Chapter 12:
Some residual soreness spreads through Barry's body when he gets to his feet. The recovery from the weapon assault mostly happens. He walks over to Iris and bends over her. Everything just tends to happen and no matter how fast he runs, it's hard to really get ahead.
The sounds of her beating heart is something Barry focuses on for the next few seconds. He just stands beside Iris. Her receiving those speed powers proves to not be the bright and sunny thing it appears to be at first.
"Iris, please get better soon."
Those words show the words of a defeated man. Footsteps from behind him barely catch Barry's attention. Caitlin puts a hand on Barry's shoulder. He only leans back just enough to lock eyes with Caitlin.
"We may have found a way to negate Indigo's control over Iris's power. Jesse, Kara, and I have worked together and I think we might have something...we may have to block her powers as a temporary measure until Indigo's completely out of the picture. But I can assure you that it's...it's...a safe procedure."
Barry swallows and nods in confirmation. Caitlin joins him in looking over Iris.
"You should do what you have to do. I just wish we had some answers. Felicity's dropped off of the map and I don't know what her next move."
"You and I both."
Laurel steps into the lab. So far, her own investigation turns up nothing, as there's been no signs of Felicity ever since she disappears from the Clocktower. She bites down her lip nervously when peering down at Iris's body. The sound of her beating heart only slightly causes Laurel some solace, and she hopes for Barry to gain that solace.
"We'll find them, and we'll find her."
"We have to find that ship before she does."
Barry comes to the conclusion almost instantly. He really does not have anything else to say to that other than the thought which comes from his mind. Laurel nods in response.
Suddenly, Iris's eyes snap open. She starts breathing deeply and her body begins to start thrashing. Her vital signs flash all over which causes Caitlin to bolt over towards the bed.
"It's like she's going into arrest. Iris, no, don't...don't do this!"
Before their very eyes, Iris appears to choke on the air. A spasm goes through her body a second later. The next shift results in her body vibrating at a very insane super speed. It's almost like a headache inducing blur with Iris shifting and moving on the bed.
"IRIS!"
Barry puts his hands on Iris's chest to try and stabilize her. Her body warps Barry's into hers.
Caitlin grabs Laurel and puts up a shield of ice to block the impulse of energy. An explosion rattles the entire medical area of the lab and Iris and Barry disappear into a black warp to parts unknown.
The dust clears and both Caitlin and Laurel shakily get up midst the broken ice and damaged lab equipment. Barry and Iris disappear as if they did not have enough problems to figure out today.
X-X-X
A bright light engulfs Barry and Iris the second they drop inside of a tunnel. Iris's eyes snap open when a severe pounding echoes through the back of her head. The drums of war just keep pounding in Iris's skull and it does not let up.
Rubbing her scalp offers Iris no relief. She notices Barry drop down behind her.
"Iris? Are you..."
"I'm here! I'm...my head hurts like hell, but at least I'm here, and I'm in one piece...and now..."
The tunnel darkens ever so slightly. Both Iris and Barry hear several people running by them. Several voices speak around them. Yet the words they speak hold no coherence and it's very difficult to understand what the hell they say. Barry and Iris rise up to a standing position. Their hands lock to each other.
A growl causes them to jump off. An object at the end of the tunnel flutters into light. Barry realizes something.
"I think we tapped into the dark side of the Speed Force."
Iris rolls her neck back and there's numerous questions which dominate her thoughts. She decides to go for the most obvious one.
"What did Indigo do?"
"I'm not sure. We better find a way to get back before..."
"You should have never interrupted the flow of time, Barry Allen!"
Barry almost hits his head in the wall. The frustration builds within him. There's a couple more thoughts dominating his mind, but the most demanding one comes out straight away.
"Do you really think that I have time for this?"
"We thought we had an understanding about your responsibilities. But, you meddled with the fabric of time not once, but twice. And now the consequences will come. Perhaps if something is taken from you, then you will understand what you've done. You should learn why it's ill-advised for you to go back. Especially since you do not have the sophistication or the control of her powers to do so."
The voices mix together and the Speed Force plays with Barry's thoughts, using the voices of some of his closest friends and family. He hears his father, Joe, his mother, and others in there. It plays on Barry's emotions and he does not like that.
"Perhaps if something happened to the one closest to you, you would understand that actions have consequences."
"Look, Iris had nothing to do with this!"
Iris collapses to her knees and screams. Her body enters the hyper-speed state once more. Barry puts a hand on her shoulder only for a discharge of speed force energy to knock him back. He turns back to the figure who appears. Robed and without any emotions. He or she or it, shows a complete lack of empathy for anything Barry's going through.
"She doesn't look too well, does she, Barry?"
"YES! SHE DOESN'T LOOK TOO WELL! IF YOU WANT TO PUNISH SOMEONE, PUNISH ME!"
"Despite your impudence, we will give you something. We will give you a gift."
It's here Barry's suspicious. Iris stops vibrating with a breath coming from her. She feels like she runs a marathon and looks like something just struck her in the face.
"We will give Iris full mastery over her powers and remove Indigo's control over them. If she survives the end of the road without being ripped apart, her powers would be unlocked along with control over them."
Barry takes a second to realize that this might be hard to do. Iris grabs Barry's hand and squeezes it.
"I'll...do it. I want to be in control."
"Yes, Iris West, but be warned, you have to reach the end of the course without getting caught. If anything along the way touches you, you will perish. And Barry will perish along with you."
"I won't let him down."
The wraiths in the tunnel chomp at the bit to get their hands on Iris. And there's also trouble coming around the corner. Barry hopes Iris's up for this one. He wonders what kind of the deal the Speed Force put Barry in.
"Run, Iris, Run!"
This disembodied chant echoes through the tunnel and Iris gains full control over her body before running like a bat out of hell. Barry only can watch her leave because an invisible force glues him into place.
"C'mon Iris!"
X-X-X
"I swear, if it's not one thing, it's another with you guys."
Caitlin agrees with Kara's assessment. She joins Jesse and Kara in working through what happened. Off to the side, Wells helps conduct his own investigation.
"Jesse, maybe you can reach them."
Jesse snaps out of her thought at Caitlin's suggestion. A frown appears over her face.
"I guess I can try."
She holds an arm out and begins to vibrate. Jesse feels the energy and the speed force rippling around her. Her heartbeat starts to get a bit faster when she opens up a window. She reaches through and notices several wraiths and Iris running some sort of death course.
"I see speed wraiths, and Iris...she's running to her grave! I got to get both her and Barry out of her!"
This attempt to break both Iris and Barry free does not go as planned for Jesse. A bombardment of energy shoots her out of of the tunnel and causes her to land on the ground.
Jesse grimaces when getting up to her feet. Her father moves over to help her up.
"I'm fine. The Speed Force is very testy right now. You don't think Indigo's found a way to hack into the speed force. I know it sounds stupid, but we're dealing with a highly advanced alien computer, aren't we?"
Wells considers his daughter's question for the next couple of seconds. He comes up with what he thinks is a logical conclusion.
"Yes, it's very possible. We should consider all of our options, but..."
An alarm comes off. The shrillness almost hits the back of Kara's eardrum and makes her grimace at the sounds only growing louder. Caitlin going pale and Wells looking like someone punched him in the stomach tell her enough that this is not an alarm which will bring her happy times. And Jesse finally decides to spell it out for all of them.
"Is that...is that...it's the Particle Accelerator going online?"
Wells pops up to his feet and goes over to check. One thing after another and there does not seem to be any end in sight. The countdown appears to be going twice as fast.
"I'm going to need someone to help me stop her from getting online. It shouldn't be too hard."
"I'll do it."
Wells turns to Kara with a frown on his face. There's a few seconds of pause before he frames something in what he feels is a tactful way.
"Are you sure you can handle this? It's a very delicate procedure that if there's one mistake, it could blow up half of the..."
"Move over!"
Kara almost nudges Wells out of the chair. Like she did not know how a Particle Accelerator worked by the time she was nine and more importantly how to shut down a rogue one. Even a badly configured one like this, which by her first glimpse, Kara's pretty sure that the person who built it is either entirely incompetent or built it purposely to explode for some kind of agenda.
Wells watches as Kara hacks into the system and she bypasses Felicity, or Indigo's, rather attempts to block out.
"You know what you're doing."
"Obviously. Just work on getting Barry and Iris back and finding Felicity."
That's one thing that they could all agree about.
X-X-X
A group of military men sit in a dingy looking room with rusted pipes hanging over their heads. There's a far nicer room above their heads where the major decisions are going on. A locked filing cabinet lines on the back of the wall.
"Read it and weep...straight flush, boys!"
"No, you're cheating!"
"I never cheat. Not you, and not my wife, no matter what you read on Facebook. Of course, if there's another girl in my life, that's America, and I'll be damned if not going to protect her virtue at all costs. From those who would whore her out. Even if it is working for an utter nutball like Hardcastle."
The officers at the table snicker at the cornball antics of the soldier before dealing another hand. The main thing they agree with him about is that Hardcastle's about as nutty as a squirrel's breakfast. Still, they have to listen what he has to say or they might end up like the last person who did not listen to what he said.
Another round of cards deal out and another drinks pour on the table. The men hope their shift is over. There's only so many card games they can play before this gets boring and their beer supply is running low.
"Suppose we can't complain. Hardcastle could make us to do this job sober...I don't even know why he has us sitting on this room. All that's in that room to the left is a rogue weather balloon. Seems like a lot of trouble for a rogue weather balloon."
"The rogue weather balloon drove a lot of people insane though. You'd think people never saw a rogue weather balloon!"
Every time the words "rogue weather balloon, comes up, everything around the table laughs. Amusement beaks out over the people in the city.
"Still, a lot of security for something so innocent. I mean, three levels of biometrics and two overly complicated passcodes, and an invisible laser grid which needs to be deactivated. And likely a lot of other bullshit. How do you expect anyone to remember all that?"
"Well, no one person remembers all of that genius! It wouldn't be security. What really tickles my balls is the fact the government really thinks anyone buys the downed weather balloon bullshit. What kind of idiot buys that? They didn't buy that for Roswell, they ain't buying it now."
"You mean it's not a downed weather balloon?"
The other soldiers turn to the one who spoke out of turn completely dumbstruck. One of them pats him on the head like a slightly dimwitted dog.
"Rupert, bless you son, but you ain't too bright sometimes."
"And by sometimes, you mean not at all, right, Herb?"
More laughter follows at Rupert's expense. A loud knock on the door bring the military officers out of their conversation. The knock gets louder and louder until one of them rises up.
"You ladies better open up. There's been a few changes."
The voice of Hardcastle comes over the door. The leader of this particular squad opens the door to see Hardcastle at the door with a wide look on his face. Which is not unfamiliar to them, given Hardcastle always has a wide eyed look on his face when he gets into a rant about aliens. Both the kind from space and the kind who come over the border. The other party from behind her leads him through the door. She's an attractive blond wearing glasses and a tight black bodysuit which snaps against her frame like a second skin.
"Sir..."
Hardcastle stumbles into the room. The woman withdraws a blade and cuts the field leader in the throat without any hesitation. Blood splatters on the ground. The other men lift their guns to attack. A discharge of some kind of electromagnetic energy causes the guns to fly out and hit the wall.
The mysterious woman comes into the room and starts attacking them all at once. Blood spills from the knife digging into their chests. All of the men, other than two, receive fatal wounds.
"You're lucky I need you alive enough."
"You'll pay for this!"
Felicity's face contorts into a grin. She grabs the man who speaks out and smashes his head into a wall. A panel opens up and begins to scan his eyeball.
"Putting everyone you need to open up this room in one place. Sloppy, but what can you expect from organics?"
A second panel opens and Felicity forces the eye of the second man open. The scan of his retina flashes and opens up a third panel. She drags Hardcastle to his feet. He struggles.
"You alien bitch! Just wait until this is over! You'll be dissected in a lab after this!"
"No."
Felicity drives Hardcastle face-first into the wall to bust his nose. The scanner happens. She puts his palm on the scanner and downloads the passcodes from his mind, both to open the room and to deactivate the laser grid.
Indigo feels triumph as soon she'll be reunited with something that belongs to her. She guides her puppet who fights her less into the room.
"You can admit it to me, Ms. Smoak. Coming in here and actually doing something proactive, instead of barking orders from behind a computer felt really good. Didn't it?"
A gunshot from Hardcastle's own gun splatters blood across the wall. The army general drops to the ground and Felicity pulls back. Her palms soak with sweat, her body tingles with the adrenaline, but she holds down the thoughts.
"You...you made me kill these people."
"Mmm."
Felicity walks forward with a bit more of a swagger. She cannot believe that this feels so liberating. Indigo's messing with her mind, she has to be. Flipping switches in her mind and screwing with her impulse control.
"There's something about it, isn't it, Ms. Smoak? Watching as their lives snuff out before your very eyes. And seeing that you're the one in control of their destinies. It makes you feel alive because you hold the power of life and death in your eyes. That's why deep down, it gave you a rush to burn Havenrock in Nuclear Fire."
"Stop...it!"
Felicity opens the ship on Indigo's directive. She almost finds the purple light to be blinding.
"Remove the purple orb from the ship and we can step up the next phase of this plan."
"Why are you...why are you doing this?"
"I'm teaching you a valuable life lesson. Humanity's natural state is they will end up turning on and killing each other. Humans are animistic by their true nature. Generations of societal conditioning tell them that they should feel bad when they murder. Those who are judged to be sociopathic actually are more honest with their inner feelings than most. Because it makes you a rush. That's why Oliver killed all of those people because it gave him that rush and allowed him to get in control. And that's why you enjoyed killing those people."
Felicity hates every word she hears. Despite, this the rush of adrenaline really pleases her.
"Maybe I am an awful person."
"No, you're a human. You are no better than the animals who kill others because it's in their nature. And now, if you please."
The orb detaches from the ship. Felicity screams the instant the orb burns into her hand.
"It's burning my hand!"
"That's not my concern."
"And here I thought we were bonding over murder."
Indigo scoffs at Felicity's quip.
"Humor, the last refuge of the defeated and broken."
X-X-X
A burning rush envelopes Iris's body when she runs. She needs to keep running. Not only her life is on the line, but Barry's life is on the line. She speeds up with a couple of near misses.
Almost there. It's one thought which keeps dominating Iris. She's almost there and she keeps fighting. She keeps moving and keeps running ever so faster.
Iris reaches the end of the road without anything touching her. The wraiths disappear and the robed figure just nods in response.
"Congratulates, Iris West. Enjoy every moment of your powers and the control which comes with them. Know that you fully and truly have earned them."
A spark flies through her body. The artificial speed force powers which allows Indigo to control her like a puppet leave. And replacing them is actual powers which give Iris more of a rush than the individual high.
"Tread lightly"
A flash of light envelopes both of them. The next time Iris and Barry blink, they stand in the lab. The damaged lab but the lab none of the less. Barry takes a few seconds to regain his bearings just in time to hear a loud blaring sound in the background.
"Why is there an alarm going off for the Particle Accelerator?"
X-X-X
Sweat and determination flows from Kara's face. Indigo's a tricky one and Felicity's adequate enough to keep Kara on her toes. Kara manages to find an exploit which she can kick them out of the system.
"And now that they're out, I'm going to disable the stupid thing so no one can put it back online again."
A loud crackle echoes as Kara disables the Particle Accelerator at least to the point where it will not do anyone any harm any one again.
At the end of the hallway, Sapphire frowns in response.
"Normally I'd ream someone out for destroying an expensive project without my consent. But given all the trouble that damn thing's caused..."
"It's really for the best."
Kara takes a deep breath and smiles.
"I've got some good news. There's a digital trail that they're leaving. A hacker shouldn't be this sloppy. Which leaves me with a couple of thoughts..."
"Either Indigo's leading us into a trap or Felicity's leaving us a trail to follow."
They all turn around to see Barry and Iris walking in. There's several screams of jubilation from them. Jesse jumps to her feet and almost rushes over to them.
"You made it! You made it! I thought for a minute that both of you would be goners given what I saw."
A smile crosses Iris's face.
"I thought so for a couple minutes as well."
"I had complete faith in Iris."
The two just smile and Iris steals a quick kiss from Barry. Of course, the time for celebration will be later, much later as right now they have some other problems to deal with.
"So, what do you think?"
Kara jumps up. She's glad to see Barry and Iris made it out okay. The problem is, if they do not track down Indigo and put a stop to her.
"Maybe I was wrong. Maybe there's a small part of Felicity still kicking around and fighting. Or maybe, Indigo's toying with us. We don't know and..."
"I guess we just have to follow and see where it would go."
X-X-X
Felicity walks up the steps to the highest tower in Central City. Each step represents a tick on the clock closer to her own end and Earth's approaching doom. The glowing orb sizzles the palms of her hands. Indigo remains quiet and Felicity appreciates it. The blood from the previous murders stain her hands. Their faces burn into Felicity's face. Despite them being no princely prizes, especially Hardcastle, murdering them should be wrong.
"Right?"
The fact Felicity hesitates in answering what should be a no-brainer, sickens the woman to her very core. She thunders up the steps with Indigo following behind her.
Symbols start glowing into her body. They resemble the alien writing. The same alien writing complete lunatics burn into her body. Felicity really has no idea what the symbols mean. She just hauls the orb, the severe burn on her right hand and potential nerve damage settling in.
She inserts the orb in the slot. Two view screens come off as well to show the containment cells of two people. One contains Oliver and the other contains Cisco.
The symbols burn into her body and Felicity drops down onto the ground. Howls of pain echo through her. One notices her eyes glowing as energy from the orb shoots into the sky and starts punching holes into time space.
"Soon, I will enact a Crisis On Infinite Worlds. Fifty-Two become one. Then, I will destroy the one and leave my enemies to die on a decaying world."
"Yes...very good! You must be proud of yourself."
"And to think, if you just stayed safely in Star City, instead of letting your emotions get the better of you, none of this would happen. Because you are, and always will be a fragile little girl, crying out for attention, you brought upon the end of the multiverse. Deep in your mind, it was never Teem Arrow, it's Felicity and Friends."
"It's not TRUE!"
Indigo refuses to even argue with her. Felicity wonders why she even bothers. She feels hopeless, wrecked, and also accepting of the doomed fate.
X-X-X
Supergirl and Flash drop down outside of one of the best built towers in Central City. A beam of light erupting from the top of the glass structure into the sky cause both of heroes to step back.
"We need to find a way inside."
"How much you want to bet they're on the top?"
Kara's not going to take that bet at all because she's sure they are. The rumbling of helicopters coming in turn the attention of Supergirl and Flash. Several ARGUS agents walk over onto the ground with Amanda Waller walking over towards her.
"We're going to have one shot."
Flash turns to Waller. Disbelief enters his mind at the woman interjecting herself again.
"You've been compromised before. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Being compromised is more than enough of a reason to be in there. She's responsible for a lot and she'll have to answer to it. And if we have to kill Ms. Smoak to do it, then we will. Because, I know you, Mr. Allen, and I know you won't take the necessary steps to save the world."
"I'll..."
A shield pops up over the tower .ARGUS cannot get through it no matter how hard they blast it. Waller breaths in and decides whether or not to bring in the heavy ordinance. It seems obvious, but there's a small shadow of a doubt in her mind.
"ARGUS...well this should be really amusing."
A heavily modulated voice comes over. Felicity's, at least by the sound of things. Supergirl and Flash stand up straight.
"But, you're not the ones I want. I want both Supergirl and Flash and I want them now. If I see any ARGUS interference, then I will launch coordinate drone strikes on several of the world's most populated cities. A third world war will begin, not that it will matter as this world will be destroyed."
Waller's demanding gaze comes up to the top of the roof.
"Let me make one thing clear. We don't negotiate with terrorists. We will blow out the tower into the ground, no matter how much of Central City we have to destroy in the process."
"And I'm the terrorist?"
"Waller!"
Waller's attention turns to Barry. Time pretty much freezes in a blink of an eye when the two individuals stare down at each other.
"Give me and Supergirl ten minutes."
"You have five."
Flash waves his hand. No time to really argue with Waller because they have some far more pressing issues to figure out. Supergirl and Flash move off as Waller moves to the mobile command ARGUS unit. She opens up the back where a slightly pudgy and very nervous young woman tries to keep one step ahead on the system.
"She's not it yet, Ms. Waller. But...I'm not sure how much I can keep this up. It's Felicity Smoak after all, and she's..."
"Your job depends on your success of whether or not you can keep her out. Do not fail me, Ms. Roberts."
"Yes...yes...of course!"
X-X-X
Black Canary sweeps down the tunnels connected to the tower. Speedy followers her. They navigate around the walls before coming across a wooden door. Black Canary puts an ear up to the door and listens very closely. There's nothing on the other side of the wall.
"Okay, do you think we can get underneath the tower?"
Speedy's question distracts Black Canary from her thoughts for a couple of minutes. She nods in confirmation and looks back at her partner.
"Yes. I believe we can. Or I believe we should. And Jesse and Caitlin, they're putting the finishing touches on something which should disable Indigo."
"It sounds like we only have one shot."
A figure looms from the tunnel off to the side. Speedy turns her attention to the side and comes face to face with a green hooded duplicate. He fires an arrow at her. A deft leap to the side causes the arrow to land into the wall.
"This is as far as you two go!"
The Green Arrow charges in and fires two more arrows. Black Canary and Speedy rush over to either side to avoid the barrage of arrows which come at them. Black Canary flips into the air and grabs Green Arrow from behind. He turns around and hits her in the stomach. She flies back from the attack.
Green Arrow punches the wall where her head moves from. His arm snags in the wall and allows Black Canary to get some free shots on him. He pulls out and his arm shifts into a bow before firing an arrow at them. An arrow hits a pipe and releases a cloud of steam.
Black Canary takes a deep breath and realizes that there's sensors which allows him to see when their pathway in the tunnel is blocked. She squints and watches the duplicate come over.
"SPEEDY! HEAD'S UP!"
Speedy turns to a roundhouse punch which almost sends her crashing down to the ground. An arrow at her head comes close to connecting. Black Canary rolls in. Green Arrow catches her leg and whips her into the wall. He jumps up with Black Canary blocking his latest attack and headbutting him.
All it causes her is a double-vision sensation. Black Canary spins around slightly and catches Green Arrow with a roundhouse kick to the side of the head. He drops back up and three arrows impact his back.
Speedy's onslaught on him only slows him down as much. They realize very quickly they fight someone with all of Oliver's abilities and none of his inhibitions.
X-X-X
A villain inviting someone into their lair, well Barry's obviously has his share of worries when he steps around the corner. His heart keeps beating a bit stronger. Supergirl comes up right behind her.
They make it to the top of the tower without any incident. They come across Felicity. They see how strained Felicity is when Indigo has her under control.
"Indigo!"
"It's been a long time hasn't it, Supergirl? I'm sure the two of you should really skip the threats. And this is your reminder, if you harm me, you also harm Felicity. And heroes don't harm innocents, do they?"
"You're a real monster!"
"Yes, Kryptonian, I'm the monster here. Not the woman who has a mother who sent several so called fugitives to their doom without proper representation. Or has an aunt who is responsible for the death of countless in her lust for power. Or a father who..."
"ENOUGH!"
Kara's eyes start to glow. Barry holds her back just as Kara takes a deep breath. A barrier pops up thus blocking Barry and Kara from attacking. Barry spends some time looking at the barrier. There should be a way around it, the key is to make sure to keep Indigo talking until he finds that way around.
"How did you control her?"
"To make a long story short, a copy of my core programming was implanted in the chip implanted in Ms. Smoak's spine which allows her the ability to walk without assistance. Remarkable advancement of technology, but also remarkable for my aims. It allowed me to download myself into her flawed body and mind. She knows what can be done. If she removes the chip, then I have no control. But she would never sacrifice the ability she has to walk. Because, she's humankind at their most natural state. Selfish."
Finally, Felicity pops out from behind after Indigo triggers her. Again.
"You're the selfish one!"
"An argument worthy of a five year old. Thank you for your contribution, Ms. Smoak."
In his head, Barry's working out how to best save Felicity. His thought is to remove the chip without killing her, if it's even possible at this point. The small microscopic doubt makes Barry hesitate. It appears that Indigo does pick up on the hesitation with the smile crawlin g over her face.
"And now I need your assistance."
Barry completely raises an eyebrow. Many questions come to mind with this statement. The biggest one being why should he help Indigo of all people.
"You should put your hand on this orb and vibrate it. That way we can break open the multiverse and begin the merging process."
"It will kill countless!"
A very sardonic smile flashes over Felicity's face. She observes Barry with a slight amount of interest before almost reaching through the forcefield. Indigo thinks better of the action and pulls the hand of her human puppet back.
"I've counted. And humanity is going to be eventually destroy those worlds one by one and the data within. I'm not doing this out of malice. I'm doing it out of a logical preservation. Surely, you should understand how everything that I'm doing is..."
"DON'T DO IT BARRY!"
Felicity finally breaks free for a second and grabs a jagged blade off of the table. She makes a quick and honest attempt to stab the blade into her jugular to end this all.
Her fingers snap open and the blade drops down to the ground. Felicity cannot even bend down to grab the blade no matter how hard she struggles to do so. Sweat rolls down her face with the agony that follows. She screams out with a fit of horror.
"Your attempt was adequate, but you're not quick enough to defeat someone like me. And you wouldn't have been able to do anything like that. You'll never be able to sacrifice yourself. You have too much of an ego."
Felicity realizes that one moment of control just slips away. She looks towards Kara and Barry with helpless eyes. Her lips cannot even move to form an apology and tears cannot even come from her eyes to register how completely and utterly sorry this situation is for her.
A huge explosion from behind rocks the entire tower. Barry almost swears. Kara grabs his wrist to prevent him from falling over.
X-X-X
It is not the first time STAR Labs needs to whip up something extraordinary at the eleventh hour and time literally ran out. Barry and Kara disappearing into that tower make them easy. Caitlin steadies the cannon with Jesse finishing off. Sapphire offers her own contributions and between the three of them, a working model comes to life.
Caitlin takes a couple of deep breaths when she looks at it.
"Okay, this should be good to go. At least I hope that it will be good to go."
A nod comes from Jesse when she looks over the fruits of their combined labor. They turn to one of the victims of the Brainiac infect who babbles like a madman. It's time to test it. The man tries to rip his hand free from the wall. The chain snaps back with the man's attempts to break free coming easily.
Jesse holds up the cannon and sighs.
"Here goes nothing."
She pulls the trigger and blasts the cannon towards the captive man. He screams in agony with each part of his body thrashing after the separation of the nano-bots. They shoot from his mouth like a ball and Jesse puts the gun in Caitlin's hand before quickly sweeping them into a vial.
"What happened?"
Jesse puts a hand to his head.
"You're running a fever and have weakened muscle tone. But everything else regarding your vitals seem to be on point. Which means..."
"We did it!"
Caitlin really wishes that it will be the perfect time to exchange high fives. The seriousness of the situation makes everything a little less likely for her to do so.
"Incredible. Star Labs comes through again with some extraordinary piece of technology. One of these days, we might not be able to pull the solution out but today...today's not the day."
There's another problem. Iris steps into the lab to face the rest of the occupants."
"I haven't heard back from Barry or Kara. I'm worried."
"Yeah, I am too. Which is why we need to get this over to their last known location and they need to get it over there now."
A hand reaches over for Jesse to offer. Iris reaches out to block Jesse's hand. Both women lock eyes with each other as time appears to stand still. There's a tiny bit of disagreement over who wants to run it over, or rather who needs to run it over.
"I'll do it."
"You sure?"
"Trust me."
Jesse trusts Iris. Iris looks on with determination and given her personal role in this entire mission from the beginning, Jesse relents and figures Iris most certainly has something to prove. She pulls away with the cannon and puts the hood on her head.
Impulse prepares to run one more time.
X-X-X
Thea pushes a finger against her bloodied lip and looks head on against the drone of Oliver. Oliver-drone currently engages Laurel in battle. The view of this battle causes Thea's annoyance to almost pique when the drone did not go down.
Finally, something inside her snaps and Thea struggles to get up. She very nearly collapses with a knee rolling out from underneath her. A deep breath follows with Thea's eyes following the progression of the battle.
"You know something. I didn't take shit from my real brother. I'm not taking shit from some kind of robotic duplicate of my brother."
Speedy reclaims the bow on the ground and fires an arrow. Oliver-drone turns his head to the side and blocks the arrow with one swift shot. His eyes glow with agony as Speedy mentally count downs in her head up until the moment where the arrow explodes.
"For a robot, you need better AI. Ollie would have never fallen for such an obvious trick.
A Canary Cry catches the drone from behind. Said drone pins against the wall with Thea unloading a massive amount of arrows into him. She puts another exploding arrow into the drone's chest. Oliver thrashes in agony against the wall from Thea's vicious attack on him.
The combination of exploding arrow and a Canary Cry results in this particular Oliver-drone coming to pieces. The head flies off and comes to rolling stop at Thea's feet. She grimaces at the glimpse of a duplicate of her brother's head.
A hand on her shoulder brings Thea back into the battle.
"Let's go."
Another Canary Cry breaks the door down and the two Star City vigilantes rush up the steps. They move to the door to join Supergirl and Flash. Laurel wastes little time sending a Canary Cry which causes the forcefield around her to ripple.
"NOW!"
Kara zips through the ripple in the force field to restrain Felicity while Barry reaches underneath the table and in a flash finds the right code to shutdown the system. A deep heaving breath of relief follows with Barry turning his head to the right.
A blast sends Kara flying into the wall. Barry grabs Felicity from behind and pins her down to the table. His hand starts to vibrate and his fingers attempt to rupture her skin right at the small of the back.
"I'm sorry!"
A cable catches Barry in the back of his leg before he can perform the amateur surgery and causes an electric shot to pulse through his body. A robotic limb wraps around Barry and pushes him up against the wall. Kara receives the same treatment with Thea and Laurel joining her.
Felicity flicks a finger against her face and the blood drips down from it. The robotic arms jutting out of the wall of the tower hold the quartet of heroes. One cable rams deep into Laurel's mouth to prevent her from performing her Canary Cry.
"Did you honesty think it would be that easy to stop me?"
She grabs Barry's throat and starts choking him. Barry's hand tries to vibrate to get out. Some force causes shocks to emmitt from his body.
"Please...don't do this!"
Felicity's whimpering voice shows a distinct contrast to her choking Barry. Barry attempts to break himself free, but it's all for nothing. Nothing he can do is enough to break free from the position, the frustrating position he is in.
"STOP!"
Kara's screams catch Indigo's attention. She cannot forget about the snot-nose brat who foiled her plans one too many times. Those eyes shift over towards Kara.
"You hate me. It's my fault! Of course it's my fault because there's a logical fault in your programming which prevents you from seeing how you're as petty and spiteful of being a computer. Then again, that's a fault with the entire Brainiac line."
Felicity reaches down to unzip something from the bag and pull out a box. She sets it on the table.
"They will suffer for everything they've done. Their deaths will come at a point where they realize that humanity doomed itself. And their friend doomed them for being weak of mind and weak of will. It may be less painless in the end for what I've got planned for you."
A Kryptonite knife comes out of the lead lined box. A small ripple of weakness comes through Kara as her muscles slacken. Felicity's voice completely disappears through Indigo's next statement.
"I'm going to cut out your heart and mount it on the wall of my ship as a trophy. It will be one of most prized possessions."
The knife drags against Kara's cheek and starts to to draw blood. The slasher smile on Felicity's face sends chills down everyone's spine.
X-X-X
"AGAIN! HIT IT AGAIN! DO YOU HEAR ME? AGAIN!"
Waller's deep breathing continues and one can almost see she comes about a few precious inches away from having a heart attack. Iris arrives and Jesse arrives right behind her. Waller lays her eyes on the cannon Iris dangles in her hands and no doubt has a few questions.
"Let us through."
"Be my guest."
ARGUS's failure burns Waller really badly. She is about to order the strike on Central City and let the consequences burn her later. If these two fail, then she has no other options than to decimate everything.
Jesse and Iris stand at the base of the tower. They both run in unison. Their super fast minds allow them to perceive weaknesses in the tower's structure which most people do not do so. Both speedsters run through the tower and shatter the forcefield.
The knife about comes down into Kara's chest. Before it can penetrate, Iris points the cannon and fires at Felicity. The cannon nails her in the chest and rockets her off of the ground over the top of one of the desks.
The knife clatters to the ground. Jesse understands the danger of it immediately. She picks up the knife and quickly puts it back into the case.
The robotic limbs on the wall relax and allow Flash, Supergirl, Black Canary, and Speedy all to drop dow nto the ground. A deep breath comes from one of them as Speedy decides to speak for all of them.
"Is it over?"
The humming orb on the table reminds that how much Indigo's plan is still in play. Kara and Jesse eye each other and wonder what they can do to stop it.
Iris speaks up.
"There should be a cluster of nano-bots on the floor. But there isn't?"
Jesse snaps into the conversation. There's an instant where words fail her and she cannot even attempt to speak them. The six protectors in the Room realize they're not done.
X-X-X
The worst headache ever causes Felicity's ears to ring. She can barely lift her hand. The constant voice in her head disappears and now Felicity realizes the full extent of what she did.
"What have I done?"
"Anything...I...made you do!"
The voice returns and Felicity swears. No matter what she can do, she can't really catch a break. Felicity reaches for a knife on the table and sticks it into her back, cutting at it.
"I've got to get it out! I've got to get it out!"
She keeps muttering this, rocking back and forth. A small discharge of energy prevents Felicity's attempts to dig into her back and get the implant out. She cannot even focus anymore.
There's another way. Felicity rises up and puts her hand on the table.
"Barry?"
Barry turns his eyes towards Felicity. Kara, Jesse, Iris, Laurel, and Thea all look on with pins and needles. A couple of beats of the clock follow.
"Run."
Felicity puts her hand on the orb despite great physical pain. Sure, Indigo learns a lot on her, but Felicity likes to think she learns something from Indigo in response. A great lesson in personal responsibility is one of the same as the orb keeps humming. She can feel Indigo's systems rebooting and trying to take a foothold.
"I know what she's doing! She's trying to activate the orb's manual override. It will...she won't survive contact with it when it goes off."
Kara's breathy voice causes Barry to turn his attention to her.
"Felicity, don't do this! There has to be another way!"
"No, Barry, there really isn't, and you really need to get everyone out of here. You know something. I like you. I don't want to see any harm done to you or anyone else ever again. And...this ordeal taught me one thing. And that's the value of taking personal responsibility for your actions. I tried to hide my own flaws under a facade and...in some cases I projected them onto others. Oliver, for all of his problems, didn't deserve that. Any excuse I had to why I am who I am, there's no excuse. I should have learned, adapted, and improved. And...maybe...maybe if I looked to the right people, I would have. Maybe the responsibility I was given was too much for me. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, am I right?"
A hand reaches over but Felicity blocks it.
"Barry, I love you. But, I don't deserve anyone like you. Iris does. Caitlin does. Kara does. And...there are others that do. Maybe in another life, I could have made different choice. Better choices. But, if this is my end, I'm going to go out doing something that I never tried to manage. You need to run...get out of here...oh and I forget, 8-4-5-3-2. That's the code to open up the cells. Figured I save you about three seconds."
"Felicity, I don't know what to say."
"SHE'S GETTING BACK IN! NOW OR NEVER BARRY! DAMN IT. RUN!"
Felicity takes a couple of deep breath.
"It takes dying to learn what being a hero is truly about."
Jesse grabs Laurel and Iris grabs Caitlin. Felicity nods and there's a deep breath when Kara follows, and then Barry, after a brief moment of hesitation follows as well.
"See, you were wrong about me. I might not be perfect. But I can learn to try and be better. In the right hands."
Symbols flash to light on the tower and Felicity's eyes roll into the back of her head. Everything around her looks beautiful and eerie at the same time as finally, Felicity understands.
X-X-X
Black Canary, Speedy, Supergirl, Jesse Quick, Impulse, and Flash stand on the outside of the tower. The tower explodes into a shower of purple light. Light beams up into space and several small crystal fragments littler on the ground.
The group stands around in a state of abject shock. None of them can bring themselves to say what's going on although the obvious thoughts enter their mind.
ARGUS backs off to observe the tower. Barry takes in a deep breath and Kara puts a hand on one with Iris taking his other hand. Time stands still before Kara breaks the silence.
"Let Rao be with you."
Small crystal fragments shimmer through the hole as they all all pay their respects to a fallen woman.
To Be Continued on July 11th, 2018.
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