บท 45: Ch - 45 Beating?
By the time Barry returned to S.T.A.R. Labs, it was already past 8 at night. He didn't come back empty-handed; thanks to his CSI job, he secretly managed to collect some gravel that could help the team track where Tony might be staying.
Cisco was assigned the task of investigating the gravel and determining its origin, which he did easily. After gathering all the information, he went to Barry, who was about to train with the metallic dummy, and said, "The gravel you pulled from Tony's ride contains 76.8 percent hematite, consistent with the mines at the Keystone Ironworks."
Barry, being the CSI, immediately connected the dots and said, "Mines at the Keystone Ironworks, which were closed down 10 months ago. It's the perfect hideout."
While they were conversing, Caitlin, who was looking at the news for any incidents, came across Iris's blog about The Streak. She turned the tablet around for Barry to see the article and questioned him, "Barry? Do you mind telling us about this?" She started reading the latest article posted by Iris: "'I have info about someone you're looking for. He was here. You know where to find me.' Now who could she be talking to?" Caitlin asked, acting ignorant, as if she didn't know who Iris was referring to.
Barry remained silent, knowing that everyone had already realized he had met with Iris on multiple occasions in his superhero outfit, and any explanation he gave wouldn't work since no one was that stupid.
As the situation grew awkward, Swayam, who was silently observing Caitlin reprimanding Barry, coughed to get everyone's attention and said, "I don't think it's the right time to reprimand him, Cait. And Barry, I think you should hurry up and meet with Iris immediately. By the type of article Iris posted, it must be urgent. So go."
Barry gave Swayam a grateful look, donned his superhero suit, and hurriedly left S.T.A.R. Labs.
***
After his meeting with Iris, Barry started running recklessly towards the west of Keystone. Everyone—Caitlin, Cisco, and even Swayam—tried to reason with him, but he didn't listen.
Seeing him not listening to them, Swayam also donned his superhero suit and headed to the Keystone Ironworks.
While Swayam was on his way, Barry, who had somewhat calmed his emotions, contacted the team and informed them, "This is definitely the place."
As he informed everyone that he was in the right place, he once again underestimated his enemy and got ambushed by Tony, who thrashed him. But thankfully, just as Tony was about to crush him under some weights, Swayam arrived on time and easily stopped the weights from falling on Barry.
Although he saved Barry from being crushed, Swayam now had to decide what to do about Tony. He could have easily stopped and apprehended Tony, but since he wasn't aware of exactly how much of the timeline he had already altered, he thought that Tony, being Barry's bully and childhood nemesis, must have a significant role in Barry's character growth. If he caught Tony here, it might mess up the timeline. So, he ultimately chose to let Tony flee and instead carried Barry back to S.T.A.R. Labs.
***
After Swayam carried Barry back to S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin patched him up again. This time, due to the severity of his injuries, Barry lost consciousness from the pain.
The next morning, when he regained consciousness, Cisco contacted Harrison Wells and informed him about Barry waking up.
When Harrison Wells arrived, he immediately started reprimanding Barry, "What were you thinking? What exactly were you thinking? I told you that we would figure out a way to deal with him, and even if we couldn't, Sam would have been a better choice than you to deal with him!"
Barry, who had just regained consciousness, didn't want to be reprimanded. He rubbed his head and said, "I'll heal."
Harrison Wells became even angrier seeing Barry not taking him seriously. He said, "You can't heal when you're dead. He could have killed you. You would have died if Sam hadn't arrived on time."
Barry, frustrated and angry with himself, replied, "I know, alright. I know. In the past 36 hours, I've had my ass handed to me twice by the guy who tortured me as a kid. I couldn't stop him then, and I can't stop him now. Even with my powers, I'm still powerless against him."
Seeing Barry's anger and frustration, Harrison Wells firmly said, "Not necessarily." He then looked at Cisco and gave him some hints, "Cisco. Any material, if struck at a high enough velocity, can be compromised."
Cisco, entrusted with this task, immediately started to explain, "We ran an analysis on the metal in Tony's footsteps from the Keystone Ironworks. Based on its density and atomic structure, if you impact it at just the right angle, at just the right speed, you could do some serious damage. And that's if you want to confront him and defeat him on your own, without Sam's help."
After Cisco was done speaking, Barry first looked at Swayam and gave him an apologetic look, indicating that he wanted to confront and defeat his childhood nemesis on his own. Swayam gave him a go-ahead look, so Barry looked at Cisco with determination and asked, "How fast would I have to go?"
When Cisco was asked how fast Barry would have to be, he began calculating on his computer and spoke while doing so, "Factoring in the metal's tensile strength, estimated dermal thickness, atmospheric pressure, and air temperature, you'd have to hit him at approximately Mach 1.1."
When Barry heard Cisco's calculations, he scoffed. Before he could say anything further, Caitlin beat him to it, "You want Barry to hit something at 800 miles an hour?"
Cisco corrected her, "Eight hundred thirty-seven, actually."
Caitlin ignored Cisco's correction and exclaimed, "That's faster than the speed of sound."
Cisco, in his anticipating tone, continued, "I know. He would create a sonic boom, which, as I said before, would be awesome."
Barry, seeing Caitlin and Cisco talking about a speed previously unimaginable to him and creating a sonic boom, looked at Cisco, who was overly excited, and said, "I've never gone that fast."
Eobard Thawne, in the guise of Harrison Wells, who was also a speedster, spoke just as Barry finished his sentence, "Yet."
Caitlin, being the most reasonable, spoke after Harrison Wells, "I can't believe we're actually entertaining this idea. I mean, theoretically, it's possible, but he would still need a straight shot from miles away."
Cisco, providing his precise calculation, said, "Yeah, a shot from 5.3 miles, to be precise."
Harrison Wells added, "If you do it right, you'll take him down."
Caitlin, concerned, cautioned Barry, "But if you do it wrong, you'll shatter every bone in your body."
Hearing Caitlin's concerned voice, Barry realized the gravity of the situation and remained silent. He couldn't let Tony roam free, causing chaos and hurting innocent people, but he felt conflicted. Swayam approached him, placed a hand on his shoulder, and gave him a reassuring gaze, confidently saying, "I believe in you, and I also believe that you can do it. So don't lose focus and firmly focus on your goal."
With Swayam's reassurance, Barry regained his confidence and went to the CCPD to gather information about Tony's whereabouts.
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