52
Marathon Sprint
Harrison looked up as alarms started to go off all around STAR Labs. His eyes darted towards his wife before looking to Tracy, Maya, and HR. They all looked worried, save for HR who continued to twirl his drumsticks around his fingers, almost deep in thought.
Harrison shook his head. He didn't know much about his Earth-19 doppelganger other than he was a Wells. He, supposedly, had the same sort of brain power he and Harry had. So far, Harrison hadn't seen it, and the nonchalance HR exhibited wasn't making him feel very well. Still, HR had to have something up his sleeve if he managed to stay calm despite all the loud alarms going off.
Harrison pressed his pale pink lips together, eyebrows twitching. Sweat beaded on his forehead, rolled down his cheeks, adrenaline rushing through his synapses, making his hands shake. He listened hard to the alarm going off, recognizing it as something different. Not the normal warning alarms that'd go off if there was an intruder in their midst.
A different sort of warning.
"What is that?" Maya asked. She looked worriedly at all the scientists in the room. They looked back at her, frozen with each strobe of the warning klaxons.
Oh God, no, the thought slammed into Harrison's head the moment he determined what the new sound was warning them of.
Harrison raced from Cisco's workshop, the thudding footsteps behind him let him know the others were on his heels. He skidded into the Cortex, slamming his fingers in a certain combination on the keyboard nearest to him. The TV screen across from them came to life, showing the source of the warning alarms.
A power source was slowly surging in the breach room. It grew bigger by the second, twisting and twirling in on itself. Had it come from the center of the room, Harrison would've thought there was a breach opening, someone from another Earth coming to help them out. But as it stood off on its own, it had come from its own power source.
Something else was going on.
"What is that?" Maya repeated her question, this time with more awe in her voice than ever before. She looked to Tess, who shook her head, bringing a hand to her mouth. "Seriously, what is it?"
"It's…exactly what we need to get our Speed Force Bazooka to work," Harrison said grimly. He gestured feebly to his computer screen where some graph rose and fell as the seconds passed. "We've been tracking the power signatures of it from the first time we came across it." He drew his arm across his forehead. "It's the Philosopher's Stone."
"The Philosopher's Stone?" Tracy repeated. She scratched the back of her head, jostling the goggles that sat atop her hair. "I thought that was a myth. I mean, HR mentioned that you'd need it, and from what you told me about all of this," she waved around STAR Labs, "It seems to be important to what's been going on. But no one's actually seen it before." She leaned closer to the screen, a smile coming ot her face. Tthis is fascinating."
"I know, isn't life such a joy to be able to experience all of—" HR started.
Footsteps thundered behind them. Joe skidded into the Cortex, slowing long enough to take long strides when he wasn't alone. "Savitar's got Iris," he reported, working to catch his breath, eyes filled with dread. Dressed in all black, a holster crossed the front of his chest, slinging a high-powered rifle to him. "And Wally and Jesse. One minute they were next to me, the next they were gone in a bright flash of light."
"Then he's got them all," Tess said. She motioned to the computer she threw herself into. Her eyes roved over the pinpoints on screen, showcasing the tracking devices on each of the Team Flash; Flash, Flare, Vibe, Shadowhunter… "I don't know where they are, can't get an actual lock in on them, just where they're near."
"Savitar must've put them somewhere deep underground," Joe said. He ran a hand over his mouth, scratching at his beard, brought his hand back up to his forehead to wipe away the sweat that formed. "Someplace where STAR Labs' equipment can't reach."
"Well, not entirely," Tess pointed out. "We can still see where they are. His suit may be interfering with our tracking devices."
"That's fine, but what are we going to do about this increasing energy…thing we've got going on right here?" Maya demanded, gesturing towards the screen that showed the increasingly pulsing energy wave in the breach room.
"We'll have to find a way to contain it," Harrison replied. He shook his head, taking in a breath through his clenched teeth. The only solution that came to mind was one he would've gladly chewed off his own arm for. But as it was, they were all keeping themselves vulnerable for any incoming attack. "We might have to use the Bazooka."
HR's smile finally fell from his face. He nearly lost his grip on his drumsticks, eyes widening at the realization. "The Bazoo—no!" he declared with a sharp shake of his head. "If-if we do that, then we won't be able to stop Savitar. It's the only thing we have to stop Savitar!"
"Well, right now, it's the only thing that may keep STAR Labs from blowing up," Harrison snapped in response. He turned to HR, eyes flashing as he folded his arms. "Unless you think there's a way all of this could disappear in the next, say, five seconds!"
A sharp breath seemed to suck all the air out the room. Harrison turned to Joe in time to see the man's eyes widen. "You mean…" he started slowly. "I…I don't get all this science stuff," Joe quickly apologized, waving his hand. "But you're going to use that Bazooka thing to take down Savitar and need the Philosopher's Stone to power the Bazooka, but now that mass thing right here, is the Philosopher's Stone about to blow up all of STAR Labs?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Harrison agreed. He brought a hand to his mouth, continuing to watch the mass on screen increase in size as the seconds passed. "But if we can harness that energy, we can use it with the Speed Force Bazooka to take down Savitar, I'm just now sure how we're going to contain something like this."
"Maybe if we put it down in the Pipeline," Maya suggested meekly. She wrung her hands together. "Maybe it'd negate all the power it's amassing."
"How are we supposed to move it into the Pipeline?" Tracy asked.
"We don't know if that'd even work," Joe agreed. He swallowed hard, gesturing towards the screens. "All the pods in the Pipeline dampen metahuman powers. We haven't seen if it'd be able to dampen anything else…even something mystical. And how do we know Savitar didn't do this because he thought of—"
Harrison's movement stopped Joe. He reached beneath the desk and grabbed a long-ranged rifle from beneath it. He whirled around, bringing it up to chest level, squeezing one eye shut, as HR and Tracy leapt out of the way. Out the corner of his eye, Harrison saw Joe had done the same.
It was Joe who had warned him of the danger; his eyes shifting just behind Harrison as he spoke about the Pipeline. Saving him from the danger that Alchemy radiated as he walked into the room. No, Harrison realized.
Not Alchemy.
Julian stood before them, smirking wildly. Instead of being dressed in his work clothes, his 'uniform' of an ill-fitting dress shirt—which typically hung on his lanky body-and tie, a tweed blazer, expensive slacks and dress shoes, Julian was dressed normally. In a baseball tee, jeans, and sneakers. Almost as if he'd been caught off-guard, taken over by some entity when he was reveling in his own time, in his down time.
As Julian spoke to the scientists, his voice was a mixture of his own and Alchemy's, as if he was slowly growing hold on himself as the Philosopher's Stone continued to exude its energy amongst the breach room. Harrison kept his eyes on Julian, running what it meant through his head.
The Philosopher's Stone is losing its energy, making it harder for Alchemy to keep a hold of Julian. If that energy runs out… Harrison glanced back at Joe, who look at him then at Julian once more. Julian may be in worse danger than they originally thought. "And to think, Savitar was worried you'd be able to best him," Julian remarked.
"Alchemy," Tess breathed.
Julian shrugged. "Always have a Plan B. And what's a Plan B other than destroying what it is that you'd know would help the other side win?" He held up the Philosopher's Stone, that didn't shine nearly as brightly as it used to. As the seconds passed, it continued to decrease in its luminescence.
"What's going to stop us from taking you down and taking that Stone?" Joe demanded.
Julian tilted his head. Made a 'tsk' noise as he shook his head back and forth. "Well, if you were to do that, what'd happen to Julian?" He waved a hand over his body. "And, as far as I remember, Team Flash doesn't kill." The Stone glowed brighter, becoming blinding in seconds. "Thankfully, I do."
"Get out of the way!" Joe barked.
He brought back his hand and thrust it forward. At the same time, Harrison, Tess, Maya, HR, and Joe all scattered. Harrison and Joe directed themselves to the other side of the main computer desks, waiting for the blast overhead to stop. Once it ended, they whipped themselves around, aiming their weapons at Julian and fired.
Julian simply lifted the Stone, the bullets deflecting off the aura around the Stone. Harrison cursed under his breath and lifted himself from behind his cover and flung himself across the Cortex, to the doorway of the Medical Bay, where Tess, Tracy, and Maya took cover inside. Joe, on the other hand, stood and continued to fire towards Julian, who shifted his hand back and forth, using the stone to continuously deflect the bullets.
"Guys, we have to think of something!" Joe shouted over the sound of the rifle going off.
Harrison continued to level his rifle towards Julian, randomly firing off shots here and there. He wasn't aiming to harm Julian, knew with every shot of his rifle was going to be directly to the left or above Julian's head. Enough that a normal person would flinch and back off. At the moment, it was just to keep Julian's attention off the women as they figured out what to do.
"Is there anything in here we can use to stop him?" Tracy asked, looking through random drawers in the medical bay.
"Can't we, just, like, poison him or something?" Maya asked.
Tess gave Maya a withering look as she sat by an inventory stand, roughly pulling out drawers and taking out whatever she found inside. "What do you plan to do? Get close enough to inject him with something? The Stone would blast you across the room with only a sliver of a power it's exuding."
"No, I mean, maybe we can make some sort of a vapor," Maya continued. She waved her hands. "To wash over him or something. Like Carbon Monoxide."
Tracy looked at her like she grew a second head out of her neck. "This isn't some sort of an Aztec temple! They don't have fail-safe security like darts flying out of the walls and poisonous vapors that fall from the ceiling." She paused and looked back and forth between Harrison and Tess. "You…don't have that, do you?"
Tess lifted her head and locked eyes with Harrison.
Harrison looked back at her, knowing their minds were synched on the same solution. The only thing they needed was to be sure they could trick Julian into thinking it as well. Harrison looked back at Julian and adjusted his rifle, lowering it towards Julian's knee.
Julian noticed and scowled at Harrison. "It doesn't matter what you do, Savitar is going to prevail."
"And what about you?" Harrison asked. Julian paused, eyes squinting just slightly. "What's going to happen to you once Savitar prevails?" Julian continued to watch Harrison. Neither of them moved. They simply continued to hold their weapons steady. "He'll have no use for you anymore. Once Savitar is ruling the world, he doesn't need anyone beneath him. He'll be a God."
"There are always sacrifices in the name of Gods," Julian said. Nevertheless, Harrison could see Julian's eyes blink rapidly before shifting aside. Faltering.
"Alchemy will be sacrificed," Joe added. He gestured with his rifle. "You will be." He let a pregnant pause fill the air before asking, "What'll happen to Julian."
"Julian is nothing but a pawn in our game," Julian replied, all but rolling his eyes. Anything that made him worry was now gone. "And once the game is over, the winners will rise, and the losers will fall. There will be sacrifices. Sacrifice is the greatest gift one can give a God."
Behind Harrison, Tess continued to scurry through the Medical Bay, muttering to herself as she riffled through numerous drawers. Finally, she snapped one shut and shoved a vial into the pocket of her jeans. She turned back to Harrison and nodded. He subtly nodded back, adjusting his grip on his rifle. He looked to Joe, who looked back at him.
The same thought passed through their gaze in that moment. A parental gaze that let each other know; no matter what happened, they weren't going to give up until Iris and Cadence were safe. Whatever they were going to do, they had to do it fast, so they could get to Team Flash and help them. So they could save their children.
"And what happens to Gods who lose their followers?" Joe asked. His lips pulled back in a snarl. "What happens when they Gods lose?"
Julian's face twisted into a scowl. "Everyone perishes!"
Everything happened at once.
Harrison and Joe, seeing Tess throw herself from the Medical Bay, fired at Julian at the same time. Julian lifted his hand and fired blasts of energy out from the Philosopher's Stone at the same time. The bullets deflected up into the ceiling, just as they'd hoped. Harrison knew the recoil pattern of his rifle and Joe, a skilled policeman, knew the same. As they fired, they pulled their guns upwards, altering the trajectory of their bullets going towards Julian.
The bullets shot into the circuitry of the ceiling, sending sparks shooting down. Thankfully, the wires also covered the air conditioning unit that ran through the ceiling. A pipe burst loose, knocking a bright white cloud into the air before it turned colorless.
Joe waved his rifle aside and Maya and Tracy quickly hurried out after Tess, who sprayed something green into Julian's face as she went by. Julian's face twisted into surprise before he started to cough. His face turned red as he sucked back a sharp gasp and started to gag.
Harrison and Joe followed the women, holding their breath as they went. Harrison lifted the butt of his rifle and knocked Julian on the side of the head, dropping him to the ground. The Philosopher's Stone clattered along the ground of the Cortex. Joe scrambled to pick it up, ripping off his glove with his teeth as to put a barrier between his skin and the stone as he went.
"What about him?" Joe asked, ducking out the side of the Cortex, breathing deeply.
Tears pricked at Harrison's eyes, his chest convulsing from how long he'd held his breath. He knelt by Julian's side and grabbed his arm. He dragged Julian forward and heaved him up over his shoulders in a fireman's carry before shuffling out of the Cortex. When he and Joe were further down the hallway, he finally let out his breath in a loud gasp.
"Chances are, without that, he's going to be back to Julian," Harrison said, nodding to the stone that glowed brightly in Joe's hand. "We have more important things to worry about. Like keeping this place from blowing sky-high."
"Right." Joe nodded. He paused and looked around. "Where's HR?" He asked.
Harrison didn't respond. He'd noticed his doppelganger had disappeared almost as soon as Julian/Alchemy had showed up. Wasn't going to question it. No one ever said their doppelgangers were all the same, there was nothing to be ashamed of if he couldn't bring himself to the call of duty. They ran to the breach room, where the others hovered by the doorway, and the two ran down to the breach room, where the others were waiting.
Harrison faltered when he saw Gypsy standing, gaping at the power vortex that continued to increase in size. "Okay, I've seen a lot of weird things, but this is the weirdest," she remarked.
"What are you doing here?" Harrison asked, leveling his rifle at her.
Gypsy turned her way, eyes narrowing into an impatient glare. "I had to come here," she practically spat. "Seems that Cisco is in some sort of trouble and I have to come and help him."
"How did you know that?" Joe asked. "How'd you know he was in trouble?"
Gypsy thought for a moment, trying to think of the best way to respond, before rolling her eyes and blurting, "All breachers have a mental connection. We can tell when each other is in trouble." Silence stretched between the group. "Besides, I'm here to collect a dangerous criminal that escaped from their Earth. I've tracked them here." She gestured towards the Philosopher Stone's power. "But it seems there's more that you guys are dealing with right now. What is that?"
"That is going to blow up STAR Labs if we don't figure out a way to stop it," HR pointed out. Harrison then noticed he scurried around, setting up the Speed Force Bazooka, pointing it at the vortex.
"Wait," Tracy pleaded, throwing her hands out. "We don't know if this is going to work, or what the blowback from the energy field will be."
"We also didn't know what to take down Alchemy and that ended up working out," Maya said. She turned to Tess, who suddenly was preoccupied with a tablet she'd found on a nearby bench, a leftover from studying Barry's power levels after consistently traveling to and from Earth-2.
Tess gently shook her head. "Toxic gas courteous of Kyle Nimbus," she remarked. "I thought it was good Caitlin decided to keep a little bit of every meta you've come across. Clever girl."
"So, what are we going to do with this if we don't use it for the Speed Force Bazooka?" Joe asked, gently cradling the Philosopher's Stone.
"We might not need it." Tess's voice was suddenly blank. A quiet 'oh my god' escaped her lips before she could stop it. All eyes turned her way. Even HR lifted his head from the Speed Force Bazooka to focused on her. Swallowing hard, Tess turned the tablet around to show the banner that scrolled over the CCPN.
Missiles Launched; Nation On Edge.
"Missiles all over the world have been launched into the atmosphere," Tess said, voice as quiet as a church mouse. She shook her head, lifting her gaze to her husband's. "There's nothing the government can do, they have no control."
"We forgot about Breathtaker," Harrison murmured ominously.
Cisco watched helplessly as Killer Frost and Cadence battled it out. Fire and ice streamed back and forth in front of Cisco's cell, accompanied by the girlish shrieks and grunts of frustration and anger they exuded as they worked to best each other. Cisco tightly grasped the bars of his cell, willing it to move.
"Come on," he murmured. "Come on."
Something with his vibrational blasts weren't working. Or, you don't want them to work, a voice in the back of his mind said. "No," Cisco murmured. He tightened his grasp along the bars, pulling as hard as he could. He felt all the muscles in his body straining, looking back towards Cadence and Killer Frost as they swirled around each other. Steam built in the enclosed space, sliding over them, filling the room to the brim as they did so.
Cadence flipped over Killer Frost's head and immediately lifted her back foot in a kick, knocking the icicle that was shot her way directly back towards Killer Frost's face. Killer Frost ducked her head out of the way, allowing the icicle to shatter on the wall behind her. She glared towards Cadence, whose chest heaved with the effort of their fight.
Killer Frost pointed her hands towards the ground and created an icicle slide, projecting herself towards Cadence. Cadence glanced down then back up as her former friend came hurtling toward her. The she ran towards Killer Frost and ducked away from the ice metahuman's outstreched hands. Cadence slid beneath Killer Frost, the hand that dragged behind her on the ice melted it below her. Killer Frost suddenly stumbled forward, her heels catching the concrete, traction immediately halting her in place. Cadence grabbed onto Killer Frost's leg, holding herself still and twisted herself upwards, pressing herself into a handstand along Killer Frost's shoulders.
Then, in a dismount that looked like a quick flurry of arm and leg movements, Cadence was back on her feet with her arms locked around Killer Frost's neck, her upperhalf bent back over Cadence's upraised knee that dug into Killer Frost's back. The two metas breathed heavily, faces close to each other in the post they were locked in.
"That's hot," Killer Frost murmured, face awash in a hellish glow. Her eyes flashed towards Cadence's face, watching the fire meta's eyes narrow behind her goggles. "So, why don't you be a good girl and make good on your promise and kill me now?" She pursed her lips. "Or in this case, a bad girl."
"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Cadence replied. She lifted her gaze toward the low ceiling, almost rolling her eyes. Killer Frost's lips curled at the corners. "I could melt your head clear off your shoulders in a few seconds flat."
"Why not do it?" Killer Frost taunted. Her smile immediately faded at Cadence's words, the fire metahuman slowly grinned a sadistic smile as she said, "I want to make sure it hurts."
Killer Frost's expression then twisted into pain when Cadence tightened her grasp around Killer Frost's head and neck. Killer Frost started to scream when Cadence moved her fingers to her cheeks and cheekbones, holding her tightly. A sizzling sound filled the air, wisps of smoke coming from Cadence's fingertips. Killer Frost reached up, trying to knock Cadence's hands loose.
Fingers slipping over Killer Frost's sweaty skin, patches of charred skin peeled away from Killer Frost's face as she did so, exposing the nerve ending in her face. Even the slight twitch of her facial muscles made Killer Frost scream in even more agonizing pain. She grabbed Cadence's wrist with one hand, forming a sheath of ice over her wrist.
With the other, she conjured a long, barbed icicle. Killer Frost twisted it in her hand and, with a strangled cry, thrust it backwards, shoving it through Cadence's stomach. Cadence grunted, her eyes slamming shut at the same time her eyebrows came together.
Cisco watched the exchange, shaking with fear. Watched as the skin around Killer Frost's face continued to black and char, slowly peeling away from her lips and towards the source of the fire. Watched as the icicle poking out of Cadence's back collected with blood and dripped to the ground. Watched as Cadence's features twisted into pain she tried to conceal, still holding a thrashing Killer Frost tightly.
If she wanted to, she could easily crush Killer Frost's head between her hands. Could easily melt her head off her shoulders. Could rise Killer Frost's internal body temperature to cause irreversible brain damage, all before Killer Frost could even move. Just as, if Killer Frost wanted to, she could freeze any part of Cadence's body and shatter it to pieces.
Cisco pressed himself flat against the wall behind him. Steadied his feet, raised his hands. He sucked in a deep breath, focused on the dimensional energy he could see through his vibe glasses, and concentrated hard, throwing his arms forward. A vibrational blast shot out and struck the bars of the cell door in front of him. They quaked and trembled before shattering, allowing himself to leap through and stand before his friends.
Cisco threw out his hand, knocking Cadence away from Killer Frost. She landed on the ground, breaking the icicle beneath her. Cadence cried out, bringing her hand up to her stomach where blood pooled around her. With the icicle deep within her body, it was unable to heal, trying to form itself around the projectile. She cried out again, clenching her jaw against the pain when she tried to budge it, the fresh skin that started to heal ripping with her movements.
Killer Frost rolled to her hands and knees, trembling. She glared at Cisco, the side of her face melted down to the bone stared back at him. She heaved sick, wet breaths through her cheek and between her clenched teeth. Her fingers dug into the ground beneath her.
"Oh my God," Cisco murmured at the sight before him. Unlike Killer Frost, who trembled in pain, he trembled in fear at seeing his best friend's state before him.
A white vapor slowly encompassed Killer Frost. It swirled around her as she stood, and when it disappeared, her skin slowly started to heal itself, coming back together until Killer Frost's smooth, pale skin remained. At that she flickered her head towards Cisco, abandoning any attention she had towards Cadence.
"Oh Cisco," Killer Frost intoned. "Why'd you have to go and ruin all the fun? We were just getting started."
Cisco shook his head. "She's my friend."
"I thought I was your friend," Killer Frost forced her lips into a pout. "I thought you really cared about me, Cisco."
"I care about both of you," Cisco replied. He continued to hold his hands up in front of him, in case Killer Frost started to charge. "You're both my friends. I don't want anything to happen to either of you." He worked to block out the strained grunting sounds Cadence made as she continued to try pulling the icicle from her belly.
"You know when it's war, people die, right?" Killer Frost said saucily.
Cisco tried to keep from smiling. The way Killer Frost said it…was the same way Caitlin always teased him. The same facial expression as she did so, the same lift to her voice. And yet, it held Killer Frost's silvery tone. A reminder that it wasn't, in fact, Caitlin talking to him. But that Caitlin was still somewhere in there.
A crackling filled the air. Cisco's eyes looked down to Killer Frost's finger tips, where the icy vapor moved around her fingertips. He briefly wondered if, with Savitar, Killer Frost had managed to learn how to turn her entire body into a solid block of ice. Knew how to sue it to her advantage.
Or if Breathtaker and Alchemy managed to give her a power boost, Cisco thought. At a basic level, Killer Frost's and Cadence's skill sets weren't too different. And yet their skill set and the bag of tricks they managed to come up with that continued to surprise him. Killer Frost stepped toward Cisco, making him take a step back.
"You don't have to do this," he murmured. It was a futile attempt to appeal to her, he knew. He'd said the same thing before and she didn't seem to make note of his words. But maybe, just maybe, now that the imminent danger of Cadence was gone, he'd be able to talk her out of what she needed to do.
Maybe he could reach Caitlin.
"Yes, I do," Killer Frost said. Her eyes turned half-lidded, clearly bored with the conversation. "I have to kill you because you're going to attack me, a classic tale of good vs. evil. We all know how this is going to turn out."
"Why?" Cisco took a small step toward her.
Killer Frost didn't move. He continued toward her, feet shuffling over the stone ground. He could feel a small draft. He was underground, somewhere. That much was obvious. But couldn't quite figure out where. He looked around with his vibe goggles, to determine the vibrational patterns to give him a map of where he was.
Nothing so far.
So he kept talking.
"Because Savitar commands it?" Cisco demanded. "He's not a God, Caitlin! He's just a man! A man that's using you!"
Killer Frost simply lifted an eyebrow, slowly folding her arms. She drummed her fingers against the inside of her arm. If Caitlin was still in there somewhere, Cisco wasn't quite sure. But something was keeping her from attacking and it certainly wasn't the fire metahuman behind her that was slowly starting to grow her strength and resolve to yank the icicle out from her body.
"He's not Barry!" Cisco continued. "Barry would never do this to us! Barry would never want to hurt people like this. He's not someone who would want to harm people like this, who would want people to kneel before him and blindly follow him."
Killer Frost tilted her head aside. "And what are you doing? Following Barry's every order as he leads you into danger?"
"He's not leading us into danger," Cisco remarked. "He's protecting us. Like he's working to protect the rest of the city. Don't you get it?" He reached his hand out toward Killer Frost, ready to touch her. "Everything Barry does it for everyone else. It's to save the city. It's to save everyone."
"He didn't save us when he created Flashpoint."
"He was working to save his mom. To save his dad." Cisco was right in front of her. Her icy eyes locked straight onto his. "Wouldn't you do that to save your father? To save Ronnie? To save the life you could've had?"
Killer Frost turned her head away, for a moment, Cisco saw her eyes shift to brown. He bit back an excited smile. Just as he thought. He reached out and grasped her shoulders, forced her to look at him. He put his hand on her cheek, turning her head his way, gently stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Savitar is a man that's using you. Come on, you know that!" Killer Frost merely blinked. "You're—"
"—One of us?" Killer Frost broke in, voice taunting.
Cisco frowned. "We're a family." His frown deepened, hearing Caitlin say the words with him. "We protect each other 'til the end." His eyes searched her face. "How are you doing that?"
"Savitar told me everything you'd say." Killer Frost smirked, eyes slowly, very slowly turning icy once more. "You see, that's how Savitar knows every move you're going to make. He's always one step ahead of you. Because this is all history to him. That's how I know that you're trying to distract me!"
Killer Frost whipped aside and threw an icicle towards Cadence, at the same time that Cadence ripped the one from within her out, spraying the ground with blood. She threw the icicle back towards Killer Frost, knocking the one she'd created out of the air, leaning backwards as she did so.
At the same time, Cisco threw out a breach behind Cadence, allowing her to fall backwards to safety. She appeared behind Cisco who threw a vibrational blast into Killer Frost, sending her flying. She landed hard on her side, immediately pushing herself to her feet with a snarl.
"It's over, Caitlin," Cisco declared, fingers twitching as he held them up.
"Caitlin is dead."
"Not to me. Never to me."
Caitlin brought her arms back, rolling her shoulders, and threw a wave of ice towards Cisco. He watched as it formed a giant ice ball before him. Cisco threw a vibrational blast toward her. It shattered the ice ball in a thousand glittering pieces before the vibrational blast combined with her ice.
Their powers met in the middle, slowly pushing back and forth as they did so.
"You can do this Cisco," Cadence said as the last of her wound closed. "I have to go find the others."
"Aww, Cadey," Killer Frost taunted. "Are you giving up already?"
"Don't worry," Cadence shot back. Not taking her bait. "The future's set. No matter what happens, I'm going to kill you." She moved to teleport away, then stopped, screeching in pain when an electrical current shot through her body, sending her to the floor. "Gah." She shook her head. "Not again."
"You better fucking let me out of here! I swear to GOD!" Cadence let out cries of fury as she smashed her fists against the bars in front of her face. Over and over she slammed her flaming fists into the metal, hoping to see it bend, give, or even start to melt, but they stood firm.
Undaunted, Cadence took a deep breath and focused on her power, causing the flames that surrounded her hands to increase in size, then punched as hard as she could. Still nothing. Falling to her knees, Cadence tried to catch her breath. In the cell across from her, she could see Barry sitting with his back against the wall, having not moved from that position since the two had woken up in captivity. It couldn't have been more than a few hours they were gone. Still, it didn't appear they were going to be taken out anytime soon.
Not even teleporting was working. They had to have done something that was blocking her ability to get from the room. Each time she tried she felt a jolt strong enough to send her flying to the ground. It was a tough pill to swallow, having her worst fears confirmed, that she had been doing all of this just to be double-crossed at the last minute.
Cadence's eyes widened at the realization.
Across the room, Killer Frost slowly started to advance towards Cisco while hers slowly pushing him backwards. Cisco's hands start o shake, his teeth gritting. Blood started to drip down his nose.
She threw an icicle at him. He throws out a vibrational blast that shatters the icicle into tiny shards. She threw another pump of ice to Cisco, backing him toward the wall behind him, feet sliding over the ground. She flicked her right wrist, sending an icicle into Cisco's shoulder.
"Ah!" It pinned him to the wall.
Then she flicked her left hand and the icicle passed through, pinning him as well. Pain radiated through Cisco's body, the edges of his vision darkening. With the icicles through him, it kept him upright, forcing Cisco to pay attention as Killer Frost moved closer.
Her lips parted to show her teeth. "Do you think Caitlin doesn't know how you feel?" She asked.
Cisco lowered his chin, focusing on all the energy in his body. "What?" He breathed.
"About her. You don't think she knows? Just imagine how disappointed she'd feel if you did this to her. Don't hurt her, Cisco." With another flick of her wrists, the vapor that came towards him increased in size.
For a second, her smile remained. Then it slowly faded. Confusion made her eyebrows pinch together. She looked down at her own hands before looking back to Cisco.
His entire body vibrated with effort. Grunts escaped Cisco's lips as if he were running a marathon, a sprint. Blood pooled from his nose, slipping around his mouth and dripped over his chin, landing on the front of his jacket.
"What are you doing?" She asked, voice trembling. She stumbled when a vibrational blast forced her back.
"I'm sorry," he said. "Caitlin's alive in there. I know she is." Cisco continued to thrust push after push of vibrational energy onto her. "But I have to stop you to save you." Another hit knocked Killer Frost off her feet, stumbling to the ground. Cisco turned his hands towards himself and placed them on his chest. A vibrational blast shot through his body, breaking off the icicles that stuck in his shoulders.
The second he landed on the ground, he wind-milled his arms to keep himself upright. "Whoa," Cisco murmured. He concentrated on the feeling, recognizing it as sensing the Earth's vibrations. Looking down through his goggles, Cisco saw what resembled electric trails swirling through the ground, following his movements as he shuffled his feet.
I can see the vibrations of the Earth, he realized. Grinning, Cisco lifted his foot and stomped it hard on the ground, pushing the direction of his energy downward. The ground shook beneath him, traveling along until it knocked Killer Frost off her feet in an explosive force, sending her backwards into the wall behind her, where she struck with a nasty thud and crashed to the ground.
Cisco lowered his hands, the only sound filling the area was his heaving breathing and the blood sliding from his nose dripping to the ground. Energy spent, Cisco's knees wobbled and she slowly fell to the ground. He looked to Cadence, who looked back at him in stunned surprise and slowly gave a thumbs up.
Until a bright flash of light shot through the area, removing her from sight in seconds.
"Flare!" Cisco called after her.
A/N: Sorry, still not time for Flare vs. Killer Frost yet. That's it's own battle. So, the reason this chapter took a long time to come out was because I, originally, had every single match-up in this chapter. And a heartwrenching end. But I realized two things; 1) I don't anyone wanted to read an almost 30k word chapter and 2) the rest of the story would've moved too fast in comparison to it. So I had to split up multiple points.
But, I hope you enjoyed this as well.
Oh, it's also not the last of Julian/Alchemy. How anti-climactic would that have been?
Cheers,
-Riles