Hey, guys. Back again. I know these updates are coming fast, but I had a day off of work, so I was able to write a lot. Plus, I want to get this story finished up so I can continue with my Harry Potter story I'm working on, and get started on the sequel to this.
Onward to the chapter!
Chapter 36- Distraction
"Have you found any sign of him?" Barry asks Harry and Cisco.
"Still nothing," Cisco says.
Barry sighs then speaks up. "Jocasta. Anything to add?"
"Nothing, Mr. Allen. I don't have access to resources that would enable me to scan a large enough area to attempt to locate them," Jocasta replies. Some of them still find it unnverving to hear Jocasta's voice come out of nowhere.
"Ugh. Come on. Grodd is a giant gorilla, who's probably leading an army of giant gorillas. How can he be so hard to find?" Barry asks.
"He probably found a way to scramble our satellites. We're taking about a genius super ape here," Cisco says.
"And a master strategist who successfully fooled us on my Earth," Harry adds.
"Yeah. We Wellses, we don't fool easily, do we, hard hat?" HR asks with chuckle.
"Don't call me hard hat," Harry shoots at him snidely.
"We have to find him before he hurts somebody else," Barry says.
"Don't worry, Barry. We will," Iris says as she rests a hand on his arm. Barry feels a little guilty she's still under the impression they're together, but since Gypsy showed up, Barry decided it's more important to focus on Grodd than on telling her.
"Every time I think we've beaten him, he comes back stronger, smarter, and more dangerous. He's evolving," Barry says.
"Sounds disturbingly like Ultron," Clint adds.
"Yeah. But this time, we don't have someone like Vision to enable us to stop him for good," Barry says.
"We need to start thinking outside the box. Clearly, ways you've tried to beat him in the past haven't worked. We need to start thinking of new plans," Bucky says.
"We need to get ahead of him. He says he thinks ahead. We need to think further ahead," Barry says.
"We can. You've seen the future. You know there's an attack. If we can just figure out where that attack happens..." Harry says.
"We can get in the first strike and stop the attack before it starts," Clint finishes, starting to realize what Harry is getting at.
"And fortunately, we have someone who can forsee future events," Harry says, resting a hand on Cisco's shoulder.
"Before they happen," HR adds, also put his hand on Cisco's shoulder.
"Okay. Okay," Cisco says as he shakes himself out of their grip, "There's only one problem. I can only vibe what Barry saw. A ticker on the side of a bus stop doesn't give us much info."
"What if we widen the scope of your vibe? Then you can see more of the future," Caitlin suggests.
Harry snaps his fingers and says, "Yes. I can do that. Just need to borrow your vibe gear."
"Hey. It's my only pair," Cisco protests as Harry starts to walk away.
"I'll be careful," Harry says.
"It's my only pair," Cisco says again in protest.
Harry just ignores him and says, "West, come with me. You have an engineer's mind."
"Sure. Happy to help," Wally says, looking confused, before following Harry out of the cortex.
"We're gonna need extra help. Can you talk to Joe and see if he can rally CCPD?" Barry asks Iris.
"Yeah, I'll let him know an army of sentient gorillas is about to storm the city. He'll love that," she responds before turning to leave.
"What about Gypsy?" Caitlin asks.
"Nah. I'm not going after her," Cisco says. They had decided to let Gypsy go back to Earth-19 after she had told them about Grodd capturing her. Cisco had tried to convince her to stay, but she said she wanted nothing to do with a monster like Grodd. So, they had let her go.
"Don't worry. We can do it. We've got me, Wally, Jesse, Cisco, and you if necessary. Plus, we've got Clint here now," Barry says.
"What about me?" Bucky asks in protest.
"I need you to stay here and keep an eye on Laurel. I don't trust her to try and help us yet. If we need to, I'll bring her in, but only as a last resort," Barry says. He then turns to Clint and says, "Wish we could call Cap and the others."
"Yeah. But it's probably best if we don't," Clint says, and Barry nods.
Barry looks around at the team, then says, "Alright, people. Let's get ready."
(Some time later, the breach room)
Barry watches as Harry adjusts some of the equipment around Cisco. As he does, Joe walks in and says, "Okay. SWAT's ready to roll whenever y'all are. We find Grodd yet?"
"We're about to," Barry says as he adjusts something then walks towards Harry and Cisco, asking, "You okay, Cisco?"
"Harry, this thing, if it fries my brain-" Cisco says, but Harry cuts him off with a gruff, "It's an improvement!"
"Was that Rocky?" Cisco asks.
"Yeah, Burgess Meredith," Harry replies. Barry rolls his eyes slightly. Cisco chuckles.
"Word of warning. Vibing blind, it's like surfing a monster wave. You need to stay above the temporal flow, otherwise your consciousness can get sucked under," Harry says, using hand motions to emphasize his point.
Everyone looks concerned, and Caitlin asks, "And then what happens?"
Harry looks at her and says, "I don't know. Guess we'll find out." He then turns to Cisco and activates the device.
"Wait, what?" Cisco asks, right before the vibe hits him.
They all wait a few seconds, then Harry asks, "Where are you, Ramon? What do you see?"
Cisco is quiet for a moment. Then, he says, "I'm at an intersection. State and Oakhill. I think this is where it goes down."
Joe looks concerned. "That's a block away from the bridge. That leads right to the heart of town. If those gorillas get over that bridge..." he says.
"They'll overrun the city in no time," Harry finishes.
"Not if we stop them first," Barry says. He looks at Joe and says, "Let's go."
(Half an hour later, State and Oakhill intersection)
Joe faces the team of police sent to help. "Eyes wide, people. Grodd's army could be here any second, all right?" A round of nods answers him.
He turns around to face Barry, Wally, and Jesse. Barry notices several of the police officers are staring at the Iron Flash suit.
"There's no sign of them," Wally says as they walk over to Joe.
"You sure this is the right place?" Joe asks them.
"According to Cisco, this is it," Barry answers.
"Was it the right time?" Jesse asks.
In that moment, Barry recognizes their mistake. "We're too early," he says.
For a moment, there's relative silence. Then, behind him, Barry hears Joe say in a deeper than normal voice, "No, Flash." Barry turns to face Joe as Joe says, "Too late."
Barry, Wally, and Jesse all look at Joe, and Barry says, "Grodd."
"I remember. This human is important to you," Joe-Grodd says, then pulls out his pistol and raises it to his head as he says, "Now...he's all mine."
"No! Don't hurt him. I'm the one you want. Right?" Barry says desperately.
"I warned you, Flash. And now, I'm here on First Earth to make good on my promise. And when I'm finished, this city, and all the puny humans, will die," Joe-Grodd says. He then gets a fierce look on his face as he holds the gun closer to his head. And then, in slow motion to Barry, he pulls the trigger.
"No!" Barry yells as he runs to Joe. In a move just like the one T'Challa intended to use on Zemo, Barry races up and shoves his hand between the bullet and Joe's head. The bullet bounces right off the vibranium gauntlet.
"Joe!" Wally gasps as he hurries up to Joe. Joe is gasping, highly stressed by what just happened.
"Thank you, Shuri," Barry whispers under his breath.
"I don't get it. How is attacking Detective Joe West a part of Grodd's plan?" Wally asks.
"It's not. It was a distraction," Barry says, silently cursing himself for allowing himself to be distracted like this.
(Across town)
On the other side of Central City, an SUV driven by a sergeant is driving through Central City, with Air Force General Matthew McNally in the backseat.
"I don't care if Senator Ford is having doubts. If the secretary doesn't approve that budget first thing in the morning, we're gonna have to make some major cuts-" the general says over the phone, only to be cut off when something hits the vehicle and it comes skidding to a stop, throwing McNally forward and onto the floor of the car.
Groaning, McNally demands, "What the h*** was that?"
The vehicle shakes. Then, without warning, the roof is ripped away, revealing Grodd, who roars into the vehicle. General McNally looks up at Grodd in terror as the massive gorilla reaches down to grab him.
(Later, STAR Labs breach room)
Barry stands next to Caitlin in the breach room, looking at Joe. Following an idea from Harry, Harry and Cisco had put together a helmet of special magnets to try and see if they could try to get Joe to maybe access Grodd's memories he may have left behind in Joe.
Thoughts are also running through his head about Iris. She had approached him earlier in the hall after they come up with this magnet idea, asking him if he was okay. She was trying to be the loving girlfriend, but Barry had carefully kept a distance between them. Still, he felt Iris was starting to get suspicious. He had managed to get away from her, but promised himself he would tell her once this was all over.
"So, all you have to do is concentrate on your memories of Grodd, okay?" Harry says.
"Yeah, that won't be a problem," Joe says, clear he's still shaken by what happened earlier.
Suddenly, Barry hears, "Hey, dead man."
Everyone turns to see Jesse walking into the breach room. She looks at Harry in irritation and demands, "Seriously?"
"Hm?" Harry looks at Jesse in confusion.
"You told Wally you were dying?" she questions.
Barry and Caitlin both look at Harry with concern. "Dying?" Caitlin asks.
"You're dying?" Barry asks in concern.
"I didn't say I was, uh...I said I didn't know how much time I have left. None of us-" Harry starts saying.
Jesse cuts him off. "Okay, what is wrong with you? Is there seriously nothing you won't say to get me to stay by your side?"
Harry shakes his head and starts to say, "I don't-" But Jesse cuts him off with, "Look, whatever. I'm moving here. Whether you like it or not." She then storms back out of the breach room.
Harry turns back to Joe and Cisco as he everyone looks at him. "You ready?" he asks Cisco.
"Waiting on you, dead man," Cisco says with a slight smirk.
Joe speaks up, "Hey, if I start to Grodd out at any point, cut the power off immediately."
"Of course," Caitlin says reassuringly.
"All right, Joe, you ready?" Harry asks as Cisco hands him a pencil and paper.
"Yeah," Joe says nervously.
"All right then. So here...we...go," Harry says, and flips the switch to turn on the device.
Joe suddenly looks up and stares straight ahead. Everyone looks at him. Barry waves his hand in front of Joe's face, but Joe doesn't react. Instead, he holds up the paper, loos down at it, and begins to draw.
After a few moments, Caitlin says, "I didn't know he could draw."
"Well, that's the thing. Anybody can actually draw. It's just that some have more developed visual cortex and manual ability, as you know. And right now, these magnets are taking that part of his brain and lightin' it up," Cisco says.
They all watch as the image of a man slowly takes shape on the paper. When he's apparently done, Joe lowers the paper and pencil and just stares straight ahead. Harry powers down the device, and Barry takes the paper out of Joe's hands.
"Well, it worked. Now we have a new problem. We just have to figure out who the h*** this is," Barry says.
I'll end there. I hope this wasn't disappointing.
Next chapter should be a bit longer, and will hopefully finish up the Gorilla City arc (if it doesn't take too long).
I know I skipped part of the episode after Grodd controls Joe, but I didn't feel it was super necessary.
Next chapter should be up later today or tonight. Stay tuned, and please review!