Well, I'm back with another chapter.
This chapter will be a little bit different. This will take place on Earth-1. I'm not even fully sure where I'm going with this, but we'll see how well this turns out.
Chapter 18- A Universe Away
"Cisco, do you have anything new?" Iris demands.
Cisco sighs as he turns his chair and looks at her, with a tiny bit of irritation. "Iris, my answer hasn't changed since the last 53 times you asked me that. If I figure out or vibe anything new, I will tell you!" he says.
"Iris," Joe says to get her attention. She turns to him, arms folded.
"Iris, I know you're worried about Barry. Yes, he's your boyfriend, you have every right to be worried about him. But all of us are too. Getting upset is not gonna make things go faster. I know it's been four days since he got sucked into that portal, but everything is going to be alright," Joe says to his daughter, trying to calm her down.
"And don't forget. Barry wasn't the only one who got lost. Team Arrow is helping us, the Legends are using the Waverider to search the timeline, and Kara agreed to remain behind to help us out. And, remember, Harry's come over from Earth-2, and Lyla has committed ARGUS resources to the search. We'll find them," Caitlin says.
Iris sighs. She's been going slightly out of her mind with worry since the end of the fight with the Dominators, and Barry and Oliver's disappearance, 4 days earlier. The entire combined team has been working overtime to find their missing friends, but so far, nothing.
Iris turns back to Cisco. "Why haven't you been able to vibe where he is?"
He looks at back at her, feeling again slightly irritated at having to answer this for the third time today.
"I told you Iris. Every time I try, the connection feels...fuzzy. I can only see him, and can't make out enough of his surroundings to have any idea of where he is. It's almost like there's a barrier preventing me from seeing anything," Cisco says.
"Well, there has to be some way to breach that barrier. Your vibes may be the best chance we have at finding Barry," Iris says.
"Iris, I know!" Cisco says a little too harshly. She takes a step back, looking at first surprised, then angry.
Cisco feels bad for snapping at her. After a moment, he says, "Iris. I know how worried you are about him. But pestering me about things I'm already aware is not going to help matters. Please, just calm down, stop asking me things you already have asked me, and let me do my work."
Iris look at him sternly, like she wants to say something, but doesn't.
Wally walks over. "I'm gonna go out for a run. Take a lap around the world, see if I can't find anything," he says.
Iris turns on him. "The h*** you are! You're not ready for the field yet!" she says in a lightly raised voice.
Wally looks offended. Joe comes to his rescue. "Baby, like Cisco said, you need to calm down. Now, I agree, Wally's not ready for the field. But this isn't him going off to fight somebody. He's just gonna take a look around," Joe says, before turning to Wally and nodding at him. Wally looks at Joe gratefully before speeding off.
"Dad...I know we can't stop him from using his powers completely, but I don't want him to get hurt. Especially now that Barry's not here," she says.
"I know. But, at this point, unless it was Alchemy or Savitar, I'd almost be willing to let Wally out into the field if it meant finding Barry," Joe says. Iris looks at her dad in surprise, but on seeing the look on his face, decides not to say anything.
"Okay. I'm going to try and vibe him again. See if I can see anything," Cisco groans as he stands up. He walks over to one of Barry's spare suits and touches it. Everyone watches as he goes through the vibe. Then, he lets go, and stumbles back, shocked.
"What? What did you see?" Iris demands. Cisco looks at her in shock. Then, he says in a shock-filled voice, "Come with me!"
He races out of the cortex. Iris and Joe look at each other, then follow Cisco. He leads them out into the hallway and down to where the time vault is. He presses his hand to the wall, and the time vault opens.
Cisco leads Iris and Joe inside, then races over the white pedestal. He runs his hand over it, and the newspaper from the future pops up. But, to the surprise of Joe and Iris, the by line has changed.
Written by Iris West.
They all stare at the by line, stunned by this change. Finally, Iris says what is on all three of their minds: "It's...it's my name again. But, it's not Iris West-Allen anymore."
They all stare at that. Cisco finally speaks up, "If-if this has changed...then something has changed with Savitar."
Without saying another word, he runs back out of the time vault, and Iris and Joe follow him.
They run back to the cortex. When they get back, everyone is waiting for them.
"What is it, Cisco?" Caitlin asks. Cisco just brushes past her and rushes to a set of drawers. He opens it and pulls out Alchemy's mask, which he's been using to try and vibe Savitar since he showed up three days ago. Up until now, he's been achieving the same result trying to vibe Savitar as when he's tried to vibe Barry.
Cisco concentrates, trying to access his power. Finally, when he gets nothing, he goes over to get his goggles. Slipping them on, he grabs the mask again. Still...nothing.
After a minute, he sighs and sets down the mask before pulling off his goggles. He turns to the entire team, a strange look on his face.
"Cisco? What is it?" Caitlin asks.
"I...when I tried to vibe Barry again, i saw the newspaper article from the time vault. But something had changed. I took Iris to go check it out. And, my vibe was right. The by line has changed back to Iris. But now,...it's just Iris West. Not Iris West-Allen. And just now, I couldn't vibe Savitar. I...I think Savitar's dead," Cisco says.
Everyone just looks at him, shocked. "Wait? You think Savitar's gone?" Julian asks.
"Yeah. I mean, Barry said he thought that the reason the by line changed was because Savitar supposedly kills her. If it's changed back to Iris' name, and I can't vibe Savitar, that must mean he's been defeated, and is probably dead," Cisco says, his voice starting to get cheerful.
Then, Caitlin starts to smile. "And you were still able to vibe when touching Barry's spare suit. So that must mean... Barry's still alive, and wherever he is, he must have beaten Savitar!"
Everyone look excited at this prospect. Except Iris. The fact that the by line just shows the last name West, not West-Allen, has made her worry terribly about Barry.
"Wait. If the by line is now just West... does that mean that wherever he is...Barry's trapped there?" Iris asks.
That sours the mood again. Then, an idea starts to creep up on several of them. An idea that Julian voices.
"Hold on. If Barry is trapped wherever he is...and Cisco can't really see his surroundings...could that mean...he's now been trapped in the Speed Force?"
Everyone looks at each other, worried. Luckily, Cisco breaks the gloom that has started to settle.
"I doubt it. The last time Barry was in the Speed Force and I vibed him, I could see like looked like a storm of energy. It wasn't like that this time. I think wherever he's trapped, it's not the Speed Force," Cisco says.
Iris wants to challenge Cisco, to demand how he knows that, but Joe can see it coming on her face and rests a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.
Suddenly, there's a flash of lightning, and Wally is standing in their midst. He looks around at everyone's faces before asking, "What did I miss?"
Caitlin sighs and explains what's just happened. By the time she's done, Wally looks shocked.
"Wait, so Savitar's dead? And Barry's trapped somewhere?" Wally asks for clarification, just getting a few nods in response.
Then, there's another flash of lightning, and suddenly Jesse is standing in the middle of the Cortex.
"Jesse!" Iris, Caitlin, and Wally all exclaim. That call brings Harry running over from one of the adjacent labs.
"Hey, guys. Any news on Barry?" she asks. Everyone shakes their head.
To their surprise, Jesse still looks cheerful. "Well, don't worry about that. We've got one of smartest teams in the multiverse here. Plus, I decided to go fetch us some help," she says.
Then, there's a third flash of lightning, and Jay Garrick materializes next to Jesse.
"Jay!" Cisco exclaims. Jay nods as he takes off his helmet. "Yup. I'm here to help, and I have a theory. I think Mr. Allen is on another Earth. We just to need to find out which one."
I'll end there. I know this chapter was another short one, but I didn't have much planned for this chapter. I had just planned for the team to become aware of Savitar's demise, and introduce Jay into the mix. Jay will probably be making one or two more appearances before the end of this story.
I know Iris may seem very short tempered, and this chapter may be a little Iris bashing, but, she is freaking out, and just lost Barry. For those of you who are major Iris fans, you may not like parts of this story too much. She's no longer Barry's love interest, obviously, and is not gonna be the most pleasant character later on when she shows up again. I admit, she's no longer one of my more favorite characters. I honestly lost a lot of respect for Iris after the way she acted and treated everyone in the first episode of Season 4.
I don't have anything else to say right now, except keep those reviews coming, and stay tuned for the next chapter (which should be up in a few days).