wow, sorry for the late update, guys. been caught up on a lot of stuffs. thanks for the continued support. :)
"Good job, Spider-Man."
"Same to you, Flash." Spider-Man gave a salute.
Barry sent the masked young man a grin, imitating the gesture, watching the Spider-Man zip away as he called a good night, school day tomorrow past his shoulder. Barry had to admit that he did get curious at times as to who the polite teenager underneath the costume was. In their three weeks of coincidental alliance, Barry couldn't deny their easy partnership. Sure, they didn't know each other beyond their code names, but they have each other's backs. With his politeness and eagerness to help and do good for the people, it wasn't difficult for Spider-Man to earn Barry's respect and trust.
"How's vigilante-ing?" Cisco asked once Barry fitted his suit back to the mannequin, not even looking up from the computer monitor.
"Caught some robbers and a snatcher. Got five boxes of pizza as a reward," Barry said, placing a box at the free space on Cisco's table.
It was only then that Cisco removed his eyes from the screen, giving an elated sound at his first bite, groaning. "I might let us be trapped in this Earth if it meant getting this kind of pizza every day." He swirled on his seat, sighing. "But that might be the case with the lack of progress I'm making."
"C'mon, don't be so hard on yourself. You're the one doing the heavy lifting." Barry lifted a prototype extrapolator that Cisco has been working on since the beginning of the week. It looked exactly as the extrapolator that Cisco gave to Kara before. "What happened to this?"
"Not working." Cisco took another bite, swallowing before he added, "It doesn't respond to the gravitational pull of this Earth."
"Think maybe we should make this a bit bigger?" Barry suggested.
"Thought of that too, but a slightly bigger spectacle is enough to alert something else other than the authorities, apparently." When Barry tilted his head in confusion, Cisco elaborated, "Some hidden organizations and government-related agencies. Understandable, especially when you have a country that was once invaded by aliens and you have a Norse God that comes down here from time to time. Typical day in New York, I bet."
Between the two of them, it was Cisco who was the most learnt of the current and past events of this Earth, mostly due to Cisco retaining that title of 'guy on the chair' for The Flash while Cisco was figuring out why his vibe wasn't working in this Earth. They suspected that it has something to do with the composition of this Earth that was way too different even compared to Earth-38.
"Worked with Spider-Man again?" Cisco asked. He has been familiar to him by listening in through the Flash suit's ear piece, sometimes causing Cisco to snort or laugh in the background at the kid's overflowing energy and comprehensible pop culture references (these, at least, resembled Earth-1's). For some reason, Barry and Cisco could both see their younger selves in the kid.
"Yeah, I did. He left early though. School night, he said."
"That's responsible of him." Cisco nodded in approval. "Hey, I had this thought—what if he's one of Midtown High's students, or better yet, one of your students?"
Barry shook his head amusedly. "Then I'll be inclined to leave less assignment for that student alone. Still, that's a long shot."
"You mentioned that he sounded familiar but can't pinpoint where you heard him. We've only been here for, what, three months now? And the only people you've interacted with more than once aside from me and your students were the old women in the neighborhood who like you."
Fair point. But, honestly, Barry thought it unfair to find out for himself Spider-Man's real identity after Barry outright refused the kid's suggestion of revealing his face to Barry, saying that Spider-Man wasn't obligated to do so. Barry appreciated the thought and assured him that the secrecy didn't mean his trust in Spider-Man lessened.
"And their parents won't appreciate a teacher part-timing as a vigilante."
Barry did a quick sweep of the apartment they were renting, a new garbage bag to be disposed of sitting in a corner. For only two people living together, they have more trash than a family of four, and mainly because they were living off of take-outs and pizzas—Larry's Pizza, mostly.
"Here," Barry said after another swish of air. He shook the pistachio ice cream and a fresh pack of lollipops in front of Cisco. They were the known remedy whenever Cisco was upset, which he usually was when arriving at dead ends to the solution he was forming to get out of this Earth. With Cisco the one to do most of the researching about the Earth they didn't know of, and add to that the sudden absence of his meta-human abilities, Barry supposed he would be less optimistic as well if he was in the same situation.
"You're encouraging my stress-eating," Cisco chided but took them anyway.
More like comfort food, actually, Barry wanted to say. "Your proven method to achieve breakthroughs." He grinned, giving Cisco an encouraging pat on the back.
"Thanks, man," Cisco said sincerely.
"No problem." Barry paused, thoughtful. "Hey, we'll find our way out, alright? Who knows, maybe sooner than we thought."
"Well, not tomorrow, because I'll be out installing new batches of surveillance cameras at Metro-General Hospital."
Barry chuckled. "Of course."
Barry found himself spending alone the aftermath time of 'cleaning up' for Saturday evening. Spider-Man was nowhere around, and Barry thought amusedly that the kid might be doing his assignment for the weekend. If the situation was reversed and it was Barry who got his meta-human abilities at young age, his super speed would be more convenient in balancing between being a student and a vigilante.
The back of his mind supplied rather unhelpfully that being The Flash didn't make a difference in fixing his chronic lateness at work.
"I'm on my way back, Cisco. You need me to pick up something for you?"
Some electric tapes and a meter of twinaxial cable.
Barry had to press the ear piece to hear the last bit clearer after a loud music could be heard getting nearer at Barry's current location. Must be from the loud speakers of a passing car.
Get me half a meter of coaxial cable too, and—wait, are you playing Highway to Hell?
"What? No, that's—"
Barry snapped his head at the sound of the metallic thud behind him. He involuntary took a step back at the… familiar looking metal suit that landed, speakers blearing AC/DC's Highway to Hell.
"Um, hello?" Barry asked tentatively after a long beat of silence. Wait. That metal suit... Iron Man, was it?
The suit hissed open and revealed a man striding closer to Barry with an appraising look. "Hey there, sonic," the man said, fixing his tie—huh, so you can maneuver a full-bodied metal suit while wearing a formal attire underneath. He gave Barry an all business-like smile that Barry usually see in tax collectors. "You're quite difficult to catch, I'll give you that."
"Thanks?"
Barry? Who's that?
The man—what's his name again? Pretty sure Barry had seen his face in media often; Cisco would know—squinted his eyes at Barry's left ear. "That your friend?"
"Yes, Mister…"
"You wound me," the man said, mock-hurt. "But where's my manners? Tony. Tony Stark."
Whoah. What's Iron Man doing there?
Stark cleared his throat, raising his voice when he said, "I'm here to chat with your friend, Barry Allen. You know what, I'd like to talk to you too, Barry's friend."
Barry stood there, confused and surprised. "How did you—"
Stark opened his arms as some kind of grand gesture, looking around like he was addressing nonexistent audience. "I'm Tony Stark, that's why."
Alright, that's a good reason. That man has resources at his disposal to know everything.
"Ditto," Stark said upon hearing Cisco's reply. "I'll get straight to the point. Say, Mr. Allen, why is a man like you who can run as fast as a blue hedgehog has no authentic records as if you suddenly came out of nowhere? And let me guess, your friend is the same too. Sloppy, so I won't assume you're from some notoriously evil organization." Stark crossed Barry's personal space, unbidden. Barry had to give it to Stark; he knew how to make a man taller than him much shorter despite his cool exterior. "I'm more curious though, as to why would you pose as a chemistry instructor in Midtown High."
Barry considered for a moment. He wasn't planning to lie, but the reality sounded so convoluted without proof. "Actually, we do have a good reason, but that means you'll have to believe me however ridiculous I might sound."
He could detect a hint of challenge at Stark's smirk. "Do your worst."
Barry removed his cowl, sighing in both relief and wary. This would be the first time that he would be sharing their situation to a native of this Earth, and depending on how Stark would take Barry's story would determine the outcome.
"First off, we're not from around here. Actually, we're from—"
"Mr. Stark!" Spider-Man landed between Barry and Stark, stopping to stare at Barry. "Oh my god. Mr. Allen?!"
"No, don't remove your mask, kid. Keep your—or don't," came Stark's unneeded warning to Spider-Man.
"Peter?"
Peter's face of utter disbelief morphed into an excited smile. "You're The Flash!"
"And you're Spider-Man." Peter's expression was contagious that Barry couldn't help but smile back, tension momentarily forgotten.
Stark watched the sudden turn of events from the sidelines, muttering, "Great. This feels like a parent-teacher conference."
TBC