A/N: No intro, I'm just gonna get onto the chapter. Quick note: for those of you expecting the Ghost Rider, he won't be appearing in this story. Don't get me wrong, I love the Ghost Rider. He's an amazing character on the show and the fact that we didn't get more of him is pure injustice. However, if Ghost Rider was here, then Savitar, Alchemy and the Cult of Savitar would be defeated easily as Robbie would just kill them all with pure ease. I can't exactly have the story be that short, so no Ghost Rider. Sorry.
Note: I've changed up the timeline in this story a bit. Instead of Barry arriving on Earth 616 in August 20, 2016 he came on June 20, 2016. Also, instead of the present day (as of now) being September 20, 2016, it's August 20, 2016.
Note: This story will be split into two arcs: One: The Savitar Arc (this one) and Two: The Framework Arc, this arc will be much longer and it may or may not include the arrival of one or maybe even two guest villains from Earth 1.
Night
Los Angeles, California
At night, in Los Angeles, California, a black Ford truck drove through the streets. Multiple weapons were hidden in its trunk and inside the vehicle were four different members (Trevor, John, Jacob and Will) of the Watchdogs, a mob-like organization hellbent on wiping out the Inhumans from the face of the earth. The men continued driving through the empty street, their headlights flashing through the night, revealing their pathway. Suddenly, a vibration wave hit the car as it was sent swerving onto the road. A tire burst with a loud pop! sound as the car crashed right next to a pawn shop, the glass of the shop and the car both breaking at once. Jacob, John, Trevor and Will slowly got out of the car, having been somewhat bruised by their injuries. Each of them grabbed a gun as they stared out to the dark distance.
"Yo, you guys saw that, right?" Will asked, panicking as he shakily held his machine gun.
"Yeah, it's her." John said.
"Who?" Jacob asked curiously.
"Quake." Trevor replied much to the other three men's horror. "Keep your eyes peeled boys, you see something move, shoot it."
The four men then held up their machine guns, their eyes scanning their surroundings, ready to shoot anything that moved by as much as an inch. They weren't taking any chances when it came to a vigilante like Quake, one that was wanted by the Watchdogs. If the men got lucky, they'd apprehend her and turn her over to The Superior, who needless to say would've been pleased. The men held their guns firmly, ready to shoot when suddenly, a vibration flew through the air before hitting Jacob as the Watchdog was sent flying in the air before crashing into the pawn shop, landing on the ground unconsciously. The three remaining men looked out in shock.
"What the hell was that?" John cried out.
"Me." a female voice said as the three men felt chills go down their backs.
John to his left just in time to meet a vibration to send him flying in the air before landing on the ground, unconscious and twenty feet away from the car. Will and Trevor turned to meet the woman, knowing very well who she was. Will, who was closer to the woman, held his gun up to her, ready to fire. However, before he could pull the trigger, the woman slapped his gun away, kneeing him in the stomach before elbowing him in the neck. Will fell to the ground unconsciously as Trevor aimed his gun at the woman, firing at her. The woman took over as she dropped to her knees and front-rolled to the other side of the crashed black Ford truck. Trevor kept his gun in aiming position as he slowly walked towards the other side, then, in a swift movement, Trevor skidded to the right, holding his gun at the empty between the pawn shop and the truck. However he saw nothing, when suddenly a voice echoed behind him.
"Hey." the same female voice echoed.
Trevor turned around just in time to meet two punches to his head as he fell to the ground unconsciously, dropping his gun.
"You guys are too damn slow." Daisy Johnson said as the ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. agent stepped into the light of a street lamp, revealing herself to be dressed in her black, leather Quake suit.
Then, Daisy felt an aching pain in her side as she held it firmly, leaning her back against the Ford truck for support. Daisy looked down to see a hole in her suit and her stomach, blood covered the hole as it slowly trickled down her leather suit. Daisy then pressed her fingers inside the hole before pulling out a bullet as she groaned in pain, dropping the bullet. Over the past few months, Daisy had only been getting sloppier and more inexperienced, courtesy of her fractured arms, which was a result of Daisy 'overusing' her Quake powers, that too without the Quake gauntlets. Suddenly, a white beam of energy struck Daisy as she was sent flying in the air before landing in the middle of the empty road.
Daisy groaned in pain as she kept her elbows on the ground for support, she then noticed a shard of glass, plunged in her body near her bullet injury. She forcefully pulled the blood-filled shard out, crying out in pain before letting it drop onto the ground. Daisy looked up to see a dark, cloaked figure, dressed much like a dementor from Harry Potter. The dark black robes matched the description except for the face, the face was covered with a metal mask and a black hood. Daisy looked up at the masked man in horror as he held a white glowing rock in his hands, presumably what he blasted her with.
"Who the hell are you?" Daisy asked.
"I..." the masked man said. "...am Alchemy. And you, Daisy Johnson, are mine..."
Daisy looked up at the man in confusion.
"Yes," Alchemy continued. "Savitar will be very much pleased with you, Quake. Do remember this will be painful, apologies for any discomfort you feel in advance."
Before Daisy could say anything, Alchemy blasted her with a beam of white energy from the rock, keeping Daisy pinned to the ground. Daisy groaned in pain from the energy as she tried quaking it to defend herself but her arms were too broken to do so. Daisy was defenseless, she could feel herself losing consciousness, the world around slipping and succumbing to complete darkness as she fell to the ground, falling unconsciously. Alchemy abruptly stopped his beam of energy, carefully eyeing the unconscious Daisy. Then, he began walking towards her slowly. Savitar would be pleased with Alchemy's progress, how the God of Speed would have rewarded him was what excited Alchemy the most. All he had to do was deliver this defenseless Inhuman to him and Alchemy would be rewarded. Suddenly, before Alchemy could take another step a flash of orange lightning hit him square in the chest as he was sent flying in the air before landing twenty feet away from Daisy.
Fueled with rage, Alchemy rose to his feet, roaring angrily as he saw a certain man in a black, metal suit of armor standing between him and Daisy's unconscious body.
"Flash." Alchemy gritted.
"Alchemy," Flash growled with the same tone. "How are you here? On this earth? You're back on Earth One."
"There is always an Alchemy to prepare each earth for Savitar's arrival. The Alchemy you know from your earth is different from the one I am."
"Who are you?"
"I am merely a much more powerful Alchemy."
"Doesn't mean I can't kick your ass."
"Your arrogance and recklessness will cost you, Flash. Soon, Savitar will escape the Hell of a prison of which you trapped him in. And when he does, it will be chaos. He will rise to his ascendancy and as he rises, you will fall."
"I wouldn't count on that if I were you."
"You'll have to see for yourself. Until our next meeting, Flash."
Suddenly, the Philosopher's Stone in Alchemy's hands shined a bright, large white light causing Flash to look away as he held up his hand to cover his face from the light. The light then died down and when Flash looked back, Alchemy was gone. He sure wasn't kidding when he said he was more powerful. Flash thought to himself. My Alchemy couldn't have possibly done that. Anyways, I've got to get this 'Quake' girl out of here. Flash then turned around to see Daisy's unconscious body not too far from him. He walked up to her and saw that she was on the ground, unconscious, though he could hear her lightly whispering.
"...just do it..." Daisy breathed. "...kill me...I deserve it."
Daisy wasn't talking to The Flash, she was merely talking in her sleep. Flash knew that but still, he couldn't help but wonder why. Why did this girl, the legendary Quake, want to die? Flash deeply wondered to himself but he didn't have the time, he had to get Daisy out of here and he had to do it now. Flash scooped Daisy up in her arms, one under her back, the other under her knees as he carried her in bridal style. Flash then sped out of the street with a streak of orange lightning, running out of Los Angeles.
Morning
New York City
S.H.I.E.L.D. Base
"...what do we got?" Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Jeffrey Mace asked.
Agents Simmons, Coulson, May, Fitz, Mackenzie, Davis and Piper all stood in the room, spread out across the room as Mace turned around, facing them. There was a glass wall that divided the room into two. On one side the agents and the Director were in the control room and on the other side was a prisoner in a power-dampening cell.
"Well, he's a delivery from our favorite man with super speed." Coulson said, referring to a certain vigilante S.H.I.E.L.D. encountered over two months ago.
"Yeah," Fitz said, looking over a piece of paper. "Looks like our friendly neighborhood speedster also gave us some info on him."
"What's it say?" Simmons wondered.
"Well, his name is Edward Clariss, though he calls himself the Rival. He's..." Fitz' eyes then grew large in shock at what was written.
"What does it say?" Mack asked as everyone in the room eyed Fitz like a hawk.
"...it says he's from an alternate universe. That he somehow came here for The Flash."
"Does it say anything else?" Davis asked.
Fitz flipped the paper, looking at the back of it. "No, nothing else."
"Okay, well," Mace said. "We'll keep him locked up and we'll be able to thanks to that dampening tech. In the meantime, I want to track down The Flash and I want to bring him in."
"Sir," Simmons began. "You mean...arresting him?"
"No, Agent Simmons, I don't want to arrest him. More than that. I want to recruit him."
"You mean make him an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Mack asked.
"Exactly." Mace replied.
"Jeffrey, I don't think our 'Flash' vigilante is the kind of guy who would say 'hell yeah' to that kind of job. He's a vigilante who plays by his own rules. If being a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent meant him having to work by our rules, I don't think that's gonna end very well."
"I agree." a familiar female said as everyone turned around to see Agents Lance Hunter and Bobbi Morse at the door of the room.
"Agent Morse, Agent Hunter," Mace greeted. "Glad to see you could make it."
"Happy to, Director." Hunter said dryly.
"As I was saying," Bobbi continued. "I agree with Agent Coulson. The Flash wants almost nothing to do with S.H.I.E.L.D., this may be the closest relationship we'll ever have with him."
"Why's that?" Mace asked curiously.
"Well, mate," Hunter began. "As you've said before, 'A team that trusts is a team that triumphs.'"
"And I stand by those words, Agent Hunter." Mace pointed out.
"Right, so what's the case with our dear speedy fellow, eh?" Hunter asked as everyone in the room glanced at each other with realizing looks.
"He doesn't trust us." Mack realized.
"Then we earn his trust." Mace said. "We need The Flash on our side, S.H.I.E.L.D. is mere weeks, if not days, away from introducing themselves to the public. If the people are going to trust us-"
"Then we can't a lawless vigilante like The Flash continue operating by himself." Fitz realized.
"However," Simmons said. "This said vigilante does have a positive effect on the world. The crime rate has gone down to historic lows because of The Flash and he's only been here for two months."
"And so," Mace said. "we need a team up with our dear Scarlet Speedster."
Then, at the exact moment, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent came through the door, interrupting the entire meeting as Mace and the rest of the agents noticed her.
"Sir," the agent said. "We've just received footage of Quake, she's been attacked."
Everyone's eyes in the room grew in shock, worried for Daisy.
"Attacked?" Mace asked. The agent nodded. "Attacked by who?"
"We don't know," the agent said. "You'll have to come and see for yourself."
The agent then left the room as Mace and the other agents inside hurriedly followed her out of the room and to the inside Zephyr One. There, behind the many desks and screens, the agents and Mace all watched the security footage. In the footage, it was night and the agents were shocked at seeing Daisy on the ground after being blasted by a white beam of energy, which came from the black-cloaked and masked figure who was standing not too far away from her.
"Who the hell are you?" Daisy asked.
The agents stared at the footage, hoping for Daisy as they continued watching. Mace seemed particularly intrigued by this masked and cloaked figure.
"I..." the masked man said. "...am Alchemy. And you, Daisy Johnson, are mine..."
Daisy looked up at the man in confusion.
"Yes," Alchemy continued. "Savitar will be very much pleased with you, Quake. Do remember this will be painful, apologies for any discomfort you feel in advance."
Then, Alchemy blasted Daisy with a long, continuous beam of white energy, keeping her pinned to the ground as she started losing consciousness.
The agents stared in horror, Coulson and May particularly. May was trembling in worry and Coulson noticed this, he slowly moved his hand to hers as the two firmly locked their hands together.
"C'mon Daisy," May whispered. "Get up and fight."
Alchemy began walking forward, towards the unconscious Daisy, ready to take her.
The agents watched the footage, horrorstruck by what they were seeing.
Suddenly, before Alchemy could take another step a flash of orange lightning hit him square in the chest as he was sent flying in the air before landing twenty feet away from Daisy.
Fueled with rage, Alchemy rose to his feet, roaring angrily as he saw a certain man in a black, metal suit of armor standing between him and Daisy's unconscious body.
"Oh thank god." Simmons said as the agents sighed with relief, knowing very well who had come to Daisy's rescue as they continued watching the footage.
"Flash." Alchemy gritted.
"Alchemy," Flash growled with the same tone. "How are you here? On this earth? You're back on Earth One."
"What the hell is Earth One?" Mack asked.
"Alternate earth?" Fitz suggested.
"There is always an Alchemy to prepare each earth for Savitar's arrival. The Alchemy you know from your earth is different from the one I am."
"So the Multiverse is real." Mace said as Fitz-Simmons stared at the screen in shock.
"Yeah," Mack said. "but who the hell is this 'Savitar' guy?"
"No idea, Mack." Hunter replied, confused just as much as everyone else was.
"Who are you?"
"I am merely a much more powerful Alchemy."
"Doesn't mean I can't kick your ass."
"Your arrogance and recklessness will cost you, Flash. Soon, Savitar will escape the Hell of a prison of which you trapped him in. And when he does, it will be chaos. He will rise to his ascendancy and as he rises, you will fall."
"I wouldn't count on that if I were you."
"You'll have to see for yourself. Until our next meeting, Flash."
Suddenly, the Philosopher's Stone in Alchemy's hands shined a bright, large white light causing Flash to look away as he held up his hand to cover his face from the light. The light then died down and when Flash looked back, Alchemy was gone. Flash then turned around to Daisy as he walked over to her unconscious body, he scooped Daisy up in her arms and ran out of the street in a flash of orange lightning.
The footage ended with a click of a mouse as all the agents looked over to Mace, who was as dumbfounded as they were.
"Okay," Hunter said in soft tone. "What just happened?"
"Well, the Multiverse is real," Simmons said, she and Fitz had looks of excitement on their faces. "And The Flash rescued Daisy, we know she's in good hands."
"We'll take time to celebrate that much later," Mace said. "Now, we have another problem. This Alchemy is here, in our world, and he was another threat with him. One that he mentioned."
"Yeah, some guy named 'Savitar'." May pointed out.
"You think he's also here?" Coulson asked.
"Could be," May said. "The way that 'Alchemy' guy was talking about him, it was as if he was already here."
"Then that's our top priority," Mace said. "Reach out to all your sources, we find this guy, we bring him in and then we go after this...Savitar figure. Taking these two down is our top priority."
"Understood, Director." Simmons said.
Mace then left the main room of the Zephyr One, alongside Davis and Piper, leaving the rest of the agents in the main room.
Bobbi turned to Coulson. "Daisy's gonna be fine, right?"
"She will be," Coulson said. "She's strong, she'll be fine. Besides, it's better that she's with The Flash than with Alchemy...or even us."
"What's got the new Director hating on Daisy so much?" Hunter asked.
"Yeah, if he had his way, he'd let Alchemy kidnap Daisy." Mack said.
"He wants the vigilante Quake out of the public eye, The Flash too." May said.
"So, he's not okay with Quake going around and beating the shit out of criminals," Mack pointed out. "but he's okay if The Flash does it?
"Well, it matters on perspective," Simmons argued as the agents turned to listen to the British scientist. "Quake is a controversial vigilante. One of the most. Some love her, some don't, some hate her and some are afraid of her. With The Flash, it's different. The public loves him-"
"And criminals fear him." Bobbi said.
"Exactly." Simmons said.
"Daisy's been doing this for almost three months now," May pointed out. "The Flash has only been doing it for two."
"Well, they both have different goals." Simmons argued back. "The Flash has the goal of taking down criminals with...very, very violent and lethal use of force. Daisy's is to keep exhausting herself on some mission and get herself killed because of..."
Simmons then slowed down to an immediate stop, not wanting to hit a very sensitive spot for the agents. For a few moments, everyone was silent until Fitz finally spoke up.
"Because of Lincoln's death." Fitz said.
"Yes." Simmons said in a bare whisper.
"Well, either way," Coulson said, snapping everyone back on track. "You heard the Director, we have orders. Let's get to him."
"Got it, boss." Mack replied.
Coulson nodded before walking out of the main room of the Zephyr One, Mack, Bobbi, Hunter and May followed suit as they left the Zephyr One, leaving Fitz and Simmons together. Simmons turned to Fitz as she wrapped her arms around his neck, Fitz held Simmons' waist as the two scientists gazed into each other's eyes.
"We really need to follow on that apartment for us." Fitz said.
"I'll do it tomorrow." Simmons promised.
"You want me to come along?"
"No, it's fine. I'll manage."
"Okay then. I have to go, I need to meet with Radcliffe. He's called me for a project."
Fitz quickly pressed his lips onto Simmons' before the two broke apart and left the Zephyr One.
Elsewhere in New York City
Daisy's eyes slowly peeled open, the room she was in appeared to her in small slivers before she was finally able to fully open her eyes. She found herself laying on some sort of bed, Daisy slowly sat up straight. She found herself to be in her black jeans and black undershirt, her suit was next to her. Daisy rubbed her eyes as she tried to recall what happened to her. Then, it all hit her like a flood. Her fight with the Watchdogs, getting shot, the 'Alchemy' guy trying to kidnap her, The Flash rescuing her. She remembered it all. Then, Daisy pull up her undershirt, looking for her bullet wound on her stomach. When she found it, it was stitched and there was white tissue-like material on it and bandage-like tape holding it in place, she had been bandaged. Daisy reached her hand towards the bandage when she suddenly heard a dark, modulated voice speak.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a dark, modulated voice echoed throughout the room as Daisy held out her arm, ready to Quake the source of it. "I wouldn't do that either. Without your quake gauntlets, your quakes send heavily powered vibrations throughout your body, they've already fractured your arms and I just patched you up. Also, those vibrations from your quakes, they could reach your bullet wound and cause a lot of damage. You would bleed out in seconds."
"Who are you?" Daisy demanded, getting up from the bed.
Suddenly, in dimly-lit and darker parts of the room, shadows moved on their own as a black, metal-armored man stepped into the light and Daisy's field vision. Daisy knew exactly who it was.
"Pleased?" The Flash asked.
"Why'd you rescue me?" Daisy demanded.
"The alternative was letting Alchemy capture you, I saved your life. You're welcome by the way."
"I never said 'Thank you'."
"And you don't have to. What you do have to do, Daisy, is trust me."
"This coming from the man in a mask, who kind of knows everything about me."
Flash gritted his teeth. "Why do I do this to myself?"
Flash then went for his helmet as he took it off, revealing the face of a Caucasian white male with long, thin, black silky hair. Daisy didn't recognize the man, he didn't look familiar to her in any way whatsoever. The man put his helmet on a table nearby as he held his hands in the air, responding to Daisy being in her quaking position.
"My name is Barry Allen," the man said. "You wouldn't recognize me because..."
"Lemme guess, you're from an alternate earth?" Daisy shot.
"I take it you heard my conversation with Alchemy." Barry said, keeping his hands in the air. "Look, long story short, the people you're after, the Watchdogs? They're working with Alchemy and an enemy of mine named Savitar. These people are working together and they tried to kidnap. Now, I've revealed my identity, I patched you up and kept you alive. If it wasn't for me, you would've died back there and if you didn't, you'd be in dangerous hands. I could've kept you tied to chair or restrained in any way but I didn't. I've even revealed my identity to you, what more do you need to trust me?"
Daisy held her hand at Barry shakily, she didn't trust this guy a lot but something in her wanted to, it kept telling her Trust him, trust him. Daisy then slowly lowered her hand as Barry dropped his hands from the air. Barry then walked over to Daisy, standing a mere few feet away from her.
"I need to check your stiches, make sure that they haven't ripped." Barry said.
Daisy nodded. She sat down on the bed and pulled up her undershirt to her chest, revealing her bandaged wound. Barry bent down onto his knees as he pulled the bandage open, revealing the dry, reddish bullet wound on Daisy's stomach side. The wound was sealed, the stiches were holding perfectly and since Barry had managed to remove the bullet, everything was fine. To test the stiches, Barry lightly pressed the stiches with his two fingers, causing Daisy to wince in pain. Barry immediately stopped.
"I'm sorry." Barry said quickly.
"It's okay, you're fine." Daisy assured.
Barry then placed the bandage back onto the stiches as Daisy covered it with her under-shirt.
"The stiches are good," Barry said softly, getting back onto his feet. "Just don't do any sudden or quick movement, we don't want them to rip or tear open."
Barry then turned around and headed to another part of the room when Daisy's voice stopped him.
"Barry." Daisy called out, saying his name had some sort of pleasure to her, she didn't know why.
Barry turned around and faced her. "What?"
"Thank you," Daisy blurted out. "For saving my life back there."
Barry nodded awkwardly. "You're welcome."
Barry then turned around and left the room as he closed the door behind him. Daisy then looked around the room, wondering where she was. She didn't know why but part of her was glad that she met Barry, she'd finally been making a friend in all the time she had gone rogue as Quake. But with new friends and new allies came new enemies, specifically Alchemy and Savitar. Daisy had the feeling that they wouldn't stop until they had her, that this wasn't the last time she'd seen Alchemy, though she secretly hoped that it would be.
Elsewhere
"...right then," Radcliffe said as he eyed the woman in front of him. "Are you ready, AIDA?"
"I am, Dr. Radcliffe." AIDA replied.
"Good, good. I trust the LMD's are ready."
"The process is ninety percent complete."
"Good. Now, all I need is for Fitz to give me the Framework. And he will. I know it."
A/N: That's it for this chapter, I know that not a lot happened, the next few chapters will be more eventful. Not much is going to happen in the Savitar Arc of this story, the main stuff is mainly in the Framework Arc, which will come later. The last scene of this chapter is meant to set up the Framework Arc of this story, which, again, will come later. See you guys in the next chapter. Please review!