Central City
On above a building, sitting quietly, Barry and Shayera are patrolling Barry's city. Currently, there doesn't appear to be anything wrong happening in there. Just the streets blaring with cars and people, and the whistling wind roaming.
"Don't me mind saying, it's been a while Shayera", Barry said.
"We've been on the same table in every meeting the Founding Members have", Shayera recalled.
"Yeah... but I mean like it's never been like... you know... it was just me, you, Clark, John, J'onn, Diana, Bruce, and sometimes Hal when he switch shifts with John. Now it's a whole league of superheroes dealing with particular situations", Barry recalled.
"Things have changed... it has never been the same after what I did to him", Shayera acknowledged.
"With John?", Barry asked.
Hearing it, Shayera glanced Barry. The name reminded Shayera of what she did to him and her friends.
Barry noticed Shayera's look. He awkwardly chuckled. "Sorry... not my business... I understand", Barry said.
Apart of Shayera felt like she wanted to talk about it. What is holding her back?, she wondered.
Somewhere in the world...
Joker makes his way into the darkness. Somebody dwells there. Joker remembered it ago like it was yesterday. To him, the world's just cardboards set everywhere; now as he suffers from his condition, the cardboards slowly scorch. He will eventually lose the torch to outspread. This is now a good opportunity to use it.
According to some unlikely chance, the Joker has found a perfect weapon to assault a city he doesn't need to deal with since he believes it's not worth his time, though it's worth for someone else to finish the job for him. He's looking at it; a rotting, vegetative undead monster who's been crushed and drained as though no soul resides in this long-abandoned shell. "They never saw what you're truly capable of, old friend", the Joker said. "I have... if only you had a mind in this huge shambling form, you'd prove to be very useful...". The Joker finally showed a cold look toward that corpse. "No matter, I have no need for you... just a clone of Solomon Grundy to undertake an important mission". He unfurls his fist wide open as he sends a stream of red energy coating Grundy's dead body. Viewing the process, Joker cackles because he knows cloning Solomon Grundy would be very good for him.
Iron Heights Penitentiary
The prison where many of Flash's rogues are imprisoned, reduced to stones with powers completely zeroed. The expected truth is time is infinite, makes them feel like they're in a perpetual state, forced to shadow their carried anger over the one enemy they all share in common: the fastest man alive. They could be out there, wreaking havoc on the whole city. No. Ought to be sluggishly leaping to following days counting up to boundless days.
These minutes now however demonstrated boundless days aren't exactly genuine once an outsider warps a selected prisoner's life. Enemies of the Flash heard the sound, it implied a riot is happening. Who is doing it?, they don't know. They aren't apart of it. Whoever's planning a jailbreak might either be brave or a special kind of stupid to break into a prison.
On another area, Prison Guards are steadily prepared for what may come. Their only job: guarantee nothing comes in or out of this way. They eared a sound of intense laughter mixed with growls. Not only these sort of trouble them; a tremor continuously shaking them, staggering them. In the period of being shook, they finally perceived a muscular zombie rupturing past them despite every Prison Guard shooting at that thing. They were all shortly defeated.
All inmates felt a sudden earthquake, which surprised them. Every inmate exchanged words about this tremor. What's going on? Is it a jailbreak? Their questions are swiftly answered by a hulking monster leaping up to this station. They had not realised this monster could be back again: Solomon Grundy with a new makeover; a wide smile. Everyone learned Grundy was killed by Hawkgirl. Did Hawkgirl spare him, let him loose without having anyone notice him?
A smiley Grundy rushes on every cell, giving a puff of green smoke, at the same period pulling out bards for the inmates to be free.
Each inmate was forced to breathe in in. They immediately coughed to an extreme degree. They either collapsed on their knees or slammed against a wall, trying to fight for oxygen. The overwhelming green gas started to blacken their balance of things they do, a fine line between maintaining control and losing control, this gas appears to fry it, making it unstable; they are transforming into an unknown thing.
Central City
Flash and Shayera had carried on their conversation until they were both alerted of a disturbance in Iron Heights Penitentiary. They instantly blew off the way to the place that's located near Keystone City.
Iron Heights Penitentiary
Shayera and Flash appeared in front of the prison. Much to their surprise, it's a whole lot different to the breakouts they've seen before. This is an outbreak of clowns prancing around like they have given up themselves, sold their soul to the main clown.
"Anyone called for clown control?", Barry said rhetorically. Iron Heights Penitentiary doesn't stow insane clowns in here. It's not an asylum.
The exiled Thanagarian could've taken a belief Flash was alluding to the main main who could solve this. If only she knew where he was, and what he's doing in present time. She wondered what laid these inmates to be jokerized. Was the Joker the stem to root an army of clowns?
A second later, Shayera discerns Flash entering the building. She didn't bother stopping him. They both have jobs to manage.
Twirling her focus on the clowns, Shayera flies straight toward them. Her way of flying was hampered by a beast from the side brushing Shayera away.
Shayera rolls metres away from where she was hit. She grunted, after landing hard. She looks up, thinking about her apparent opponent. The smoke makes it difficult to see though she could comprehend she's fighting brawn. Her face stayed perpetual like her whole body is frozen, as if her heart's rapid beating became paralysed.
The hulking monster slowly appears out of the smoke. "Born on a Monday. Rhymes with Sunday", this creature sang.
Smoke of blindness around Shayera revealed a shocking revelation. "No...", Shayera cried with the lowest sound of her voice. She was sure he died. Solomon Grundy was dead. That day, the most difficult choice of her life, killing Solomon Grundy, it took everything to break off those jitters and get a sense of direction at what's on the verge of being unleashed. Grundy was dead. She hammered her mace at his head. Shayera is forced to fight him again? She hears this zombie's cackles, and his twisted smile so menacing it struck a better fear than frankenstein.
Speedily, Flash comes inside the building. He stumbles into an all-out madness in here. There are countless clowns swaying as if a whole void was filled up of mindless laughers.
Regardless of increasing amounts, where Barry points, few aren't affected by it yet. Barry quickly brooms them off the area to send them to safety.
Flash quickly returns. He with the Speed Force jumping his motion to high levels sped over to various inmates, putting them back in the cell, and locking each of them.
When he comes back to sorting the other inmates back into their cells, his speed kicks in as the sound of the explosion reaches his ears despite the overwhelming sounds of laughs drowning that sound. Flash watched the breaking of bricks giving way to a sign of danger about to happen to him. Flash enters the world of silence. A strange world. As soon as he got up to speed, the cycles of every sound wave are extended and stretched. As his relative time slows down, he doesn't hear much more than a low hum and his heartbeat. Outside of this strange world, he knows everything is quick for the Flash. Through his perception roaming in this bizarre sphere, Barry sighted arrows shot everywhere. He evades those arrows, at the same time, catching at least two arrows though the others jab a wall.
Returning to a thinner time, Barry turned to look at the archer. Analysing the arrows requires Barry to understand the attacker who shot arrows could be Malcolm Merlyn, one of Green Arrow's enemies, and the catalyst of the explosion. Is he jokerized? Barry ascertains someone like Dark Archer could never fall victim to one of Joker's pets. Apparently, all his rogues who are not usually sharing the same pond with the Joker, are versions of Jokers themselves. The smoke finally clears out, providing Barry a glimpse of a female archer; not Malcolm Merlyn.
The lady grinned as she steadies her arrow directly at Flash.
Much to Barry's shock, he recognises the lady. "Thea?!", Flash exclaimed. She's taken a different wardrobe change, in a way not fitting for her character. She is wearing a short black and red strapped crop top with a star and a diamond on it, a black choker around her neck, black and red fingerless leather gloves, black and red tight latex briefs, and black and red sneakers with pompoms as well as thigh high socks with the same color. Thea Queen would never dress up like that. He knows Thea from the many times Barry worked with his close friend Oliver Queen.
"Thea Queen is on sabbatical, honey", the being in the face of Thea's skin said. She then fired arrows.
Barry avoided much of the arrows but couldn't avoid an arrow landed right in front of him, which exploded, and threw Barry off balance.
The Flash quickly gets up. "If she's not Thea...? Does that mean someone is taking over... her body?", he said inquisitively, wishing to find out how he can shove Thea's inner being back into her own body. Barry snaps off thinking, noticing a few arrows over him. He flashes away, ducking from those explosive arrows.
As he tries to get enough distance before readying to knock the possessed Thea down, he is gusted away; his dwell in speed trembles by a boomerang. Barry wonders who used. He perceived his attack without needing a little more time to think about it; Captain Boomerang.
"G'day", Captain Boomerang said, grinning. "May I join the fun?".
Barry doesn't like this one bit. Infected inmates circling the Flash. He's having doubts of winning. It's not because he won't be able to beat them. It's because gets the feeling he would soon turn into one of them, which he hopes not. If one of Flash's rogues aren't bad, having a speedster is hundreds of times worse.
Outside the prison, Shayera dodging Grundy's hefty punches using her wings to back away each time he throws a fist. Shayera hasn't made the effort on hitting Grundy back. She's ensnared in a birdcage of thoughts about Grundy's rise from death. Of course he is immortal, but he was finally put to rest permanently. Is Grundy seeking out revenge at Hawkgirl for betraying him? Is it because Grundy lost the only friend he really had who betrayed her?
Grundy finally catches Shayera's arm, tossing the Thanagarian to a direction.
Hawkgirl grunted as she plummeted into something. She slowly starts recovering, though that stopped as Grundy kicked Shayera away.
Shayera manages to levitate, dragging herself away from the force of gravity that would've sent her crashing another time. Seeing Grundy about to strike, Shayera blocks his fist with his mace. She felt a sharp shake but hasn't fallen away yet. Shayera doesn't want to hurt him again. But his smile and his persistence on attacking her is coercing her to mull over fighting back.
Grundy throws a barrage of fists over to Shayera's side, making her push back as he gets closer to her. He lands a blow at Shayera's mace as the latter blocked again with that weapon.
Spinning around clockwise to gain enough force, Shayera's mace strikes Grundy to stumble away. She continues to strike again after flying toward him, knocking him backwards. The mace struck Grundy's face, then his body.
The strike of the mace hadn't stopped Grundy from continuing to smile. It really disturbs her. It's as though Grundy enjoys getting hit by that mace.
"Grundy likes to play!", Grundy said, laughing. "Grundy's turn to hurt you".
Shayera flies over to Grundy again, attempting to strike him.
"Grundy smash!", Grundy yelled, striking Shayera away, which caused her to drop the mace.
She laid on ground. Shayera slowly elevated. She shortly realised she's not holding his mace. Recalling where it was, Shayera finds Grundy holding the mace up since it was close to him.
"Grundy will kill Birdnose", Grundy said, walking toward Shayera's side. "Grundy will crush Birdnose!".
Shayera saw Grundy prepared to hit her with her mace. She protects herself with her arms in spite of knowing she will be harmed.
As Grundy almost bangs the Thanagarian, he is suddenly hit by a beam, forcing him flying away.
The winged figure saw it. She looked around, perceiving a familiar man with a helmet and a collared cape. "Fate?", Shayera exclaimed.
"Quickly", Fate said, gesturing Shayera to take her mace back as Grundy lost wielding it.
Shayera flew over to where the mace was. She picks up, then coming to realise this is the direction where Grundy is in, the latter who is getting up.
Dr. Fate creates a portal behind Grundy.
Shayera sights the ankh symbol behind Grundy. It's a portal. Once she ends up right before Grundy, the creature attempts to strike her. Carrying the weight of the force in the mace, Shayera struck Grundy away, causing that monstrosity to fly into that portal.
Finally calm after Grundy was teleported to somewhere, Shayera rotated her head to Dr. Fate who landed near her.
"You may wonder why I intervened", Fate said.
"Grundy died", Shayera recalled. Her head is foggy, unable to understand how would he come back. "How is he back?".
"He wasn't", Dr. Fate revealed. "He's a clone".
Shayera should be glad it wasn't the Grundy who died twice, which was twice the heartbreak for her. She isn't eased after realising which Grundy she fought. This clone Grundy out there would be a threat, especially with that marked smile on his face. "Where did you send the clone?", she asked.
"Where he won't hurt anyone else?", Dr. Fate answered.
Inside the prison, Flash is doing his best to not get harmed. These inmates are his rogues, and they're wielding their respective weapons to try to take out the speedster. Though he's too fast for them, Barry wouldn't want to underestimate anyone on what might transpire. Though he has no trouble knocking the inmates down, he's pondering how he will neutralise Thea, after all, it's her body Flash will hurt, and once Thea gains control, Barry wouldn't want her waking up with a sore limb.
Flash finally fists Boomerang away. That's the first step to easing his frustration with his rogues. He does have to cope with taking down the other rogues. He directs his way on the road to the inmate Weather Wizard who is releasing a spiral cloud covering the interior area.
Some inmates felt it, it begins to slowly push them away until they hurl away.
Flash hauls yellow streak around an insane tornado. As he does, he starts to reduce the impact Weather Wizard is passing around. He runs faster and faster. He increases his speed to higher degrees, creating his reverse hurricane to cancel with Weather Wizard's. As they reach their climax, tornado finally bursts into a heavy breeze of smoke.
Once the Flash returns to a normal state of mind and readiness, he examines the area. Weather Wizard has managed to finish most of the job for Barry with the latter no longer required to put great effort to handle inmates Trickster, Top, Clive Yorkin, Katmos, and a lot of other inmates laying senseless. Not everybody is lying in here similar state. Barry wondered where Thea is.
The area is a little quiet aside from the murmurs, provided Barry more able to hear his surroundings; he hears an arrow shot from behind. The Flash speedily twirls, about to grasp that shooting arrow. What came unexpected is the arrow exploded into purple gas embracing the Flash's face. It was only this little moment Barry discerned that smile, something so evil. This gas swooshes inside Barry. The speedster had no solution to avoid it. He needs oxygen, that's why he breathes, and this breathing was what lays this gas to fill his lungs up. Barry caves into his knees. His chest expands to capacity; he feels like he's going to burst. He hears something laughing, its maniac laughter spreads great agony to Barry.
The mind in Thea reached Barry's frontside as the speedster goggled at her.
"What did you do to me?", Flash questioned.
"Found myself very familiar with archery. Not my suitable angle. This trick arrow is stored with one of your gassy rogues so it can get in those pretty lungs and slowly make you suffer", the being said.
"Kyle Nimbus, the... Mist", the Flash said, finally realising who that gaseous figure was. His lungs are burning; a fire growing inside his chest as his body fights for oxygen. He and Mist are caught. Darkness dances in all around from the edges of his vision. In a seemingly endless cycle, Barry is drowning.
"Shouldn't have wasted your last breath, scarlet-boy", the lady said. A bit of cold sympathy, the user pulls Thea's lips pressing with Flash as the two kiss.
Barry couldn't believe he's kissing Thea. It's not Thea. Just someone inside her, someone Barry needs to remove before Thea gets hurt. Both forces from both evil are trembling in Barry's lungs. Barry vibrating his body blurrily. He willingly gambles his life to do this. Either suffer for longer periods or actually push past his suffering and find a way to beat them. When he runs this time, it is in mindless desperation.
Possessed Thea saw Flash's shuddering motion. Before she could move away, she was not able to do it. She's tightly grasped as the Flash thunderously races forward throughout the prison.
As he runs, Flash's lungs cackle with madness as the Mist relishes what he believes is the death of the Flash.
Flash is searching. There has to be one in prison somewhere. He has to make it. The Mist can't be free, especially considering the free roaming as a clown around this prison if it's the last thing he does. His dying breath must be there.
The being inside Thea experiences major nausea to the point she was about to throw up. She can't hold herself together. Flash has twisted the flow of the game.
The way Flash ran, is the like a spiritual hurricane prowling the whole prison. This gas needed to leave Barry's lungs once and for all. Eventually, all the gas starts to drift out of Barry's lungs with the speedster smashing into a medical bay.
Thea's body is finally laid down.
Speeding around in many places with that burning agony inside Barry's lungs has left the speedster lying the ground as though he's voided the life force. Prior to losing consciousness, Barry takes one last glance at Thea's body, acknowledging that she's finally defeated. Seems his only route to defeating this thing inside Thea was doing this the hard way.
Elsewhere...
A few hours later, Flash wakes up; coming to see he is not in Iron Heights Penitentiary. He quickly got his upper half body up, wondering how long was he out, what happened while he was senseless? Where is he?
"Flash"
A feminine voice calling his name made Flash turn, seeing Shayera coming to his side. "Shayera?", Barry exclaimed. "What...?".
"We're in the medical bay in Watchtower", Shayera answered.
"Watchtower?", Barry exclaimed. "But Iron Heights Penitentiary? The inmates?".
"They've all been taken care of. Most of the inmates that have been infected are taken to S.T.A.R. Labs", Shayera addressed, assuring Barry he doesn't have to worry.
"Are you okay?", Barry asked.
Shayera knew that question might come up. She sighs before starting speaking. "Apart from taking it hard on Grundy's clone appearing out of the blue, I am fine", Shayera assured him.
"A clone?", Barry wondering how could that happen. "I'm sorry I had to leave there with the big guy".
"You have no part to blame. All I know is that copy is somewhere wherever Fate took him there", Shayera said mildly. She then changed the subject, thinking about Flash. "Must've taken quite a strain to resolve a batch of clowns in Iron Heights Penitentiary".
"You'd be glad you weren't breathing some gas burning your lungs up. I almost died. And Thea...", Barry said before pausing, forgetting all about Thea. She was in Iron Heights Penitentiary fighting him. "Where's Thea?".
"Who's Thea?", Shayera asked, confused what made Barry bring up that name.
If Shayera doesn't know Thea was in there that suggests Thea might have escaped. "I need to get to Starling National City", Barry addressed, looking at Shayera. Barry believes something might've happened to Kara and Oliver.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
In the DCAU, Flash and Hawkgirl had this relationship that could be compared to that of siblings where Shayera acts like a big sister to Flash. In this continuity, this version of Flash isn't Wally West, it's Barry Allen as you already know. I wanted to signify their relationship in here.
I also wanted to signify the friendship Green Arrow, Flash and Supergirl have similar to the friendship in the Arrowverse.
When I wanted to include an archer in this chapter for the Flash to face in Iron Heights Penitentiary, I had thoughts about including Malcolm Merlyn. But I felt like that's not the way to go for him. So I instead chose the character, Harley Quinn who took over Thea Queen's body. Thea's archery was due to being trained by her biological father Malcolm Merlyn and her brother Oliver Queen, AKA the Green Arrow.