EDITED: December 25th, 2022.
So, FanFiction has stopped sending notifications again. Again. But if you have favorited or followed since the last update, thank you so much for doing so! And to all readers, old and new, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's the Flarrow crossover—AT LAST!
13 - Physiological Reaction
Karen was a coward. She wasn't proud to say so, but it was a fact. Coward, coward, coward—nothing like the girl who ran after armored trucks and sustained the most dangerous of surgical operations.
To be fair, she'd done all that for Clark. Because of Clark. He'd been the center of her universe, so important that he was the only memory she retained of her old life. It was for him that she thought twice before jumping into anything and it was him that she thought of when she pushed herself to live onwards. She owed him much more than she did David or the Harcourts.
What would he say that she was willingly throwing herself into danger? Both Barry and the Arrow were sure signs of an oncoming storm. Helping them was like flirting with death.
But it was what Clark would do. He would help.
On the other hand, Karen was a bitch and thus refused to get involved in Barry's drama... until he brought it in. And he definitely brought it in this time around.
When she recounted the events to Queen, the man pinched his brow and stayed like that for a whole minute. Maybe he counted breaths in his head. At last, his nostrils flared before he looked at her and said, very slowly, "What were you thinking?"
No show of anger. Yet. He was reigning it in. Karen thought it was nice of him to be this thoughtful, very much aware of his penchant for shooting arrows first and asking later.
But he was doing it on purpose. Holding back. He was pushing his anger aside because there was a new priority: Barry Allen. Barry, whom he'd set an appointment with and shot him with arrows, all for the sake of training; Barry, who did not like that and threw the older man aside to go after Bivolo. Barry, who returned to the station, got into a row in front of everyone with Captain Singh and his foster father, and whom she stupidly followed.
How in the seven hells could she have known Bivolo had fucked his head up already?
"Barry!"
He was walking away. Strutting, dashing—there was no right word for this strange step he was doing. He was not rushing, but his walk was steeped with his superspeed. It made for a dangerous combination when he turned his angry eyes on her.
"Not you too," he said. It was a mixture of disbelief, anger, and annoyance.
"Yes, me," she snapped, and stepped right up to him. Her heels placed her in the precarious position of almost being eye to eye with him, with just the slightest tilt of her head fixing that.
She had a second to catalogue the nuances in him—the lack of them, actually—before his eyes flashed with red lightning. The world around her froze, except for Barry; his arm rose, and his hand gripped her armpit. He took a step forward, and she matched him, stepping back, her heels making this odd scratching sound before one of them broke. Then she was stumbling, about to fall, but Barry locked arms around her—
—and the lights went out.
Not out. They had transitioned into another room, darker and smaller. It took a few blinks for Karen's eyes to adjust. They were in a janitor's closet, from the looks of it. The smell of bleach was so overpowering she gagged; Karen covered her mouth and nose, staggering to the nearest wall. She tripped over a bucket and fell to her knees, eyes watering.
"Oh, Rao," she moaned. The smell—she couldn't make it go away. She took off her blazer and bunched it up to cover her lower face, but it didn't work either. It just seeped through the fabric.
Karen was so dizzy it took her a beat to realize Barry was talking. Has been talking since he'd brought them there.
"—first Oliver, now you! What right do you have to keep invading my life like you didn't try to destroy it?"
Or ranting.
"Barry—" she gasped.
"No!" he yelled. Lightning crackled in his hands. "You had your chance to vent, now it's my turn! You said you didn't trust me. Well, guess what? I didn't either! You never said where you came from, who your family was, what your dreams were—you were always this! This ice sculpture waiting to be broken. I tried, Karen—I tried so hard and it was like you didn't care! I tried to be someone who could walk by your side—I even got a damn laser eye surgery!"
He knelt next to her, and it was like he couldn't see she had a hard time breathing. Even with her chest rattling, he couldn't hear anything but himself.
"And I know it was my fault. I know that I should have told you about Iris, but what did you do? You went to Ralph Dibny," he spat the words venomously. "You trusted that snake before you could trust me. And look where it got you—stabbed to death! You almost died in my arms, and what were your first words to me? 'I don't want to see your face ever, leave'! And you went on ignoring me, and I thought that was it. But then the Particle Accelerator exploded, and I thought we could work it out!" His hopeful face twisted into something so ugly Karen reared back. "But you went to Oliver. Not me. It will never be me."
Karen rubbed her face. Her sense of smell was still off. She would've loved a shower, but time was limited. So she'd sprayed on every perfume available from Miranda's Concoctions, the independent perfume store two blocks away from C.C.P.D. When that didn't work, she poured the water from a flower vase over her head. Miranda hadn't been pleased. The sting of bleach lingered, though. It made all her senses go haywire; the closest she could compare it to was like being under the water, except Karen didn't remember ever feeling this way—it was nothing like when she woke from her three-month coma.
"I didn't get a word edgewise. He was on a roll."
"Don't tell me you didn't see the signs," said Oliver exasperatedly.
She threw her hands in the air. "Okay, okay! Mea culpa, is that what you want to hear? Because I got it all from him firsthand, thank you very much!"
"I don't think he meant it," said Diggle.
"Oh, that son of a bitch meant every word," Karen gripped, stomping her foot.
The ex-military man was a saint. He was the man who answered her call after that disastrous encounter with Barry, who calmed her down and directed her to the nearest bathroom at the station while he drove to fetch her. When he picked her up, he didn't say anything about her request to take her to Miranda's or when Karen's smelly self returned to the van. Even now, as she and the Arrow paced in the abandoned warehouse (Karen barefooted, him half-dressed in his getup), Diggle resorted to watching them, his tranquility a balm to their agitation.
Karen owed him, big time. But she didn't like the fact that he was playing the devil's advocate for Barry.
"Where could he have gone?" Queen asked.
She shook her head. "I don't know. He's—part of him is self-aware. He was nothing like the others—the anger in him was calculated."
"An enhanced civil servant with anger issues to deal with," said John dryly, slapping his hands at his hips. "That's great. Any ideas though?"
"He lashed out at David—the Captain—for pressuring him at work. Then he rubbed on Joe West's face his incompetence in solving his mother's case. He—" she hesitated, throwing a quick glance at the Arrow. "He aired out previous grievances about us to me. I don't know, maybe Iris? Though I doubt he would hurt his precious first love."
Oliver stopped pacing, frowning at his feet. "What about the man who is dating her?"
"Eddie?" Karen considered it. "Oh, Rao. Eddie. He's going to kill Eddie because of that stupid task force."
"What task force?"
Oliver said "Barry's not a murderer" while Karen answered Diggle, "Eddie proposed the idea of creating a task force focused on metahumans. Barry didn't take it well."
"You can't be serious!"
"He's not on his right mind, Oliver," Diggle argued. "So how do we find him? How do we stop him?"
The vigilante pressed his lips so tightly a vein popped from his throat up to his temple. "STAR Labs can cure him. We just need to... deliver him."
"With his speed? I don't think so. Unless you cornered him someplace. An enclosed area with open space—one you can lay traps beforehand."
"That involves luring him." Oliver shook his head. "That involves using bait. And Felicity hasn't told us what STAR Labs is thinking to solve this."
Karen stopped pacing.
"I'm going to hell for this," she muttered before clearing her throat. "I've got ideas. I just need to know how to reverse Barry's psychosis."
Oliver nodded. The hairs on the back of her neck rose when he turned to her with a calculating look on his face.
"I have a plan too."
0000•0000•0000
There was no real privacy at STAR Labs. Sure, the building housed dozens of private rooms, most of them laboratories or storerooms but. The security was tight. Well, not tight, but, you know, under surveillance. Lots and lots of surveillance. This was Felicity's second visit and has counted twenty-six cameras so far. The obvious ones are at the entrance, but there are small ones, tiny, so diminutive she barely caught them from the corner of her eye. She was in one of the most scientifically advanced facilities in the country and it showed.
She hadn't cared the first time around, worried as she was for Barry. What was wrong with him? Was he safe from himself? Would his abilities eventually kill him, lead him towards a slow, painful death, or a fast one? Who was helping him? Were they good people? And then the thing with Cold happened, and all those questions were shelved. She saw how good this team was, way better than her own when they began. They had a John, an Alicia, a Felicity, and obviously their hero. She thought she could leave Barry with a peaceful mind and just worry about what she heard from the news.
It had never occurred to her she might be playing in Harrison Wells' hands.
Felicity could feel his eyes boring into her back. Yeah, there were four pairs currently digging into her person with various expressions of disbelief, but his were the worse. The. Worse. And there was no glass anywhere near her that had a view of him, but she was sure as hell he was smiling that creepy smile he gave her when he threatened her earlier in the day (and boy, it was staggering to know THE Wells considered her a menace) and when he revealed Oliver's identity to the rest of Team Flash. It never changed. Never.
And suddenly, it wasn't him she was imagining. The eyes were a near match to his, but when she thought of Wells' smile, it was Malcolm Merlyn she remembered. Oh, she'd never had a one-on-one confrontation with him but pictures and Oliver's memories were enough.
Her mind raced as the line rang and rang on the other end. When Oliver picked up, she said, "Put me through speaker."
"Team Flash knows who the Arrow is," she whispered once she got the all-clear. "Wells... Wells deduced it. He wants you to bring Barry in." Felicity swallowed. "I don't trust him. The others do, but..."
"I understand, Felicity." She drew strength from Oliver's reassurance. "Did you guys figure out how to get Barry back to normal?" He'd been sending her sporadic messages since she inquired after his and Barry's training lesson, surprisingly patient in face of the danger Barry now represented.
"Caitlin's got a theory about color psychology, about how colors change emotions. So far Bivolo has used color to induce temporary psychosis, but what if we use a different spectrum of light colors to snap him out of it?"
"A color show?" Starr? Oh, great. "You want to give Barry the equivalent of an epileptic's worst nightmare?"
"Even if it caused side-effects, his super-healing would help him bounce back," Felicity argued. "It's all we got. Cisco's working on a prototype device for that."
Diggle summarized it better than she could have. "So, Barry needs to be in an isolated spot where the Arrow can hold him while you bring that... device to his location."
Starr cut in. "An enormous device it's not necessary. We could just confine him in front of a set of TVs."
Felicity scoffed. "And where we would get that many?" Her mind whirled. "They would need to be linked to the internet."
"There's a Tech Village store at the Central City Shopping Mall. They've got a huge window display of their merchandise. We turn them all on, hack into the shop's server—"
"Yeah, yeah! That could work." It was a solid thing, actually. There were no faults in this plan, not if they did the manual thing of turning the mall's power on. Then Felicity could hack in and be on stand-by while Oliver... did what?
"How will you get Barry there?"
"We're on it," said Oliver.
0000•0000•0000
"Is this your way of telling me that you want satellite radio for Christmas?"
Eddie felt his lips tug into a smile, but he pressed them together to keep his stern expression. He went back to playing with the car's stereo, hoping that Iris would get the hint that he didn't want to have this conversation—but it was not to be. His girlfriend was a shrewd one; once she bit a bone, it was hard to get her to leave it.
"Look, I am not mad at you."
It was said in a conciliatory tone, and it made Eddie's hackles rise—along with his brow. "Good, 'cause there's no reason you should be."
She gaped at him briefly. His tone was not friendly. He rewound the words in his head and sighed a little. He hadn't meant to snap. But Iris was so hellbent on protecting this stranger it made the green creature in his chest sniff the air cautiously.
His phone rang. He looked at the name and hung up.
"Eddie, both you and The Flash care about protecting this city. You would both give your lives for it. You're more alike than you think, okay? He's not the bad guy."
Eddie Thawne wasn't a jealous man. He was the son of a wealthy politician, but there wasn't a mean bone in his body. It just wasn't in his nature. His caring had steadily pushed him to follow a civil servant's career, and by his twenty-second birthday, he knew he wanted to be a cop. From time to time, his daredevil streak influenced his choices, but it still didn't make him a bad man.
Central City pushed those boundaries though. First by his coworkers' initial rejection. Then by the city itself suffering on a mass-scale. He'd been so close to quitting but finding Iris having a breakdown rectified his priorities.
Who would've thought the result of a game of darts would feel like destiny?
"Come on, man," had said Hal, his best friend, and certainly drunk. "Do it. Leave. This place hasn't got anything good for you, Eds. You'll drown in boredom if you stay." He'd waggled a finger at Eddie. "Don't deny it. What you need is a new beginning. Maybe that's why you are restless here."
Then Hal vomited and getting home was a whirlwind, but the words stuck.
A month later, he left the one half of the 'Twin Cities' and joined the other. With Keystone behind him, Central became his home. And more than a year later, Eddie almost had everything he could've ever wished for.
He got the girl. The girl. Iris West was a couple of years younger than him, so he was sure it was only him he felt like she was it. The one woman he could live the rest of his life out with. Sometimes he got the impression she thought him boring, but then she would smile at his little eccentricities, like his need to iron out his ties (a leftover from his senatorial parties) or his habit of cutting tomatoes into tiny squares. She liked it most when she thought she was going to scandalize him by dragging him to her extreme activities (he'd learned to fear bowling by the glint of her eyes alone), all the while forgetting he was a cop and the son of a fairly known public figure. Eddie liked rising above her expectations, liked watching her obsess over her hobbies.
But this thing with the Flash? It had to stop.
His phone rang again, and annoyed, he hung up. He didn't know what Karen wanted. It couldn't be police-related, otherwise she would be calling from the station's phones. If it concerned a cold case, Joe or the captain would've called.
"How do you know so much about him, Iris?"
He flattened his tone, hoping he didn't sound like the judge, jury or executioner. Hoping she could give him this secret without guilt.
Iris sighed. "He got in touch with me after I started the blog, and I've... seen him a couple times."
Seen him? "A couple times? Why didn't you tell me about this?" Did she realize the precarious situation she got herself into? The danger?
"Well, given the fact that I think he's a hero, and you want to put him in jail, do you really need to ask that question?" Her voice rose at the end, defensive.
"How could you ever think I would be okay with this?" The phone rang again. He answered, exasperated. "Karen, this is not a good time—"
"Eddie, don't hang up." The sharpness in the secretary's voice made him sit up straight. "I need your help."
He listened to her, his earlier disbelief rising at the forefront. Iris peered at him nervously, her curiosity growing at Eddie's stony silence.
"I'll meet you there." He hung up and regarded his phone thoughtfully. "Iris, I know you think you were doing the right thing, that you wanted you inspire people." He smiled briefly. "Your bullheadedness is one of the reasons I love you." Her eyes widened, and she almost braked, except he wasn't finished. "But we're going to leave this conversation on hold. I need you to speed up and drop me at Central City Shopping Mall."
0000•0000•0000
A different woman took the wheel once they arrived at Central City Mall. While Dig drove them, Karen had quietly pushed aside her anger at Barry, her worry about Queen, and the fear that gnawed her insides since the plan to capture the Flash was laid out. The remnant of her past rose, its shadow vanishing her negative feelings, until all she could see was the goal.
Slowly, a little too close to their time limit, Karen Starr was tucked in the deepest recesses of her mind. Only the goal and the facts remained.
She wasn't the only one who obeyed Diggle's commands. It made her less suspicious when Queen did exactly as John said, eerily quiet when the man laid out their plan in steps and handed out their tasks. He was still quiet when he gave Karen an earpiece identical to his, explaining briefly: "Only my team's got a link to you; STAR Labs will know as little as possible about your participation." She nodded. "Remember our deal."
He vanished in the night.
"Ready?"
She nodded at Diggle. She mentally mapped out the Arrow's journey to the rooftop. He would settle down and wait for their confirmation, then he would watch out for the transport that would bring Eddie Thawne.
When John handed her his travel bag, he hesitated. But she took it in her arms and gauged its weight; she shifted it until it felt as light as a feather. Then she swung it over her shoulder and looked up at him expectantly.
Diggle's lips flattened as he regarded her posture. Her matching blank expression.
"Oliver was right then."
She broke the shell a little. "It's complicated."
He nodded thoughtfully. "I guess it would be." He turned his back on her and started explaining what they would do.
Whereas the Arrow's job was to be on the lookout from the outside and Smoak's was to be his eyes and ears of the upcoming traffic, theirs was to prepare the trap for the Flash. Inside the mall, reminiscent of Nancy Thompson from Nightmare on Elm Street, John set up booby traps that boggled Karen's mind with their simplicity. She forced herself to keep her attention on him, mindful that whatever transpired from this moment onwards would be erased from the center's servers. She wouldn't get to study his actions later nor would anyone else. Except for the obvious damage the building was going to take, there would be no trace of them left.
When John finished, Karen set off towards Goodwill.
"This is not the time for a shopping trip," Felicity hissed at her ear.
"I don't want anyone to recognize me," Karen bit out. "And the smell's driving me crazy." To a near frenzy but she had it under control. She just didn't want to take any chances.
(She ignored Smoak's that's exactly why you shouldn't be here!)
Thank Rao Goodwill always smelled like someone's grandma had sprayed their floral perfume through the aisles. With her nose at rest, she stole the least expensive pieces of clothes, all in black, alongside a pair of black tennis shoes and a black cap. She tied her hair into a high ponytail and adjusted the cap so it hid most of her upper face. She'd washed it off earlier, so there was no hint of the shape of her known jaw or the size of her lips. Only the people in the mall that night would be aware of Karen Starr's presence.
"We're going under watch now," Felicity warned.
"Copy that," said the three of them.
A male voice, familiar and young, creeped in immediately.
"Who's the girl?"
They'd known STAR Labs would have visual connection to them; they'd practiced what they would reveal. But Felicity's voice still wobbled a little as she said, "An ally. She's going to help us draw the Flash."
"You made a civilian your bait?" Joe West's voice, tinged with anger.
"She's trained."
True. Sort of. When was the last time Karen saw any action?
It was this part of the plan she disliked the most. On paper, it was a foolproof plan, but there were a lot of variables Queen hadn't considered. Specifically, her.
When Queen suggested Karen play bait alongside Eddie, his partners objected. There was no room for her in the field. But he'd just looked at her and waited. Already knowing she could stand it. Diggle had seen the shared look and given Oliver the benefit of doubt. What could Smoak do when two thirds of her teams agreed on something?
Years of quelling her former self clouded her physical training, but not her fight-or-flight mentality. She never faced an enhanced before, but she was confident she would survive this. Once upon a time, Karen had beaten soldiers, military-trained men whose hesitation had been their undoing. She still had the featherlight feet and quicksilver mind that saved her. The undercurrent thrill running through her veins assured her she wouldn't fail.
But time weakened her. Her body was not the same. Her mind was not the same. She was outbalanced by the shift brought by the Particle Accelerator.
"This isn't right," said Joe.
"It's necessary."
Karen closed her eyes. Stressed her ears, droning out the sounds of cars, focusing more on people's voices. Crime ran rampant in Central at this time of day, but it was a quiet night of sorts. No criminals within hearing distance. No sign at all of Eddie Thawne or the Flash.
Iris's voice rose from the throng of the city, and Karen narrowed on it—five blocks from the mall.
"Eddie, you got to tell me what's going on."
Four blocks.
"Is this a revenge of sorts? Are you trying to get back at me?"
Two blocks.
"Eddie, I don't like this."
One.
"Stop here."
The earpiece in her ear buzzed.
"A blue sedan is approaching," the Arrow informed.
"That's Iris's car," Joe said, dismayed. "What the hell is she doing there?"
"You think you can knock her out?" Karen asked Oliver.
"I would need her to step out of the car."
"Oh, she's definitely gonna step out of the car."
The blue sedan stopped right next to the fence around the parking lot, a familiar man getting out. Eddie leaned down towards the driver's window, said something, and ran in Karen's direction. Like the professional he was, he jumped the wired fence with minor problem.
Behind him, Iris West stepped out of her sedan.
The Arrow drew his bowstring... did not release it. The tension of the cord thrummed in Karen's ear; it reminded her of the hum of a fridge.
Eddie was a shadowy figuring jogging towards her, and it was so dark she feared he would stumble. When he started swaying in a different direction, Karen yelled, "Over here!" She waved a hand at him, and he ran towards her.
Gasping, hands on his knees, Eddie told her, "You're crazy."
"Thank you for coming," she said seriously. "I didn't know who else to call."
"What do you mean the Flash's gone insane? How do you know that?"
"He was affected by another metahuman, one that can induce anger. He's the one behind that fight at the bank."
"Metahuman?" Eddie put his hands on his hips. His eyes darted to the sides, narrowed. "Karen, how do you fit into this?"
"I'll tell you later, I swear." The wired fence made an echoing sound. A feminine yelp rang. "Did you tell her anything?"
"No, I don't want her to be involved."
He bravely ignored the pointed look she threw him. "You should have. It's going to get hot in a bit."
Eddie scowled. He turned around, waiting for Iris who ran in their direction. She collided with Eddie's chest, and as he helped her straighten, Karen ensured the cap and hoodie were in place.
"Iris, I told you to wait for me in the car!"
"Eddie, this looks like a dodgy meeting with a source." Curious brown eyes peered at Karen. "Are you gonna tell what's going on or not?"
The comm burst into life. "He's coming!"
"Run!" Karen yelled.
She crouched instinctively, just as a flash of orange lightning rushed into the parking lot and sprung Iris and Eddie apart. While Iris fell to the floor, skidding, Eddie flew over Karen. His back hit one of the parking's columns; he bounced back and fell flat on his frontside.
"EDDIE!" Iris stood, swaying.
"Dammit!" Karen ran forward, right in front of Eddie, but Barry swatted her aside like a mere object. Karen tucked her body, rolling, slowing her momentum.
"I heard you've been looking for me." Barry's voice, distorted with his speed and fury, sounded demonic. His eyes flashed red. Eddie tried to crawl away, but the tumble had injured him. A spot of blood was growing on his back. The Flash grinned. "All this time, you've been trying to catch me, and I caught you first. Guess you haven't read your girlfriend's blog."
He threw his fist back and punched Thawne. The detective groaned, dropping again. The Flash's visage stopped blurring for a moment.
"You think you can just come along and get to have whatever you want?" He kicked forward, but Eddie avoided the hit in time. "What gives you the right?"
The detective spat out blood. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Karen lifted her head. She watched as Iris finally found her footing and surged towards the Flash, anger in her face. She pushed him, and when that barely budged him, she began to hit his chest with her fists. "What are you doing?! What has happened to you?!"
Barry pinned her hands in the air, then threw her off gently. "I feel fine!"
Iris laughed hysterically. "You are not fine!"
Barry bared his teeth. "How would you know? Because you write about me? You don't know me! You don't know who I am!" He shook his head. Only Karen's attuned ear heard the bitter you never did.
Iris kept speaking. Karen slowly rose and, upon finding Eddie's eyes on her, she took out a small black sphere and rolled it gently in his direction. He caught it barely, eyes fluttering. Karen gestured at Barry with her head, eyes wide.
"I know that you have risked your life to help people, to save them! Someone who does that does not suddenly turn around and want to hurt people." A sob caught in Iris throat. "Please."
Karen jumped to her feet. "NOW!"
The blonde barreled into Barry, the momentum throwing him far enough to have his feet skidding. He tried to put his foot down, but Karen ran on, gripping his leather suit, tearing it with her nails.
At the same time, Eddie stood, caught Iris around the waist, and threw Karen's smoke bomb between them.
"No!" Barry roared.
He pushed his shoulders forward. Karen, thrown off-balance, felt her hood fly off.
For a beat, they stared at each other. The red faded from Barry's eyes, revealing the green underneath. His mind whirled in seconds, trying to place Karen's face.
The Flash's gaze went scarlet again.
A swoosh in the air heralded her safety. The Flash caught the Arrow, grinning.
"You missed."
The object exploded in his face. Green smoke filled the air, forcing Barry into a coughing attack. The substance, laced with two thousand milligrams of horse tranquilizer, was finally entering his system.
The smoke also cloaked the Arrow's entrance.
Karen heard grunts, the sound of leather hitting leather. The masked men fought as she ran towards the Arrow's hidden bike, muttering under breath Diggle's instructions about how to turn it on. Jumping on the seat, she revved the engine and kicked off back to the battle, soldiering on despite the flashes of lightning and the Arrow's grunts of pain.
Then, he was silent—and a sudden weight dropped behind Karen. Hands clutched her waist, hinting that she should speed up.
"Did it take?" she yelled.
She felt Queen shaking. "Kind of! He was vibrating when I left!"
"To shake it off?" Karen said incredulously. "Oh, great!"
"Go faster!"
Karen heeded his word. She shot forward, driving up the parking lot to the second floor, to the third where a bridge joined the mall to the outside. The unmistakable sound of thunder rumbled below.
The motorbike accelerated. At the same time, the security gate rose slowly. Queen yelled, "Hold on tight!" and threw his leg to the side, pushing off the floor and turning the bike on its side, facing the gate Felicity had opened a while ago. Then they were skidding, the momentum pushing the two together; Queen held Karen by waist as they crossed the gate in the nick of time, the metal close to their heads as it lowered closed—
The Arrow jerked them upwards and to the right, leading around the hallway of the mall's upper floor.
"That's not going to hold him for long," Queen called.
"Um, it totally didn't," said the strange young man. "He just vibrated his hand and destroyed it!"
"What?"
One moment, their path was clear; the next, the Flash stood before them with his demonic eyes.
"To your left," said Queen, and jumped out of the motorbike. Karen veered to the left—
Where the path ended. Airborne, all she could do was hold on and keep the motor on.