บท 12: Sudden Calm amidst the Storm
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Amidst the vast void of space, a wormhole appeared, revealing a highly advanced spacecraft. At a glance, it was clear the ship was of human origin, easily deduced by its architecture.
These were, of course, the Legends, who had returned to the coordinates given by Cisco. Even though several of them were still injured, they managed to pull through for Barry's sake.
"What happened here?" Sara asked, glancing at what looked to be the wreckage of the alien ship. Pieces and parts of the Dominator ship were scattered across miles and miles of space, making it seem infinite.
The others, clearly unsure of how to respond, simply stared at the scene before them. Did the Dominators have another enemy? Were they attacked? Various questions ran through their minds, but unable to give an answer, they quickly initiated the ship's engine, returning to Earth to deliver the information.
In the Cortex, the members of Team Flash stood with unease palpable on their faces. Several glances shifted constantly to Barry, as they wondered what his decision would be.
They all knew Barry too well, and they knew he wouldn't allow anyone to get hurt, even if it was at the cost of his own life. Cisco, even though angered, could clearly feel the emotions written on his friend's face. Naturally, his anger subsided, though not entirely.
Twenty-four hours had passed, and the Dominators had not reached out with their decision, which only amplified the team's fear. This was why they had asked the Legends to offer their assistance.
At that moment, Sara walked into the Cortex with a bandaged hand. Instinctively, Wally couldn't help but admire the dress she wore. No wonder Oliver cheated on Laurel with her, he thought. It could be said that her younger self was even more beautiful than this.
Ignoring his rising thoughts, his already superspeed-pounding heart raced faster, worried they might link something back to him.
"Sara, did you find anything?" Iris asked, stepping forward with teary eyes.
"We met the Dominators' mothership in shambles. There was nothing but scraps and pieces of their ship left. Other than that, we didn't find anything."
"So, does that mean we don't have to worry about the threat they made?" Joe asked.
"Yes, for now," Sara replied, causing the tension in the room to vanish without a trace.
"Thank God," Joe muttered. A smile appeared on Caitlin's face, while Cisco sighed internally with relief. Iris, on the other hand, practically jumped into Barry's embrace.
However, Barry showed no excitement at the news, his gaze trailing toward Cisco, who continually reminded him of his mistakes and errors. He decided it was finally time to make up with Cisco.
Wally, relieved that the danger had been averted for now, made his way back to his workshop. Arriving at the entrance, he quickly underwent scans before being allowed entry.
As the doors opened before and closed behind him, his gaze shifted to the corner of the room where he had hidden the Tachyon Prism in a secure location.
Not long after wiping out the Dominators on the mothership, he had caused critical damage to the ship's power source, which in turn caused the explosion, erasing any evidence of his involvement.
"Now I can relax for a little while, at least until the end of Christmas," he muttered, glancing at the calendar. Christmas was near, and according to his future knowledge, which he hoped he hadn't screwed up too much, he would be able to rest for a couple of days.
With nothing to do in the workshop, he sped off from S.T.A.R. Labs, leaving Central City and arriving in Coast City not long after. Noticing an increase in his base speed, he smiled slightly.
His speed had finally reached Mach 4 without him needing to supercharge his body by drawing more from the Speed Force.
Arriving in the foggy forest, an abandoned building, small in size, could be seen. This was the building he had found during his search for a place to recalibrate the sphere. He had renovated everything in the short hours after returning from the alien raid.
Superspeed is indeed the peak of convenience. Walking in, he switched on the lights. Everything was currently being powered by a small and portable power source he had found on the Dominator ship.
It didn't take long to connect it with some of Earth's tech. An array of computers and monitors stood in a corner of the room. They clearly contained the vast amount of information he had stripped from the Dominator database.
Having withdrawn the information from the sphere, he made sure to destroy the databank the information was stored in, while making sure Gideon hadn't made copies of it.
After that, he resigned and no longer needed the assistance of the AI, instead focusing on accumulating more knowledge from both Earth and alien sources.
Scrolling through hundreds upon hundreds of files, he began to create a separate folder that accumulated information and basics on artificial intelligence creation.
With the perk of being a speedster, his clones went to work studying at superspeed, while he began reading and delving into ways of acquiring funds for future operations. The first thing that came to mind was, of course, Starling City—a city full of gangs dripping with fat cash like fat sheep. Even with Oliver working at full effort, he was only human.
With threats, it has always been said that humans will evolve and find ways around them. The same goes for villains, who continue to improve their stealth in the presence of heroes.
An example is the Black Hole organization, who, despite kidnapping and experimenting on metahumans, remained elusive to Team Flash.
'That won't work,' he thought, throwing the plan of robbing criminals aside. That could probably lead to me being found. Who knows whether Oliver will inquire for help from Cisco if gangs start missing and getting robbed overnight?
Even his plan of selling alien tech was abandoned the moment he thought of Cisco. I need a way to counter it, or else any illegal means would be traced back to me.
The only route he could turn to now was working as a freelancing software security designer and auditor. Though it might not seem like much, once he gained the attention of large corporations and companies, he could become financially stable enough to support his creations.
.
.
.
~A few weeks later~
The air was chilly, and decorations were hung around buildings in a beautiful manner. It was clear that Christmas was near, and it was just a day away. Many were jubilant, while those who were aware of the supernatural background of the world continued to work without rest.
Team Flash, having found out that Julian was once a researcher of an artifact akin to the Philosopher's Stone Alchemy had used, finally had a lead. Barry opted to ask about it, but in the end, he found no leads.
Meanwhile, Wally jiggled around the thought of going to Earth-2 to celebrate Christmas with Jesse. Initially, he had thought he wouldn't inherit the original Wally's emotions, only his memories. However, now it seemed he couldn't avoid it. In the end, he even ended up ignoring Sasha, who he originally had devious thoughts about.
During the weeks that passed, no metahuman had appeared, but robbery and other minor crimes were rampant, and after talking with Barry, he was finally left in charge of it. This resulted in his name beginning to grow.
Black Phantom, he thought, feeling weirded out by the name, but on the other hand, it had a nice ring to it. Though his superhero name was Black Phantom, many opted to call him Phantom, which he actually liked.
Major and minor events occurred across the span of two weeks. Iris had begun taking cooking classes, but all her efforts remained in vain. Her talent was basically zero.
During this time, Wally also made sure to avoid Cisco in a way that wouldn't raise suspicion, managing to keep a distance of five meters from him.
Other than that, he used his free time to completely renovate the abandoned building he had found in the woods. On the outside, the building looked ordinary, but the interior was out of this world.
In the corner of the room were pieces of equipment he planned to use in building his own personal AI. He had made lots of progress in acquiring the knowledge required to make one, but on the other hand, it was another thing to actually put it into play.
Ding! His phone rang, signifying he had received a notification. Taking out his phone, he glanced at the message one of his high-paying clients had sent, putting a smile on his face. In the renovated building of his in Coast City, his clones were constantly grinding 24/7, taking on any job that included software security designing and auditing.
Doing this, he managed to accumulate $95,640, which was how he secured materials needed for the building's renovation. With nothing to currently do in the building, he simply left for S.T.A.R. Labs, planning on going to Earth-2 to meet Jesse.
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