Hey, guys. Back with another chapter.
I don't have anything to say before the chapter, so let's get into it.
Chapter 33- Gorilla City
Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, Clint, and Kara all tumble out of the breach. They take a moment to familiarize themselves with their surroundings. Sure enough, they're surrounded by what can only be an African jungle.
"Well, we're here," Barry says as he looks around.
"Alright, Barry. What's the plan?" Clint asks as he readies his bow.
"Cisco and Caitlin, you come with me, and we'll try and track Harry's location. Kara, I want you to do an aerial reconaissance," Barry says.
"On it," Kara says before she takes off.
"Clint, you hang back. Get in a tree if you need to. Just in case this is a trap, I want to make sure you don't caught, too," Barry says.
"Gotcha," Clint says. He fires a grappling hook arrow straight up and swings up into a tree.
Barry turns to Caitlin and Cisco. "Alright. Let's go," he says.
Together, the three start walking. Through the jungle. Cisco is leading the way, working with a device designed to track Harry's watch. Caitlin stays behind with Barry.
"Where did you get this suit?" Caitlin asks him.
"A former friend named Tony Stark made it for me. Well, the first one. It has all kinds of cool features on it. This one I'm wearing now is an upgraded version of the first one, but this was made by a friend named Shuri. It has a lot better protection, and is made of a metal called vibranium, which is virtually indestructible," Barry says. He grins for a moment, then says, "Oh, it also has this. You there, Jocasta?"
Caitlin looks confused. Until Jocasta responds a moment later, "Yes, indeed Mr. Allen."
Caitlin's eyes go wide. "What was that?" she asks.
"Caitlin, meet Jocasta, my AI assistant given to me by Tony Stark. Jocasta, this is my friend, Caitlin," Barry says.
"A pleasure to meet you, Dr. Snow," Jocasta says.
Caitlin stands wide eyed for a moment, then smiles as she says, "Nice to meet you, Jocasta."
Barry grins. "This suit also has this cool feature," he says, before commanding the whole suit to retract back into the symbol, revealing the special shirt and pants Shuri designed for him to wear under the suit. He then commands the suit to activate again.
Caitlin stares at it in amazement. "Amazing! Is it some kind of nanotech?" she asks.
"Yeah. Cool, right?" Barry says with a grin.
Caitlin nods. Then, her face grows a bit more serious. She looks at Barry, then says, "There's something I want to ask you, Barry."
"Sure," Barry says, looking at her expectantly.
Caitlin looks at him for a few moments. Then, she asks, "What happened to you over there? I don't want you to explain everything yet. But, I noticed you seemed a little hesitant coming back. And, you didn't seem as excited to see Iris as I thought you'd be. Why is that?"
Barry looks at her, then sighs. He'd hoped to be able to tell everybody on his own initiative, but he should've known better.
Finally, he looks up at Caitlin, and says, "It's best if I start off by showing you." Then, just like with Joe mere minutes ago, he commands his gauntlet to retract, and holds out his hand to show her his wedding band.
Caitlin stares at it in shock. Then, she finally looks at Barry and gasps out, "You're married?!"
Barry slowly nods. "After a few months, I really started to feel I would probably never manage to get back to Earth-1. And, I started to realize I was developing feelings for one of my fellow Avengers. Her name is Wanda."
"A few months after getting to Earth-99, I asked her out. Soon after that, Savitar showed up on Earth-99. I fought him with the help of the Avengers, and defeated him. In the process, me and Wanda realized we were falling on love. So, we started dating."
"Just in the last few weeks, a law was passed on Earth-99, forcing the Avengers to register with and work under the UN, or retire. If we refused to comply, we would be imprisoned. Me and Wanda were both part of the group that chose not to follow it, and so we were imprisoned. But, Jay and Cisco soon showed up and freed me, and the three of us, with some friends, freed the rest of the team in prison. After that, I realized how much I loved Wanda, so I proposed to her, and we were a married a few days later."
Caitlin just stands there, frozen in shock. Finally, she manages to gasp out, "You feel in love with someone else and married her without telling any of us?"
"Well, until Cisco and Jay found me, I didn't have any way of contacting you. And even after they did, I felt it was best for all parties to keep it a secret for the time being. Plus, I was worried about Iris," Barry says. And Caitlin knows he means he was, and is, worried about her reaction.
Caitlin puts a hand on his arm. "It's okay, Barry. Everything will work out," she says. Then, she smiles at him and asks, "Do you really love her?"
Barry looks back at Caitlin and beams. "Caitlin, I thought I knew love when I was dating Iris. But that doesn't hold a candle to what I feel for Wanda," he says.
Caitlin smiles before saying, "Then, I couldn't be more happy for you." She then smirks a little before asking, "Cisco and Jay stayed on Earth-99 so they could go to your wedding, didn't they?"
Barry smiles a little sheepishly. "Yeah," he admits.
Caitlin pretends to be offended. "And you didn't have one of them come back for me?"
Barry chuckles a bit. "If I sent one of them back for you, everyone else would get suspicious," he says. He chuckles a bit more before saying, "Geez. At this point, so many people are gonna be mad they missed the wedding that maybe I'll have to marry her again."
Caitlin laughs. "You could always do a renewing of your vows. Then everyone who missed the first wedding could attend," Caitlin says.
Barry grins at her. But, before he can respond to that, Cisco calls out, "I think I got something."
They both hurry to catch up with him. As they reach him, Caitlin stops, then says, "Do you hear that?"
Barry stops to listen, and can hear a beeping. He follows the beeping, and finds Harry's metahuman alert watch. Sitting right in a large footprint.
Barry bends down and picks it up. He examines it for a moment, then looks around. He senses something's wrong, and says, "It's a trap."
A few seconds later, little darts fly out and hit the three of them. On hits Barry in the neck, and with his mask down, he has no protection in that area. And together, the three of them collapse, just as several gorillas come into their view.
(A few minutes later)
Clint slowly moves through the plants. His last several calls to Barry have gone unanswered. He moves forward slowly, an electric-tip arrow nocked in his bow.
"Barry," Clint calls out quietly. There's no answer.
Finally, he gets through a row of bushes. And in the mud at his feet as the imprints from where three bodies hit the ground. As well as a number of gorilla footprints.
"Oh, s***!" Clint says softly to himself. He then taps his earpiece and says over comms, "Supergirl. Get your a** down here! Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin got taken by the gorillas. We need to figure out our next move."
He hears a slight gasp, then he hears Kara say, "Alright. I'm heading for your location right now."
(Gorilla City, an hour later)
Barry shakes his head a bit as he comes to. He looks around his surroundings, and sees he's in a cage. Caitlin is just coming to in a cage next to his, and in a cage on the other side of his from Caitlin's, Cisco is trying to stand up.
"You guys alright?" Barry asks.
"Yeah, I'm okay," Caitlin replies.
"Yeah, me too," Cisco says.
Barry looks around, examining the cell. "Jocasta, do a scan of the cage. Find me a weak spot," Barry says.
There are several seconds of silence. Then, they all hear Jocasta say, "I am detecting some sort of interference. It will prevent you from phasing out of the cell. The metal is also too strong for any of your weapons to break the bars. I also believe the interference will prevent Mr. Ramon's powers from working."
Barry sighs. Cisco is about to speak up and comment on how amazing Jocasta is when they suddenly hear footsteps. All three of them turn to a stairway near Caitlin's cage, and to their surprise, harry comes walking down the stairs.
"Harry?" Caitlin says in both surprise and delight. She hurries up to the bars and says happily, "You're alright."
"Wells. Hey! You need to get us out of these cells," Barry says. Harry just looks at them as he walks up to Barry's cage. He then looks Barry hard in the eyes before saying in a very deep voice, "Flash."
Barry grows serious. "Grodd," he says simply.
Barry pauses for a moment, then says, "Grodd, let him go. This is between you and me."
"Not yet. I need him," Harry-Grodd says.
"For what? Why did you lure him here?" Barry demands.
"For you. Need your help," Harry-Grodd responds.
"Funny way of asking for it," Cisco says.
"You sent me here. Remember?!" Harry-Grodd yells, "To live in this hell! Where I am forced to serve under the rule of Solovar!"
"Who's Solovar?" Barry demands.
"Leader of Gorilla Kind. Ruler of Gorilla City. And now, he wants to rule the humans. He will bring war to your earth!" Harry-Grodd says.
"Why?" Barry demands.
"He has seen many conflicts between gorillas and humans. He is afraid the humans will attack, but now that you're here, he will bring the fight to you," Harry-Grodd says.
"So you lured us here to stop him?" Barry asks skeptically.
"As trespassers, you will be sent to the arena and executed. It will be Solovar's great honor to kill you himself. But, Flash, if he were to be defeated, the other gorillas would see his weakness and no longer follow him," Harry-Grodd says.
"Well, I'm not gonna kill anyone. Not even a gorilla. So, I guess you can forget about it," Barry says.
"Kill or be killed! This is the only law gorilla kind understands!" Harry-Grodd responds in a raised voice.
"How do you benefit from this Grodd?" Barry demands, skeptical of Grodd still.
"Solovar is defeated. I take his place. I rule the gorillas and I promise to keep them in Gorilla City," Harry-Grodd says.
"What could ever make us trust you?" Barry demands.
"Because. Even though you sent me away, your Earth is still my home. And there are those among you i will never forget," Harry-Grodd says, looking at Caitlin as he finishes.
Suddenly, Harry passes out. A moment later, they hear loud footsteps, and Grodd comes into view ahead of them.
"Kill Solovar, and Central City will be spared. Fail, and see your home turned to ash," Grodd says before leaving.
Barry rests against the door of the cage, wondering how he's going to get out of this situation.
I'll end there.
I hope this ended up being a good chapter. I know that our Earth-1 friends are finding out about Barry's marriage to Wanda rather fast, but let's be honest, they're all pretty smart people. I think they could start to realize something was up.
Next chapter will feature the fight with Solovar, and probably the escape from Gorilla City too. The next phase of the Gorilla City arc will take another three chapters or so, then we'll wrap this story up.
As always, please review, and stay tuned for the next chapter.