Hey, guys. Back with another chapter.
This one will be a bit shorter, but it will kickstart the final battle with Cicada.
Let's get to it.
Chapter 3- Meeting Cicada
Pietro smiles as he walks into the Cortex. He had spent most of the day with Clint's family, getting to know them a little better. It had been a rather enjoyable day for him.
"Hey, Pietro," Cisco calls to him as he comes into the cortex.
"Hello, Cisco," Pietro responds.
"How was your day?" Cisco asks.
"Very well. I spent it with the Bartons, so I had a pretty good day," Pietro responds.
"Awesome. By the way. I'm almost finished with your new suit," Cisco says, drawing a grin from Pietro. Cisco had decided to make a new, better suit for Pietro soon after Pietro joined the team. He was also using some of the vibranium given to him by T'Challa in making the suit.
"Excellent. I can't wait to try it out," Pietro says with a grin.
Suddenly, an alarm starts blaring. Pietro whips his head around, then asks, "What is it, Cisco? What's happening?" As he asks, Caitlin comes rushing in from the med bay.
Cisco types furiously at the keyboard for a second, then says, "We have an alarm going off at CCU! Apparent metahuman attack." He types for a few more seconds, then stops short. He looks up at Pietro and Caitlin, and says, "Guys. It's Cicada."
The three look around at each other. Until now, Cicada had not been seen since the so called "Blip". They had been hoping that maybe she hadn't been brought back, or that she had been sent back to the future.
"Alright. I'm on my way," Pietro says.
"Wait, take me with you. I'm immune to her dagger's ability to neutralize powers," Caitlin says, right before she turns to Killer Frost.
Pietro pauses for just a moment, then races forward and dons his suit before grabbing Caitlin and racing off towards CCU.
Within moments, they've reached the university. As they stop inside one of the science buildings, where the alarm is coming from, they immediately see the bodies of two guards lying dead on the ground.
"Well, she's here somewhere. But why?" Pietro mutters.
"Doesn't matter so long as we stop her," Killer Frost responds.
Almost as soon as the words leave her mouth, Pietro suddenly hears something. A noise that sounds like a mixture of hissing and clicking. Exactly like the sounds of a cicada.
"She's here," Pietro mutters. And just a moment later, Cicada walks out of a room up ahead.
"Hey!" Killer Frost calls to her as ice daggers form in her hands.
Cicada turns to face them. "There you are. I was hoping I'd see you again before the end," she says.
"What are you doing here?" Pietro demands.
"Something beyond your understanding," Cicada responds before unleashing a stream of energy from her hand that knocks Pietro flying back.
Killer Frost throws her ice daggers at Cicada, who easily ducks under them. She then draws her own dagger, but Pietro has already recovered and races right at her, knocking her tumbling. He tries running at her again, but Cicada slams her dagger into the ground, sending out a wave of energy that knocks both Pietro and Caitlin flying back.
Pietro quickly gets back on his feet. He is about to run at her when he realizes something. Looking down at his hands, he mutters, "I lost my speed." Then, a stream of energy from Cicada knocks him back.
Cicada smirks as she draws her kukri knives. "And without it, you will die," she says.
As she prepares to strike, a blast of ice hits her from behind and knocks her back into the wall. She stands up and glares at Killer Frost, who has conjured two more ice daggers.
"We're not done yet," Killer Frost says coldly.
"My thoughts exactly," Cicada responds before striking at Killer Frost.
Frost desperately fights back against Cicada. Before the Decimation, she was not on par with Cicada in terms of hand to hand combat. However, with lessons in unarmed combat from Oliver and Steve during the period of preparation to retake the Infinity Stones, and further lessons from Steve after the Battle of Earth-99, she is a much better fighter. She is able to hold her own reasonably well, and even manages to knock one of Cicada's kukris out of her hand.
However, before she can press her advantage, Cicada jumps back, then summons her dagger to her. She ducks under Killer Frost's attack and slashes her dagger across Frost's arm. Frost stumbles back, clutching her arm in pain.
Cicada smirks as she bears down on Frost. However, he preoccupation with Frost has caused her to briefly forget about Pietro, who has now regained his powers. He races right at Cicada, punching her hard enough to knock her through a door and into the lobby of the building.
Pietro prepares to attack her again, but before he can, she thrusts her dagger upwards and takes to the air, flying up through skylight and out of sight. Pietro watches her go, then turns to Killer Frost. "Are you alright, Frost?" he asks.
"Just peachy," Frost responds.
Pietro looks back in the direction Cicada vanished, then turns his attention towards the doorway leading into the room Cicada came out of. Curious, he walks into the room. He finds it full of various equipment and cases. And on a table in one corner, he sees a case that's wide open, with its contents missing.
Pietro walks forward, grabs the case, then heads back out. "She was here to steal something. Whatever she was after was in this case. Let's get this back to Cisco," he says before racing off with Frost.
(Two hours later, Allen farm)
Barry smiles as he turns a page of the book he's reading. Wanda had volunteered for the task of putting the twins to bed, so Barry had decided to head to bed and read for a while.
The door opens, and Barry looks up to see Wanda walk in.
"Hey, babe. Are they asleep?" he asks, setting his book down.
"Yes," Wanda says as she walks over and lays down next to him. She smiles and says, "And, since they are, I was thinking we could finally could have some us time."
Barry smiles. He leans over, and their lips have just touched when his phone starts ringing.
"Ignore it," Wanda whispers against his lips, but Barry recognizes the ringtone as his ringtone for Cisco.
"It's Cisco. Let me just see what he wants," Barry says before turning over and picking up his phone.
"Hey, Cisco. What is it?" Barry asks.
"Sorry to wake you up if I did. But you need to hear this, Barry. Cicada reappeared and attacked CCU. Pietro and Caitlin tried to stop her, but she got away. That's not what's important though. We've figured out what she's doing, and I think you should know," Cisco says.
I'll end there. Sorry, I didn't want this chapter to be too long.
I know this chapter may not be the best, but it also reflects its main character. Both Cicadas did not live up to their potential, especially the future-Grace-Cicada. The only reason I'm including her in this story is so I can finally have the MACU be rid of her. But I promise, she'll be gone soon enough.
Next chapter will be a bit shorter too, and will be up tomorrow. I'm gonna take a break for Thanksgiving obviously, and possibly Black Friday too, but I'll resume on Saturday.
Until then, leave a review, and stay tuned!