Chapter Eighteen: The Diversion
"Why isn't it working?" Barry hissed, fingers prying into the inner workings of Victor's circuits. "I'm sure that I've done everything right..."
Despite his certainty, Cyborg didn't show even a flicker of life. He was still completely shut down. Not even the small human part of his face would open its eye.
"He upgraded himself a couple weeks ago." Wally recalled, stepping towards the older man and shooing him away. "Lemme have a look."
Wally examined Victor's internal circuitry, looking for two specific nodes to cross in order to initiate an emergency reboot. "So... where were you when this was happening, Dick?"
Nightwing was sitting on the pizza stained couch, checking over Starfire for any serious injuries. He frowned. "They knocked me out before they left the tower."
"Oh, they ran into you? Well why didn't they just put you under Yan's control as well?" Wally continued.
"I was trained to resist negative temptations. Maybe she simply couldn't." Dick replied with an overly confident air around him.
Barry snorted. That was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. The sound sent Dick's already displeased expression into a scowl.
"It's safe to assume that Yan simply thought that he was inadequate." Mineko answered a little too honestly. "He lacks any special abilities that could prove useful in an attack."
This time, Barry's suppressed laugh came bursting from his throat. He wheezed, took a deep breath, then started laughing again.
"Hey! I could do some damage!" Dick snapped.
"Like hit a few lamp posts with those little stick of yours?" Wally cackled.
"They're called Escrima Sticks, Flash boy." Dick snapped back, and this seemed like enough to shut Wally up.
"Yan is not interested in your trinkets." Mineko explained. "It would make little difference to her."
"Yeah, right!" Dick said completely and utterly offended. "I've trained for years with these things! I know how to use them better than anyone else could even dream!"
Mineko shook her head. "Your knowledge wouldn't matter. When Yan's controlling you she can only use you to her own knowledge's extent. She won't know any of your training, nor how to use your weapons. It's why she targets Metahumans. Fighting with detailed techniques is far more difficult than just setting something on fire."
"Oh, so you're saying that my sheer amount of talent is too much for her?" Dick boasted proudly, his annoyance all but disappearing.
"I... suppose?" Mineko sighed. "If you want to put it that way..."
"I do." Dick smirked over at Wally who, though he had his back turned, could feel the man's smug expression directed towards him. "You might want to be kinder to me in the future. I am the leader of the Titans, after all. I could kick you out of the team if I wanted."
"You're the leader because you can't do anything else..." Wally muttered under his breath bitterly.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all." Wally said dismissively, turning around and straightening his back until it gave a satisfying crack. "I think I got the big guy working again."
With one final knock over his metallic head, Cyborg's red eye flickered to life. The hum of machinery filled the air as certain as a human's breath, then finally, Victor's second eye flickered open. It took several seconds for his entire body to reboot and for him to assess the current situation.
"Hey, how ya feelin' buddy?" Wally asked with a firm pat on his metallic shoulder.
"I..." Victor's processors hissed loudly from his skull. "What happened?"
"You were brain washed by a new gang leader." Barry explained simply. "You and the rest of the Titans... Well, with the exception of Wally and Dick."
Dick grumbled something inaudible under his breath, but Wally simply shrugged.
"She used the team to destroy parts of the city." Barry continued. "Most people that she gains control over have no recollection of it. I was hoping that you'd be different."
Victor froze, then the whistling of his mechanics grew louder.
"Is he shutting down again?" Mineko asked curiously.
"No. He's searching his memory banks. Probably reviewing them to gather as much information as he can." Wally answered. "He records everything he sees automatically. Nothing gets passed him."
"We were a distraction." Victor suddenly cut through the conversation, gaining everyone's attention.
"You-...what?" Barry mused.
"These Danketsu guys...they used us to divert attention away from what they were up to at the United Nations Building at the other side of town." Cyborg told the team.
Barry widened his eyes. "There was an international summit going on there... Are you saying that the Danketsu just sunk its teeth into thousands of politicians from around the world?"
Victor rolled his shoulders back and forth as he stood. "Well...yeah."
"That's... not good." Barry sighed, hand shooting up to rub his chin and legs beginning to pace around the room. "Yan has almost unlimited reach now. She could take anyone without any trouble. She could build alliances, paint anyone as criminals or start wars with a thought."
The entire room was filled with nothing but silence. They all exchanged frightened glances, searching for a solution that couldn't be found. They had taken too long to find her, and now it was going to be almost impossible to stop her authority from spreading.
"We'll need everyone at their best if we're to take her on." Dick suddenly spoke. "I'll explain the situation to the Titans once they're all conscious, but you should go find the Justice League. They'll want to know about this."
Barry's shoulders slumped. "It's always something... I'll never get to order that take-out."
"You've already eaten all our food." Dick scoffed. "One speedster in here is enough."
"I've got a high metabolism, alright? Running all over the globe works up an appetite." Barry explained.
"We can order that cheesy bread once we speak to the League." Mineko reassured.
Barry found himself unintentionally smiling at the woman. Despite the awkward situation they were in, he couldn't help but feel a little less burdened with her around. Maybe because she was constantly distracted by a modern device, or the way she always seemed confident that they would catch Yan.
"Yeah, pizza sounds good." Barry said softly as he reached his hand out towards her. "Come on, we'd better get going."
Mineko returned the smile, and he only just realised how much it brightened her face - perhaps because she didn't smile very often. It transformed her from someone strict and slightly scary, to someone warm and welcoming. Butterflies escaped from the pit of his stomach and the sun had somehow toppled down from the sky and made a home right there in his chest. Something told him it had been there for a while. The rush of emotion startled him and he felt himself retract his outstretched hand before Mineko had the chance to grab it.
"On second thought...maybe Wally should take you again." He murmured lowly and the smile fell from Mineko's face as quickly as it had come.
"What? Why me?" Wally whined. "She's twice my height, it'd be easier for you to take her."
Barry had heard this, but bolted away before a reply was required. Mineko stared at where he had once been standing, confused by his behaviour.
"Wait a second! You can't run away from me!" Wally yelled after him. "I'll...uh...be right back, Mineko."
With that, Wally vanished as well. The dark eyed woman glanced around the room. Four Titans were still completely unconscious, Dick was still looking over Starfire, and Cyborg's metallic footsteps echoed throughout the room as he left.
"Were they lying about Hal throwing Starfire into a Supernova?" Dick suddenly asked with a tone of annoyance.
The woman shook her head. "I was quite surprised that she survived."
"That's nothing for her." Dick sighed. "Still...he could've tried to be a little more careful."
"You want to 'be careful' with a Tamaranean?" Cyborg called from the other room. "Good luck."
By the time it took this conversation to end, the chase between Barry and Wally was long over. The Flash had come to a complete halt outside the Hall of Justice, granting Wally enough time to catch up.
"That's...right..." Wally huffed, obviously not as accustomed to the speed force as Barry was. He had needed to push himself beyond his own limits just to keep up with him. "Think you can...get away from me?"
"If my intention was to outrun you, then you never would've caught up." Barry stated honestly.
"Why do you always have to make me sound so uncool?"
"You do that all by yourself, Wally." Barry managed a playful smirk in his friends direction but it didn't stay very long. "You should go get Mineko. We might need her."
"What's your deal with her anyway?" Wally insisted. He had noticed the change in attitude towards her almost instantly, and quite frankly, it was starting to make him uncomfortable. "Did she break your Star Trek discs or something?"
"It's nothing like that." Barry said honestly.
"Then what is it?"
Barry contemplated what exactly he should say, and whether a matter this personal should be revealed to someone as big-mouthed as Wally. He had never been very competent at keeping conversations private.
"She..." Barry ran his fingers through his windswept hair and exhaled sharply. "She has feelings for me...you know, like real feelings."
"So what?" Wally shrugged. "Is that what this is about? It doesn't sound like much of a dilemma."
"Maybe you just don't understand what I'm saying..."
"I'm not an idiot, contrary to popular belief. She likes you, as more than a friend, so what's the problem?"
Barry was gobsmacked. He had to wonder if Wally remembered what happened to Iris, or their multiple conversations afterward. He simply didn't understand how the younger man could be so calm about this.
"Do I really have to tell you the problem?" Barry asked, staring him down as if this would somehow help him remember.
"Yeah, you might." Wally met his gaze without the slightest falter. "If you're not interested just tell her that and move on. It's not that hard."
"B-But I-"
"But you are interested, aren't you?" Wally said with absolute certainty.
"N-No, that's not-"
"You can lie to yourself, Barry, but you can't lie to me." Wally interrupted him again. "You're pretty easy to read."
"There's only one person I could be with like that, and she's gone...because of me."
"No, because of some evil prick. You've gotta know by now that it wasn't your fault." Wally's expression softened and he placed a hand comfortingly on Barry's shoulder. "You think that dating someone else will automatically erase your feelings for Iris. It won't. You loved her, and she loved you. Nothing can change that. She wouldn't want you to mourn forever."
Barry stared silently at the Hall of Justice, it was big enough to provide a necessary distraction from Wally's sincerity. It was always difficult to take him seriously, especially when he was right.
"You know, you probably haven't noticed... maybe because you don't want to." Wally started, following Barry's gaze to the building longingly. His ultimate goal was to be accepted as part of the League. "But you understand every single word she says now, to the point where you start explaining it to others. You get all sulky when she's not around as well. I think you've got a soft spot for her oddness."
"She's not odd... she's just-" Barry cut himself off and crossed his arms. "Well, yeah. She's pretty weird."
"The point is that you should give it a shot, if you feel the same way."
"It's just... so inconvenient." Barry finally averted his gaze from the structure, and instead, shifted his stare to the ground. "On the slight chance that we actually stop Yan, she'll have to return to her own time. It'll be hard enough without feelings getting in the way."
"I don't think feelings are ever convenient." Wally shrugged. "I know you though, Barry, you'd regret it if she left without knowing."
They stood there in silence for a number of minutes. It wasn't one of those uncomfortable silences that left you cringing at the very memory of. It was a silence between friends, both understanding what the other was thinking without the need for words, and both allowing the passing time to clear their minds.
A lingering shadow began to fall upon the Hall of Justice, and eventually reached its spindly fingers towards the two men. As if on cue, Wally's stomach rumbled loudly and he hunched over with a groan. Barry would have laughed, but he was feeling the same pangs of hunger that his friend was experiencing.
"Hey, you wanna go get Mineko now?" Wally asked desperately. "I don't exactly want to carry her again, she's way heavier than she looks... and she won't be happy if we order pizza without her."
Barry took one more second to consider it. He still wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to do about their mutual feelings, but picking her up instead of making Wally do it seemed like a good start. "Alright. Wait here, I'll be back in a flash."
Wally's responding sigh echoed long after Barry had left. "Can't believe he still uses that line..."