! Warning: This story may contain adult themes, such as nudity, sexual content, torture, mass murder etc. Reader discretion is highly advised. !
Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.
"So, where do you think the compass is going to lead us?" Joe questioned.
"Good question." Barry said. "He gave it to every meta he had approached and Mercy had this compass in her deposit box too. I think it's time to figure out where does this thing lead us."
"Road trip? I'm in." Ralph said.
"Wait, someone has to look after Central City." Cisco reminded. "Barry and Caitlin can go. We got this and I'll see if I can reach out to Wally. And if Cicada shows up—"
"We'll figure something. Don't worry, Allen. We got this." Harry said.
"Look, Barry, I'm not sure if it's a good idea." Joe said. "Manchester does seem to have sincere intentions but… I don't know… don't you think he's keeping something from you?"
"Joe has a point, Barry. I'd like to believe that this Manchester guy seems genuine but… it smells a bit fishy." Patty said.
"Maybe… which is why we could at least take a closer look at this circus of his." Barry said before Caitlin and Patty held onto him.
Elsewhere
The trip took them somewhere in the desert as Caitlin held onto the compass.
"Is that the place?" Patty asked as she looked around the landscape.
"The compass does seem to think so." Caitlin said as the needle moved only lightly.
"But there's nothing…" Barry trailed off as in front of them appeared a circus. "…here…"
"So glad you could make it." Manchester smiled.
Barry, Caitlin and Patty walked down the carnival with Manchester.
"I know it looks a little scary from the outside but you'll get used to it in time." Manchester said.
"We came here to take a look and see what is this all about. Nothing more. Nothing less." Patty said. "I'd prefer not to have a reason to arrest anyone."
"Don't worry, Detective Spivot." Manchester assured. "I can assure you, while most of the metahumans here have… checkered past… they wish you no harm. And if some of them do… I will make sure they will face consequences."
"What is this place exactly? You said you were offering a family and redemption for every meta." Caitlin said.
"You'll see." Manchester handed them three tickets. "Free passes for you. The whole day is on my tab. All of it." Barry, Caitlin and Patty looked at the tickets warily. "You like carnivals, do you?"
"Dad used to take me to them, when I was a kid." Patty admitted.
"Look, don't take this the wrong way but we're not joining your family. We just want to take a look around. That's it." Barry said.
"Of course, Mr. Allen. I'm not forcing anyone to do anything they do not want to do. Everyone has a choice." Manchester nodded.
"Although… I'm not sure what are we looking at." Barry admitted.
"There's more to it than it seems." Manchester said as they walked down the carnival. "This is the 'show' part of the business. Of course we need money and I know you might not trust most of the metahumans here but we're being as honest about earning them as we can."
Barry then noticed Peek-a-boo poster as he recognized the woman painted on it. "Is that…"
"…Shawna Baez?" Caitlin finished.
"I know that you've had some unfortunate encounters with her in the past." Manchester said. "But do not worry, she's not harming anyone nor stealing."
They entered the tent and peeked at Shawna's Peek-a-boo act as she kept on teleporting and amusing the spectators.
"Well… that's new." Barry said.
"Don't you remember being amazed by things you did not understand? When you saw the joy and fun in it?" Manchester asked. "I'm trying to make sure they do not hurt anyone. Instead, make their lives easier."
"Well, that's interesting." Barry said, not sure what else to say.
"Stay here as long as you like. Then you're free to go home." Manchester offered as he left them.
"The metahumans here are using their abilities in different ways." Caitlin pointed out.
"Yeah, by conning them." Patty nodded. "They might be living out in the open, not feared of but… I don't know."
"Yeah, I hear you." Barry said. "I think Manchester has a genuine agenda here but… I don't know, life in a freak show isn't exactly a life."
"Still better than having the government on your back." Caitlin pointed out but Patty froze upon seeing Mark Mardon, the man, who murdered her father, doing some weather tricks, amazing the children, a few shops away.
"Patty…" Barry held her arm gently as Patty had a death glare in her eyes as she was reaching for her gun holstered in her belt. "Calm down."
"How could they let him here?" Patty demanded, enraged.
"He said he was offering people second chances—"
"That man killed my Dad, Barry." Patty snapped.
"Take it easy." Barry said. "I know how hard it is… and believe me, I'd want nothing more than to take him in but look around." He reminded as Patty remembered she was in a circus full of metahumans. "If you cause a scene, we're in big trouble."
Patty took a deep breath and looked away from Mardon. "It just—"
"I know how you feel." Barry said. "I feel that way anytime Thawne shows up in my life again."
"Where's the man in charge?" A tall man demanded as he approached Manchester, glaring.
"Uh-oh…" Barry trailed off. "That's not good."
"You're looking at him, mate." Manchester said.
"Don't call me 'mate'." The man said. "One of your meta freaks conned me of my money."
"Are you certain, sir?" Manchester asked calmly. "I don't believe that we steal money from our customers."
"Like hell you don't. I want my damn money back, now!" The man snapped.
"You played a game of chance and the chances obviously weren't in your favor. Don't be a sore loser about it…" Manchester tried to reason but the man punched him in his face and stomach.
"Oh, my God…" Caitlin said.
"Shouldn't we stop it?" Patty suggested before Manchester raised his hands.
"No, no, let the man speak his piece. He has a right to make his point." Manchester said as the man hit him in his face again as his face was getting bruised.
"Hey, enough!" Dinah stepped up and Barry, Patty and Caitlin widened their eyes.
"Is that—"
"Oh, I can take on any of you, freaks!" The man snarled. He grabbed a bottle and smashed it against a nearby box, using the shard to injure Dinah but she unleashed her Canary Cry, knocking the man on the ground as he looked frightened at what just happened. In fear, he scrambled on his feet and ran away.
"You could have fought back. Why didn't you?" Caitlin pointed out as she stitched up Manchester's injury.
"Violence is like a sweet. Taste it once, you won't stop." Manchester said. "I've learned that the hard way… and it cost me almost everything I held most dear. That's a lesson I'm trying to teach everyone to preserve this community's well-being, among many."
"But you could have defended yourself." Barry said.
"Indeed." Manchester said. "But we're gypsies, Mr. Allen. Our decisions, our actions, our choices… these must be weighed very carefully in the outside world. Such as yours." He turned to Barry and Caitlin and Dinah. "You have chosen to take on mantles of heroes. To make people admire you, love you. Put their faith in something they do not understand but can rely on that they can protect them. They do trust you. But… everyone here…" He looked around. "Thieves, rapists, pariahs, murderers… and where did that get them? Hunted, experimented upon, casted out, forced to live in the shadows… sometimes path of least resistance is the wise one."
"Why did you kill Mercy Graves?" Barry demanded as he glanced at Johnny, who was a few alleys away, sharpening his knives.
"She was responsible for murder of some people I held dear." Manchester said. "Trust me, the world is better off without her in it. And she was going to hunt my kin down. But… I've learned the hard way where does the path of violence take me. You and I are not so different." He turned to Barry, Patty and Caitlin. "Trying to protect everyone. Make sure no meta threatens everyone. Most of them here wasted their chance, when you defeated them. I'm trying to offer them a second chance. Live on their own terms, not feared but earn respect and admiration. So that no one like Lex Luthor hunts them down. You've seen what happens, when the metahumans are out there in the open. Don't you think it's better if they live in a world where they are all equal and not feared but admired?"
"He made some good points there." Patty nodded as she, Barry, Dinah and Caitlin walked towards the exit.
"But I don't know. Living in seclusion like that… sounds like a ghetto." Barry said.
"If a wrong person found out about this place… they could bomb it into kingdom come." Caitlin said.
"I'm not sure if there's any point in living among people, either." Dinah said as they turned to her.
"Dinah…" Barry trailed off. "You want to stay here?"
"Look, Barry…" Dinah said. "All I know is that I can't go back to my old life anymore. Half of Star City knows who I am and what I did. They don't trust me anymore."
"And you want to be a circus freak, instead?" Caitlin pointed out.
"No… I… the metahumans here are happy, contributing to the community in many ways, you've seen the kids and people helping each other… and…" Dinah sighed. "All I know is that I have done bad things in the past and I still have a long way to go. What I'm doing in Star City… it doesn't feel like enough. I just want to see this through, where it takes me."
"Are you sure about this?" Barry questioned.
"He said that he wasn't forcing anyone to stay. If I feel like I don't fit in… I can go back home anytime." Dinah said.
Barry, Caitlin and Patty considered. "OK. We get it."
"You've gone to great lengths trying to convince them." A woman next to Manchester said.
"We might need their help." Manchester said.
"Why not tell them the truth?" The woman pointed out.
"They'll find out soon. Besides, they need to see for themselves to believe. There's a storm coming. And we must be ready. Otherwise it will be the end of our kind." Manchester said.
"Some believe we're the next stage of evolution. The pinnacle of human species." The woman said.
"We don't want to conquer. But either some humans will join us in our cause… or we are all dead." Manchester said grimly.
Later, Central City
"I'm taking the money with me and you won't stop me!" A flaming metahuman snarled, shooting fireballs as the Flash dodged, while Elongated Man rolled away.
"Hey, I think you should cool down!" Elongated Man quipped as he wrapped himself around the metahuman as Frost fired an ice blast before turning her arm into water as she extinguished the flames before the Flash cuffed the metahuman.
S.T.A.R. Labs
"Well, this water power is interesting." Cisco quipped as Caitlin was examining her blood before liquifying her hand.
"Yeah. But whenever I fully turn into water, I…" Caitlin blushed in embarrassment and Cisco realized what did she mean and he felt uncomfortable as the mental image went through his mind.
"Then I'm glad that the fight wasn't that embarrassing." Cisco said quickly as Caitlin snickered.
Elsewhere
Cicada and Kane finished with their tools as the robot was put back together.
"Is it operational?" Kane asked.
"Yes." Cicada said. "Now we can find the metahuman camp and kill them."
"I know who will tell us everything we need to know." Kane said.
S.T.A.R. Labs
"Barry, you need to see the news." Patty said, turning on the TV.
Barry widened his eyes to see a giant robot flying towards Gotham City. "Is that…"
"…Amazo." Cisco said.
"I thought you destroyed that thing." Ralph said, turning to Barry.
"Well, someone must have rebuilt him. Looks like we're heading to Gotham. All of us." Barry pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "Oliver, I need your help. We're going to Gotham City."
Sorry to make it short but this felt like a good place to stop.
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.