Episode 3: Precognition

Part 1:

"So, you don't remember anything?"

"Not really, no." This was the fourth time Zari had been asked what she remembered about the six weeks. "Everything I do remember is a bit fuzzy. It's like one of those really old TVs, where the antennae are off-center. I can kind of make something out, but I don't know what."

Zari was currently having her brain monitored in the Waverider medical bay. To her right, Ray was monitoring her brain activity while Wally was asking her questions. As they spoke, Wally wrote down on a notepad at lightning speed.

"Hmm….quite the conundrum." Wally finished scribbling and showed Zari the notepad. He wasn't actually taking down notes. Instead, he drew a cartoonish picture of Zari giving David a wedgie. "What do you think?"

Zari laughed. "I love it."

Ray looked over the screen. "Your brain activity reads the same as the rest of us, according to my readings. Whatever is causing you to remember more than us isn't due to anything physical, that's for sure."

Gideon piped up. "I hate to interrupt, but Captain Lance has called for everyone to the bridge for the mission briefing."

"Welp, no time like the present." Wally zoomed out of the room. Zari got up and went to the bridge with Ray.

()()()()

"Alright Legends," Sara said. "Gideon says that a fire demon has found its way to Central City 2028. Now, we don't know where it is, but we do know that if it's not found and contained, it will destroy a large section of the city that even the Flash won't be able to save."

"Ah, yeah!" Mick looked excited. "Fire demon!"

"When we land the Waverider, we'll split up into two teams. I'll go with Nate and John and check with the police department."

John looked apathetic as always, but Nate didn't seem to like that. "Are you sure-"

Sara ignored him. "Ray, meanwhile, will take Mick, Zari, and Wally will rendezvous with Star Labs and talk with Barry and the team. Maybe they'll know something."

"Sweet," Wally said. "I really want to see what Barry's like in ten years."

Nate raised his hand. "Wait, I have a few questions-"

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the ship. Several of the monitors flicked off.

"Gideon!" Sara shouted.

"A bomb seems to have gone off in the engine room," Gideon said. "It appears it was set to go off upon exiting the timestream."

Sara looked at Zari.

"I didn't see a bomb!" she shouted. "Ava's engineers and I went over the whole engine room. We didn't see anything!"

The ship was losing altitude fast. They were a couple hundred feet above Central City, meaning that crashing would likely not do anybody any favors."

"Whatever it is, you and Wally try and keep us in the air!" Sara shouted. "I'll try and slow our descent!"

Wally grabbed Zari's arms. A second later, they were in the engine room, which was on fire.

"Holy mother of God," Wally said.

Zari used her wind to blow out the fires, but the wiring was still loose. Wally went to try and fix some wiring while Zari looked at the main engine. She opened a hatch and saw that the coolant was boiling. That was a bad sign.

Just then, a large pipe full of whatever powered their time drive came down from the ceiling, spilling its contents. She didn't see it coming, but Wally saw the liquid coming.

"Zari!" Wally shoved her out of the way, and was hit by the liquid. He said softly, "This kinda stings," and collapsed to the floor.

Zari knelt down to check on him, but was flung across the room. She felt another large jolt, followed by the sound of the ship floor scraping against solid ground. The ship gradually slowed down until it came to a full stop. Once Zari's head stopped spinning, she realized that they must have landed.

()()()()

Sara undid the harness on her seat. She looked behind her and saw that her Legends were still alive, at least.

"You guys okay?" she asked the room at large.

She got a few grunts of affirmation. A few of them looked dazed, and Ray's harness broke in the crash, leaving him on the floor. None of them seemed seriously hurt.

"Gideon? How're we looking?"

"According to the readings, the ship has sustained heavy damage." The last remaining monitor showed the diagnostics, which weren't ideal to say the least.

Sara got up. "Ray, you go over what's wrong with Gideon while I make sure Zari and Wally are okay."

"Will do," Ray said from the floor.

Sara went down towards the engine when she heard Zari shouting.

"Wally! Come on Wally, get up!"

Sara broke into a run and saw Zari shaking Wally. Fortunately, just as Sara arrived, Wally woke up.

"Ugh, my head…" Wally got up. "Wait, what happened?"

"What happened?" Zari looked relieved yet worried. "You took about a gallon of time juice for me, dude! That's the stuff that almost killed me before."

"Oh...cool."

Sara helped Wally up. "On your feet, soldier. Looks like you two have a mess to clean up."

"Don't worry," Wally said. "I've got this."

Wally started running at normal speed. Sara and Zari looked in shock.

"Oh, crap," Zari said.

"Wally," Sara said, "I think you lost your powers."

Wally looked down at himself. He tried moving, but noticed it was at normal speed.

"Uh oh."

()()()()

After the attack the other day, Simon was really done. He had submitted his two weeks' notice after spending his Friday hiding in a stall in the women's bathroom. He just had to survive for a few more days, then he'd be back to working at the Sink, Shower and Stuff. Anything would be better than weird Slavic zombies that can only be killed by glass. He was so occupied with thinking of the nice, safe, boring job when some young woman walked in.

"What do you want?" Simon snapped, annoyed to be broken from his fantasy.

"Hi," the woman said cheerfully. "I'm here to meet...actually, I never caught his name. He wears glasses, is kind of jittery, and geeky in a cute way-"

"You want Gary." Simon didn't even look up or ask her name. "Stick out your hand, please."

"Okay!" She stuck out her hand, and Simon stamped it.

"Please remain in hallways marked with a blue line. Have a great day," Simon said in a monotone voice. Just two more weeks, and he'd be back to folding towels.

"Thank you so much!" The woman said. As she was leaving, Simon caught a glimpse at her shirt, which had the number 13 on it. He thought nothing of it, and instead pulled up Youtube on his computer.