Nora, Charlie, and Sara sprinted toward the cave's opening. The T-Rex roared and lunged at Nora, who zapped it with a blast of magic smoke just in time to get away. "I don't know why it's so upset!" Charlie panted as she ran. "We're not exactly a match in size!"
"It's because she can't find her egg!" Sara shouted back. "The two of them must have been sent through the rift and dropped in different places!"
"An angry mum, eh? That does explain it." Charlie dove out of the dinosaur's reach, sliding into the sand outside the cave. Nora and Sara ran out after her. They looked up as the large creature stomped out into the sunlight. It kept its eyes fixed on them.
Nora's jaw dropped. It looked even more intimidating out in the open. "Um…nice lizard?" she said nervously.
It roared in response.
Charlie shook her head. "Definitely not a nice lizard."
"John," Sara said into her comms, "please tell me that egg is safe."
"Mona's taking good care of it, love," he replied.
"Good," she said, stepping backward carefully. "Maybe this dinosaur mama will calm down once she finds her missing kid. Head toward our location. Hurry!"
The dinosaur stomped closer and lunged at Sara. She jumped into the air and landed just out of its reach. It followed her. She pulled her batons out of the pockets of her shorts and connected them into a long staff, then stuck one end of it into the sand and used it to swing around, landing a hard kick against the creature's jaw. While it was distracted, Nora recited a spell to hold its legs still, preventing it from moving any closer to her teammates. It turned its head and roared angrily at her, then thrashed its tail back and forth in an attempt to break free.
The T-Rex's tail hit the cliffs, sending several rocks tumbling. Charlie and Sara ducked to avoid them. Nora noticed them a moment later, gasped, and let go of her spell as she did the same. Taking advantage of the situation, the dinosaur quickly spun around and lunged toward Nora, its toothy mouth open wide to attack…
An icy blast hit it in the back of the head, just strong enough to leave a frosty white mark on its scales. It shook its head in confusion, trying to find the source of the strange sensation. Nora ran out of its reach. The three Legends in the sand looked up at the top of the cliff.
"Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?" Leonard Snart asked, pointing his cold gun down from above.
"Snart!" Nora and Charlie exclaimed.
Sara smiled. "Always one for a dramatic entrance, aren't you?"
Mick, Nate, and Zari emerged on top of the cliff beside him. "Not just him," Zari said. She stretched out her hands and created a whirlwind around the T-Rex, blowing sand into its eyes long enough for them to all climb down the rocks and join their fellow Legends. "So, what do we do with a T-Rex in 1966?" Zari asked Sara as she arrived by her side.
"Keep it in one place until Ray shows up with his shrink ray," Sara replied. "We can't let it get near the crowded part of the beach."
Meanwhile, on the Waverider, Ray Palmer enlarged his A.T.O.M. suit and put it on. He strapped in his shrink ray and rift-closing device, then prepared to leave. As he passed through the bridge, he noticed a red blinking light on the timeline map. "Um, Gideon?" he asked, standing at the central console. "What's going on?"
"There appears to be a new aberration in the timeline, Dr. Palmer," the A.I. responded, projecting the image of a newspaper front page over the map.
Ray looked at it, then gasped. "Oh…no…that's bad." He spoke into her comms so that the whole team could hear him, "Guys, we have a situation."
Mick lifted his heat gun and pointed it at the T-Rex warily. "You're telling me, Haircut," he said.
Ray took a second look at the article. "The timeline just changed. Apparently, a dinosaur rampages down the coast from Malibu, attacking hundreds of beachgoers and destroying a lot of the beach attractions, finally culminating in tearing apart Santa Monica Pier. Gideon says it'll take years for the area to fully recover."
"Aw, man," Nate groaned. "Not Santa Monica Pier. That's a local landmark."
"Is that the carnival place from the map?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah," Nora replied. "I think so."
The T-Rex, finally able to see again, turned around and glared down at the Legends. It lifted its head and roared louder than before.
"Ray," Sara said quickly, "get down here as fast as you can." She looked left and right at the teammates with her. "Legends," she ordered, "we've got to keep this girl in one spot. If she moves an inch, give her all you've got."
The dinosaur lunged forward. Mick shot out a blast of flame and swung it back and forth, forcing the T-Rex to turn its ginormous head away from them. Leonard followed his attack by shooting the cold gun at the sand around its feet. It snarled and shuffled backward to stop the thin layer of ice from reaching it. Regaining its balance, it charged at them. It opened its mouth and aimed for Mick. Leonard shoved him out of its path, then pointed his weapon at its head with a defiant sneer.
Sara saw the T-Rex now looking directly at Leonard. It looked angrier than ever and ready to attack. She ran toward Leonard, using her staff to catapult herself closer to him, positioning herself beside him in a defensive stance. While she did this, Nate ran at the attacking dinosaur, turning himself into steel. When it lunged again, he jumped in the way, catching its jaw in his strong metal hands and holding it back, barely. He felt himself slide backward, then was flung aside by a strong shake of the dinosaur's head.
Charlie picked up a rock and threw it at the large creature, hitting it on the side of its neck. She waved her hands wildly. "Hey, you big wanker!" she shouted. "Over here!"
The T-Rex turned to look at Charlie. It was met with a double attack from Zari and Nora. Zari sent another gust of sandy wind into its eyes. Nora threw a blast of purple energy through the air. Blinded and thrown off balance, it stepped clumsily backward, away from the Legends.
In doing so, the T-Rex stumbled into the rocky cliff, once again loosening chunks of earth that came tumbling down toward the Legends. It roared and thrashed its head and tail back and forth, damaging the cliff's edges even more. One more blind sidestep from the giant reptile and it was a rockslide.
Charlie, Nora, and Zari sprinted toward the water to get out of the rocks' path as they fell toward the sand. Leonard, Sara, and Mick, who were much closer to the source of the rockslide, looked around quickly for somewhere to take cover. Nate scrambled to his feet and ran to them. "I can take it!" he shouted, still in steel form. "Just get out of here!"
"Leave you out here with that thing?" Mick asked, pointing his gun at the T-Rex.
Nate looked up. The rocks were falling quickly, only seconds from impact. "Give me your guns," he said. "My steel plus your weapons can hold it back."
Snart grimaced. "Not gonna happen."
"But…" Nate started to argue.
"There's no time!" Sara exclaimed. She pointed to the mouth of the cave, mostly unshaken by the still-thrashing dinosaur. "Get in! All of you!"
She grabbed Nate by the arm and pulled him into the cave, followed by Leonard and Mick. They dove inside just as the rocks crashed onto the beach. The T-Rex roared as it was hit, then took off running down the coast in a frenzy. One final swipe of its tail hit the edge of the cave, causing the rocks directly above it to crumble and fall, destroying the exit.
"No!" Nate shouted, running toward the opening. He stretched out his metal arms to try to hold open a space but found himself quickly yanked back. While he was physically strong enough not to budge, the surprise of the moment caused him to give in. Within moments, the exit was fully blocked.
The four Legends inside the cave stared at the pile of jagged rocks in dismay. Nate turned to see Leonard standing closest to him and realized he must have pulled him away. "Dude," he said, changing back into his normal composition, "I could have held it open!"
"You're welcome," Snart replied without looking at him.
There were enough tiny gaps in the rocks for air and a few tiny streaks of sunlight to get through. It was still dark, but light enough for the group to see each other's basic forms. Mick stepped toward the rocks and jammed his hands into the gaps, trying to break them loose. After trying unsuccessfully for a few seconds, he backed away and grumbled, "I hate dinosaurs."
Sara sighed and rubbed her temples. "Great. We've got a T-Rex running loose in 1966 terrorizing who knows how many people. We came to a time without any significant aberrations and managed to create one all on our own. This is just great. Now what am I going to tell Ava? That I'm a screw up of a captain who lets the timeline fall apart right under my nose?"
Leonard turned to her and tried to calm her down. "Sara, it wasn't you…"
"No," Nate said, stepping toward him, "it wasn't her. I could have held it back if you'd given me your gun."
Leonard shook his head. "Did you see the size of that thing? Gun or no gun, it would have eaten you alive."
"Not if I was careful," Nate insisted. "And anyway, that's a risk I was willing to take. At least I would have given the rest of you a head start."
"Head start from where?" Mick asked, gesturing toward the blocked exit. "We're trapped, Pretty!"
"Not the point," Nate replied. "Snart, we're supposed to be a team. Teammates listen to each other. Why don't you listen to me?"
"I listen," Snart replied. "I just don't like what I hear."
Nate sighed exasperatedly. "Well, why not?"
"Oh, I don't know," he returned sarcastically. "Maybe because I don't want to see my crew become dinosaur food."
Sara stepped forward into the space between them and held up her hands. "Okay, what is going on?" she asked. "Why are you two acting like this?"
Snart said nothing. Nate waited a moment, then answered, "All I'm trying to do is help, okay? He's the one going off and doing his own thing whenever he feels like it."
Sara put her arms down and smirked a little as memories of Leonard butting heads with Rip and Ray came back to her. "So, Snart plays by his own rules. Why doesn't that surprise me?"
"My rules work for me," Leonard said. "If they don't work for you, then don't follow them. No need to get on my back about it."
Nate shook his head. "Look, Snart," he said, "I really am trying to help you. When I first joined the Legends, I was so excited to finally be doing something cool with my life that I dove into so many situations I wasn't ready for. I only found my place on the team because the originals were there to guide me and mentor me. I know you're not technically 'new' to the Legends, but you are new to what we do now. I'm just trying to do for you what they did for me."
Leonard stared at Nate for a moment, his face unchanging. Finally, he spoke, "No, that's not it."
Nate tilted his head, looking at him confusedly. "Um, yeah, I'm pretty sure it is."
Leonard remained unconvinced. "No."
Nate laughed a little. "No? What do you even mean?"
Leonard crossed his arms and leaned his back against the wall of the cave. "I mean," he replied, "that you don't trust me."
Nate balked. "I don't trust you? Seriously? You're my teammate, man. How could I not trust you?"
"It's obvious, Nathaniel," Snart explained. "You lost track of me in that bar for five seconds and started looking around in a panic. You're on edge any time I act without telling you what I'm thinking first. Not that I can blame you. I do have a reputation." He smirked as he made this last statement.
Sara spoke up again, "Nate, is that true?"
Nate stammered, "No…no, it's not…really…I mean…okay, fine." He looked down at the ground and admitted reluctantly, "Maybe a little." He quickly looked back up again at Snart. "You're right, okay? You do have a reputation. I lived in Central City for a little while. I know who you are." It wasn't a lie. He had heard stories about the infamous robber while working with Wally West in Central City. There was also the issue of the Legion of Doom, but he had made a promise to keep that topic off limits.
Leonard maintained his smirk and began to say, "Always pleased to…"
"Not now, Snart," Sara interrupted, pointing at him. "Let Nate finish." He shut his mouth.
"But I want to give you a chance," Nate continued earnestly. "Really, I do. You're a Legend. One of us. The others gave me a chance and believed in me. I could hardly call myself a Legend if I didn't do the same for you. It's just…it's a little hard to get used to, you know? I didn't think it would be, but now that we're out in the field, it is. And I'd get used to it a lot faster if you just listened to me when I'm trying to help you out."
"Well, maybe I'd listen more if you trusted me," Leonard countered, frowning.
"Sounds like we have a chicken and egg problem," Nate concluded.
"Sounds like we do," Leonard replied.
Mick grunted as he struck his fist against the unmoving rocks before him. "No, we have a T-Rex and egg problem!"
Leonard rolled his eyes. "Not talking about that, Mick."
"Well, we should be," his partner argued. "It's getting away while we're all stuck in here listening to Pretty talk about his feelings."
"Hey!" Nate said, a little offended. "There's nothing wrong with talking about your feelings."
"Mick does have a point," Sara admitted. "We've still got a chance to get this aberration under control, but we're running out of time to do it." She looked at Leonard, then Nate. "Can you guys just try to get along from here on out? We all need to listen to and trust each other if we want to save the sixties."
Nate nodded slowly. "You're right, Captain." He smiled warmly at Leonard. "Want to give this teammate thing another shot?"
Leonard stood silently for moment. He looked down, then made eye contact with Sara. She seemed serious. He glanced back at Nate. "Okay."
"Okay!" Nate exclaimed enthusiastically. He opened up his arms and took a step closer in Leonard's direction. "Bro hug it out?"
Leonard crossed his arms and didn't move. "Absolutely not."
Nate shrugged. "Not there yet. Got it." He turned around to face the wall of rocks. "Now, how to get out of here…"
Nora, Charlie, and Zari ran out of the water once the coast was clear. "Bollocks!" Charlie exclaimed, creating a splash with a frustrated stomp. "Now the captain's trapped and we've got an anachronism on the loose."
"Maybe I can get them out," Nora suggested, walking toward the cave's blocked entrance. "I can lift the rocks with my magic."
"But what about the beach?" Zari asked. "And Santa Monica Pier?"
"One problem at a time," Nora replied. "Just let me…Ray?" She noticed a tiny flying speck move past her eye. It landed on the ground and immediately expanded into the full-sized A.T.O.M.
"Hey, guys," Ray said cheerfully. "Where's the dinosaur?"
Charlie and Zari pointed silently down the coastline. Ray looked and saw the T-Rex running, now in the distance. "This suit flies fast," he said. "I think I can catch up." He paused, looking around. "Where did everyone go?" Charlie and Zari pointed silently again, this time at the jagged rocks covering the mouth of the cave. "Oh…yikes."
"Yeah, yikes," Nora agreed. "There was a rockslide and they ran inside for cover, but now they're trapped." She stretched her arms and rubbed her hands together, stepping toward the cave. "Hang tight, guys, I'll have them out in a minute."
"Half a minute if I help," Ray said, moving to stand beside her. He embiggened until he was as tall as the cliff itself. "I'll get the top ones," he called down at her. "You get the ones stuck at the bottom."
He reached out his giant hand and grabbed the top layer of rocks, shaking them free and tossing them into the water. He took the next handful down and did the same. Nora raised her hands and loosened the last layer of rocks, throwing them aside. Ray shrank down to his normal size. The cave was finally open.
Sara, Mick, Leonard, and Nate emerged into the sunlight. "Nice save, bro!" Nate said, high-fiving his best friend. He sucked in his breath uncomfortably as the strong mechanical hand of the A.T.O.M. suit met his non-steeled one. "…ow."
Ray smiled sheepishly. "Heh…sorry, buddy."
"Thanks for the save, guys," Sara said. She spoke into her comms, "Constantine, what's your status?"
"Nearly there, love," he replied.
Sara turned to the rest of the Legends, who were now gathered around her. "Time to regroup. Ray, I'll need you to fly after the T-Rex. Your first priority right now is to make sure it doesn't damage the beach or hurt any civilians. If you see an opportunity to shrink it without losing it in the waves or injuring anyone, take it. But try to keep the witnesses as low as possible. Actually…" she looked at Zari and Nora, "…I think a storm might do the trick."
"We can help with that," she replied, "but there's something else. Someone at the bar might have seen the rift." She opened her palm, revealing the stolen key and membership card. "It's in the water by a private beach, but that's the opposite direction of the pier."
"I've got it," Charlie volunteered, taking the items out of Zari's hand. "I'll just take Ray's latest creation and be off."
"It's actually called a temporal energy gun," Ray corrected her.
"Whatever, Rage," she replied, taking it from him.
"Sounds like a plan," Sara said, nodding her approval. "The rest of us will head for the pier with the egg. If Ray can't shrink our dinosaur before it gets there, reuniting her with her child might calm her down. Everyone got it? Go!"
Zari and Nora perched on a tall rock overlooking the beach. "Ready, Ray?" Zari asked.
"Ready when you are, Z," Ray responded as he flew through the air.
Nora turned to her companion. "Are you sure this will work?"
"They're Californians in the middle of summer," Zari replied sarcastically. "They don't know how to deal with weather. If anything, this is overkill."
Zari stretched her hands out and concentrated. The winds picked up over the water. They grew stronger and faster, swirling around as they collected any traces of clouds that could be found. Nora recited a spell and created an illusion of dark fog over the water. Zari refocused on the beach and moved the winds closer to shore. Sure enough, as the beachgoers noticed what appeared to be a storm coming closer, they began to pack up and head for shelter.
Meanwhile, the dinosaur continued its rampage down the coastline. It stomped through the shallow parts of the water, its giant feet sending splashes in all directions. Ray zoomed through Nora's cloudy layer, trying to catch up. After a few minutes, he was finally within arm's reach of its tail.
"Aha!" he exclaimed triumphantly, reaching out to grab it.
When the T-Rex felt his grip, it swung its tail forcefully, sending him flying through the air away from shore. The suit's flight abilities kept him from falling into the water, but he still found himself separated from his target by a significant distance. He watched the T-Rex's tail disappear into the fog. "You're not getting away that easily, Gertrude," he said before flying after it.
Sara, Mick, Leonard, and Nate climbed up the stairs from the beach and found themselves in a parking lot. Many people had already fled the sudden change of weather in their cars, but a few had decided to wait it out in nearby restaurants and shops, leaving a small population of mid-1960s vehicles parked near the beach.
"John and Mona are coming," Sara said to the group. "We need a way to get the egg to the pier before its mother. Any ideas?"
"The Waverider's too far away," Nate said. "If we walk back to it now, we'll never make it in time. Too bad we can't fly. Or teleport, for that matter."
Leonard spotted a man walking away from a car. He was alone, heading toward a snack shack only a few feet away, and his car keys were very clearly sitting in the side pocket of his shorts, nearly dangling out of them. It was almost too easy. Leonard looked at Nate, then Sara. "I think we've got a ride. Stay here."
He strolled casually toward the man, not making any eye contact or acknowledging his presence in any way. As they crossed paths, he bumped into him, silently grabbing the keys as the man stumbled away.
"Excuse you," Leonard drawled.
"Sorry, dude," the other man said, hurrying away.
Once he was inside the snack shack, Leonard led the other Legends over the car he'd seen the man exit. It was a woodie station wagon with a red surfboard strapped to the roof.
"Is this our ride?" Nate asked.
"Apparently," Sara replied, unfazed.
Nate studied the vehicle in front of him. "Okay…but this is a station wagon, not a race car. It'll take us at least thirty minutes to get from here to Santa Monica Pier."
Leonard smirked and tossed the keys into the hands of his partner, who caught them without looking. "Not if Mick is driving."
"He's right," Mick said as he opened the driver's door. "There's a reason I always drove the getaway car. I've got no fear on the road. The road is afraid of me! Haha!" He slid into his seat and put his hands on the wheel, an excited gleam in his eyes.
Leonard moved to open the passenger door. As he did, Sara blocked him from entering. "If Mick's driving," she said, "I call shotgun. Captain's privileges."
Leonard leaned in toward her and held the door open, waving her in with his free hand. "Oh, I insist," he drawled. He shut the door behind her and opened up the side. "You getting in or what, Nathaniel?"
"I…" Nate hesitated for second, then said with conviction, "…trust you. I'm getting in." He climbed inside behind Leonard.
"Mick," Sara ordered, "get us to the highway and step on it!"
"Oh yeah!" Mick shouted as he obediently took the car out of park. "That's what I'm talking about! Whoo!" He stepped on the gas and sped the team out of the parking lot toward the highway.
As they zoomed down the street, far over the speed limit, Nate spotted two familiar faces by the side of the road. "It's Mona and Constantine!" he exclaimed. "Pull over!"
Mick nodded and the car skidded to a halt just off the edge of the road. Sara rolled down her window and shouted, "Get in, Legends, we've got a T-Rex to race!"
Constantine stared at the car. Mona would have stared if she hadn't been carrying a dinosaur egg half the size of her body that practically covered her face. Finally, Constantine shrugged and helped Mona in, then squeezed in after her.
Mick stepped on the gas again and took off down the highway. The Legends soon found out what he'd meant about the road being afraid of him. He wove between cars, disregarding any lanes, signs, or obstacles in his way. He swerved over a pothole and Mona nervously gripped the egg tighter as she tried not to fall sideways onto Snart. "Mick!" she exclaimed, wrapping the egg in some spare towels for extra padding. "Careful!"
Nate looked out the window and saw the ocean sparkling on the horizon, even if it was partially muted by Zari's winds and Nora's magic. "Oh man," he breathed, "this would be so cool if the timeline and probably a ton of lives weren't in danger!"
The Legends heard sirens behind them. Sara looked into the rearview mirror and saw two police cars gaining on them. "We've got company," she said. "We have to get them off our tail."
"They won't outrun me," Mick declared confidently, swerving around a curve in the road with exactly zero interest in being careful.
Sara glanced at the rearview mirror again. "Doesn't look like that's working."
"Well, it's not like we can just pull over and explain ourselves," Constantine pointed out. "'Hello, officer, we're time travelers from the future chasing a dinosaur down the Pacific Coast Highway to save Santa Monica Pier from imminent destruction.' Bloody brilliant!"
Sara turned around to look at the passengers behind her. Her eyes rested on Snart's cold gun, then rose to meet his, holding eye contact for a few seconds. He nodded, understanding her silently. "Don't hit any people," she told him. "Just the road."
"If you say so," Snart replied. He took the cold gun in his hand and climbed over the seats and into the back. The station wagon had a third row of seats facing backward toward the trunk door, which swung outward when opened. Leonard looked out the back window at the approaching police cars and put on his dark goggles.
Nate noticed what he was doing and climbed back to join him. "Snart," he said, catching the thief's attention, "you can't shoot if you're holding the door."
Leonard raised an eyebrow curiously. "And?"
"You're playing by your rules," he said. "I want to help."
Leonard stared at him blankly for a second, honestly surprised. Finally, he smirked. "Let's see if L.A. cops know how to drive on ice."
Nate turned the door handle and forced it open, holding it in place with his arm. Leonard fired a continuous blast of ice that hit the road a few feet behind them. As they drove, it created a shiny, slick mass coating the highway. The police cars skidded to a halt as they came into contact with the suddenly icy surface. Leonard pulled back his gun and ducked back inside the station wagon. Nate shut the back door firmly and grinned at him.
"Dude!" he exclaimed. "That was epic!" He glanced back over his shoulder at the back window. "I mean…assuming those guys are all okay."
Leonard shrugged. "It's just a little ice. They'll be fine."
"It'll melt soon anyway, won't it?" Constantine pointed out. "It's nearly twenty-seven degrees out."
Mona raised her eyebrows, looking at him questioningly. "Twenty-seven? What are you talking about?"
Constantine rolled his eyes and slumped back in his seat. "Sometimes I forget I work with a bunch of Yanks," he muttered. "Can't you lot use the same system as the rest of the world for once?"
"Clam it, Englishman!" Mick grunted.
Sara looked out the window and spotted the outline of the dinosaur's shape crossing the beach closest to them. "It's almost to the pier," she said worriedly.
Mick nodded. "Hang on!" Somehow, though exactly how was a mystery to the Legends in the car, Mick sped up even further and charged forward even more recklessly in the direction of the pier.
Charlie unlocked the gate to the private beach and stepped inside. There were beach chairs and tables set out, along with mostly unopened beach umbrellas. It wasn't particularly busy at the moment, so she didn't have to worry too much about remaining unseen. She noticed a lifeguard's tower close to the water's edge and sprinted over to it. Luckily for her, it was empty. The posted schedule beside it said that the lifeguard would be back in ten minutes. "Plenty of time," Charlie said to herself as she climbed the ladder.
Reaching the top of the tower, she scanned the horizon with her eyes, trying to spot any sign of strange currents. Not being an expert on the topic, she found it difficult to identify anything unusual. She was far enough from Zari and Nora for the water not to be affected by their storm, so everything looked fairly calm and quiet, aside from the occasional wave that started in the distance and eventually landed on the sand. Every now and then, a few seagulls would fly out over the water, then return to shore.
Then, Charlie did notice something. While the seagulls seemed comfortable flying over every part of the water, there was one spot in the distance that they always seemed to avoid. She turned around and searched through the lifeguard's supplies until she found a pair of binoculars. She removed her sunglasses and peered through the binoculars, adjusting them to focus on that spot. It looked like a miniature whirlpool had formed, creating ripples in all directions. "Thar she blows," Charlie said with a grin.
She hopped down to the ground and looked around. The rift, assuming that was what it was, was too far out for her to swim to. She spied an abandoned surfboard lying on the sand. She hesitated, then picked it up and dragged it into the water. "Can't be too hard," she assured herself. "Kids do it, don't they?"
She walked out until the water reached her waist, then climbed on top of the board. She tapped her pocket, making sure Ray's temporal energy gun – currently miniaturized – was still inside. After a few moments of struggle, she knelt down with her knees on the surfboard and found her balance, then began to paddle with her hands, propelling herself out into the ocean.
A wave began to form a short distance in front of her. Not knowing what to do, she quickly tried to paddle out of its way. She wasn't fast enough. The wave crashed into her. She fell into the churning waters, separated from the board. When she finally resurfaced, gasping for air, she spotted it floating about a foot away. She hastily swam over to it and climbed back on, gripping the edges of it tightly.
She spat out some salty ocean water and set her eyes on the whirlpool, now a little less distant. "You've got this," she told herself. "Come on, Charlie!"
She paddled out again, trying to keep the front of the board aimed at the whirlpool. Another wave began to form in her path. This time, she lay down on the board, held onto its sides, held her breath, and dove down underneath the wave. It passed over her and she resurfaced on the other side, still holding on. She looked back triumphantly as it crashed against the shore. "Ha! Thought you'd got the best of me, didn't you?"
She continued paddling and, a few minutes later, found herself within range of the whirlpool. It was small enough not to be obvious from the beach, but now that she was close to it, it seemed much bigger. The center of the whirlpool appeared to be softly glowing an otherworldly hue. I'm not sure what a rift looks like, she thought, but that seems about right.
She sat up on the surfboard, trying to stay in place as much as she could to avoid being drawn into the whirlpool. She plucked the temporal energy gun out of her pocket and hit the tiny red button on the side, growing it into a normal-sized gun. Its center glowed with golden temporal energy. Charlie squinted, aimed it carefully, and shot it into the whirlpool's center.
A flash of gold light blinded her as she was thrown off her board. The rift absorbed the energy and shut itself down instantly. The sudden change sent choppy, rippling waves in all directions. Charlie fought to keep her head above the water until she reached the board again. She held onto it tightly until the waves ceased. Then, she climbed on top and paddled into the spot where the whirlpool had been. No trace of it was left.
"Yes!" Charlie pumped her fist in the air, holding up the gun victoriously. "You're welcome, timeline!" She spoke into her comms, "Rift closed, ladies and gents! Have you caught the T-Rex yet?"
"Not…quite…" Ray replied as he flew through the air. "Almost…got it…nope! She shook me off."
"Bollocks," Charlie muttered. "Don't worry, mates, I'll be there in a jiff." She turned the board around and began paddling toward the shore.
The station wagon skidded to a halt in the Santa Monica Pier parking lot. The Legends bolted out of the car. Or, most of them did. Mona lagged behind due to the ginormous egg in her arms.
"Hey!" a parking attendant shouted. "You have to pay to park here!"
"Not today we don't!" Mick shouted back. He blasted his heat gun at the nearest sign explaining the parking rates, setting it on fire. The attendant froze in horror as the group got away.
They ran through the pier's entrance and found themselves greeted by restaurants, gift shops, and, and the very end, carnival rides. They continued until they reached the middle of the space and looked around, seeing no imminent threats. "Well," Nate said optimistically, "it looks like we beat the dinosaur here."
Leonard turned toward him. "Why would you say that?" he asked, his annoyance obvious.
Sure enough, the dinosaur reached the pier right behind them. Ray flew through the air and landed on his feet between the group and the T-Rex. He pointed his shrink ray up and fired directly at its head. For a moment, it looked like the shrink ray would work. That moment soon ended. The dinosaur moved its head out of the shrink ray's beam and charged toward Ray. It would have stepped on him, but Nate dove in and pulled him out of the way just in time.
"You okay, buddy?" Nate asked.
"I am," Ray replied, "but I don't think they are." He pointed toward the end of the pier, which the dinosaur was quickly approaching.
Sara turned to him. "Ray, what images did you see of the aberration?"
"There was a newspaper article with a photo of a dinosaur attacking…a Ferris…wheel…oh boy," he said, gasping in horror as he realized what was most likely going to happen next. "Are we doomed?"
"Eh," Constantine said with a shrug, "not like we haven't been before."
Leonard noticed the worry in Sara's eyes and took a step toward her. "Sara, we can still stop this," he told her, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. "We can think of something."
Mona finally made it to their location, panting as she arrived. "Whew!" she said, trying to catch her breath. "Guys, I think I saw the dinosaur come in…"
"We know, Mona," Sara replied. "Everybody, head for the Ferris wheel." She turned her head to look directly at Leonard. "We're not doomed yet." She nodded at Mona and the egg. "We've still got the one thing she wants."
The team raced down the pier, pushing past scared visitors who were all running in the opposite direction. Nate turned his body into steel and took advantage of his increased strength to take the egg from Mona, which he was able to carry while keeping up with the group.
"Ray," Sara ordered as she ran, "make sure everyone's off the Ferris wheel!"
"You got it, Captain!" he replied. He took off flying ahead.
The remaining Legends soon reached the Ferris wheel. Its top was over twice the height of the T-Rex, but there was no doubt that the large reptile couldn't still do considerable damage if it wanted to. Thankfully, it was confused enough by its surroundings not to run in a straight path, allowing Ray to evacuate the last passenger and the other Legends to get to the Ferris wheel first.
"Ray," Sara asked into her comms, "which direction did the dinosaur attack from in the photo?"
"The right side," he answered, still flying the last passenger to safety.
The remaining Legends reached the bottom of the ride. "Mona, Constantine," Sara said, "this thing goes clockwise. Get us over the top and onto the right side."
She climbed into the gondola waiting at the bottom. Leonard slid into the seat next to her while Mick and Nate – still holding the egg – took the other side. Mona looked over the controls. She pressed a button to put the wheel in motion. It began to slowly turn. She tried to find a way to speed it up, but none of the options made much of a difference. "Constantine," she said, "I think I could use some help."
"Stand back, sweetheart," he said. He reached over and shut off the controls, then lifted his hands and recited a spell. The wheels began to glow faintly orange as his magic took hold, rotating it faster than before.
Leonard froze as he watched Constantine work his magic, lifting them higher and higher. Sara nudged him. "Don't tell me you're afraid of heights," she teased.
He relaxed. "I'm not," he replied. "It's Constantine's magic I'm still getting used to."
"Yeah, Englishman's weird," Mick said with an understanding nod.
Their gondola rounded the top of the wheel, then began to descend. On the ground, the dinosaur arrived. It nearly stomped on Constantine, who pulled himself and Mona out of the way just in time. Unfortunately for the Legends in the gondola, this brought the wheel to a halt.
"Crap," Nate reacted, looking down at the T-Rex. "What do we do?"
Sara peered over the side of the gondola. "We've got to climb down."
Nate balked. "What?"
She sat back up and faced him. "We need her to see her egg. It'll calm her down long enough for Ray to come back here and get a clean shot. To do that, it has to be at her eye level." She stood up, rocking the gondola slightly in the process. "Come on!"
Sara reached her arms out of the gondola and took hold of one of the metal bars making up the wheel. She swung out and wrapped herself around it, then slid down gracefully until she found her footing on the next bar crossing it. Leonard looked over the side, watching her make it look so effortless. Amazing, he thought.
Nate sighed and tucked the egg into the crook of his arm. "Okay, Eggy," he said to it, "hold on tight."
Mick winced. "Did…did you just name it Eggy?"
"Bigger question is," Leonard added, "why are you talking to it?"
Nate swung over the side without answering. Knowing he wasn't nearly as nimble as his trained assassin captain, he opted not to slide down the rails and instead used the closest one to swing through the air, landing on his feet in the next gondola down. It rocked back and forth. Nate struggled to keep his balance until the rocking eventually subsided.
Mick followed Nate's lead, jumping down into the next gondola. It rocked again. Each man braced himself against an opposite side to balance it. While they did this, Leonard took his cue from Sara and balanced along the nearest spoke of the wheel, then slid down to an intersecting bar and used it to swing into the gondola with Mick and Nate. Sara, very comfortable keeping her balance along the next spoke down, stayed in place, watching the dinosaur as it came closer.
"Constantine's using his magic to keep it from wrecking anything," she informed the others. "So far, it looks like it's working." She watched the dinosaur turn away from John and stomp toward the Ferris wheel. "It's coming this way," she announced, "and we're still too high up." She scooted sideways toward the occupied gondola. "Give me the egg," she said.
Nate noted the dinosaur, now almost close enough to touch the Ferris wheel. He nodded and handed the egg off to Sara. She held it gently with one arm and used the other arm to swing down to the next level of spokes. She slid onto it slowly, shifting her body to adjust for the extra weight of the egg. She glanced down and saw that she was just above the T-Rex's eye level. Just a little farther, she thought as she calculated her next move.
The T-Rex lifted its head and roared at the Ferris wheel, the one object large enough to block its path. Mick and Leonard each pointed their guns over the front of the gondola and shot out long streams of fire and cold, respectively. This kept the creature from attacking but did not deter its attention from the wheel. Sara kicked against the bar she was leaning on and swung onto a lower one, dangling one-handed right at the eye level of the T-Rex. She stared directly into its eyes, letting it see the egg in her arms. "Is this what you're looking for?" she asked without a trace of fear in her voice.
Leonard put down his gun and smiled a little as the scene unfolded. Only Sara Lance could stare down an angry T-Rex while hanging one-handed off a Ferris wheel, he thought. Amazing. Just amazing.
The attacking reptile paused, recognizing the egg as its own. On the ground, Ray saw its sudden stillness and took his chance. He shot his shrink ray and held it steady. Slowly, the dinosaur shrank down to the size of a mouse. Constantine ran to it and placed a jar over it, then scooped it up and fastened a lid on the jar, poking several airholes to let it breathe. "Brilliant work, mate," he said, smiling at Ray as he passed the jar to him.
While the two of them discussed what to do with the tiny dinosaur now, Sara turned her face up to look at the Legends in the gondola above her. "Mission accomplished," she said, grinning. As she did this, a sudden gust of wind blew in from the ocean. She shifted her body to account for the extra force but felt her hand begin to slip in the process. She looked down at the far away ground, then back up again. "Guys," she said, "I…whoa!" One finger slipped off the bar. "I…I can't hold on," she said, trying to remain calm.
Leonard was not remotely calm. As long as he'd known her, Sara had never feared running headfirst into dangerous situations. All the same, she wasn't supposed to get into danger without any control over getting herself out of it. That just wasn't supposed to happen. Not to Sara. The image of Vandal Savage's knife against her throat flashed through his mind. He gripped the edge of the gondola tightly. "Just…just don't let go," he said, his voice quivering. "We'll get you out of here. Please don't let go."
"I'm not trying to, Leonard," she returned with a playful smirk. Another finger started to slip. The smirk disappeared as she cried out involuntarily, "Ah!"
"Sara!" Leonard exclaimed, leaning further over the front of the gondola. He reached out a hand, but his arm was not long enough to reach her.
Nate stared down at his captain, then straightened up as he got an idea. "Mick, Snart," he said, "I need you guys to lower me down."
"What do mean, Pretty?" Mick asked.
"In my steel form," Nate explained, "I'm strong enough to lift Captain Lance and Eggy at the same time. If both of you hold onto me and lower me out of the gondola, I'll be able to reach down to Captain Lance. Then, you guys can pull both of us up."
Mick nodded gruffly. "Best choice we've got. Snart?"
Leonard hadn't taken his eyes off Sara during the entirety Nate's explanation. He finally turned to look at the historian. "Okay," he said, trying to hide the storm of panic raging inside him.
Leonard and Mick each grabbed hold of Nate's torso and slowly lowered him out of the gondola and down toward Sara. Nate reached his arms out toward her. "Sara," he instructed, "I need you to let go of the bar and take my hand."
Sara closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them. She let go and swung her weight toward him. He caught her arm and held on tight. Leonard and Mick gradually pulled him back into the gondola. His feet landed on the floor and he continued to pull Sara in behind him. As she came closer, Mick reached over and took the massive egg out of her hands to make it easier for her to climb in. Leonard leaned out and held her waist to steady her. Once she was safely inside, she sat down beside Leonard, catching her breath. Leonard just stared at her. He couldn't look away. Not so soon after facing the possibility of losing her. She finally looked back at him and he realized he was still holding onto her. He quickly let go, scooting slightly farther from her in his seat.
"Don't…don't do that again," he said, looking down to avoid eye contact with her.
Nate transformed back to his normal condition. "Safe and sound," he declared with a satisfied smile. "Now all we've got to do is return this duo back to their time and everything will be just fine."
The four Legends' comms buzzed. "What happened?" Ray's voice asked. "I didn't see from down here, but it sounded like there was shouting going on. Are you guys okay?"
"We're okay, Ray," Sara replied. "Just tell Constantine to get us down."
"Okay, Captain!"
Before long, their gondola reached the bottom of the Ferris wheel. The four of them stepped out and joined their teammates. Nate set the egg on the ground beside the jar holding its miniature mother. "I guess we have to carry these back to the Waverider," he said.
They heard a familiar sound and looked up to see the shape of the Waverider hovering above them. "Did someone say Waverider?" Charlie's voice asked, broadcasting into the team's comms from the bridge.
Sara raised her eyebrows, pleasantly surprised. "Actually, yes, someone did."
"Don't tell me I missed the dinosaur fight," Charlie said.
"You did," Mick replied.
"Oh bollocks," Charlie groaned. "Drove all the way out here and we're too late."
Zari's voice, also speaking from the bridge, broke through, "For the record, I did all of the driving. Well, all of the driving that happened after seeing Charlie's technique, at least."
"Yeah," Nora echoed beside her. "Charlie really shouldn't drive anything. Ever. No offense."
"Oi, a 'thank you' would be nice!" Charlie retorted. "I did also manage to close the rift, and that was entirely my 'technique.'"
Sara rolled her eyes but still smiled fondly. Classic Legends bickering. "Whoever's driving," she said, "park somewhere close by. I'll be on board in a second to send these displaced dinosaurs home and check in with Ava."
The Waverider cloaked itself and flew away, locating an ideal parking spot. Sara looked around at the teammates surrounding her. They were all staring expectantly at her. "What?" she asked.
"Well," Ray started, "we were thinking, since we got the anachronism under control…"
"…and the rift is closed…" Mona continued.
"…and someone's got to stick around the pier anyway…" John added.
"…to wipe memories and give excuses if necessary…" Nate said.
No one finished the statement, but Sara already knew what they were thinking. She sighed. "Fine," she said reluctantly. "You can spend the rest of the day hanging out at the pier."
"Yes!" Nate and Ray said in unison, high-fiving each other.
"I'm playing Whack-a-Mole first!" Mona declared, waving her arms excitedly. "Who wants to play me?"
"A game where I get to violently smash everything?" Mick replied. "Count me in, kid."
"Anyone want to dare me to make the carousel horses come off and have minds of their own?" Constantine suggested.
"You can do that?" Nate asked, shocked. "Like Mary Poppins?"
Constantine shrugged. "I don't know. Never done it. Just asking if you'd dare me to."
"Children," Sara muttered. "Actual children." She let them continue their discussion of carnival games and rides as she picked up the egg and jar and walked away toward the Waverider's new location.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this one! It took a while to post this chapter because it was so long. I tried to capture the level of insanity usually present on Legends' missions so I hope I did their craziness justice :)
