บท 2: Disappointment
Inside the Cortex of Star Labs, Team Flash could be seen inside, as the air hummed with energy of scientific endeavor.
Beep!
Beep!
However, amidst the organized chaos, a sudden beeping alert on one of the computers shattered the tranquility.
Jessie Quick's brow furrowed in confusion as she noticed Barry's cell was empty, "Uh, hey guys, Barry's not-"
Before she could finish, a streak of lightning crackled through the room, accompanied by a rush of wind.
"In his cell anymore." She finished sarcastically.
All eyes turned to Barry and Wally, who stood in the center of the Cortex, their presence a shock to everyone present.
Iris was the first to break the stunned silence, her voice laced with admonishment. "Wally!"
Barry himself maintained a calm exterior, but inwardly, a sneer curled his lips at Iris's tone. 'This bitch...' he thought bitterly. 'At first, I was going to be understanding because Barry seemed a bit off since his father died, so it was within some reason to imprison him. But now she's going to double down on imprisoning me.'
Another surge of annoyance washed over him as he recalled their refusal to allow him to take Zoom's life, the very villain responsible for Barry's father's death—a decision that had ultimately led to his imprisonment.
'This was one of the reasons I wasn't the biggest Flash fan,' He scoffed inwardly. 'It's all about trust and family, but these guys seem to have no trust for Barry and never even allowed him to avenge his father. Now look at them, they tried to beat Zoom themselves, and got Joe captured.'
'But fear not,' Barry's thoughts turned darkly playful, 'as I myself will save Joe and deliver poetic justice for you, Barry, as thanks for your body... Zoom's days are numbered, perhaps even hours.'
With a playful smile hidden behind his calm demeanor, Barry refocused on the present as he could hear Wally retort.
"What? I wasn't just gonna stand here and let this happen."
Iris and Wally were about to start arguing, but he immediately raised his hand, signifying for them to be quiet, and they promptly were.
Barry spoke calmly, with a displeased expression, "Listen guys, I won't lie, I'm really disappointed in all of you, and to be honest I'm not entirely sure how I should react to this... We're supposed to be a team, yet you all willingly imprisoned me. This is essentially betrayal."
Obviously he was exaggerating as they had good intentions, but for now he would put on a act.
Everyone seemed stunned at his words, not expecting Barry to misunderstand what they did as betrayal.
Even Harrison Wells seemed to want to speak, but Barry shook his head, "For now let's focus on Zoom, everything else can wait. I will be doing the race, and I have a plan on how to defeat him."
After finishing his words, he calmly walked toward the exit, Cisco seemed to want to follow, but he was beat by Iris as she caught up to him in the hallway.
"Barry," Iris began, her voice tinged with concern. "Are you okay? We didn't mean for it to come to this."
As Iris looked at Barry with concern, his expression remained unreadable, "I'm not sure." He seemingly admitted, his voice quiet.
Iris's got closer as she spoke more, "Listen Barry, we only wanted to keep you safe. We thought it was the best course of action at the time, not to mention you seemed out of it."
But he just gazed at her disappointedly, "Iris, I appreciate your concern, but imprisoning me wasn't the solution. We could have found another way to deal with Zoom together."
Barry's tone softened, as he continued, "I think I need some time to myself after we deal with Zoom," he said evenly, his eyes meeting Iris's with a bitter smile. "From you, Joe, and the rest of Team Flash."
Iris's eyes widened in disbelief at his words. "Barry, aren't you overreacting? I get that it might seem as if we betrayed you, but all we had were good intentions." She protested.
Barry's smile only deepened as he shook his head. "I understand that, Iris. But if it's at the cost of trust, then what's the point?" He asked rhetorically. "If there's no trust, then what's the point of any sort of relationship?"
With those final words hanging in the air, he turned on his heel and disappeared in a blink of lightning, leaving Iris standing alone in the hallway.
As the wind tousled her hair, she called out,
"Barry!"
But he was already gone, leaving behind nothing but an echoing silence.
An orange trail of lightning sped around Star Labs before stopping atop the roof, as Barry reappeared.
Unlike Iris, he was smiling as if nothing happened, 'Haha! I'm definitely the best actor! Jeez I almost fooled myself that I cared.'
During his entire conversation with Iris, he felt nothing, even though he had Barry's memories, their weren't much attachments to him emotionally.
Of course their was the option to forgive her and even get with her, but he had morals, so out of respect for the original Barry, iris would remain untouched by him.
But currently his eyes were focused toward Central City, even though he had the muscle memory of the Flash, he still hadn't truly experienced his speed.
'Let's have a little fun...'
Getting down into a runner's position, his fingers touched the ground, and his eyes glowed with lightning.
Everything around him slowed, as he could seemingly feel an infinite amount of energy surging through his veins.
The rushing energy fixated on the soles of his feet, as he pressed down with innumerable force, and with a burst of speed.
He launched forward.
Boom!
'Run Barry! Run!'
A trail of orange lightning followed his figure as he instantly passed the speed of sound. Time seemed slow, as he sprinted down Star Labs, before abruptly changing, as his perception once again became rapid while rushing forward toward the streets of Central City.
In a few moments, he was already there as he went straight through the center of the road, nimbly slipping through traffic.
Inwardly he was keeping track of his speed, 'Mach 4.7, Mach 6.5, Mach 8.3...'
Barry kept going faster and faster each stride, as he became even more of a blur.
However, he was making sure not to go past Mach 13.2, which was his counterpart's maximum speed, this was only temporary though because he didn't want Zoom to find out how fast he became, as he would become much more cautious.
'Hahaha! This is amazing!'
He could feel the wind rushing past his face and his body brimming with energy.
Seeing a building ahead, rather than run atop it, he ran directly to it, and when he was only inches away, his entire figure started to vibrate rapidly as his molecules shook immensely.
And before he knew it, he phased straight through the wall, surprising the people inside the restaurant, but he ignored them as he went through the following wall, already back outside.
'I'm fucking unstoppable! How the hell did this guy have trouble or lose against any basic meta-human, I'm surprised he couldn't just defeat them before they even blinked.'
****
While Barry was testing his newfound speed, a conversation buzzed in the Cortex of Star Labs.
Cisco leaned against a console, his fingers flying over the keyboard as he monitored various data streams. "Man, I can't believe Barry's out there, just... running around while Zoom has Joe." He remarked, befuddled.
Caitlin nodded, her brow furrowed in concern. "I know, Cisco," she replied, her voice tinged with worry. "But if he says he has a plan, we have to trust him."
Wally, who had been pacing nervously, finally spoke up. "Yeah, but shouldn't we ourselves be doing something to save Dad?" He asked, his voice laced with anxiety.
Iris, who had been watching the monitors intently, turned to face him, "Don't worry, Barry's a smart guy," She said firmly, her confidence unwavering. "Just like Caitlin said, if he say's he has a plan, we just have to have faith in him."
Cisco, still visibly surprised by Barry's earlier reaction, furrowed his brow. "I thought he would understand," He admitted, his tone filled with regret. "But still, I feel like we did the wrong thing."
Harrison Wells, who had been observing quietly from the sidelines, interjected, his tone measured. "It was necessary," He calmly explained, "Barry wasn't in the right frame of mind after his father was killed."
Cisco shook his head, his expression troubled. "I know, but..." he trailed off, unable to find the right words to express his unease.
Caitlin then stepped forward, her expression sympathetic. "Barry's not wrong," She said gently, "We forcefully imprisoned him. We can't really blame him for being angry with us."
Hearing her words, the team exchanged glances, a sense of guilt settled over them. Despite their best intentions, they couldn't shake the feeling that they had betrayed their friend and teammate.
______________________________
Not too bad, right? Some Power Stones would come a long way though...
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