A/N: Late merry Christmas, and nearly happy new year! I am very sorry for the wait, so I tried to make it up to you guys by adding some cool stuff to the Riser issue and to Sam. Alright, review response time.
alaskanbirdfriend - 1. Shh... don't tell anyone. 2. All questions will be answered as you read this, my friend. 3. Well, if you have an issue with cliffhangers, then you might not like the ending of this book *hint hint.
Next, milestones. As I am writing this, we are at 13,571 views. Also, we are at 52 reviews. I really want to get at least 4 reviews on this chapter. There really hasn't been many lately, and I would like to hear some ideas from more than the same 2 people each chapter (Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely no problem with the two people I get constant reviews from, in fact, keep em coming! I just want to hear some more voices is all.).
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own DC, CW, or any of it's shows or characters. I do, however, own the plot of Resurrection.
Barry walked through the door that the receptionist pointed him to. It led to a long hallway, with metal doors scattered along the walls. Two guards were present, both looking opposite the door, thankfully.
"Alright," Barry thought to himself, "Guards aren't going to be so easily swayed in letting me pass. Considering my gear, I'll be lucky if they don't shoot on sight."
"Phoenix," Barry whispered into the comms, "give me a sitrep." No response. "Phoenix? Phoenix! Sam! Damn, he isn't answering. Something must have come up. Looks like I'll be on my own for a while." Barry crouched and dashed into a supply closet with an open door to his side. He closed the door and moved a shelf against it.
Barry sat down on the floor and place his hands next to him. "Wait! I can't do that. There's no telling what security measures will take place if I vibrate the building to scan it. I guess I'm going blind." Barry got back into a crouched position and moved the shelf out of his way.
Barry slowly opened the door and looked around the corner. One of the guards was walking his way, the other staying where he was. The guard walking toward Barry noticed the door open and drew his gun.
Barry backed into the corner and vibrated as fast as he could. Slowly, Barry managed to manipulate the photons around him and bend them in such a way as to make him invisible. When the guard walked in, all he could see was a normal supply closet, noticeably free of any assassins. The guard looked around some more before turning to leave.
Barry lunged, running up to guard and pulling him back into the room. He plunged his blade into the guard's throat and covered the guard's mouth to suppress the sounds of gurgling. Once all the necessary blood had drained out, Barry removed his blade. Before he moved on, he took a moment to observe the knife.
While gruesome, the light from the single light bulb above reflecting off the blood-soaked blade looked mesmerizing. Red. Long, crimson streaks running down the knife, down his hand, his arm. All the way down into his heart. That same red is what gave him meaning.
His whole life, he was controlled by that red. Ever since he saw it seeping out of his mother and onto the floor of his old home, he had been controlled by it. Being bullied as a kid for having a murderous father, he saw his own crimson liquid nearly every week. Working in forensics, he saw it almost every day. Being the flash, he saw it at almost every single crime scene. When he died and became the Wraith, he finally managed to control the crimson.
Once he did, he learned how beautiful it can be. Summoning it with a flick of a knife or a pull of a trigger was life-changing. He was no longer a slave to it. He was finally able to control it instead. He fell in love with that crimson.
He readied himself for another attack and moved out into the hallway. The guard was still facing the other way. In one swift motion, Barry dashed up to the guard and slammed his foot into the back of the guard's knee while pulling back on the guard's shoulder. The guard cried out, but not long enough for anyone to hear. Barry forced the guard down onto his knees and pulled back on his shoulder once more, bringing the front of his torso into full view. The guard's eyes widened in fear as the knife came down into his chest.
Neither were sure who moved first. They seemed to lunge at the same time. Sam brought himself to a full flame, blue on the wings and eyes and red everywhere else. Riser aimed the daggers at Sam, and the two resurrected guards aimed their guns.
Sam brought a blue flame to his hand and extended it. Suddenly, a trail of blue fire appeared, leading back to behind the three. Once the trail reached its destination, Sam disappeared into a flame and entered into the trail. Before anyone knew it, Sam was behind them.
He summoned a bow and shot two arrows simultaneously at the two guards. The red arrows hit the guards on their heads, but they didn't kill them. The arrows expanded into nets. The nets tied the guards down and kept them from fighting.
"If we're gonna fight, then we fight one on one." Sam snapped his fingers, and the nets covering the guards erupted into a large flame. "The dead should stay dead."
"Tell that to your friend Barry."
"You know that's different."
"How so? Why does Barry get to be resurrected while your world doesn't?"
"Stop talking," Sam said, gritting his teeth.
"Maybe not your whole world. What about your family?"
"SHUT UP!"
"Or what about just one person? What was her name?"
"I SAID-"
"Oh, that's right! Peniel!"
"DON'T SAY HER NAME!" Sam shouted, summoning a large ball of fire and launching it at Riser. Riser moved but wasn't fast enough to dodge it. Riser was sent flying. Sam, rage coursing through him like blood, erupted into an inferno.
Screaming at the top of his lungs, he flew at Riser. Sam flew right at Riser but kept flying straight through him. Sam turned and made another lap. And another. Another. Another. Eventually, they found themselves above some desert. Sam didn't even know what he was doing anymore. His mind was clouded in red. In one last swoop, Sam flew up as high as he could, before turning around flying back down, aiming directly for Riser.
Sam summoned all of his energy. His rage. His grief. His loss. His love. His fire. As he flew towards the ground, the flames around him morphed into a spear. He wrapped his wings around him and stared straight forward. All his emotions, his energy, his fire, he pushed it all into this spear point. And for one second, just before he hit his target, the spear almost looked like a beak. As if a giant flaming bird were flying into the ground. Almost like a phoenix.
As Sam collided with Riser, an explosion that could rival the sun was seen. Sam drove Riser straight into the ground. A crater the size of one from an atom bomb explosion was created. As the flames cleared, along with the ones on Sam and his wings, a clear picture of what happened emerged.
Riser was gone. There was no sign of him anywhere. Only a few ashes below Sam signaled what happened. Sam felt something in his hands. He looked down and saw what it was.
A sword. But it wasn't like others that he had summoned previously. It wasn't some plain, red flaming sword. No, this one was different. It was blue. Beautiful symbols and runes were scattered along the blade and hand-guard. The back of the blade had small blue flames running off it. Sam stood and pulled the sword from the ground. It was large, but not overly. Despite its size, it was light. Not too light. It's weight felt like it was weighted just for Sam. It felt perfect.
Along both sides of the blade were identical inscriptions. They were in Sam's native tongue. The inscription translates to Faithkeeper, Last Hope of Lost Worlds. Faithkeeper seemed to hum as Sam swung it through the air. The blue flames dancing on the back of it seemed to grow as it was being swung but then died back down once it stopped. The sword also seemed to rhythmically pulse with energy as it was being swung.
Sam felt like he remembered something about the what the sword was, but couldn't recall exactly what it was. Sam tried to call back the sword, but instead of the fire dissipating like it normally would, the sword seemed to melt into fire. The fire that was once the Faithkeeper moved to the back of Sam's right hand. He felt the fire burning his hand just for a second, causing him to wince. As the fire on his hand faded, a symbol reading Faithkeeper in Sam's language appeared.
"Well then. That was interesting." Sam looked up at the source of the voice. Riser was floating about 10 feet in the air. "But did you really think that would actually kill me? I'm a legend, Sam. A Fire Angel who has only now unlocked their Excalibur is nowhere near powerful enough to kill me."
"How are you alive?"
"I don't just resurrect people. I manipulate those I've resurrected as well. That includes their actions and their looks." Riser gestured to the ash below Sam. "That was some guy I found in a graveyard."
"Get down here. I'm not finished with you yet!"
"Oh please, you're in no position to fight. Any moment now you'll pass out." Riser flew past Sam and tapped him on the head, landing a few yards behind him. "There, that should be enough energy to continue on with your mission."
"Why would you help me?"
"I don't want to kill you. I love seeing all this. It's fun watching a story unfold. Anyways, I better leave. Things to do." Riser then flew off out of sight.
Sam sighed, opening a portal back to the building where Barry was.
"I wonder how Barry's doing without me."
As Barry hid the other guard's body in the storage closet, he heard an explosion come from outside the building.
"Phoenix? Was that you? Are you alright? Damn, still isn't answering. I hope he's doing okay." Barry moved on from the closet and continued down the hallway. At the end was an elevator. Barry approached and moved to press the button, but stopped.
"Wait. It might ask for verification of identity. And, since I don't have that, it could sound the alarm. I wonder..." Barry vibrated his hand and stuck it inside the panel to the side. After a moment, the elevator chimed and the door opened up. Barry stepped in and looked to his left. There was a sheet detailing what each floor had. There was no server room, however, there was an operations room. Barry pressed the corresponding button and started moving.
He looked up and saw a hatch at the top of the elevator. Barry opened it and climbed through. When the elevator reached the floor, Barry started to enter back into the elevator but recoiled when 2 officers stepped into the elevator.
The elevator started to move down, causing Barry to grab onto a nearby ladder. He waited for the elevator to leave the floor before pressing the maintenance button, opening the doors to the floor.
The doors opened up to a small hallway that led to multiple others. Barry followed the signs until reaching the operations room. He opened the door and entered.
The room was large, much like a warehouse. Boxes were everywhere, holding armaments in them. People were scattered everywhere, but most were at the war table near the center of the room. Barry was too far away to hear what was being said. He ran up a pile of boxes and used his speed to jump onto the large light above them. Barry grabbed on and listened closely.
"...on Operation Nightwalker? The Daycrawler building is too far away from us to know." One highly decorated man asked. He directed his question at a few heavily armored soldiers.
"The troop production is nearly completed. Our assault will be ready in 48 matter hours."
Barry froze, his eyes widened.
"Two days?! The Speed Force said that they weren't even near completion! We might just have to alert the Overseer's forces."
"Good. Any word from the Anti-Monitor?" This time the question was directed towards a man just as decorated as the one asking the question.
"Proceed as planned. Also, he suspects that two enemy assassins have crossed the barrier and entered into our world, but is not sure of their location, even with his reality altering abilities."
"So one could be here now."
"We have done a matter sweep of the area sir, and have found no signs of matter. We should be clear."
Barry reached into a pocket and pulled out the emergency communicator. He was about to press it but stopped.
"I should tell Sam and get his opinion before I do anything." Barry placed the communicator back in his pocket and ran out of the building.
Barry ran up to the building where Sam was supposed to be and found nothing except for a large whole and ash. Luckily, the ash seemed to be pointed in a single direction, leading Barry to follow it.
Eventually, Barry found himself in a desert about 50 miles from the initial building. From there, it didn't take too long for him to find the massive crater in the ground.
Barry slowly approached it, drawing his knife and readying for a fight. He quickly realized his fears were unfounded when he spotted Sam standing in the middle of the hole in the ground. He looked tired, yet was in the process of opening a fire portal.
"Sam! What happened?!" Barry shouted, trying to get his attention. Sam stopped, cleared out the progress he had made on the portal, and turned to look at Barry.
"Barry? How did you find me?"
"Ash trail on the ground and in the sky. Plus, the giant crater is pretty noticeable." Sam looked down at his feet and shrugged.
"Yeah... sorry."
"No need," Barry said, walking into the crater towards Sam. "What happened anyway? And what is that symbol on your hand?"
Sam quickly filled Barry in on all that happened. Riser appearing, the fight, him losing control. The sword and its name.
"Any idea of what the sword actually is?"
"None. Riser called it an 'Excalibur', but I still don't know what that means."
"Maybe the Speed Force will know what it means." Barry offered. Sam nodded in response.
"Well, what did you find on your end?"
"Nothing good, turns out they will be able to deploy the forces in two days. We have to call in the assault team."
"You're right. You have the emergency communicator, right?"
"Yeah," Barry responded, pulling out the small radio-looking device. "This is it. You sure we should do this? Now that I think about it, our job was only to destroy the production facility. Not to kill the army."
"True. How 'bout this. We alert them to the time constraint, but tell them to hold off until we tell them that the production facility is destroyed, or if we just need to attack with everything we have."
"Alright." Barry pressed the button on the side and spoke into the mic. "Overseers? Listen, we don't have much time.
Turns out that they're nearly ready for the assault. Two days before they attack. I realize that this is for us to alert you in case we are discovered, but we are alerting you now. We still intend on destroying their production facility before you attack, but you do need to assemble forces now. Get them ready, and send them in as soon as we say so.
Next time you'll hear from us, we will have already destroyed the facility, or we will need backup for an all-out assault on the army. Wraith and Phoenix, out."
"Good," Phoenix said once Barry put away the communicator. "Now, did they say where the production facility is?"
"They mentioned something about a 'Daycrawler' facility in regards to the army. Anything like that on your map?"
"I'll look." Sam pulled up the map and looked around for a minute. "Here. This has to be it."
"Alright then. Let's go."
"He-hello? Is, um, is anyone there?" Caitlin said into the mic wired into the telepathic device. "Hello?" They kept trying to receive an answer for a while, but no response came. While they were trying again, Cisco and Caitlin heard a bang from behind them. Both turned and readied themselves for a fight.
"Do not fret, I have no intention of harming either of you. You called me, after all." A voice came from behind some boxes. A figure stepped out of cover.
"Rising Star?" Caitlin asked.
"Correct," He responded. "I must admit, I am impressed that you too managed to build such a device. I can see Adisa's handiwork in it."
"Whoa. So, you're him then? The freaky guy that Flash and Phoenix keep talking about. You know, I honestly expected a little more grit in your expression." Cisco said, ending with a chuckle. Caitlin shot him a glare. "Sorry."
"No need. The false legends that are put out with my name make me seem like some kind of monster. But, I assure you, I am no such thing. Also, I already know that the Flash is Barry Allen and Phoenix is Samandriel."
"Well, then what are you?" Cisco asked.
"I take it you two have some time?"
"Yeah," Caitlin responded, "We made sure of it."
"Good. Well, I am a necromancer. I can raise people from the dead, but usually not in the resurrection sense. There has only been one case where I have returned someone's body to life and given them the capacity of free choice and the ability to use their previous memories. It takes a lot out of me, you see.
Usually, they become, essentially, slaves. Husks of nothing that I can implant my orders into. While it does sound gruesome, It is the only way I can. I've never liked doing it, as disturbing the dead and their sleep seems extremely disrespectful to me.
So, I use my powers as a sort of lesson. I find people that seem to have no respect for the gift of human life and teach them otherwise. People who kill without thinking, without remorse. I use different methods, but eventually, I teach them that life is sacred. I teach them that lives, even the lives of enemies, are still lives.
What you call an enemy is a husband or wife to another. What you call a monster is a beloved son or daughter to another. Who you scream, 'murderer, pay for what you've done' at, another yells 'mommy, your home' to. That's what I try to teach."
Both Caitlin and Cisco were taken aback by his honest-sounding speech. They didn't expect such passion about preserving life from someone who was fabled to have been the destroyer of Jewel, among other things.
"When you contacted me," Rising star continued, "I was in another universe observing Barry and Sam."
"Why were you doing that?" Caitlin asked.
"I know that both of you still distrust me, even if not as much as when you first learned of me. I thought that taking some footage of the two in their natural habitat, the battleground, would prove to you two that they are both killers, and do need help."
"Well, what did you find?" Caitlin asked again.
"I don't have everything I want compiled just yet, so I can't really show it to you now. And, if I don't show it to you, there's no reason for you to believe me." Rising Star started walking back to the entrance of the warehouse.
"I will say this, however," Rising Star said, "If your hope is of them being merciful, then you will be sorely disappointed." Rising Star turned around and left the building, flashing a small smirk that was hidden from the duo's sight.
"Trust me," Rising Star said to himself, chuckling. "When I'm done with you two, you'll look at Wraith and Phoenix like they do at me."