Chapter 5: Help in Need
Earth 1: Unknown Location:
A quiet night it was in Central City. The sun was just beginning to set, and the traffic had dispersed exponentially. Now the roads had become almost vacant, and it started to rain down hard. It seemed almost as if it was going to be a peaceful night in the sprawling city. A night everyone could enjoy, and not have to fear against dangers that could possibly lurk at every street corner.
People rushing home to greet their loved ones, or rushing to their late shift jobs. With no Flash, the cities remained very quiet. No bank robbers held up banks. No meta humans tried to destroy the city.
But then suddenly, out of nowhere, the puddles that the rain had formed, had started to rise unnaturally, and every rat that was in the area, had scurried away in fright.
A large blue and white breach opened, and a man fell out of it, splashing into one of the puddles, just as the water fell on top of him. The man didn't seemed to care however. He just stood back up, and looked at his surroundings. From what he could tell, he was in an alleyway, just like the one he was engaging his targets in previously.
But what was different was the rain. Where he came from, it hardly rained.
After a moment of observations, the man started walking, where he exited the alleyway he was previously in, and now walked along the sidewalk. He silently observed as some people were also walking along, but carrying umbrellas over them to protect them against the rain. None of them wanted to get wet.
But he didn't care about the rain like everyone else did. It didn't bother him whatsoever. He just continued to stalk along, with no clear goal in mind. He then stopped suddenly, and began to look up into the sky. But it was no use as clouds had covered every inch of it. He couldn't determine the date or where he was. He would most certainly have to wait until the clouds dispersed.
While not paying attention to where he was standing, another, much smaller man, had bumped into him, causing the smaller one's wallet to fall out of his pocket. This immediately caught the machines attention.
"Hey! Watch where you're going, asshole!" The young man barked in anger.
The machine ignored him and bent down to pick up his wallet, and began to study the inside contents.
"Hey, that's mine! Give it back!" The young man spat and attempted to snatch the wallet from his grasp.
The machine however, grabbed the small man by the shirt collar and threw him into a nearby trash bin. He then turned his attention back at the wallet, and started taking out its contents:
:SCANNING…
:OBJECT: CENTRAL CITY IDENTIFICATION CARD
:SCANNING…
:ANALYZING…
:LOCATION UNKNOWN
The machine tilted his head to the side. Central City? He never heard of Central City before. His programming didn't have information on what and where it was. No information in his data banks, backed it up. There had to be something else that could tell him where he was.
Maybe there was records of the the city before Judgement Day? Maybe they were destroyed when the bombs fell. He wasn't exactly sure. There was zero information to back that theory up.
The machine continued to scour the wallet, but found nothing aside from a Jitters coupon, a bus token, and...
The machine pulled out another small card, and studied it:
:SCANNING…
:ANALYZING…
:COMIC CON TICKET: ADMIT ONE
:SCANNING...
:OBJECT UNKNOWN
The machine quickly dropped the small ticket, not caring much for it, and continued to rip apart the entire wallet. But when the ticket fell, he noticed the backside, and tilted his head. He bent back down and picked up.
The ticket appeared to show a picture of a dark haired woman on the back, that said: "Come visit me at Comic Con!" next to it. Recognizing the familiar face, the machine began to run another scan on the ticket:
:SCANNING…
:IDENTIFICATION…
:SCANNING…
:ANALYZING…
:IDENTIFICATION FOUND: CAMERON PHILLIPS
:MODEL: TOK
:CLASS: 715
:ANALYZING…
:MISSION PRIORITY FOUND:
:FIND AND TERMINATE JOHN CONNOR
:SECONDARY MISSION FOUND:
:TERMINATE CAMERON PHILLIPS
The machine's eyes flashed red at the sight of the woman on the ticket. He threw the wallet to the side, and shoved the ticket into his black leather jacket. He turned on his heels, and stalked away from the scene, in pursuit of his target.
The machine walked a few blocks, trying to get a sense of his location. First he needed a map of some kind if he was going to be able to navigate these unfamiliar streets. Then he would need a weapon. When he went through the breach, he noticed that he dropped his only firearm along the way. A replacement was definitely top priority, next to figuring out on where and when he was.
The machine stopped once again, when he saw a large building labeled: Mercury Labs. Again, there was something unfamiliar about the company. Foreign.
He saw a shipping truck in the unloading dock, with two workers unloading some sort of crate. The crate appeared to be some munitions crate.
In curiosity, the machine walked past the unguarded fence, and up to the workers who were unloading the small crate, just as they entered the building.
He ran a scan on the crate. It was of some unknown weapon. Classified most likely. The machine knew he couldn't take on Cameron alone. She was a more resilient, and more agile machine. He needed something effective. A weapon that was capable of incapacitating her so he could terminate his second target.
As the door closed, the machine caught it, and walked right inside.
He followed the two as they walked right into some lab. A glass door then suddenly closed right in front of him, preventing further access. The machine punched through the glass doors, causing them to shatter, and he past through it.
But not a moment after, a loud siren went off, and he was immediately faced with two guards, who had their weapons drawn.
"Put your hands up, now!"
The machine ignored the command, and slowly walked up to the guards. One guard was forced to fire into the machine's chest. But the machine didn't even flinch when the bullet impacted. It had no effect.
Both guards looked at the machine in shock. No man was capable of taking a bullet. They immediately assumed it was probably some Metahuman, like those mentioned on the news.
The machine approached the one guard, and smacked his gun out of his hands. He grabbed the man's throat, and with one fluid motion, the machine snapped his neck, and tossed the body on top of the other guard, rendering him incapacitated
With the two guards out of the way, the machine walked up to the crate and ripped open the lid. He reached inside, where he picked up the unknown weapon. He wasn't sure what type it was, but from what his scans displayed, this weapon was experimental, and highly dangerous, as it gave off a very high radioactive level.
It was the perfect weapon for taking down John Connor and his terminator protector.
Earth 1: Star Labs: (3 Hours Later)
Iris West, Detective Joe West, Harrison Wells, and Laurel Lance, we're all gathered in the cortex of Star Labs, staring at the main console monitor with amazement. They had just found footage of a terminator in Central City. Joe was beyond confused, and the rest were baffled. They were all speechless. They had no idea what to say about what they just saw. A machine was here, on their earth?
"What the hell you mean a terminator?" Joe exclaimed confusingly. "How can one be on our world anyway? How do you even know if it actually is one?"
"One question at a time, Detective." Harry acknowledged. He began typing into the computer console, where he replayed the video. "Okay, so do you know what it took from Mercury Labs?"
"McGee said it was a classified weapon of some sorts." Joe began explaining. "That was all she was able to tell me."
"That is not enough information to go on, Detective West!" Harry bashed his fist on the console in frustration. "We need evidence, we need leads. We need to know what this terminator is up to, and what his plan is!"
"Guys, take a look at this!" Laurel announced. Everyone crowded around her and she pressed replay on the video for the third time. As the machine was choking out the first guard, a small slip of paper fell out from his leather jacket, and onto the floor.
"Okay, so?" Harry shrugged. "It's just a stupid piece of paper?"
"Wait, hold on a second." Joe said as he reached into his coat pocket. He pulled out a plastic bag that contained a similar piece of paper that the machine had dropped. "Actually I was about to take this in for analysis." Harry took the bag from Joe's grasp and took the slip of paper from the bag. "Hey, you can't do that! It's crime scene evidence!"
Harry ignored Joe and looked at the piece of paper. What he found it to be, was a ticket. "Comic Con?"
"Comic Con?" Everyone else inquired in unison.
"What does a cyborg from the future want with a Comic Con ticket?" Laurel asked confusingly.
Harry turned over the ticket, which revealed a beautiful chestnut brown haired woman. Instantly, Harry knew what the machine wanted. Or at least had an idea about what he wanted. "Her."
"Cameron?" Iris inquired. "Why does he want her?"
"That is not Cameron, Ms. West." Harry strongly pointed out. "That is her actress."
"Oh, shit." Laurel exclaimed. "So you're saying that this machine is possibly after Cameron's real life actress, for what exactly?"
Harry looked at Laurel. "I don't know, Ms. Lance. What does a Terminator normally do?"
"You think that this thing is trying to kill her?" Joe inquired.
"I'm pretty sure they don't like to take their targets out for a cup of tea, Detective." Harry sarcastically remarked. "If this Terminator has something from this world, then most likely it plans on using it for a good reason. Even going as far as stealing a prototype weapon from Mercury Labs. He probably believes that she is actually a machine."
"I'll get a APB out for this thing, then." Joe acknowledged and turned to leave.
Once her father was gone, Iris turned to Harry and Laurel with concern. "Guys, we need to do something. You've seen what these things can do to a whole SWAT team."
"And what can we do about it, Ms. West? Hmm? Barry isn't here at the moment, and none of us are Metahumans!"
"That thing will slaughter them, Harry!" Iris argued. "My dad, along with innocent people will be in the line of fire!"
"Even Cameron's doppelganger." Laurel finished. "We need to save her."
Harry rubbed the back of his neck in frustration and stared back down at the video. It wasn't just the fact that there was a terminator on the loose, it was the fact that it had a potentially very powerful weapon. Despite the fact that a Terminator was already considered a weapon, this experimental weapon just added to the flames of problems they were currently dealing with.
Zoom was supposed to be their top priority, not this. Not this whole saving another earth charade. If Zoom won, it wouldn't matter. Earth 715 would be destroyed either way. Whether that be by an evil artificial intelligence, or a speedster that was bent on destroying the whole multiverse.
While Harry was mentally ranting inside his head, an idea suddenly popped into his mind. A crazy idea, if he had to admit, but an idea nonetheless. He turned back to face the two. "Do you guys know when this Comic Con is?"
Iris grabbed her phone from her back pocket, and typed into it. A minute later, she had an answer. "Okay, it says it's being held tomorrow at the Central City events center." She read off. "Oh, and get this. Summer Glau is going to be attending the event."
Harry acknowledged what Iris explained, and typed into the computer. "What are you doing, Harry?" Laurel curiously asked.
"I am getting the three of us tickets for this event." Harry answered simply.
"So now you want to save her?" Iris crossed her arms.
"I think it's a suicide mission, yes. But the police don't know what they are dealing with-"
"Ah, crap!" Both Harry and Iris turned to see Laurel taking off her sonic device from her neck. "Damn thing shocked me. Must be broken." An idea suddenly came to mind and Harry gave a mischievous smirk. Laurel looked at him as if he went crazy. "Why are you smiling at me?"
"I may just have an idea." Harry continued to smirk.
•••
"Okay, so how is this supposed to work?" Laurel confusingly asked, as she along with Harry and Iris, were standing in the old particle accelerator chamber. Right in front of them, were several empty oil drums that had faces of an Austrian bodybuilder plastered on them.
Harry was standing behind Laurel, as he was adjusting her sonic device around her neck. "This, Ms. Lance, allows you to concentrate your sound levels into a beam of energy that will be capable of stopping almost everything in your path." Harry explained. "Whether that be bullets, a big killing machine, or just your ex."
Once done configuring the device, Harry took a long step back and handed Iris a pair of earplugs, implying that she put them on.
"Okay, so I want you to knock all barrels down!" He shouted from afar.
"You don't have to yell." Laurel quipped, but did what she was told and got into position. She readied herself into a formidable stance, and screamed at the barrels.
Some barrels when flying back, but she too went flying away and landed a bit too hard on her back. Both Harry and Iris ran to her aid, and took out their earplugs.
"What happened?" Laurel asked hastily. She didn't know what had went wrong. One moment, she was fine. Then the next, she was blown a few feet away. Now her back felt sore. Very reminiscent to the time that Oliver had shot an arrow at her during training.
"You didn't position yourself properly, that's why the scream sent you flying back." Harry explained simply. He got back up and put his earplugs on. "Try again!" He then ordered and walked back to his previous location.
Laurel looked up at Iris. Whom helped her back onto her feet. "Don't worry, you'll do fine," She smiled. "Just be prepared."
Iris put back on her earplugs and joined Harry a few feet from Laurel, and watched as she attempted to utilize the scream for the second time.
Laurel got back into position, making sure that her stance was formidable again, and preparing herself for the force that the scream was to offer. At least now she knew the new power that this new sonic device offered.
She aimed herself at the barrels and screamed at them with all of her might. A visible wave of sound crashed into the barrels, making the barrels go flying everywhere. The scream had caused her feet to slide back a bit, but so far, she didn't repeat the same previous, mistake.
"Good job, Ms. Lance." Harry clapped his hands together in satisfaction. "I'm quite surprised with your quick ability to learn."
"Thanks, Harry." Laurel smiled. She took off the sonic device from her neck and handed it back to Harry. It definitely needed some minor tweaks though. "Where did you get the idea for this anyway?"
"On my world, there is a criminal that actually has similar abilities." Harry explained to Laurel. He then turned to walk away, before turning back to face Laurel again. "Although she is a Meta, and you're not."
While Harry left the chamber, Iris turned to Laurel. "I better get going. We have a long day of Terminator hunting tomorrow."
"Yeah, guess we do." Laurel nodded.
"Where have you been sleeping anyway?" Iris then asked curiously.
"I've been sleeping on the couch in the lounge room." Laurel replied.
"You mean the Cisco Cave?" Iris couldn't help but chuckle.
"Yes." Laurel acknowledged. "Although, it sucks that I've been living off pizza rolls, and sponge baths for the past few days."
Well that surely must suck. "Why don't you stay at my place?" Iris asked. "We have way better food, and it'll give you a chance to get an actual shower."
"Are you sure?" Laurel inquired unsure, in which Iris nodded. "I don't want to intrude on anyone's privacy."
"Trust me, you won't be." Iris assured with a smile. "You can even take Barry's room while he's away."
Laurel pondered on the proposition for a short moment before coming to a conclusion. It would be better to sleep on an actual bed, that came with free food, and an actual shower. But then again, Cisco had an interesting collection of movies. And the couch wasn't exactly uncomfortable.
"Okay, I'll take you up on that offer." Laurel then agreed. "Let me just go grab my things."
"I'll be waiting at the elevator then." Iris smiled and left the chamber.
Laurel went up to the drums and began to place them back up. It wasn't necessary but she didn't like leaving messes. Once all of them were all right side up again, she tore one if the pictures off and looked at it.
"Guess tomorrow I get to cross fighting a Terminator off my bucket list." She started talking to the picture. "Isn't that right, Arnie?" With that she set the photo back on the drum and walked out of the chamber to grab her luggage, and meet Iris at the elevator.
Earth 1: Central City Events Center: (The Next Day)
The next morning everyone woke up and met each other at the Central City Events Center, located just downtown. The place was packed to the brim with people, walking around in some form of geek clothing such as a Star Wars t-shirt or bag; while others went to the extreme, and cosplayed as superheros or other Science Fiction characters.
Knowing that they had to blend in, Iris had picked out one of Barry's spider-man T-shirts, from his closet, and threw it on. Laurel had decided to use her normal vigilante, crime fighting, leather jumpsuit as a disguise since she knew no one would probably even notice. She hopped that no one would notice the Black Canary. She was in fact the new hero in town at the moment, with the Flash missing, and all.
But there was one person who was unaccounted for.
Harry.
Both Iris and Laurel were waiting by the entrance, for Harry, but he was nowhere to be seen. Out of all of them, they expected Harry to be the first one here. This whole mission seemed important to him.
"Dammit, Harry!" Iris exclaimed in frustration. She looked frantically as hundreds of people per second were rushing in. It made it even more difficult to find him. "Where is he!?"
Laurel looked down at her phone. "So, Summer starts signing autographs in five minutes, and she is giving an appearance in an hour."
"With how big and packed this place is, I have a feeling that isn't enough time." Iris answered, and went back to scouring the crowds of entering people. "Come on Harry." She pulled out her phone from her purse, and began typing his number into it. She put the phone up to her ear, until someone tapped her shoulder.
Both Iris and Laurel turned around to see Harry behind them, wearing a black leather jacket, and dark tinted sunglasses. Both couldn't help but break out in laughter.
"What?" Harry looked at the two confused.
"What are you wearing?" Iris said between laughter.
"I'm cosplaying as the Terminator." Harry said while trying to do an Arnold Schwarzenegger impression. Both girls bursted out into even more laughter. Laurel was forced to keep Iris stabilized, to keep her from falling. "Oh come on! I worked three hours on this costume, and impression. At least give me a little bit of compliment."
"We would if you weren't making us late." Iris sternly glared at Harry. "A woman's life is on the line here today, and we need to make sure that she remains unharmed."
"Sorry." Harry reluctantly apologized. "Let's stop wasting time then."
The two silently agreed, and they all made their way inside. They were immediately greeted with the large event revealing itself in front of them. People walking around, as some had went into small shops, set up. There was everything from video game characters, to comic book characters, and so much more.
The three just marveled in the size of the place. But what now? Where would they start looking for the Terminator's target?
"Alright, so what's the plan?" Laurel asked.
"First we need to locate Ms. Glau, and extract her." Harry explained. "Then we need to locate the terminator, and shut him down with this." Harry then pulled out a small taser from his leather jacket pocket.
"So we're going to copy what they did on the show to this Terminator?" Laurel asked.
"Yes, Ms. Lance." Harry agreed. "It's the only way I know we can take them down."
"Hey, great looking Mad Max costume, bro!" Someone shouted as they walked past the three.
"It's a terminator costume!" Harry turned and yelled at the man in annoyance. He then turned and faced Laurel and Iris. "Idiot."
"Okay, we need to stay focused." Iris redirected the subject. "How do we get her to believe us, anyway? She's a celebrity. Most of them are usually stuck up jerks."
"We have to have faith in her that she's not like that." Laurel stated. "I just hope she isn't like Isabel Rochev. Now she was stuck up. Oh, and evil."
"Okay, so should we split up then?" Iris suggested. The place was too large, and they didn't have enough time to look everywhere.
"Good idea." Harry agreed. He then looked at Laurel. "Do you still have your comm link on?"
"I do." Laurel acknowledged. "Me and Iris will start searching the far east end, while you start here."
Both Iris and Laurel turned on their heels, and march away from Harry. Once Harry was sure that they were gone, he pulled a small printed picture of the Sarah Connor Chronicles, from inside his jacket. "Now let's get you autographed." He took off in the opposite direction, where he began his search.
Just as Harry left to begin his search, the machine had passed behind him, walking in a stiff posture, and the Mercury Labs weapon in hand. He had one goal in mind. Terminate.
•••
Both Laurel and Iris walked around the far end of the Central City Comic Com event, searching for their target. So far they came up blank. It had been well over thirty minutes since they had started searching. That didn't leave a whole lot of time. Especially when they only had another thirty minutes remaining, and a cyborg from another world, that was sent from the future, was trying to kill a human doppelganger of his supposed target, that was protecting his definite target. Try saying that a hundred times.
Alas, they were both subjected to search through the science fantasy area of the event center. "Barry and Cisco would surely love this geeky crap." Iris muttered they both passed a bunch of collectable figures, and scale models.
"Same here with Felicity." Laurel chuckled. She definitely knew that Felicity loved all this stuff. Too bad they were off fighting a war at the moment.
Iris abruptly stopped and turned to face Laurel. "So, you didn't tell me that Oliver Queen was the Green Arrow." She said in a whisper.
"Uhh." Was all that Laurel could utter, as she frantically looked around, trying to think of something to counter Iris' sudden statement.
"Relax, Laurel." Iris smirked at her cuteness. "Barry told me just before he left." She explained simply. "Apparently he and my dad knew longer than I have, but still."
"For the longest time, I didn't know about Oliver's secret life. It was very complicated to learn of what he did." Laurel acknowledged. "What about you?" She then asked Iris. "How long did it take you to learn about Barry?"
"More quickly than you finding about Oliver." Iris chuckled. "One thing is for sure though. After that, life became more complicated."
"That I can agree on." Laurel also chuckled. "Although my life has always been complicated with Ollie."
"What do you mean?" Iris inquired.
"Me and him sorta always had an on and off relationship, every now and then. But something always broke us apart."
"The job, I'm guessing?" Iris pointed out.
"That…. and I guess we just aren't really meant for each other." Laurel sadly smiled.
"That, I don't believe." Iris disagreed. "I bet when you see him, you feel as if your heart is pounding a million miles a second. Am I wrong?"
"No." Laurel smirked. "But What do I do? He still loves Felicity."
"What I say, is that you let fate guide you two. If you love him as much as you say, then I'm sure he feels the same." Iris smiled. "Give it time, and I'm sure you'll find each other, again."
"Thank you, Iris." Laurel smiled back. Iris wrapped her arms around Laurel, where they relished in their seemingly new found friendship, before releasing the embrace. "I'm Actually kinda glad we ended up meeting. If it weren't for Barry finding this television universe, then who knows. We may have never become friends."
"See. Fate works in mysterious ways." Iris answered. "Now, as much as I'm enjoying this bonding experience, we really need to get back to the mission." She then added seriously.
"Agreed." The two continued their search, and both wondering how Harry's search was going at the moment. Maybe he was having better luck.
•••
Meanwhile, across the events center, Harry stood in a very long line, within the very large crowd. He was currently in the science fiction area of the event. All around him he could see tons of pop culture references to other movies and television shows. Everything from The Matrix, to the newest Avengers movie.
Very different on his earth, he might add. Pop culture, and other forms of media, had a much different approach. Different outlooks on other things present on this earth. But yet, they were still similar in so many ways.
He smirked to himself at the fact that Laurel and Iris, themselves, weren't geeks. Otherwise they would be all over this place. He would inform them of course. But there was one thing he had to do beforehand. One task he needed to complete. One task of utmost importance.
"Next!" A woman called.
Seeing that he was the next person in line, Harry walked up to the booth, where he came face to face with a beautiful woman. It took him every ounce of control to not do anything strange.
He pulled out the same picture from his leather jacket and handed it to the woman. She took the picture and began writing on it.
"I have to say, Ms. Glau, it is an honor to meet you. I am a huge fan." Harry said in a very calm manner, managing to keep his composure.
"Aww thank you, that means a lot to me." The woman smiled. "I have to say, I'm quite surprised. I don't get much Sarah Connor Chronicle fans these days. I'm pretty sure the show is dead."
"I'd second that, Ms. Glau. I had a very good friend of mine show me the series." Harry explained simply.
"Oh really?" She smirked. She then pulled out a very similar picture from a stack right next to her and started writing onto it. She then handed it to Harry. "Here. Give whoever your friend is my thanks."
"Thank you, Ms. Glau." Harry smiled, and turned away. But as he was about to walk off, he almost forgot something. Harry mentally kicked himself. How could he forget!? Especially with how nice she was, he was about to forget to warn her about a coming danger? He ran back to the booth, and cut off the person behind him.
"I almost forgot to tell you Ms. Glau-"
"Hey, buddy! It's my turn!" A small man snarled from behind Harry.
Harry turned and looked down to face the man, ready to act if necessary. "Excuse me, but this is way more important than you living out one of your fantasies." Harry mocked.
"I've been robbed and thrown into a trash can yesterday, so you should just move out of the way, old man!" The small man continued to press Harry.
Harry was no fighter, that he was certain of. But He would act if he necessary. He was curious how such a small male could be so angry.
Summer seeing the conflict, decided to intervene. She'd rather not deal with an unnecessary scuffle. "No, no, no, it's fine," She waved off. She turned her attention to Harry. "What did you need?"
"There is a mach- man here that is looking to hurt you." Harry explained frantically. "I need you to come with me. I have people that can protect you."
Summer looked at Harry with eyes widened. The unexpected happened when she burst out into laughter. Harry's expression turned from a smile, to a frown.
She only stopped her laughing fit, when she noticed that Harry was not laughing with her. "Wait… you're serious?"
"Ms. Glau, this man is dangerous, and if you don't come with us, you'll be in great danger."
"Umm, do you see the guy behind me?" She pointed with her thumb, behind her. Harry looked up and saw a very large man standing with a stiff posture, with his arms crossed. "That is my protection. I don't need anymore."
"Ms. Glau-"
Harry's plea was cut short when Summer interrupted him. "Please leave. I really don't want to have him escort you out." She requested.
Harry looked up at the big man, seeing that he was awaiting her cue to intervene. Harry looked back down at Summer, and took a deep breath before nodding in acceptance. He turned and walked away, leaving Summer to sigh in relief. The bodyguard who was standing behind Summer leaned in close to her and whispered into her ear.
"Ms. Glau, the panel starts in three minutes."
"Thank you, Victor." Summer acknowledged. She stood up and exited the booth where she turned to face the seemingly endless line of fans that came to meet her. "Okay everyone! That is all of the autographs I am currently signing as of right now."
Everybody groaned dispiritedly.
"But... I will be sure to finish meeting all of you after my panel, so don't worry!" Everyone all cheered, and began to follow her as she was escorted by her bodyguard, away.
Harry stood away from the large crowd that was following the woman, with his mouth agape. He had to admit. She was very enthusiastic. There was probably a reason why she had so many fans.
But as the crowd disappeared, Harry noticed that there was a particular someone following. His eyes widened and he took off his sunglasses to get a better look.
It was the machine. Harry reached into his pocket and took out his small comms ear phone, and spoke into it. "Ms. Lance. I found the machine. He is definitely pursuing Summer Glau."
"Oh, shit!" Laurel exclaimed over the comms channel. "Where are you Harry!?"
"I am currently making my way to Summers panel." Harry informed. "I'm following as we speak, but you need to get over here, quick."
"Me and Iris are on our way." Laurel acknowledged. "Make sure the Terminator doesn't kill her!"
"I'll do my best, Ms. Lance." Harry muttered. With that, he stopped speaking into the comms device, where he started to follow the group through the whole events center. Through the whole march, he was within view of the terminator the whole time.
That was what Harry did not expect whatsoever. From the movies, and most certainly, the television show, every terminator would hunt it's target to kill them. Not wait for an opportune moment to strike, like an assassin. This machine was waiting for a perfect moment to strike, and it didn't make any sense to him as why he was. Maybe he was going the wrong way about machines? Maybe there were a whole lot more to them, than meets the eye.
Harry continued to follow the group closely, making sure that the terminator didn't leave his sights. He wasn't about to let this terminator do anything drask to this woman. She was innocent. But what could he do when it came down to protecting her? He was no metahuman, and he did leave his stolen Mercury Labs weapon at Star Labs. He was powerless right now. One false move and Jesse would be left an orphan.
One thing was for sure, though, aside from worrying about his daughter. Mercury Labs needs better security.
Once inside the conference hall, he was surprised to already be greeted with hundreds of people already sitting down, waiting for the panel to start. With the meeting stage being the only part of the room that was lit up. He immediately lost the terminator in the large crowd that was fighting for seating.
Where are you, Lance?
Harry stood in the way back, just as everyone took a seat, and the panel begun. From the back he could barely hear anything that was being said. No matter how loud the speakers were, they wouldn't reach where he was standing.
But even as bad as he wanted to listen to the panel, he couldn't. He had to find where this machine was. It was a matter of life or death here, today.
Harry continued to scan his surroundings, looking at every dim face, that he could only ever so slightly see. He mentally berated himself for losing sight of the terminator. It was his job. And he just failed that simple task.
But then he saw him. Harry gazed towards the aisle, and saw a man stalking his way down, towards the stage, in a predatory fashion. The hairs on Harry's arms stood on its ends. He made a beeline down the aisle, just hoping that he'd be fast enough.
As the machine neared the stage, two security guards quickly dispatched, and blocked him.
"Excuse me, sir, but I'm gonna have to ask you to take your seat." The first guard ordered in a calm, stern manner.
The machine tilted it's head, and looked down at the guard's firearms. Before the two could react, the machine used his forearm to smack the guards away.
Harry luckily had closed that distance gap, just in time, and jumped onto the machine's back, and started to cover its eyes. He wasn't sure what else to do. He hadn't planned at all, to be fighting a terminator. Now he was just here, pathetically covering the machines eyes like some lunatic.
The machine was able to easily grab Harry, and threw him onto the stage, where he hit head on long table, and went unconscious.
With Harry out of the way, the machine looked up at the now standing actors and actresses. He scanned each and every one, until Summer Glau came into his sights. He climbed the stage, and pushed the table out of his way.
As the machine approached closer, Summer fell to the ground, and started frantically backing away from him.
"Cameron Phillips?" The man inquired in a deep, blank tone.
"Who are you?" Summer asked in complete fear, as she slowly shuffled away from the machine.
The machine didn't answer, and instead, he took the concealed weapon out from his jacket, and aimed at Summer herself, as the weapon began to charge, a yellow light emitted from the core.
Then suddenly, out of nowhere, The Black Canary dropped from the ceiling, and landed right in front of Summer, where she used her new, and improved Canary Cry, to blast the terminator back, and the yellow beam of energy had shot through the roof. Due to the weapon firing, and Laurels cry, every person had rushed out of the room in panic.
Iris came running onstage, and grabbed Harry. "We need to get out of here!" She highly suggested as she lifted his arm over her shoulder.
"Yeah, sounds like a plan." Laurel agreed, and turned to face Summer. She extended her hand out to the woman. "Come with me if you want to live!"
"Oh, boy, now I'm having deja vu!" Summer exclaimed and took Laurel's hand. Once on her feet, Laurel made her way to Iris, to lend a hand with Harry. As the three made their way off stage, and towards the exit, they were immediately stopped by her bodyguard.
"I can't let you leave with her." Victor crossed his arms, and not letting them pass. "Let her go, now."
"Hello, I'm the Black Canary, and I'm not sure if you know this or not. But a killer cyborg from the future is trying to kill your client."
Victor looked at Summer in absolute confusion. "Yeah, I don't know what's going on either. But we have to get out of here."
Victor looked behind them to see the machine standing up. Thinking that was the man they were referring to, that was trying to hurt his client. He simply nodded, and pushed past them, where he walked up to the machine, just as it stood up, and landed a punch on his face. But the machine didn't flinch.
"Wait! Victor, don't-"
Before Summer could finish that sentence, The machine grabbed her bodyguard and threw him, where he was sent flying into the rows of now vacant chairs.
All of them grimaced.
"Well that didn't go so well…" Laurel mumbled to herself. "Here." She motioned for Summer to take her place. She agreed and slung Harry's arm around her shoulder. "I need you guys to get out of here."
Before any of them could say anything, Laurel turned and sprinted towards away, towards the machine, where she again, used her Canary Cry to send the machine stumbling back. She went up to the machine and used her police baton to smack him across the face a few times.
But it was no use, as the machine had snatched the baton and threw it off to the side.
Laurel immediately responded by kicking the machine across the face. But the response she got from the machine was unexpected. He was just tilting its head in confusion.
That and her foot now felt like she smacked it against the edge of a razor scooter.
Despite her ankle feeling very sore, she continued to fight the machine, launching several kicks into his chest, causing him to stumble back. She landed a few punches too, but they had no effect on him. Much like Victor's attempt, the machine hardly flinched.
Laurel took a step forwards once again, preparing to use her Canary Cry, but the machine backhanded her, and she was sent flying back a few feet. As she recovered from the painful smack across her face, she looked at the machine and saw that he had the weapon aimed at her, and was charging.
Oh, crap...
Before Laurel could process another thought, the yellow beam, that emitted from the weapon, hit her in the chest, causing her to go flying across the room. She first crashed through the wood, and drywall, followed by coming out on the other side, where she immediately came into contact with a Lego life sized model of a Star Wars TIE Fighter.
Everyone began to crowd around her in worry, as they saw what transpired.
With Laurel out of the equation, the machine exited through the made hole in the wall, and scanned for his target, where he saw her fleeing into the large ignorant crowd of civilians, and immediately pursued.
•••
After much running, they made it. After trying to navigate through everyone, they all made it down to the parking garage, where they would make their escape. Both Iris and Summer hastily made their way to her vehicle, just all while carrying a very unconscious Harry around their shoulders.
Iris was definitely worried about Laurel. She hoped that she was able to hold her own against that hulking machine. After seeing what they were capable of, on television, she was very concerned at this point. Sure, she knew Laurel could hold her own in a fight, but not something of the magnitude as a terminator. If she was unlucky enough, that machine would have snapped her like a twig.
"Your friend here is… very heavy." Summer breathed heavily. Iris rushed out of her thoughts, when Summer spoke. She definitely displayed some strain from holding Harry. Completely the opposite of her machine doppelganger.
"Big Belly Burger isn't exactly the best diet…" Iris acknowledged simply. "Where is your vehicle?" She then asked.
"Over here." She pointed them in the direction. She led them to a small, simple, tan coupe.
Iris suddenly stopped, forcing Summer and Harry to come to and halt. Summer looked at Iris in confusion as she just glared at the vehicle. "Is something wrong?"
"Uhh, no." She shook her head. "I just expected you to have a-"
"Lamborghini?"
"Yeah, actually." Iris agreed.
"Well, my money has been going into something else at the moment." Summer simply answered. "Look, we don't have time for this, we need to get your weird friend, here, inside and get away from here."
Iris simply nodded and the two threw Harry in the backseat. He did appear to hit his head on one of the seat belt buckles, but they paid no attention, really. Summer got in the driver's seat, and put on her seatbelt, while Iris hopped in the passenger side. The vehicle started, and pulled out of the driveway, before Summer sped down towards the exit, not caring about the speed bumps that were put in place.
They were almost out of danger. They almost escaped.
That was… until the machine came out of nowhere, and stood in their path. Both Iris' and Summer's eyes widened in horror. Last second, Summer stomp on the brakes, with all of her might, causing the vehicle to come to a screeching halt. Both of them gulped in fear as the terminator had risen it's weapon, and took aim at them. The weapon began to charge slowly, and began to light up.
"Ow… where am I?" Harry sat up, and rubbed his head vigorously. Everything felt all fuzzy to him, as he tried to get his bearings. "Why does my head feel like a bunch of kids are hitting me with bricks?" He turned his head and saw Summer and Iris sitting in the front seats, staring at something "Oh, hey guys, what are we-" That was when he noticed the terminator aiming a charging weapon at them. "Oh... crap! back up, back up, back up!"
Summer didn't need to be told twice, and immediately put the vehicle into reverse, and sped backwards down the opposite way in which they came from.
The machine fired off a yellow beam from the weapon, but missed, when the vehicle had swerved slightly. The terminator dropped the weapon, and bolted after the runaway vehicle, like a cheetah chasing after a gazelle.
"You may wanna go faster!" Iris pressed nervously.
"I'm trying!" Summer gritted her teeth, at she put all of her focus on maneuvering through the aisle. But her field of vision was obstructed by Harry's large head.
"Hello Summer." Harry waved.
"Shut up." Summer sneered, and pushed him to the side, so she could see. But when she had a clear view through the rear windshield, they were immediately greeted with a wall, and the vehicle ramming into it. Everyone's airbags came popping out, which luckily cushioned the impact.
Iris and Harry were the first to get out of the crashed out vehicle, where they both helped Summer out of the driver's seat. "You're not as nice as I made you out to be." Harry muttered.
Summer accepted Harry's help, and grabbed his hand. "I don't do well under pressure- Ow!" She then unexpectedly screamed as she held her wrist.
Iris looked over her wrist and noticed that it appeared slightly disfigured. "Damn... It looks broken."
"Oh, that's just great." Summer winced. She pushed Iris and Harry away, so that they'd stop touching her now sensitive wrist. But in that moment, she felt something grasp around her neck, and she was hoisted up into the air. Panic overcame her as her feet left the ground.
"Oh, no." Iris covered her mouth. The machine got to her. It finally got to her. Both she and Harry ran up to the machine and started punching it, and trying to pry its grip from her neck. But it was no use. The machine had shoved them away and turned his hand, so that Summer was facing his blank face.
"Where is John Connor?" The machine inquired with stoic tone.
Summer responded by spitting in the machines face. "I have no idea what you're talking about, you psychopath!"
The machine concluded that she was lying. Although his make and model didn't have the same attributes as his successors did, he knew that the most likely way to get information from her, was to go inside her chip itself.
The machine rose it's fist, prepared to launch an attack against Summer.
All Harry and Iris could do was watch helplessly, as Summer was going to face death. They felt as if they truly failed her.
But Before the machine could launch its attack, he jolted his head upon hearing a loud horn. He turned his head, last second, and a large white van had smacked into him, forcing him to release his hold on Summers throat.
She fell to the ground, and opened her eyes. She felt around her neck, wondering how she was still alive. But still glad nonetheless. Everyone looked at the van in complete relief, and disbelief at who was sitting in the front seat.
"Laurel!" Iris exclaimed in delight.
"Thank you, Iris. You just outed my identity to a celebrity." Laurel sarcastically remarked. The three continued to look up at Laurel, with confusion, and not moving from their original spots. Laurel rolled her eyes, knowing that they didn't have all day. "Well? Are you guys coming!?"
They didn't need to be told twice. They all hopped into the back where Laurel sped away from the parking garage, just as the machine was beginning to recover from the sudden impact of the van. Laurel knew that it wasn't hurt. That it wasn't done with Summer yet. But at least they could now come up with a plan.
As the vehicle sped away, the machine stood back up, and looked at the licence plate of the van, where he stored it away for later use. He went over to pick up the weapon that he had previously dropped, in favor of chasing down his target. When be bent down, he noticed that his hand was clinching rapidly. The machine conducted a scan on its limb, and immediately came up with a solution.
It was heavily damaged. The machine had a new mission priority in front of terminating John Connor. Self repair.
Earth 1: Star Labs
Back at Star Labs, Laurel and Iris were patching up Summers wrist to the best of their abilities. They weren't doctors, and without Caitlin here, they couldn't do much. But they felt that they did well, considering. A split for the meantime would surely have to do, as well as some pain medication to ease the soreness of a still broken wrist.
"Thank you." Summer breathed in a tired tone. She slowly stood up, almost stumbling, luckily, Laurel and Iris were there to catch her, and ease her onto her feet. "Thank you, again."
"Sorry we couldn't do much more than this." Iris apologized. She had a feeling that Summer Glau was more or less, used to having a doctor treat any injuries she may sustain.
"It's alright. I'll just go see a doctor about getting this fixed." She explained, and began shuffling her way towards the exit.
"Wait, where are you going?" Laurel inquired.
Summer rolled her eyes, buy faced the two when she spoke. "I appreciate everything you've done to save my little butt, guys. I really do. But I really need to get to a doctor. That and people will begin to worry if I'm missing."
"That machine is still out there, Ms. Glau." Iris pointed out. "Without us, you'll be in grave danger like you were today."
"If we're not there, then maybe this time, that terminator will succeed in killing you." Laurel also said.
"I wish you would stop calling him that!" Summer infuriatingly yelled in annoyance. "That was not a terminator, they don't exist! What I saw, was a crazy lunatic, that has probably been sending me all of those death threats!"
"Death threats?" Both Iris and Laurel inquired. Iris immediately got back on topic. "Look, Ms. Glau-"
"Mrs, and you can call me Summer." She annoyingly told the two.
"Okay… Summer. I can understand your confusion in all of this. Believe me, I wish I knew where to even begin to tell you what is going on." Iris began.
"Really? Since I'm not leaving, might as well tell me all of it." Summer crossed her arms, only to wince, and place her good hand on her hip.
"Wait, so you're staying?" Iris inquired hopefully.
"No. I was just being sarcastic." Summer pointed out with a still neutral expression.
Okay… should have known that it wasn't going to be that easy. Iris could definitely tell that even though the show had been canceled for a number of years already, she still displayed that blank expression when she was either angry, or annoyed.
Summer took Iris' silence as a invitation, and turned to walk away, towards the exit. She needed to say something to change her mind, and quick.
"I know who the Flash is!" Iris blurted out.
Summer quickly turned around in curiosity, and looked at her. She immediately began chuckling. "Yeah right." She scoffed.
"It's true." Laurel took a step forward. She stopped for only a second to grab her stomach, as it began to feel a bit queasy. But only for a second. "We both know who he is."
"Wait, really?" Summer eyed the two. "No, you have to be joking."
"Okay…" Both Iris and Laurel shrugged. "If you leave, I guess you'll never know. Especially when you're in his secret lair."
Summer looked around the room, and walked away from the exit; and back to Iris and Laurel. "I am a big fan of the Flash. Don't joke at all, about knowing his identity."
"Will you stay, then?" Laurel asked. "We'll give you the full tour."
Summer contemplated on the decision, for a long moment, before Detective West came into the room, with a very worried look on his face. It immediately went away, when he saw Summer and sighed in relief. "Oh, thank God. I thought we were too late."
"Hey, daddy." Iris waved at her father. "Where were you, today?"
"I had a security detail placed around the center, but I guess he- it got through us, unnoticed." Joe explained. "Were you guys in there when it all happened?" He then asked.
"Just in time to save Summer here, from termination." Laurel smiled and patted the woman on the shoulder.
"Well, at least the Black Canary can find other jobs instead of helping the Green Arrow fight drug dealers." Joe sighed.
"I'll take that as a compliment, I guess?" Laurel replied unsure.
"Anyway, I just came to check up on you. And to take Mrs. Glau to the station." Joe explained. Summer was about to go to the detective, until Laurel stopped her.
"Detective, forgive me for saying this, but have you seen the first movie?" Laurel asked Joe with seriousness.
"It's been a long time. But yeah. Why?" He inquired confusingly. He was confused as to what she was trying to convey.
"And do you remember what happens to the police station in that movie?" Laurel then pointed out, matter of factly.
About to interject, Joe decided to shut his mouth, upon delving into the deepest reached of his mind, to remember the only science fiction movie. "Yeah… now I do."
"Dad, you know it's safer here. We can protect her much better than the entire police force." Iris explained simply.
"Yeah, with Bar- Uhh, the Flash here. But he currently isn't right now, Iris." Joe insisted.
"We have Laurel." Iris argued. "She is currently the only one, that we know of, that can actually survive a fight with one of these things."
Before Joe could continue his rant, Harry abruptly came storming back into the cortex, appearing to be very agitated. By the way he was rubbing his head, and pacing back and forth, they knew something wasn't right. "Harry? You okay?" Iris asked the man. For how long she knew him, he appeared to be in one of his 'No so great' moods.
"I just talked to McGee about the weapon that the machine took." Harry informed. His body faced away from the rest of them, and he was bending over a table.
"Okay… and?" Joe pressed him to continue.
Harry stood straight again, and turned to face them. "She told me that it was an experimental dark matter emitter, designed to turn American Soldiers into MetaHumans."
"So that means that the weapon wouldn't have hurt me." Summer then replied.
"Okay, now I'm confused. Why is this such a bad thing? I mean, apart from a terminator possessing one of these."
"The problem is, Detective." He gazed upon Laurel, which prompted everyone else to do the same. "She was hit with the dark matter gun."
Everyone's eyes went wide, as they looked at Laurel with their tongues tied. Only Iris and Joe knew what Harry was implying, while Summer was very puzzled.
Laurel laughed hysterically, as she began to feel very uneasy with the eyes that began to fall upon her. "What does that have to do with anything?"
Harry didn't immediately answer, and instead, he walked up to Laurel. He looked at everyone while he pointed his Meta Human detector at Laurel. To everyone's surprise, the watch flashed red. His assumption was true.
"Ms. Lance. You are a Metahuman."
•••
Author's Note: This chapter really didn't focus on the Connor's at all, but we instead had an Earth 1 oriented chapter. I thought it would be an interesting idea to have this machine hunt Cameron's actress, thinking that she was someone else. Makes for a good side plot, so why not?
Laurel is now a Metahuman. Let's hope the power doesn't turn her into a supervillain like her Earth 2 counterpart.
Next chapter we will get back on track on what happened after Zeira Corp, and how they plan to get Cameron back. There will always be an obstacle that they will have to overcome. Because like we all know, Skynet is not easy to take down. Even with a speedster, and an archer on their side.
Reviews and constructive criticism are gladly appreciated!