones...not on your own, I suspect that you have acquired much assistance in time," the voice grew gruff and coarse.
"The Captain is operational," The Flash let go of her stance and proceeded to take to a standard upright position. Ahead of her stood a tall man of large physique wearing a thick blue parka that extended throughout ever limb of his body and completed in a large hood with white fur dominating the outward edge. Tightly around his waist was a white belt with two holsters on either side of his which contained two purple tinted pistols. His hands, which he held near his stomach, were possessed by some form of metal ally that worked to every edge of intricate detail as to where his boots which reached upward just below his knees, though tinted blue and possess the furry white trim around. His mask was of a similar nature possessing a thin separate eye slits and mouth which betrayed very little emotion, "Leonard Snart, you've been away for some time...your 'successors' have yet to live up to your name though..." she tilted his head and looked suspiciously upward, "why have you done this?" The Flash beckoned to her forefathers' arch enemy.
"This?" he questioned as he pulled up the pistol in his left holster and immediately shot the region behind him producing a large spike that nearly reached his height, he turned to it and raised his free hand and shone a red wide spread light from his palm upon it causing the icicle to melt down into a chair formation which he proceeded to sit upon, "this is a test run of sorts," the mechanical voice continued.
"A test run?" The Flash began.
"I have no proper reason other than to test the equipment in my possession, thought my secondary objective was to draw the attention of another speedster, one that I believe has come under your possession in recent times."
"Who?" The Flash manoeuvred herself closer with her teeth clenched.
"Don't do this play with me," the deep drawn out voice echoed back as the Captain placed his elbows on the edge handles of the chairs and held his hands together, "I have often admired the Flash for his enduring attitude that resulted from his intelligence no matter how dim witted he made himself appear...I suspect nothing less from his selected successor."
"What do you want with the boy?"
"He does exist," the mechanical appearing Captain leaned forward; The Flash recoiled with a bit of fright, "I was concerned that I was misinformed."
"What do you want?" The reasserted herself.
"A kind dialogue of sorts," Captain Cold fell back on his chair with relaxation. He pulled up his right arm and looked down at his metal fist which produced a small square screen on the outside, "Your presence is no longer required, I believe he has put the pieces together already...one of my devices has been tampered with," he then rose upward and looked down upon the Flash, "it's a shame that he had not come across me first, but we could do well without your interruption..." he pulled up both his pistols and proceeded to aim down at the Flash whom proceeded to jump into her speed as she ran across the left side of the ice arena to get to the pathway up to the Captain's throne.
"You'll fall..." She pounded closely to the Captain but as she approached she felt her body begin to slow down stall. The velocity of her stride slowed down to a human's jog as she was on the walkway up to the throne.
"You've forgotten of my strengths," the Captain called to her as he decided to make an approach, "you should have never feared the cold...a cold field, that would surely slow down your molecular movements," he pulled up his pistols as The Flash's eyes began to open wide slowly while her body began to slump a few short feet from reaching the Captain's face with her fist, "I am not a murderer." A shot of white energy from his pistol impacted her weakened body which pushed her sliding back along the walkway and into the wall producing a large spike of ice forming out of her body. The frost had covered her face and fogged up her goggles. She attempted to move her hands but could not feel the strength to push herself free, "You may be the legacy of my greatest enemy, but your blood will not be on my hands," he voice moaned once more as the final shot impaled her enveloping her body in a coffin of ice.
Jace stepped back out onto the road and looked around at the buildings as they stood like freezer ice in the background of the sky. He paused in his place as he felt his breaths becoming more shallow calling upon him to over exert himself in his molecular deconstruction, "Jace what's wrong? I can hear you breathing more deeply."
"It's the sky," he looked up an examined the clouds; "The snow is slowing down, like its stopping."
"So? Is it getting warmer?"
"No, colder. It never gets cold enough for it to stop snowing unless its reaching absolute zero...all things come to a stop at that point, I don't think I can make myself move fast enough to prevent me from becoming frozen."
A brief moment of silence passed, "You have to do something!" Jai screamed into Jace's ears.
"This is dangerous," his eyes positioned to normal while his body continued to fluctuate but at a much slower pace than what had been accomplished earlier with the guidance of The Flash, "I don't know if I can make it..."
"Move!" Jai pleaded.
With little time for a proper thought, Jace felt his feet move again at an acceptable speed however with ever ten paces he began to feel the entirety of the cold begin to sift through his body with the shield caused by the excessive body vibrations finally given in. He could not help but imagine now the addition of frost and cold moisture in all facets of his body weaving into the open pores caused by his movements further causing him agony as he attempted the miles long run to the river front. He raised his head and saw as the blustering winds picked up the delicate shards of ice that combined to form a blinding hailstorm, yet he pressed forward to take the task given.
The young speedster's strength became sporadic as he believed he had come into viewing distance with the river bank ahead. His thighs became restless with an awakening fear that if he continued his velocity simultaneously with his vibrations there would be no stopping his demise from falling through the earth. His breath shallow as it was already slowed to long intervals of ten seconds leaving what was left of his twisted body any strength to press onward. With the less than a few feet from exiting the asphalt roads and to the beachhead, Jace felt his body reach its peak and then collapse to its knees; his capable but no less willing than his body was; this was by no way the best way to meet an unsatisfying end.
"Making it," Jace uttered under the slow painful breaths he took, "making it, the best..." he continued to try and persuade himself verbally as he pressed the fabric of his body to speed up even quicker allowing him the grace of getting back onto the soles of his feet and back onto the path of his goal, but even then with all this will to survive he was increasingly met with the hard reality of the creeping cold which further caused his suffering. His intake grew slower as his velocity dwindled, without much time for effort to be pushed towards the ultimate form of vibration; Jace came to a resounding stop and seemingly let the air of the surrounding atmosphere take him over. Consciousness became nearly lost as his body began to turn frigid reaching towards a frozen block. With no words, no actions, Jace froze at the end of the street heading out towards the beachhead.
Within a minutes time, the ice began to crack all around his frail body, his eyes shot open through his goggles but they started up wobbling at a heightened speed to the point where it appeared they were nothing but white spheres upon his face. An explosion of glass like shards of ice suddenly burst all around him as his body, fists clenched, shot out through the wind breaking way towards the river side. His feet moved up to a pace that set them slightly under the layer of slippery ice that dominated the region he was passing. Biting down his teeth, the young man came to a slipping stop along the width of the river a short distance from the ice castle which he examined in a short second before deciding his best interests were to focus on getting within it and hoping for a suitable outcome.
With a shot of speed, Jace leaped with a his right boot extended frontward as he passed through the ice structure's walls resulting in its composition to crack and expand within a quick second leading to its immediate explosion when Jace had landed on all fours in the waiting area leading up to the entrance way into the atrium. After a moment to recuperate himself, Jace allowed for his body to slow and adapt feeling that the temperature within had become more manageable in comparison to what it was in the world outside. With the moment passing, Jace stepped up his game once more and head up the slanted edge and through the entrance way to encounter the foe whom had presented himself as the source of the strange devices that caused the killing weather.
"Your presence was desired," the deep mechanical voice echoed as Jace came to a stop and quickly glanced all around the large arena like area recognizing almost immediately with shock the frozen body of The Flash embedded in the dark blurred wall. Jace looked up at the imposing figure standing ahead of the ice throne, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped slightly allowing for a puff of grey expiration to leave, "your recognition pleases me."
"You shouldn't exist...not yet," Jace took two steps backward towards the entrance way.
"I know not of you, only what you have given me."
"What do you mean?" Jace's voice returned silently as he straightened himself.
"At one point, most recently, you became a living embodiment of the Speed Force, were you not?" the foe sat down and tapped his finger tips on the edge of his chair.
"Yes," Jace said softly as he continued to analyze the growing mysterious rival, "but what does that have to do with you? Who are you?" Jace spoke loudly with interest.
"At that moment when you became all that is...I was given a vision of the future," the mechanical voice boomed down. Jace squinted his eyes and hurried back into his thoughts, "Some time ago I was greeted with a life or death moment, to alleviate myself of answering the question I optioned for a third choice and turned my technology on myself...instant freeze in the southern glaciers...I expected my allies to come to my aid at some time but I was instead greeted with the presence of my future self, from your time. He had found a way to breach through time and awaken me."
"No...how?" Jace questioned.
"I have no knowledge of his capabilities; I am merely a mechanic of sorts and a well-rounded strategic opportunist."
"A petty criminal," Jace shot back.
"Was a petty Criminal," the Captain bashed his clenched fist on the ledges of this throne causing sparks of ice shards to disperse. He rose silently, "I am the best of my collective, the rogues..." he said with much disdain, "they are me as much as I am all them...all there power is mine to wield!" he turned slightly to look at The Flash, "this legacy has snubbed my ambitions for far too long, I do not seek to find this end anymore."
"What do you want Cold?" Jace stepped forward.
"I am no killer; I only want this feud to end before it can be allowed to reach its most logical conclusion."
"Do you know then? What you are in the future? Secret societies, world orders, the psychopaths, they all have a mainstay as your company on that fortress of yours..."
"What is one without friends or company?"
"Why all this then? You've put all these lives at risk."
"A test of sorts, my new access to technology so long and out-dated needed a good run prior to my more venturous activities...I assure you the consequence of life in this situation is unintentional as I imagine the Flash and her government enforcers have rightfully taken to assisting the inhabitants...but not you," Captain Cold sat down and held his hands together above his lap staring down through his thin eye slits, "I have been watching now and you have made no action to save anyone," he appeared to be smiling and laughing somewhat under his cold metal mask, "at first I thought this was lack of experience, but no, not for someone who has been through what you have been through."
"What do you know of me?"
"No, I suspect you had quite the reasoning for your inaction one that others previous to you have failed to comprehend," The Captain sat back down, "I was hoping that this day would draw you out to meet me."
"For combat?"
"No, I was tempted to ask you to join me..." Jace fell back again losing his balance for a moment on the slippery ice surface, "You have the potential to be the best of what your forefather's legacies could ever hope to offer and I am the best of what my allies could ever hope to have achieved but we are still of this meagre mind, this entrapment we were born with...we have not reached what we have truly desired since we picked up these costumes..." He leaned forward aiming his face down to the young speedster, "we don't need to continue this feud, now with what I have become...we can work together...leave this realm and build..."
"And what will we build," Jace regained himself and stepped towards the edge of the railing.
"Our realities..." the cold monstrosity leaned forward, "I have the technical abilities and desire but you have the imagination in your youth and yet knowledge beyond your years...you have become a rival to the Flash, my Flash, you have no reason to be only remaining in their shadow, expand your mind with my guidance and we can forge the unlikely bonds that your forefather's sought to forgo for the interest of the lesser mortals."
"It's an appealing offer," Jace spoke with earnest and interest, "but all I needed was a reason to justify my family's legacy and you've just given me the reason," at a quick tempered speed ahead of Cold's vision, Jace propelled himself backwards till he was under the arching of the entrance way then at a much quicker pace he raced forward towards the edge of the ice platform from which he jumped from allowing the inertia of his speed to push him to the circular platform which cold sat upon. Captain Cold's head rose to the sky as Jace's fists came into contact with his bounded neck, "you're a cold calculating machine! You're just trying to manipulate me!" Jace yelled as his fists ran at infinite speeds into Cold's chest as he let out moans watching the fabric of his parka begin to rip and his metal casing begin to dent. Jace suddenly stopped though as he felt something warm tapped across his arms, he raised himself up from his towering position over his forefather's arch enemy and looked at the red liquid that doused his hands and then down at the open cavity that was Cold's chest. He let out a deep breath as he saw intact a series of tubes and pieces of lungs underneath the frail skin pumping in accordance with the still well human heart all of which tinged to a cold blue colour as if the myriad of collected human parts were suffocating, "your still human...no, the captain was always a machine," he leaned back from his towering posture above the captain with a reviled look upon his visible face.
"It is regrettable that I be this way now, my human body was unable to take the pressure of the continuous absolute zero temperatures for the years it had undergone," Captain Cold spoke softly in his weakened state. Jace jumped down from the edge of the chair and continue to look down at the spattering Captain as his hand hanged lifeless on the outside of the chair, "It is likely that my future self was forced to forgo the operation that made him near full mechanical...I however did not intend to suffer such a fate as I believe he endeavoured to prevent also for himself...that I may retain some emotion, some heat," he attempted to pull his hands back up but could not gather the strength.
"Why have you presented me with this offer...?
"I did not desire to be alone...my allies, my friends, they have since left this world; I am the best because I am the one whom as survived," he coughed out with heavy breaths, "and now I lack the cultured legacy that my enemies have made to survive."
"I can put an end to this now," Jace clenched his teeth together.
"That has been the way of your family, what they've always done to me..."
"But you may still be useful to me in some capacity," Jace attained a sense of calmness as he examined the globe like roof that was extensively high and surrounded the large arena. He zoned himself on a circular hole that blended well into the dome immediately ascertaining what he was looking for, "it's much warmer in here," he looked down at Captain Cold whom raised his head slightly to view the young speedster. Jace went to the furthest back line of the circular ice platform and took to his speed to jolt upward upon the throne and above the slumping captain jumping from the very top and forward to the back where his outstretched fist came into contact with a cylinder of sorts that extended from the bottom and near to the top. He straddled around the pillar reaching to the river's hard surface while the familiar black line formed a circle around the punched imprint which began to expand revealing the tight metal coils that went upward towards the yellow glowing wand at the very top. "This is quite ingenious cold," Jace started as he circled around the pillar till he had found the bolted metal flap which he proceeded to rip apart with his speed, "had I not allowed myself the time to understand this technology at your first station then perhaps I would need to take you up on your offer for the benefit of the city."
"You've made good use of your abilities..." The Captain's voice echoed softly to Jace standing a story below the pillar of ice that kept the Captain in his chair.
"I did not chose to have these abilities," Jace began as he placed one of his hands on the blue cylindrical core of the device, "It was through the death of an elder of mine that I received them...if I am to continue his legacy I must do as he would have instructed me but I shall not fall into the same mistake that led them to their deaths!"
"Interesting boy..." the cold voice continued, "you sound very much like me."
Jace vibrated his hands rapidly inside as he closed his eyes. Within moments of his tampering, the yellow wand's glowing increased exponentially while the thunderous lightning became thicker and well charged reaching towards the sky and scraping the circular clouds which blotted out the full strength of the sun. Jace pulled back from the device watching the inner core turn rapidly in large bubble from its delicate blue taste into a hard red when the heating pads on the inner side of the coils began to heat up in intensity. He turned to look upward at the dome structure which appeared to grow thinner with visibility through it becoming more evident. The ice that encased The Flash began to thaw with moisture rapidly decaying away its former firmness. Quickly and without hesitation, Jace ran up along the left walls and landed on the dwindling ledge that The Flash has been stuck to. He placed his hands upon the sculpture of her and proceeded to vibrate them through breaking the ice and reducing the shards to moisture in the process. He felt a drip of sweat fall from his brow, "I've placed the thermal insulation at their highest capacity and ordered a clear day..." The Flash nearly slumped to the ground but was propped up by Jace's hands, "this miracle snow fall is about come undone very quickly; I can get you out of here..."
Captain Cold stayed slumped in his chair but managed to pull his hands back above the railing allowing them to drop to his sides near his waist. He pulled at his belt and produced the long barrel pistol from its holster; he aimed it upon his open cavity and shot it. Jace eyes lit up as he rested the Flash against the decaying wall and proceeded to look across at the captain whom appeared nearing death with the peaks of ice protruding from his chest. He was all prepared to save the villain when from his still pistol clutched hand he shot a mere metre in front of him and moved it from side to side creating an inner chamber that surrounded his being preventing the hero from making the desperate save. Jace crossed the pathway and knocked hard against it prepared to vibrate through but upon his cowl he heard the pattering of moisture recognizing now that there is little time for such an endeavour. He picked up The Flash and immediately ran back through the entrance way, down the ramp and allowed for his body to take the bulk of the hit through the faltering ice wall. Every step to shore, with the Flash's motionless body in his arms, proved to be difficult as the once thick layers began to turn thin and brittle, cracking into every possible direction.
"Jace, did you get her?" Jai's voice echoed in his ear.
"She's fine."
"All the blue points are turning red and yellow."
"Noted; the cities are about to become hot saunas in two minutes."
"No Jace," The Flash's voice drew out coarse as she reached her hand up ahead of the running speedster as they reached the beachhead. She was coming around with her head raised up and looking across the road way towards a dilapidated building.
"This place is about to flood, we need to get to higher ground..." Jace barked back as he continued to the street at the fastest pace he could accommodate.
"No..." her voice continued as she watched to a side building, a two story structure with various wilted holes caused by the decaying of quick frost. Jace watched turning his head to see a small young woman exit from one of the holes just as structure was just ready to give away. A near three foot wave of water was rushing down the street threatening to reduce his speed significantly if he proceeded to make an attempt to save her. The young woman looked up unbuttoning her wool jacket just in time to see the sun; her face pale, lips chapped, she looked up the sun with dry eyes. With little motive, Jace diverted his attention towards an alleyway veering off to the opposing side. Iris watched from over his shoulder as the waves overtook the poor woman whom became pinned up against the steel beams of the beachfront building which began to collapse around her along with all the other surrounding structures. She let out a loud coarse scream that surely hurt her as Jace narrowed his vision down to dodging through the opening holes of brick, mortar and steel taking through large shopping mart to avoid the waves.
Jace rushed through the family home door and proceeded to lay The Flash on the couch, looking up across the kitchen way he made his way to the basement, pulling through the false door and pattering down the bright steps to see Jai at work on the command pads of the large computer console, "take care of Iris," he commanded. Jai immediately pulled away from the desk and headed upstairs while Jace sat down to the computer immediately pulling up the temperature map of the twin cities where the white and blue specks had exploded into large bulbs of red, yellow and fluctuating greens. His hands Pressed hard on the projected buttons and flowed his hands from side to side along the panel producing prompts for universal connections, satellite connections and various other communication networks, "such out-dated devices," he commented to himself as he used his software prowess to scan through every device that he numerated on the screen. With shallow breaths he fall back into his chair watching as the fluctuating green came to a rest and the yellow taste became more evenly laid throughout both realms.
"I'm going to have to remove all the technology from Captain Cold's devices before someone else gets their hands on it," Jace, still garbed in full uniform, walked along the pathway out of the West's home.
"Captain Cold?" Jai questioned looked above the couch where his sister lay squirming in well ridden pain.
"Yes, he was combining Rogue technology, multiplying the strength of a Weather Wand through his own equipment," Jace furthered as he placed his hand on the handle and pulling it towards him, "I'll have it stored at the laboratory with the other collections, I'll want some time to study it," he looked towards Jai, "we'll debrief further when Iris is better."
"Alright," he blinked slowly, "what happened to the Captain?"
"Let himself sink to the bottom of the channel," Jace responded as he flew at his speed out the door.
"Jai?" Iris's voice came through as her eyes opened, Jai helped remove the full cowl from around her head relieving the tight constrictions around her.
"What happened Iris?"
"Captain Cold...he surprised...wasn't prepared," Iris's voice arrived but was still coarse and drawn out with loud breathing.
"It's alright now, Jace got you free, just rest now," Jai said to her with sympathy, "we'll talk more about this once your better."
"No," Iris's eyes shot up as she pushed her back forward and looked deep into her brothers eyes as she pulled him closer to her, "he let her die, that poor woman, he let her die..." she wavered away back into the unconscious state allowing her abilities to heal her body.
Iris's eyes opened slowly as she felt the comfort of soft pillows and small dotted comforter unique to her bed, she jolted herself up and found her costume still intact, save for the leather jacket, and surrounded by a thin layer of moisture which was drying effectively. She scanned around the large room which was quite clean with the personalized desk and computers to the walls with her own bed underneath the single large window that spanned along the side wall of the house though no light passed through the thick scarlet curtains. She took a deep breath as she raised herself to sit at the edge of the bed. She put aside the soft blue blanket from her legs and let her feet come into contact with the floor; all of her body was well intact and was quickly reaching its pinnacle operating condition.
"He said it was just a test run for something more," Iris heard the polite voice of Jace as she headed down the fine carpeted steps passing down the pictures that revealed her childhood and her fondness for her long gone parents, "not sure if he's manage to get out of the channel, I've scanned the area twice now and I've seen no sign of him."
"He didn't just want to ruin the cities? He's succeeded in making nearly a billion in property damage...nothing we haven't handled before..." Jai's voice chimed in with his muscular girth.
Iris came to a stop in the entrance way and leaned up against one side of the frame and examined her nervous brother whom sat uncomfortably on the long couch while Jace took to the singular adjacent couch he had come accustomed to with his back facing to her. She smiled at the acknowledgement of her brother but the feeling was quickly dispelled as she took a look down at the back of Jace's head, "how are you feeling," Jai looked to her. Jace rose to his feet and turned abruptly to come into proper contact with her.
"Tolerable," Iris uttered with a bit of disgust.
"I suggest you avoid immersing yourself in hot water till your whole temperature has been given time to recuperate."
"Thank you," Iris nodded with sarcasm as she turned her attention to Jai, "was I out for long."
"Just for the rest of the day, its evening now...thought you could stomach a rest till morning."
"No, not now..." she said sternly as she stepped from underneath the frame and stood at the top of the intersection between the two dark green couches a step below, "there is still much to talk about," Jace continued to face the wall but turned his head to meet contact with her, "you let that woman die."
"If such an attempt was made I may have not been able to get ourselves to safety...I had little time to assess your state of health or venture for plan for a proper escape route in the event I went back to save her."
"That's a load..." she said sharply as she placed her hands firmly on her waist falling forward to the top of the couch attempting to gain strength in her current state of weakness, "so even when you've managed to reach a logical reason for your involvement you find other reasons to forsake your involvement?"
"No it was not like that, I only sought out what was in the best interest of everyone else..." Jace kept to his calm calculating voice.
"What do you mean Jace," Jai spoke up. Jace turned the entirety of his body to look down him down.
"Iris possesses particular abilities that make her capable of saving more people in the long run."
"The lives of many out weight the lives of the few...future tense?" Iris questioned shockingly.
"Even more so, one or both of us could be at the bottom of the channel right now if an attempt was made to save the woman whom by all accounts had a below minimal chance of living..."
"What?"
"It was by rare coincidence that that woman was able to survive even the first few seconds of being thawed from a near absolute zero state; the cases where people have survived being frozen and then being exposed to warmth as quickly as she had have been very rare to say the least, without the abilities that our bodies possess it is likely that she would have given into fever within the first ten minutes that I rescued her from her physical impairment."
"Physical impairment?"
"Being human."
"No Jace," Jace refocused his eyes on Jai, "What do you really mean?"
"I..." he looked away from both of them but kept his cold demeanour, "benefit from your continued existence, your guidance had made me capable of overcoming the current weather...there are many things I have yet to learn under both of your tutelage."
"Minimal chance..." both the boys looked up at the evidently disturbed Iris, "that's enough for me," After a long glare she turned around and headed back for the entrance way towards the stairs up to her room.
"What are you doing?" Jai called out as he stood up.
"I need to sleep on this," Iris called out as she stomped hard into the steps.
"I'm very sorry if I offended her," Jace told Jai whom acknowledged him.
"It's a bit difficult for us to understand your mentality when it comes to these issues."
"Its standard study in my time, when I deviated from it I saw its absolute conclusion...I need to better myself, I need to learn, but I cannot allow myself to weighed down by these issues..."
"Issues...?"
"Your father, my father, they died because they believed in this notion of humanity as infirm and in need of our constant help, but how could this be the case? When will we be able to step back and allow them to fend for themselves?"
"But it never ends...there's always something for us to take on, Captain Cold is surely evident of "But it should end!" he stomped he threw his fist down, "there is no reason for our actions if it never amounts to anything...we have to actually learn from our collective pasts, take what little we can from them, and move forward...but now I'm not so sure that we can."
"This goal of mankind in your time...It sounds so villain-ish."
"This encounter with Captain Cold made me question that..." he let out a sigh, "I'm not entirely certain about my role any more, I so desperately want to believe I've taken the right actions, that the side that heroes of this time would have wanted for me has triumphed but when I make these reflections with Iris I cannot help but feel that I am more like one of them."
"Who?"
"The enemies, these rivals that the Flash has always faced up against. I'm having difficulty rewriting my mind to suit this time, this place that I have been put in."
"I think that's why your here," Jai looked up passionately at Jace whom could barely keep his head up, "It's not the time Jace, it's the person...but maybe this is the right time just to learn it. From what I can tell, you've been exposed to some worst this world will ever offer and you've made a life decision to support it..." he nodded, "but there's still a great deal of confusion over what's wrong or right."
"I don't ever want to be pushed into that mistake again...I can't..." Jace nodded with dissatisfaction in response then refocused his vision to the floor, "I don't want to go back...those thoughts, they just escalate...I wish I could be like you and Iris" he looked up at Jai locking eyes briefly, "but with what I've been given and what I've seen, there's this step...such an easy step towards that villainy..." he looked off into the distance with glazed eyes.
"What can we do for you then?"
Jace nodded his head and looked around the large wholesome living room, "I'd like to start a garden," Jace returned his attention to Jai, "I believe I can convert the outdoor hot tube space into a proper greenhouse, you know since its broken now," Jai's eyes widened with a bit of fear, "there's a lot of plant-life in this time that is so foreign to mine...I'd like to try my hand at cultivating it..."
"Sure," Jai contended with a small tear dripping from his eye, "whatever makes you feel like part of the family."
