A Different Kind of Story
Chapter 3: Protection
"We all have good and bad inside of us. It's what side we choose to follow that defines who we really are." – J.K Rowling
Previously
Cisco's voice was the last thing that Barry heard before he went zooming out of the Cortex, yellow lightning bouncing across his entire body. It would only take a few seconds to get to Daniel's school but the longer Barry ran, it seemed like forever. Barry knew that it was because of the worry he felt for his brother.
The speedster had been warned that Daniel would get some opposition at school, because of some stupid conspiracies online. However, Barry didn't expect that it would be so bad that Daniel would get hurt on his first day back.
Barry skidded to a stop in an alleyway a few yards away from the school, in a place where he was certain that no one would see him. Barry took a quick glance around to make sure that no one was around him, before stepping out and laying his eyes on the school…
Barry hadn't expected to see the school in ruins…
August 25th 2004
"They were picking on a little kid, and I couldn't let them do that." A young boy's voice rang through the house, filling each empty room like water in a vase. The voice was full of disappointment and uncertainty. Barry swung his feet under the seat repeatedly, as his mother cared for the scrapes on his knees.
"I guess I wasn't fast enough." Barry's next words caught Daniel's attention. The tiny 4-year-old had been seated down in the corner of the room with a toy truck in his, and he was now listening intently to the conversation between his mother and his brother.
"It's better to have a good heart, rather than fast legs." Nora Allen told her son sweetly, the smile on her face reassuring Barry. His face lit up and he smiled back at Nora, who instinctively wrapped her son in a hug.
Daniel stood up from the corner and walked over to his brother, a visible frown on his face. Before that moment, he hadn't particularly been listening to the conversation, preferring his trucks more than his mother patching up his brother, but now that Daniel walked over to Barry and saw the red scrapes and other injuries littered on Barry's body, he became interested.
"Barry, how'd you get that?" Daniel asked his brother, dropping his toy truck so that he could point at the obvious injury on Barry's left knee. Daniel's face twisted into one of shock, surprised that his 'invincible' brother had been hurt.
"Umm..." Barry paused visibly, not sure what he should say. Barry didn't want his brother to believe that he got his ass kicked by some kids, even though that is what really happen. The longer Barry didn't respond, the bigger Daniel's eyes widened and his curiosity grew.
"Barry got into a fight at school." Nora informed the young blonde, who's face swiftly changed into an expression of shock. After Nora said it, Barry looked up at her with a surprised face, thinking that his mother betrayed him.
"And guess what?" Nora said loudly, catching Daniel out of his stupor. "Your big brother was strong enough to beat up TWO boys." Nora told the 4-year-old, who believed her words instantly.
Before Daniel turned back to Barry, his older brother looked up at Nora and smiled appreciatively. The mother of the two took a few steps back and watched the two brothers from the door, one hand holding the door frame, and the other gently laying by her side.
"Wow, Barry! You must be like super strong!" Daniel gaped loudly, reaching up to pull himself up on the chair next to Barry. The older brother chuckled and nodded his head, as if he was agreeing with what his brother had said.
"Yeah, look at my muscles!" Barry said proudly, simultaneously pulling up his shirt sleeve and flexing his right arm, even though there was basically nothing there. However, it was enough for Daniel to wrap his tiny hands around and marvel at how much bigger Barry's arm was compared to his own.
After a few minutes of examining Barry's muscles, Daniel sat down in the chair with a bummed out expression written across his face. His body was slouched forward and his arms weakly hanging by his sides. Barry noticed and raised his eyebrows, quickly reaching around his brother's shoulder and pulling Daniel closer.
"What's wrong, Danny?" Barry asked Daniel, concern lacing his voice. Daniel looked up at Barry and his lips curved into a frown, worrying Barry.
"I want to be strong like you… Like now." Daniel pouted childishly. As he said it, Daniel clumsily threw his arms into the arm and let them drop back to his sides, as if he was demonstrating what little strength he had. Barry smiled down at his brother and tightened his arms around Daniel's shoulder, a rush of warmth spreading between them.
"There's no rush, Danny. I'll always be here to protect you, no matter what. That's what big brothers are for."
Present – 12 March 2016 (20 minutes before Barry arrived)
"The ambulance will be arriving shortly to take you to the hospital. Other than that, don't try and move your arm much, because it will hurt." The nurse warned Daniel, who nodded blankly in reply. The nurse sighed and left the room, accidentally bumping into a wheel chair clad man entering the room.
"There will be no need for an ambulance. His private doctor is on her way." Dr. Wells informed the nurse, who apologized to Harrison and scurried off to cancel the ambulance. Dr. Wells wheeled into the nurse's room and caught sight of Daniel, who was absentmindedly starring at the wall.
"Daniel." Dr. Wells called out for this adopted son, who quickly snapped out of his daydreaming with a startled expression on his face. When Daniel caught sight of Dr. Wells, he frowned and looked down at his lap.
"Hey…" Daniel trailed off, not sure what to say. He wasn't sure how Harrison was going to react to the entire situation, and he hadn't even been sure that his adoptive dad was even going to come.
"Are you alright?" Harrison asked Daniel, obvious concern in his voice. As he asked, Harrison wheeled over to Daniel and placed a hand on his son's leg, in an attempt to comfort him. The blonde's lips curved upwardly slightly, and he looked up at Dr. Wells.
"Apart from my broken arm, I'm doing alright." Daniel sighed loudly, both of his clear blue eyes shifting downwards to look at the triangular collar and cuff sling that they placed on him. He could feel the bones in his shoulder shifting around unnaturally, as they had been doing ever since they had broken in the first place.
Daniel knew that the constant shifting wasn't normal, seeing as he had broken a few other bones in his body while growing up, and he guessed that it either had to do with his meta-human ability, or the girl that had attacked him savagely. He was leaning primarily toward it being from his ability, because the pain was dulling down considerably fast.
"Still mentally recovering from getting man-handled by a girl, though." Daniel chuckled softly, prompting Harrison Wells to crack a smile. The older man lifted his right hand to adjust his glasses, swiftly taking them off of his face and placing them down on the table next to the bed.
"That's actually one thing I wanted to talk to you abou-" Harrison was promptly interrupted by Caitlin Snow entering the room in a hurry, all of her medical equipment tightly compacted in a medium sized medical bag with snowflakes scattered on it.
"Sorry I'm late, Dr. Wells! The school security had to make sure that I didn't have any weapons in the bag, an-" The tall brunette stopped speaking when she made eye contact with Dr. Wells, and his intense glare shut her up.
"It's fine, Dr. Snow. As long as you are here now." Harrison told her, waving her over to Daniel. Caitlin kindly obliged and approached the teenager, quickly sitting down next to the blond and beginning to work on him.
The next few minutes were filled with Caitlin asking Daniel some questions about the incident, and about what the other nurse did so far. By the last minute, Caitlin had already removed all that the nurse had done and replaced it with a more advanced and comfortable sling that fit perfectly on his arm. Much to Daniel's dismay, she also noticed that Daniel's shoulder was pulsating strangely, and she could see bones physically moving around just enough to push the skin up. Caitlin told Dr. Wells, who then turned to look at the shoulder with interest.
"This is strange… It's almost like the bones are mending themselves…" Dr. Wells said aloud, a look of astonishment flashing across his face. He'd seen healing similar to this with Barry, but even this healing was faster then Barry's.
Daniel sat nervously in his seat, and he began to sweat from his forehead. Surely Harrison would realize that this strange ability was formed because Daniel was a meta-human. However, Daniel realized, Harrison would only be able to realize that it was a meta-human ability if he'd been close to a meta-human before, or seen one in action.
Strange…
Daniel would have delved further into the thought, but he felt Dr. Well's attentive hand touch his knee, and Daniel snapped up, now staring directly into his adoptive father's dark eyes.
"Is there something you want to tell us?" Harrison's voice was calm and collected, but it still sent chills down Daniel's spine. He knew what that meant. It was the type of tone that Harrison would put on when he already knew the answer to the question, but wanted to see if you're going to lie to him.
The room fell silent for a few seconds, with everyone in the room falling silent. Caitlin awkwardly shifted his medical equipment around in her bag, although she wasn't putting any of them in any particular order. After a few moments, Daniel looked away from Harrison and cleared his throat.
"I… I-"
Suddenly, the door to the room was violently ripped from its hinges, and was flung deep into the school corridor. It was evident that the flying door impacted something, because an extremely loud explosive sound filled the school, which sent dozens of teenagers screaming and running for cover.
At the door, Alex Merkel stood tall, her petite form ruined by the blood stains that were littered all across her shirt and skirt. The fresh scarlet liquid dripped from her clothing easily, creating a small puddle underneath her.
"There you are…"
Daniel's face twisted into a combination of shock and horror. Did she really want to kill him? Seeing the blood and the terrifying look that Alex was giving him, he was almost positive that the answer was yes.
Caitlin stood frozen to the spot, both of her chocolate brown eyes instantly latching onto the bloodied girl at the entrance. The brunet's eyes jumped from the girl, to the 50-pound door that she had just thrown across the hallway as if it was a piece of paper.
Caitlin had dealt with a small amount of meta-humans. Clyde Mardon and Kyle Nimbus. Both times, the meta-human had incredible abilities; abilities that shocked her whenever she thought about them. The ability to control the weather and the ability to become poisonous gas…
And now, this girl appeared to have the ability of super strength. However, Caitlin concluded that she'd only seen the surface of the young girl's power, and that she could possibly have limitless strength within her body.
"I don't know why you're so angry… But please calm down…" Dr. Wells pleaded cautiously, putting one of his hands out in front of him as if to push her back…
"I am perfectly calm, Professor Wells." Alex said sweetly; as if they couldn't see the blood streaming off of her clothing. After she spoke, the meta-human began to walk towards Daniel quickly; both of her fists clenching together…
Daniel's heart beat increased suddenly, as if he was realizing the situation ahead of him… He could either let himself get killed and not reveal his meta-human ability, try and get past her with his own strength, or he could attempt to push her back with his telekinesis.
As she got closer, it became apparent that the first two options wouldn't work. Each step that she took tore apart the ground underneath her, cracking tiles and the floor underneath them. Daniel took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
He hadn't explored the limits of his powers yet, and he'd only had time to lift up some pencils and a cup the night prior. This move was a long shot, but Daniel put his only free arm in front of his body instinctively, a desperate expression crossing his face…
Fortunately, he didn't have to do anything.
A muscular arm reached into the room from the hallway and grabbed Alex's shirt, stopping her in her movement… Before Alex could turn around, she had been pulled out of the room and thrown to the opposite wall of the hallway. When she made contact with the wall, the wall crumbled from the force of the impact, sending shock waves throughout the school.
"Huh?"
The three occupants of the room froze when they saw a large muscular man step into the room. The man was wearing an all red outfit, that had golden boots and gloves that reached all the way up his arm. The thing that stood out the most was the golden lightning bolt on the front of the costume, along with the white and gold cape that looked like it was made of the finest material known the man.
Everyone stood on edge, with Daniel's hand still outstretched. Dr. Wells looked like he was ready to jump up at a moment's notice, and Caitlin had her hand in her medical bag, clutching onto a small surgical knife.
"Dr. Wells, Mr. Allen, you need to get out of here. I can only hold this form for a short time." The man warned them, before turning around and walking over to the rubble that had fallen on Alex.
Caitlin was the first to take initiative, her mind quickly clearing after the strange event. She quickly grabbed Dr. Wells' wheelchair handle and swiftly wheeled him out of the room, which was followed by Daniel running after them.
"You know that guy?!" Caitlin asked Daniel as we made out escape, her voice shrouded in panic. However, Daniel was as bewildered as Caitlin was, and so he decided to save his breath and keep going. Of course Daniel didn't know him…
As they ran, they could see that the school had been torn apart from the inside. Chunks of the wall and the floor were everywhere, and the lights were flickering on and off. The school was mostly abandoned by now, and they were running through empty corridors. It wasn't long before they reached a split.
"Which way do we go?!" Caitlin snapped at Daniel, turning to him immediately. Without hesitation, Daniel pointed out the way to go, and they turned to the corridor, preparing to go through it.
Unfortunately, that wouldn't be the case…
The entire corridor collapsed, as two figures came crashing down through the ceiling. Dust exploded from the point of impact, blocking out the image of the two figures fighting inside of the dust.
All three of the escapees looked at each other for a split second, and they ran into the corridor that hadn't been completely destroyed…
He hadn't expected the day to turn out so sour. He was supposed to go to school, not learn anything, and then go off and hang out with his best friend. However, it was the appearance of one insane meta-human, with the power of super strength, that ruined the day completely.
The extremely muscular figure stood up within the rubble of the collapsed room, the dust disabling his ability to see clearly. He couldn't see his opponent at all, and he needed to finish this quickly. His power would only last a few more minutes before it tired him out completely.
It only took a few more seconds for Alex Merkel to make her sudden appearance…
From the corner of his eye, the man could see something coming at him at high speeds. Instinctively, he brought both of his arms up swiftly, and successfully blocking the object. However, instead of it being a fist, like he had expected it to be, the object shattered on impact, sending dust outwards.
A rock?
A sharp pain spread through his entire right side, forcing him to gasp in pain. She had tricked him with a fake attack. The man span around and attempted to backhand the nimble girl, failing miserably. Unlike the agile girl that he was fighting, he had little to no combat skills, and was completely relying on basic fighting knowledge.
Alex Merkel on the other hand as a martial artist, and she was well verse in several forms of fighting techniques. If it wasn't for his incredible endurance, the muscular meta-human knew that he'd probably be down for the count.
The sound of rocks shifting behind him caused the meta-human's eyes to narrow.
"I won't fall for the same trick twice."
The man heard the whistling of the rock in the air, and he didn't even need to turn around to know it was coming. He ducked underneath the rock, and saw it soaring through the sky and explode on the wall opposite him. Next, he saw Alex coming at him from the front, both of her fists balled.
"Get out of my way!" Alex's gargled voice exploded from her throat as she approached the man. When she got close enough, Alex struck out with her right arm, aiming to punch him right in the face. Unfortunately for her, the man had anticipated this.
By lifting his left arm up to his face, he easily blocked the attack and grinned widely when he saw his counter attack opportunity. The muscular man brought his right leg up extremely quickly, successfully kicking Alex directly in her torso.
The blow was heavy enough to send the school girl flying through the wall next to them and into the soccer field of the school.
The man followed the girl swiftly, letting his body float through the whole that her body created while bursting through the wall. She was lying flat on the ground, seemingly unconscious from the blow that the man had given her…
Said figure floated silently above her limp body, eyeing the girl with an almost irritated expression on his face. He hadn't seen how much people that she had hurt on the way to Daniel, but he was sure that at least a few people were dead, considering the amount of blood that was coating her clothing.
Just the fact that the deranged girl had taken a life that didn't belong to her made the meta-human's blood boil. In his opinion, she didn't deserve to live, but it wasn't his choice. If he killed her now it would tarnish his superhero reputation and he had grown up knowing that there were always two sides to a story...
In Fawcett City, he had gained a good reputation with the people living there. They had started to label him as the superhero, Captain Marvel. Marvel wasn't sure how much he actually liked that name, but it wasn't like he had a better name, yet.
This wasn't the first time that Captain Marvel had been in Central City. He had actually started his superhero career in Central City, but his success was massively overshadowed by the Flash. Because of that, Marvel had decided to move his superhero activities down to Fawcett, which wasn't too far from Central City and her twin city, Keystone City.
Fawcett City had a higher crime rate then Central City but Captain Marvel found it much easier to protect. The meta-human attacks were much less common then Central City, so all he had to do was stop robberies and large scale crimes once in a while.
So far, he hadn't had anything like this. Marvel looked down just in time to see Alex standing up and staring up at him. The emotionless look in her eye sent chills running down his spine. Marvel clenched his fist and looked down at her with equal ferocity…
His power was running out and he could tell. Steam was beginning to seep out of his muscles and he was quickly tiring out. He only had a minute at maximum to finish her off or hold her off until Special Ops arrived, or at least the Flash…
Marvel dropped from the sky at high speeds, his massive frame crashing down opposite the killer meta-human that was watching him with intensity. Marvel put one hand in front of his body and taunted her forward with a convincing grin on his face.
"Come at me…"
Barry
A few seconds after Barry had arrived on the scene did the moment strike for him to save someone. A piercing scream filled the air and Barry had no doubt that it was from a young child. Barry turned into the direction of the screaming and saw a large piece of the school building break off and descend towards the screaming girl.
Without second thought, Barry dashed across the field at speeds rivaling a bullet; within moment he had reached the girl and removed her from the path of the falling cement block. Barry saw the shocked look on the girl's face for a split second before he sped away into the abandoned school.
As Barry ran, he felt the heels of his shoes wearing out quickly and the hinges of his clothes begin to spark because of the yellow lightning bouncing across his body. He hadn't worn his suit... Barry instantly regretted the decision, even if the situation wasn't predicted.
However, every second mattered, and in the several seconds that it took Barry to run back to STAR Labs, it could cost someone their life… Barry gritted his teeth and turned back in the direction of the school, speeding off with lightning trailer behind him.
As Barry ran through the school at unimaginable speeds, he noticed the absolute emptiness through the school, not including the pure destruction that was evident in every inch of the school that Barry ran past. Rubble and broken pieces of cement were scattered, along with crushed bodies and trapped students…
Barry was trying his hardest to push the screams and images out of his head for the meanwhile. He needed to find Daniel and make sure that he was safe. Little did he know, the whole event was caused because of the blonde haired telekinetic…
"HELP! We're trapped!"
Barry skidded to a stop when the screaming finally reached him, and he began to frantically searched for the source of the voice. No matter how much he tried to push it away, the sound of suffering people got to him every time; forcing him to react.
"Where are you?!" Barry yelled back as loud as he could, vibrating his throat so that his voice was completely unrecognizable.
"We-… We're over here!" A chorus of voices exploded from a room to the right of the speedster. Barry turned to the voices and saw, true to what the voices had been saying, the people were trapped. A large piece of the ceiling had fallen in front of the door and completely blocked off their exit.
Fortunately for Barry, they were still in the room and they couldn't see him standing in the hallway with lightning bouncing around his body and burning his clothes. In a flash, Barry dismantled the barricade piece by piece and opened the door for the students to escape.
Seconds after the door had been opened, the students found themselves blinded by an extreme light, before suddenly finding themselves outside of the Central City High, surrounded by ambulances.
"It's the Flash!"
"He's so fast!"
Those were the things that Barry could hear people screaming from behind him as he zoomed back into the school at incredible speeds. What could have caused such destruction? Was it a meta-human attack?
Barry didn't have much time to think about that, though, as more screaming and crying erupted from elsewhere in the school. Barry continued to speed around the school, and he didn't stop until everyone was removed from the school.
As Barry sped away from the scene, he could hear everyone cheering loudly for him, but it only made his heart sink to the bottom of his stomach. He hadn't found Daniel inside of the school…
Barry sped into the Cortex at high speeds, grabbing his Flash suit and changing into it as fast as he could, before speeding back to the school. While he hoped that Daniel was safe, he still needed to stop the cause of the disaster…
The Flash stopped running when he entered the football field, catching sight of the completely destroyed field, and the two people that he deemed responsible for the destruction…
The Flash clenched his fists tightly, the yellow lightning from the speed force circling him and dancing across his body. From what it looked like, the male meta-human was about to kill a young school girl and had a deadly growl on his face.
"I've found the person that did all of this, Cisco. I'm taking him in."
"Barry, that guy is-"
Cisco's voice was shut off by lightning exploding from the sky above and violently colliding with the muscular man. Barry's eyes widened behind his cowl as he watched in slow motion as the man reached his hand forward and grabbed the girl, before the lightning intensified and struck twice in the same spot, blinding the speedster temporarily and sending him sprawling by the shock wave…
The sound of his comms malfunctioning brought Barry back to attention. His vision was quickly coming back, and as soon as it fully recovered, the speedster struggled to his feet. The Flash's eyes widened considerably when he saw two kids lying unconscious on the floor.
"A kid?!"
S.T.A.R. Labs
Daniel sat silently in an empty room. He could almost swear that he was going to scratch his arm completely off if someone didn't come inside and give him answers.
When they'd arrived at S.T.A.R Labs, Harrison stuck Daniel in his office in the CORTEX with promises that he would answer any of Daniel's questions later. It felt like hours by now and Daniel was becoming increasingly irritated.
In the meantime, Daniel had been calling around people that he knew was inside of the school on the day. He'd first tried to get in contact with Billy but his phone just continued to go off. That definitely wasn't like him.
Barry was the next person that Daniel called, and the CSI's phone didn't pick up either. Daniel shot him a text to see if he was okay and was waiting for a reply. That was a half an hour ago…
While he waited, Daniel thought about the events that had transpired. He wasn't confused in the slightest, however. He understood the situation perfectly, and he was sure it was because his super intelligence... Well that and a little research that he did on his phone.
Alex Merkel's father, Peter Merkel, had been one of the people that were killed when the Particle Accelerator exploded. Peter Merkel was in Iron Heights Prison at the time of the explosion and he was found dead in his cell the same night.
Peter Merkel was known as the Rag Doll killer and was the leader of a small cult back before he was caught during one of his murders. He was known as the Rag Doll because he used to dress up as a Doll, along with his cult, during their crimes.
From the argument between Daniel and Alex, Daniel gathered that Alex held him accountable for her father's death, despite the fact that Daniel wasn't involved at all. She was blinded by the theories that Daniel had tampered with the mechanics.
"…"
Daniel turned back on his phone and decided that he would find out the rest from social media. The first thing that he found when searching almost made his heart stop in his chest.
Flash Captures Meta Human Male That Is Suspected To Be The Cause Of The Disaster
"Male?" Daniel's heart beat beating considerably faster then normally as he raced through the possibilities. In the end, he came to the conclusion that the Flash had taken in the large muscular man that had saved them and somehow let Alex free.
"Crap."
Daniel jumped up from his seat and ran towards the door, swiftly reaching for the door handle and attempting to open the door. He quickly learned that the door was locked, but it didn't take him much effort to slam on the door until someone finally opened it.
"Daniel, I said stay in the room."
A very annoyed Dr. Well's had opened the door and was now staring down at his adopted son, who stared back with an equally annoyed expression on his face. However, after a few seconds, Harrison noticed the twinkle of fear that was also intertwined in Daniel's eyes.
"Talk."
Deeper in STAR Labs
"You got the wrong person." Caitlin told Barry flatly, a flurry of emotions flashing on her face as she stared at the containment area where Barry had placed the boy that Barry had deemed the cause of the destruction.
"I told you, idiot!" Billy shouted out to Barry through the unbreakable glass. The clear fury that was behind Billy's blue eyes could be clearly seen and his whole face was contorted into an enraged grimace.
What an idiot he had been. Thinking that he could save the school from destruction, Billy decided to use his abilities and it all backfired. He had planned to knock out the girl in the time that he had in his 'enhanced' form, but she had been stronger then he anticipated.
Unfortunately for Billy, the Flash had arrived the second that it looked like he was the bad guy, and it happened to be when his enhanced form ran out of energy. The Flash took him to his prison cell and put Alex in the hospital, not realizing that she was the entire cause of the event.
Billy had tried to tell The Flash that he got the wrong person but Barry hadn't listened to him, and just locked him away with no food and no water. After all the effort that he put in to make sure everyone was safe, he didn't even know what would happen to any of them…
"Then who did it?" Barry asked Caitlin, the obvious weight of his mistake finally raining down on him. He'd assumed that this kid was the cause of accident and had locked him up after seeing him transform from a super muscular man into a kid. However, from what Caitlin was telling him…
"This kid is the good guy..." Caitlin told Barry quickly as she headed towards the control panels. She'd explained to Barry about the muscular meta-human that saved them and Barry had told her about the same meta-human turning into the kid that he had captured.
Barry repeatedly apologized to Billy as Caitlin unlocked the futuristic meta-human prison and let Billy free. When he was finally free, the black haired teen tightened his fists and locked his eyes with Barry's. He really wanted to do was sucker punch Barry in the face but he thought about it and took a deep breath.
"You're the Flash?" Billy asked quietly, releasing his clenched fists and looking down at his feet. Barry took a sigh of relief and turned back to Caitlin. Caitlin took that as a sign to go and call Dr. Wells down to the room.
"And you are?" Barry asked the short kid in anticipation, leaning more towards wanting to know Billy's superhero name. Billy was about to open his mouth to reply, when suddenly Cisco came running into the room, almost crashing into the walls.
"NO WAY!" Cisco squealed loudly, before stopping to catch his breath. Barry and Billy stopped to turn and look at the exhausted man, both with a quizzical look on their face.
"Cisco?" Both of the boys asked simultaneously. Barry raised his eyebrows and looked at Cisco and then back at Billy, confusion setting into his amethyst eyes.
"You guys know each other?" Barry asked Cisco, who had finally recovered from all of the running that he was doing. It was finally clear to see that Cisco was grinning ear to ear, and the excitement was beaming off of him.
"Yeah, he works with my best friend's dad at STAR Labs…" Billy told Barry slowly, as if the pieces were finally piecing together. Were they at STAR Labs? Was STAR Labs a meta-human prison? Why was The Flash working with STAR Labs?
"Yeah, but that's not important right now!" Cisco cut off Barry before he could even think about replying. Cisco threw his arms out and grabbed Billy's arms, startling the teenager.
"You're Captain Marvel? The Captain Marvel of Fawcett city?" Cisco goggled with wide eyes and an even wider grin. "The Prince of Thunder?!" Cisco exclaimed in fascination, making Billy's face spread into a proud toothy grin.
"At least someone recognizes me."
"Oh my gosh, how could I not!?"
"Excuse me, I'm gonna have to interrupt your fangirling Cisco. Who is Captain Marvel?"
"Only the coolest super her-" Cisco stopped mid-sentence and turned to face Barry, and his excitement fell into embarrassment when he saw Barry's amused and slightly disappointed face.
"He's one of the coolest super heroes out there, apart from you and Batman of course…" Cisco cleared his throat and corrected what he was saying, bringing a smile to Barry's amused face.
"So you're a superhero that goes by the name, Captain Marvel?" Barry asked Billy, who grinned and took a few steps back.
"That's what the citizens of Fawcett City call me. Not sure if I like the name yet, though." Billy told Barry, who sighed in recognition. When they had started calling him the Red Streak, Barry didn't like it either. Good thing Iris decided to change his name on her blog.
"Do I really have to be here to put you guys back in check?" Caitlin asked, causing all attention to fall back on her. The brunette was leaning on the door of the entrance with a more urgent expression spread across her face.
"The meta-human girl that was going after Daniel was taken from her hospital room a few minutes ago." Caitlin informed all of them, showing them live news from Central City Hospital.
"Taken by who?" Barry asked Caitlin as he watched the video, seeing the amount of death that had been caused by whoever had come in and retrieved her. Dozens and dozens of dead doctors and nurses lay in the corridors of the hospital.
As if to answer the question, the person that had been recording the event turned the camera to themselves, revealing a panicked looking woman.
"T…They looked like d-dolls… All of them…"
Everyone in the room looked at each other with confused and shocked expressions, trying to figure out mentally who they were and why they wanted Alex. Before they could voice their opinions, however, Caitlin decided to speak.
"They're already gone. Whatever this is, we can figure it out later. Right now, Dr. Wells wants you two to safely bring Daniel back to his house and make sure everything is safe and sound." Caitlin told Barry and Cisco, who nodded their heads in understand. However, Billy's eyes widened as he realized something.
"Cisco, Daniel's here?" Billy asked Cisco quickly, the concern for his friend that he tried to push down finally emerging again. Cisco turned to Billy and sighed deeply.
"Yeah, he's upstairs with Dr. Wells."
"Can I go and see him?"
"No can do."
"Why not? I want to see if he's okay!"
"Because it would lead to a lot of questions." Barry answered Billy for Cisco, causing all of the attention to fall on Barry. "Daniel doesn't know that I'm the Flash."
"Well why not?" Billy asked with an irritated expression on his face. He was more annoyed that they wouldn't let him go and see his best friend more than the fact that Daniel didn't know that Barry was the Flash.
"Daniel knowing my secret would put him in danger. I don't want that for him." Barry told Billy with a serious expression on his face… From that alone, Billy knew that Barry was serious. But then why could he feel a simmer of doubt in Barry's words?
"So let me get this straight, so no one can know that I was here?" Billy asked the group, simultaneous bringing his fingers up to his nose and pinching his nose bridge. He hated lying to his friends, and he could tell that this would complicate things.
"Just forget everything that happened today. After you defeated the Doll Queen as Captain Marvel the Thunder Prince, you went home and had a nice nap." Cisco suggested cheerfully, gaining everyone's raised eyebrows.
"What? I gave her a supervillain name…"
"You seriously need to work on those names, Cisco"
"Before I go, I have one more question…" Billy spoke quickly, drawing all of their attention. When they turned back to him, Billy had a serious expression painted across his face.
"I need your word that you will never give tell anyone my secret. Only the people that I choose to tell." Billy told the group, who all nodded immediately. Billy breathed a sigh of relief and offered Barry his hand.
"My name is William Batson, but you can call me Billy. Apart from the whole locking me up thing, it was nice meeting you Barry." Billy introduced himself formally to Barry. The speedster took the handshake and firmly shook it back, earning a small smile from Billy.
"It was nice meeting you too. I'll be seeing you around." Barry replied casually, grinning as he disconnected the hand shake. He quickly went into his pocket and pulled out a STAR Labs card with his details on it, handing it to Billy.
"If you ever need any help over in Fawcett City, just give me a call. Who knows, maybe we'll have to face an evil alien warlord some day!" Barry said happily as he handed Billy the card. Billy took it and quickly pocketed it, making sure that it was in a pocket that couldn't be pick pocketed.
"Sorry to break this little Justice Squad up but we need to be going." Cisco suggested slowly. As he did, the shorter man pointed out towards the door with his thumbs and Barry nodded. Just like that, Barry and Cisco left Billy.
"I guess you're showing me the way out?" Billy asked Caitlin as he turned to face her, both of his shimmering blue eyes latching onto her own hazel eyes. The brunette nodded and turned her back to Billy and began to walk through the circular hallway, prompting the teen to follow.
They walked in silence most of the way out, and soon enough they reached the exit. Caitlin opened the door wide enough for Billy to pass through and gestured for him to leave.
"You're free to go now. Sorry about all of the hassle earlier." Caitlin chuckled nervously, the obvious embarrassment from Barry's mistake weighing down on her. If she had only somehow contacted Barry and told him about the attacker, then there wouldn't be an un-needed third party that knows that Barry is the Flash…
"It's fine. As long as Mr. Speedster pants doesn't mistake me for the villain and lock me up again, I should be alright." Billy told Caitlin with a smile, settling down her unsettled emotions.
"But I do have a question…"
Caitlin looked up at Billy and weakly smiled back at him. She knew that it was going to come out one way or another, but she had just wished that Barry or Cisco would have been there when Billy asked…
"Is this… The place where you guys were keeping me… Is it a meta-human prison?" Billy asked quietly, speaking low enough so that only him and Caitlin could hear. Caitlin gulped and began to rub her sweaty palms nervously.
What was she supposed to say? Tell him that they were illegal holding a meta-human in the pipeline and that they planned to hold more if any went out of line? Even if it was for the protection of Central City, she knew that if someone found out about their little prison they could wind up in jail, or worst…
Before Caitlin could think of a reasonable answer, Billy turned his back to her and began to walk off with his hands in his pockets. Caitlin went slightly red, realizing that he probably noticed her slight agitation and drew on his own conclusions.
"I'll see you around." Billy called out to Caitlin loudly. He didn't make a single sound until he heard the sound of the door closing behind him, and the faint sound of a lock clicking into place…
"Hm… A team…" Billy chuckled under his breath, casually rustling his messy black hair around his head and out his eyes. He'd just met the Flash and escaped a high-tech prison in the same day! This had to be the best day ever!
Harrison Well's House – Midnight
This had to be the worst day ever…
Daniel sat silently in the living room, staring obnoxiously into empty space. The snoring that was emanating around the room would have normally driven him over the edge, but Daniel's attention was focused on the silver spoon that he was holding in his right hand.
His left arm was still in a sling, even though it was already fully healed. He wouldn't let anyone know that yet, because that would make it obvious that he was a meta-human.
If Cisco and Barry stopped snoring, then maybe Daniel would be able to focus completely on the task he had at hand. The blonde stared down at the spoon with intensity, both of his blue eyes concentrated as the metal bended at his whim…
The spoon bended and contorted until it was as flat as paper. Almost as quickly as it flattened out, the flat metal began to stretch out horizontally in both directions, expanding and thinning out until it reached its thinnest point, becoming a square.
"Weak..."
Daniel put his hand out flatly and held the thin square on his palm. This wasn't good enough. He could already feel his head beginning to spin in rotation, and it was making him nauseous. Daniel just held the square object in his hand for a few moments, closing his eyes and relaxing.
"3… 2… 1…"
Daniel silently breathed out as he tried to calm his head. After a few more seconds, the nauseous feeling rolled away and Daniel opened his eyes calmly, not noticing that his iris had turned into a murky translucent white.
"So it works like a muscle…" Daniel realized slowly, fixating his translucent eyes on the thin metal square. As he spoke, the metal sheet rose from his hand and floated unsupported and the uncomfortable feeling that Daniel was experiencing before was gone.
"The more I use it, the stronger the Telekinesis becomes." Daniel told himself silently. However, that wasn't it worked for all of his powers, he noticed. The night Daniel discovered his ability to control things with his mind, he also began to piece together why his memory and intelligence had increased dramatically.
The Particle Accelerator didn't just give him the power of Telekinesis. Rather, it somehow increased his mental prowess and gave him psychic abilities. Whether Telekinesis was the only physic ability he was granted was unknown to him… For now.
Tomorrow he decided that he would try and figure out the current limits of his intelligence and memory, along with his Telekinesis. And if possible, Daniel would discover if he had any other abilities.
However, first and foremost, he was going to go to S.T.A.R Labs to figure out why the Particle Accelerator gave him his abilities. Harrison had told him that all Metahumans have different abilities, depending on their current situation when they were struck by the Dark Matter. That was the explanation that Harrison had used when Daniel asked why Metahumans came into existence and why they all had different abilities.
From what Daniel gathered, the lightning striking Daniel and Barry gave Daniel his abilities. However, Daniel wasn't an idiot. The Dark matter infused lightning must have done something to Barry. Unfortunately, whenever he asked his step-dad about Barry being a meta-human he was always given the 'don't be absurd' look. And the 'wouldn't that make you a meta-human too' glare.
After several attempts of trying to get him to admit that Barry was a meta-human, he decided to ask Barry himself and considered the idea that maybe his wheel chaired guardian didn't know about Barry. However, asking Barry proved to be even more awkward then he anticipated…
It couldn't have been more awkward then the car ride back to the house, though. The very minimal communication between Barry and Daniel caused a strange tension. Daniel could swear that the only thing he said to Barry was a quick 'hi' and a sharp reply when Barry tried to start a conversation…
It wasn't that Daniel didn't want to fix the problem, it was that he couldn't fix it. Only Barry could fix it. All he needed to do was tell Daniel whatever secret the STAR Labs crew was keeping from him. It couldn't simply be that Barry was a meta-human, though. According to what he heard when he stumbled into their conversation, it was something that would cause all sorts of meta-humans to hunt Barry down if it spread…
Maybe they were building a device to strip metas of their abilities? Then why would the secret specifically be Barry's? It didn't make sense. The only thing that made sense to Daniel was if Barry was somehow opposing the dangerous meta-humans secretly. In that case, Daniel telling someone would put them both in danger.
However, Daniel realized that no one had trust that he could hold a secret…
Daniel turned his head and looked at Barry and Cisco sleeping peacefully on the couch, his iris still murky white as the metal square span at incredible speeds above Daniel's head. He was going to give Barry one more chance to tell him or he was going to find out on his own…
Daniel clenched his fist tightly and willed the metal square to split into four separated sharp edges. He turned his head to face the dart board and focused on it. Immediately, the sharp edges sped through the air and into the dart board, all four hitting the bullseye with perfect accuracy.
The nauseating feeling returned quickly and Daniel gagged. He'd have to get used to that…
Daniel went to the bathroom and washed out his mouth, before going to his room for some well needed sleep. For the entire time, he didn't notice the pair of glowing red eyes watching everything from outside of the house…
I'm so sorry for such a late chapter 4… Writers block slapped me in the hard, and then I had visitors from England come down to see me. However, I am still going to carry on this story
I hope you guy enjoyed this chapter I would really appreciate a review, if you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews motivate me to continue, and I'd like to known if you guys like the story.
I'm also considering making a fanfiction about Jonathon Kent. It is probably going to be a one shot. Learning about superman's son in from Rebirth really made me like the awkward Kryptonian / human
Since no body answered last chapter's question, and the one before, I'll change it.
If a Kryptonian is injected with red Kryptonite, what are the affects?
R&R (Read and Review)
- Haise Kaneki