Chapter Thirty-Six
A blur of light passes through the DEO windows and blips Barry inside. He goes as fast as humanly possible until skidding to a stop and landing in front of Alex Danvers. She looks up, this time careful to prevent her notes from dropping onto the ground.
"Hey, Alex."
"Barry."
"So, what can I do for you?"
"I could use your help."
"Of course, that's why I'm here...is everything okay?"
Alex responds with a shake of her head and leads Barry halfway across the room. There's just something in the back of his mind that frustrates him. He really can't put his finger on it just yet, although it's there. He looks over his shoulder to look Alex in the eye.
"We got this transmission, a commercial.."
"A…."
"Just watch."
So Barry watches the screen and watches several alien warriors fight for some kind of sport. The blood-thirsty fans cheer wildly, pumping their hands up into the air and call for blood. Barry watches, a bit awe struck in places and a bit horrified in more places.
"Wait for it."
"Ladies and gentlemen,coming to outside of the Earth's orbit, War World. On War World, only the strong survive. And on War World, only the biggest, baddest, roughest, toughest people fight in a duel to the death."
A loud round of cheers passes from the fans. Barry grimaces from one of the warriors plunging a spear right through the throat of his enemy. Another one gets decapitated in the shower of blood.
"Be there today to see Earth's champion, one of the last daughters of Krypton, Supergirl...squaring off against the Grand Champion of the Games. Be there to see the bloodshed, the carnage, the mayhem, fun for the entire family."
There's an explosion graphic on the screen before the narrator drops his voice to a lower tone.
"Children get in half price."
Barry twists his head around to turn to Alex.
"How long has she been gone?"
Alex's face falls.
"She left to take care of a meteor which was on its way to the Earth about a week ago. Now I know it's a diversion to get her to get captured and thrown in this War World."
"If I know Kara, she's fighting out of it."
Alex responds with half of a shrug.
"Maybe...but….there's something else there. I don't know what, I don't know how, but I can feel it. There's just something hovering over her head."
Barry figures about as much, but the question was what.
"So, what about J'onn or Kal...are they doing anything about this?"
"J'onn left me in charge to join Kal-El on a mission to Apokolips, there's a civil war breaking out there."
"That seems bad."
"Pretty bad, yes."
Alex does not wish to go into the ins and outs on intergalactic politics. She takes a deep breath, and puts her hand on Barry.
"You're not my last resort, I swear. But, I didn't want you to drag you away from anything that you might be involved. It's just, I have no one else to turn to and Mongul waited to knab her until Kal and J'onn were busy on Apokolips."
"Of course, I'll help."
"Really?"
"Yeah, of course...if you can find me a way up there, I think we can get Kara out of there. Ruin his little show."
"I've been thinking about that. We're a bit short handed here at the DEO, but I've got an idea."
Alex leads the way, hoping to get both herself and Barry up to War World and they would fight from there. It's just that there could be problems when they get up there.
X-X-X
The sounds of loud cheers pound in Kara's ears like drums of war. She repeatedly takes a half of a step into the games and wonders what the hell is going to happen now. She breaths in and breaths out, as Mongul approaches her from behind.
"Ready for your big moment, my child?"
Kara feels sickened at his presence. This disgusting individual profiting off of people tearing each other apart. It's sickening, some of the worst things Kara can really think about.
"No. I'm not playing your game."
"Oh, you will. Remember the threat that I have hanging over your head, Child of Krypton."
Kara recalls it as well. Mongul sets up the power generator with the cannon and points it directly at Earth. She has to fight in his sick games of Earth will face complete and utter annihilation.
"Do you know what will happen if you refuse to give the people what you want?"
"You will blow Earth away."
"Precisely."
Kara hangs her head, her teeth gritting. She steps outside and knows she will be thinking about Mongul the second she steps outside. The loud cheering of the crowd goes even louder, the further she steps into the arena. Kara tries not to hold it against them. They have been born and bred in a culture that encourages them to step into here. She takes a deep breath and walks a little bit further into the arena.
A large blue gladiator with a Mohawk steps into the arena. She walks closer towards him, and the man snorts when approaching Kara. She's not afraid of him, not in the slightest. Her head just beats with energy, her hands curl into a ball. She stands forward and waits for the Mohawk to go towards her.
"Just let's do this."
"Gladly, I've been wanting to rip apart a Kryptonian for ages. It was a pity that your race is so ignorant that you wiped yourself out."
Kara refuses to rise to her opponent's bait. This nasty individual rushes at Kara now that the prematch trash talking had been finished. He takes two swipes of his ax, about ready to take Supergirl's head off. She avoids the attack, blocking it with her hands and smashing him down to the ground. The Girl of Steel zips back and nails him with a couple of rapid fire punches to the side of the head.
The Girl of Steel looks face to face with Mohawk. He swings the ax around. Kara dodges to the left and to the right before coming back up and hitting him full force with an uppercut punch. She cracks him down to the ground.
"Come on, I thought you wanted a fight."
He rushes towards her. The hot blood in Kara's body, anger spurred on by Mongul blackmailing her, flares her eyes up. Kara grabs his ax and pushes the wooden staff into the stomach of Mongul. He pops high into the air. He growls and charges at Kara from a three point stance position.
Dodge, dodge, turn around and kick and Kara smashes him to the ground. She headbutts him in the chest and rocks him completely down to the ground. Kara charges her fist and nails him full flush. Another violent attack and the goon drops to the ground.
Mongul watches from the skybox, grinning broadly. Such violence, really better than sex.
"Supergirl has won her preliminary fight tonight. And will be going on to the main event for a chance to take on the Grand Champion of the Games, the man without peer, the man who has not been able to taste defeat."
"Bring on your Grand Champion. And after I'm done with him, I'll wipe the floor with you too."
Mongul responds with a chuckle.
"Big words for such a little girl."
He sits back and waits for the next step to come. The games just have become. They step out now for a word from their sponsors.
X-X-X
Barry and Alex make their way to the outside point of the gates of War World. That's the easy thing as far as they are concerned. The hard part is getting past the guards.
"And like the Bat said….master your surroundings."
"There's one of those on your Earth too?"
Barry cannot help and smile at Alex's statement alongside of her look of frustration. He cracks his knuckles and makes sure he gets a full view. Three guards on the right and four guards on the left.
"Take those ones on the right, I'll get the ones on the left. And then we'll meet in the center."
Alex nods and loads up her gun. She knows how to line them up and take them all out in one swift shot. She moves quickly into position and prepares to attack. Alex knows what she has to do right about now.
Two shots take out the first two guards before the third guard is able to turn his head. The third guard receives an uppercut punch to the top of the head.
Flash zips back and forth down the hall, knocking all of the guards down like bowling pins. He steps back, drawing in his breath and waiting for the guards to rise.
"There's going to be more?"
"Yes, there's more."
Flash and Alex brace themselves. Alex really does not think that she has enough bullets to drop them and she figures that while Flash can take them out, that might draw a little bit of attention.
A figure wearing black drops down the ceiling and releases a grenade. The hyper loud siren song from the grenade drops them to their hands and knees. The guards, now opened up for an attack, receive a huge beating. The figure clad in black nails her enemy with a running kick to the top of the head, dropping him down to the ground.
A second passes before the figure pulls her hood down and reveals the face of Sara Lance.
"Fancy meeting you here...what are you doing here anyway?"
Flash inclines his head back towards Alex.
"She asked for my help because Supergirl was caught up in the games on War World….and you are…."
"Chasing down an Anachronism, but the rest of the Legends got captured. Not sure if he's going to make them compete in the games or not but….I'm out here on my own and I'm glad you stopped by...because I have an idea how we can get into the control room and shut this entire thing down"
Providing the entire plan does not go south in a hurry, but Sara's trying to stay on the optimistic side of life.
"If my sister…."
Alex just stops. That was pretty sloppy for a government agent and she could almost hit herself, repeatedly and endlessly. She draws in a very deep breath and then keeps her eyes locked onto Sara.
"I know...I know what you're going through. You want to get your sister out of there. The bigger problem is the fact he has a fusion cannon locked on Earth, about ready to blow it to ashes with just a push of the button"
"You're kidding me."
She really wished so, but no.
"No, not about this."
Sara, Barry, and Alex walk down the hallway. There's another big screen showing the upcoming events.
"And still to come Tonight, the Girl of Steel, the Maiden of Might, known as Supergirl will square off against the undefeated grand champion of the games. The Sadistic Speedster, the man of the future, the one and only evil speedster, expect no substitutes, ladies and gentlemen, the Reverse-Flash."
One can cut the tension in the air with the knife. Barry's expression darkens several shades when seeing the Reverse-Flash appear on the screen.
"He's…"
"The Anachronism...he tried to throw us by slipping away to another Earth...and whatever else was chasing him. But, now…."
"He's here. And I'm going to have to deal with him."
Thawne's like a cockroach who keeps rising up. Barry's fist clutched together and a spark of light flashed through his eye. Sara cast a nervous glare in Barry's direction in.
"Focus."
"Right, focus."
X-X-X
One Reverse-Flash runs back and forth, digging his foot into the ground. Mongul's amusement becomes less and less the more he goes back and forth on the ground, wearing it out.
"I swear if you want to wear a hole in my carpet…."
"This is the opponent that you gave me? Superman's distaff counterpart?"
"You said that you wanted competition."
It's true, Thawne's fought through some of the best opponents Mongul claims he has. However, he's sick and tired of fighting a bunch of tin cans, he wants some real competition and he wants the best the universe has to follow.
"I trash everyone that you throw up against me in seconds."
"That's not my fault you have no sense of showmanship."
Mongul leans in to look at his so called star performer. You make someone a star, and he becomes an egocentric bastard. That's the same thing Mongul's seen time and time again, person after person, fighter after fighter. It's very amusing in some respects and extremely frustrating in others.
"Don't forget the deal we made. I do what I can to keep the time wraiths off you and you make me…."
The master of War World rubs his fingers together to make the sign for money.
"And you have one of the premier heroines on this planet. You crush her and you really make a name for herself."
"Superman would have made more of an impact...we have a score to settle...even though he doesn't know about it yet."
To fair, his feud with Superman was professional, while with Flash, it was personal. Thawne steps out to return to the arena. Mongul watches his so called star attraction leave the arena.
"And that's the problem with the likes of him. You make someone into a star, you make them into attraction. And then they think they own the entire world. It's unbelievable."
Mongul checks the security sectors. So far, nothing good, other than a glitch on Sector 4. He claps his hand.
"Check out Sector 4. I don't want any surprises."
"Right, Master."
His henchman walks off and leaves Mongul deep in his own recollections. He has some ideas of where to go next. It's only a matter of time to see his big championship fight.
X-X-X
Supergirl tries not to allow this sick and twisted game to drag her right down the rabbit hole. The cheers of the crowd do intoxicate a person and she's no exception to this rule. She tries to not let it get to her.
This is being loved for all of the wrong reasons, no matter how sickening it is. She takes a half of a step out into the area. The loud roaring echoes.
She watches Mongul rise from his sky box. Boy would she like nothing better than to wrap her hands around his throat and strangle him? Unfortunately, for now, until Kara figures out a way to disable his cannon, she was pretty much sunk. Screwed and not in the fun way either.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to have a good one tonight. You have seen week after week about how our Grand Champion has blitzed through his opponents like an incoming freight train. This time, he's going to step into the ring with Supergirl. And to make sure things are even, I have allowed a moderate amount of yellow sun to filter through this arena. Just enough to make this interesting. After all, our champion wants competition."
The loud boos of Thawne stepping into the arena. Thawne pays no attention to those who are lesser than he is. He steps over the line.
"You."
"Yes, it's me."
"Thought, Flash dealt with you."
Thawne responds with a dark chuckle.
"Without me, there is no him, and without him, there is no me. It's the paradox...I look forward to mailing your ashes back to your cousin."
Kara scoffed. He really did have an ego as big as a small planet.
"Good luck."
Thawne turns in mid-air and sends a blast of lighting at Kara. Kara twirls around and gets behind Thawne. She blocks his attempt to vibrate his hand through her chest and then twists his arm. Kara rapidly nails him with a couple of punches. She sends Thawne crashing down to the ground.
Kara swoops into the air and comes down with an attempted curb stomp. Thawne vibrates through the ground and appears on the other side.
"Unbelievable. Our champion has never been put quite on the defensive like this."
Supergirl's about three steps ahead of Thawne. Not as far as she wants to be, but it's close enough. Kara blasts him down onto the ground.
"Are you going to give up?"
"Are you going to grow a spine and actually kill me?"
The Girl of Steel jumps high into the air and nails him a huge punch. She really is struggling with killing Thawne, given all she's heard he done. There's a small moral part in Kara who says that she should not do it, because descending down to Thawne's level is not a good idea.
There's also a part of her who remembers everything Thawne's done, every sick and twisted moment of his life. Kara zips towards him.
He catches her leg in mid-air. Supergirl kicks high into the air and smashes him directly in the face. She knocks him down with multiple punches on the face.
Thawne drops to his knee. Suddenly, Thawne vibrates through the ground and then goes behind Supergirl. He reaches into his suit and pulls out a piece of Green Kryptonite out of his sleeve before stabbing it into her shoulder.
"Hey, that's…."
The burning sensation rips through her body. Pain beyond all pleasure and Supergirl is weak as a drowned kitten. Thawne knocks Supergirl down to the ground and curb stomps her. The Kryptonite weakens her body. Thawne lifts Kara up by the hair and slams her against the wall.
"Nothing is illegal in War World, little girl."
Kara learns that and finds that he's seconds away from vibrating through her chest and rupturing her heart.
"And now, the Reverse-Flash goes in for the kill."
A super fast blur comes in and nails Reverse-Flash, knocking him back several feet. The sadistic speedster does a forward roll and slides to a standing position.
"And so it's come to this...well...I'm glad you're here, Flash."
He would be able to humiliate Flash with the entire universe watching.
X-X-X
Mongul watches, a bit disappointed at the fact that he was denied a violent kill. Yet, elation hits the Master of War World when taking a good long look at what's before him.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we're in for a rare treat. Flash has come into the games to fight his mortal nemesis. Truly, we have been blessed with a battle for the ages!"
The bloodthirsty occupants of the arena get louder and louder at the thought of seeing a battle between two fierce rivals. Mongul smiles. This will most certainly get the most number of eyeballs watching from throughout the galaxy.
"I don't want a good clean fight. Let's get it on!"
Everyone explodes into a large and raucous round of cheers. Mongul appears and smiles as Reverse-Flash and Flash circle each other.
X-X-X
"You really let him made a spectacle about you of you, Thawne?"
"Well, hero, you let the people make a spectacle out of you every time you put on that suit. I don't think someone who lives in such a glass house should be able to throw a stone."
The Fastest Man Alive goes face to face with his doppleganger. The two circle each other prior to rushing each other. Two multi-color blasts of lightning fire at each other from one side of the area. Flash and Reverse-Flash connect to each other and drop down to their knees.
Flash rolls over and dodges Reverse-Flash. He avoids an attack with a crackle of light coming from his fingers. The Reverse-Flash blocks his punch and then locks knuckles from him.
"You know something. I will make a spectacle out of this. Destroying and exposing you with the entire universe watching. It's going to be glorious, isn't it, Barry?"
"Yeah, I can hardly wait."
Barry zips underneath the Reverse-Flash and knocks him down to the ground. The Fastest Man Alive does a forward roll and goes for a punch. Thawne blocks it. The two circle each other and knock them high into the air. Barry zips behind his adversary and the two swing a double punch at each other. Both of them block their punches. They zip back and forth, bouncing off each other, evenly matched.
"You know something. There's one thing that I'm sick of."
Flash moves across the arena and Reverse-Flash follows him. The two run up the walls, throwing punches and lightning at each other.
"I'm sick and tired of dealing with evil speedsters. All the time...you all have a God complex!"
'Oh, if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black!"
Reverse-Flash whips his enemy out of the air and knocks him down onto the ground.
"I'm the original. It's not my fault that your enemies are so uncreative they can't find a new gimmick to go after you."
The Reverse-Flash and Flash dive at each other. Their knuckles lock each other. Their friction spreads through their bodies. Barry pushes and Thawne pushes back.
"And I'm sick of you."
"Oh, are you going to do something about t?"
Barry flips over onto the ground. Thawne attempts to vibrate him through the ground. Barry dodges the attack and comes back to a standing position. Several more lightning strikes comes in his general direction. Barry dodges three of the strikes and comes back with another strike of his own. The Speedster avoids the attack and comes down onto the top of the Reverse-Flash's head.
They drop down onto the ground, with dodging Thawne's attempt to put a fist through his head.
"You could have killed me all of these times...but you know something...you can't…."
"Don't tempt yourself….I'm already a paradox."
"But, what meaning would you have if you killed me? The Reverse-Flash would be nothing with the Flash."
Thawne whips Barry into the wall and comes at him in full force. His attacks are less deliberate, less calculated. Barry hit a very raw nerve, questioning his self worth.
"Everything you've done, it's been defined by your hatred of me. If I'm gone, then where would you be?"
"Don't you try and get inside my head!"
Thawne smashes the side of the wall and makes sure Barry's knees almost collapse down underneath him. He takes a couple of deep breaths with Thawne curling up his fist and attempting to smash Barry into the wall. The two lock knuckle to knuckle with each other, with Barry curling his hand underneath Thawne's and launching him into the wall. He smashes his adversary down hard, rattling him from the impact.
"And yet, I've been here this entire time. Because without me, you're nothing."
"STOP!"
Thawne blasts Barry halfway across the arena. He starts hurling debris at him. Barry shifts through the debris and avoids it.
"I wouldn't have become this, if you weren't such a disappointment."
Barry blocks a particular large glowing piece of rock from smashing into his head and launches it back.
"And maybe, the biggest disappointment was the one looking back at you in the mirror every day."
This sets Thawne completely over the edge. He rushes towards Barry and dodges the attack. The two blurs connect and knock each other back with a loud explosion.
X-X-X
In a blink of an eye, Barry distracts Thawne, allows Alex and Sara to slip into the area. There's several people imprisoned, about ready for the games by the looks of things.
"This way...it has to be."
"What took you so long?"
Mick greets Sara in his own way. The other members of the Team wait on the outside. Sara just breaks into a smile and she prepares to bust her friends out.
"Just hang tight guys and I'll get you out of there in a second."
Sara fiddles with the dial in an attempt to break them.
"Or maybe a couple of seconds?"
Ray's eyes shift over.
"Don't feel bad, I don't know how to work it either…."
"I do. I've come across technology like that before. Just hang tight and I'll get you out of there in a moment."
Alex presses her palm on the cell lock. It takes a little bit of maneuvering to get everything she wants through. The moment passes and she unlocks the cage. That brings a smile to her face.
"Let's go."
No one needed to be told twice. The two sets of cells release the Legends out.
Ray stops short, mouth hanging open.
"Thawne…."
Sara just smiles.
"The Grand Champion is fighting the Flash in the games. And getting knocked around...looks like he pulled Supergirl out of the fire in the nick of time."
Alex will be a lot happier now then when they broke into War World. She's going to give Mongul a piece of her mind.
Ray stops at the edge.
"I hate to be that guy, there's still a giant fusion cannon hovering over the Earth."
A sigh comes from Sara.
"Of course...I have a good idea where that is too….okay, let's move out and then we'll give Flash and Supergirl a hand or two."
The sound of guards coming down the hallway. Sara rolls out a cart, revealing several weapon stolen from the gladiators, including Heatwave's heat gun.
"Looks like Christmas came early."
"And for once, I'm not on the fat man's naughty list."
Heatwave picks up his flame gun and points it at the goons, sending them staggering down the hallway. The loud screams of them retreating puts him in a pretty good mood.
Utter chaos on War World soon follows.
X-X-X
The battle between Reverse-Flash and Flash kicks up a little bit more. Flash notices something out of the corner of his eye. Some sort of shield which has a connection to the Reverse-Flash. In his mind, Barry calculates all of the possibilities and believes that it might be something he can use, at least he hopes.
"Come on, have you gotten slower since the last time that we met?"
Reverse-Flash picks up speed and whirls his hand around, nailing Barry with some rapid fire punches. The bolts of lightning fly over his shoulder. A couple of seconds pass prior to Barry dropping down on one knee to the ground. The Reverse-Flash goes as fast as he can.
The more speed he picks up, the more Barry braces himself. He has a micro-second to react. The Reverse-Flash swings out and Flash catches his arm.
"A brilliant move by Flash."
Thawne realizes seconds later it's not so brilliant. Flash twists his arm around and forces the shield to shatter. The seconds pass with Thawne moving backwards and realizing.
"Do you realize what you've done?"
Flash breaks out into a smile.
"Run, Eobard, run."
The rip between time and space opens up and several time wraiths come out, including the Black Flash himself. He stops and snarls at Barry when passing through the barrier. Thawne rises up and goes for a huge swing, but he cannot take them out.
Barry moves over and helps Kara to her feet.
"You okay?"
"Yeah...Kryptonite didn't really get too deep...it's going to be sore for a few days."
"And now, Flash has won. And he will stay here in the games...but to end tonight's festivities off with a big bang…"
Mongul pulls the trigger up. Barry calculates the distance and speed he's going to need.
"Watch at this Earth goes up in smoke."
The Fastest Man Alive zips high into the air and races. Seconds before Mongul slams on the detonator, Barry rips it from his hands and throws him all the way down off of his sky box.
Mongul presses his thumb against his hand, realizing perhaps not too soon that the detonator is not in his hand. He turns around just in time to get a rocket powered punch from Supergirl He drops to the ground and screams in agony.
"You can't do this to me."
"Show's over, Mongul."
"SUPERGIRL! SUPERGIRL! SUPERGIRL!"
The Legends along with Alex move their way out. Mongul finds himself surrounded by these heroes, along with his own blood-thirsty patrons.
"No! You can't cheer them. You can't…."
Mongul drops down from another punch from Supergirl and he drops face first into the dirt. Kara smiles widely and brightly as she makes sure to wave Alex over to slap a dampener on Mongul.
"I'm sure we can find a cell deep enough where you'd be at home."
Mongul responds with a hideous howl in response. Supergirl and Flash drag him up and present him to his formally adoring fans.
X-X-X
"And now War World has been dismantled...we can breath a little bit easier."
Sara, after making sure the rest of the Legends were safe on the Waverider, walks over. She joins Barry, Kara, and Alex. Mongul's already been put into DEO custody.
"Your team alright?"
Supergirl's question results in Sara smiling in response.
"We've had worse."
"I'll take your word for it."
"You should."
Alex takes a deep sigh. Boy has she had days like that before. Things could have been a whole lot better, or they could have had a lot worse.
Hopefully, Superman and J'onn will be able to get back soon, and Alex is really glad how she's able to handle things well. She's just glad Barry's able to help her.
"So, how about it? Before I go back to the future, how about the four of us get together for a drink?"
Kara smiles.
"Sure, I could use one."
Barry gives Sara a nod of acknowledgement.
"You know that I'm game."
They all turn to Alex who slumps her shoulders in response.
"Sorry, I can't….have to go to the DEO….file a lot of reports."
Sara cannot help and make a small jab at Alex's statement.
"Are you sure that you're not married to your job?"
Alex returns fire with statement of her own. With Barry and Kara viewing the interplay with knowing smiles on their faces.
"You know, I just might be. Granted, it's a rocky one, but we make it work, sometimes."
She turns and stops before looking back at them.
"See you around, sometime."
"Oh, I can make the time."
Sara watches Alex retreat down the hallway. She decides to turn her attention towards Supergirl and gives her a smile of mischief.
"So, when's the last time…."
"None of my business."
Kara's curt statement indicates that Sara's just going to have to let this one gone.
"So, how about you?"
"Thawne's gone...again...but he's like a cockroach."
Sara pushes open the doors and leads Kara and Barry outside.
"Yeah...you really look like you can use that drink after fighting him."
A drink at the very least. The image of Thawne popping back up enters Barry's mind and haunts it constantly. He knows that there will be a matter of time before Thawne returns, and Barry's going to need to be ready.
There's other threats there and Barry intends not to get dominated by the ghosts of his past.
"I know of a good place."
Sara motions casually to the side and takes Kara's hand. Barry speeds up behind them and the three of them disappear into the night.
To Be Continued on 10/5/2018
Thanks for the support, and I'll see you in the next chapter.