
Chapter 20__Versus Enemies
Sometimes, terrible things happened to us when we were children. Things that could define who we become, whether we want them to or not. Some of us became stronger. My ordeal was that my family burned alive in a fire, sending me into years of foster care. The people who took me in helped me heal, and move past everything tha happened. They are responsible for who I had become today. And I had moved on. Until the truth of what happened that night was that the Reverse-Flash had manipulated Future-Me into starting the fire that had killed my family. But I knew that I was one of the lucky ones. Not everyone gets the support like the support I got from Barry Allen, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe and Iris West, Quinn Tate. Without it, I didn't know where I would've ended up. Or what I could have become.
~
It was early morning, and Barry and I were suited up and training at the abandoned Ferris Air strip owned by STAR Labs, which I now owned, which meant I owned this, which was weird to even think about.
"Okay, you guys, we're here," I told them. "You got our location?"
"You good?" Cisco asked. "You don't need to, like, stretch or something?"
"No, no, no, we're good," Barry answered. "We're good."
"Let's take these enhancers for a test drive," Cisco told us.
"All right," I told them.
Barry put a device on his chest.
I put a device with a fluid needle into my arm.
"Ooh, yeah, I feel that," Barry told us.
I smiled. "Yeah."
"Those are tachyon devices powering up the force in your cells like a quick charge battery," Quinn told us. "Vera, the liquid attached to your device is a coolant so that the fire in your system doesn't overpower you, hurt you or anyone else. How do you guys feel?"
"Different," Barry answered.
"Let's see the fire power Vera has now and the speed that Barry does," Cisco told us. "On my count. Three, two, one, go."
I used fire to fly up to the sky. The fire was brighter, hotter, larger and more stronger than ever before, throwing me up into the air, making it a jostling ride that blew down the sign next to us.
Barry laughed. "Whoa. That's a lot of fire power."
Fire spread all over my body without harm. I smiled at the feeling, laughing at the rush.
Barry smiled.
"Race you back to STAR Labs?" I asked.
"Let's just not break another dimensional barrier and travel to other Earths," Barry told me.
"And here I thought you were the reckless one, and I was the responsible one," I told him.
"I'm learning," Barry told me.
We smiled. Barry zoomed off toward STAR Labs, faster than he ever had gone before. I used fire to fly to follow him, engulfed in flame though I wasn't trying to be, going just as fast as Barry, with strength coming from the fire that allowed me to fly.
"Dang," Cisco told us. "You guys are cruising."
"How fast do they usually go?" Iris asked.
"Not this fast," Caitlin answered.
"Not even close," Cisco told us. "And Vera has never had that much fire power."
"Are her vitals okay?" Quinn asked.
"Yeah, they're perfect," Caitlin answered.
"Cool," Iris told us. "It's like having a pit stop and gasoline attached to your body."
"Guys, I can go faster," Barry told us.
"Let's do it," I told him.
We went even faster, making it to the Cortex.
"We're back," Barry told them.
"Let's just put it this way," Cisco told us. "You annihilated your old records."
"You went four times faster than you have ever run or flown before," Caitlin told us. "And, Vera, your fire power is five times stronger, hotter and brighter than it was before."
"Really?" I asked. "Barry is fast as Zoom and I'm as strong as Phoenix."
Harrison walked in. "Well, faster and stronger, actually."
Barry took his mask off and the device off his chest. "Hey, uh, do we think that we can get this thing smaller? It kind of sucks."
"If it sucks, then yeah," Harrison told him, taking the device. "Vera..."
I took off my device, handing it to Harrison, taking off my mask. "All right, so now all we have to do is figure out how to get back to Zoom and Phoenix."
"Yes, uh, just a minor issue," Cisco told us. "We closed all the breaches and have no idea how to reopen them."
"We're..." Barry trailed off. "Wells?"
"Yeah, I have an idea," Harrison told us. "Let's keep the breaches closed forever. Forget about the breaches, forget about Zoom and Phoenix."
"Wait, I'm sorry," I told him. "I thought you were on board with this."
"No," Harrison told us. "No. I said I would help you get faster and stronger. I did not say I would help you give the man and woman who kidnapped my daughter and tortured her a chance to do it again."
"Hey, we are not gonna let that happen," Iris told him.
"Oh, you're not gonna let that happen," Harrison told us sarcastically. "Gosh, I wish I'd known that the first time. You don't understand. Zoom and Phoenix are different from us. They are not tied to anything. They do not care for anyone. I do. My daughter's out here on this Earth somewhere. I have to find her. We all have people that we care about. Zoom and Phoenix will use that against us. Believe me."
Harrison walked away.
"Maybe we should just leave it be," Caitlin told us.
"No, no, no," Quinn told us. "Look, we're... we're not turning our backs on another Earth." She gave Harrison a significant look. "Our Earth. We're not gonna let them get away with everything that they've done."
"I know that this is personal to you for so many reasons, Quinn," Harrison told her. "Zoom pretended to care for you, turned his back on you. Phoenix is your stepsister that you thought was dead, and now she hates you and wants to destroy everything you care about. Right now, there is no way to another Earth, Tate. Let's keep it that way."
Harrison walked out, leaving.
Quinn sighed, looking down uncomfortably.
"We're getting back to Earth 2," Barry told us. "With or without his help."
Cisco nodded. "Let's go to work."
~
After dark, we were still working.
I looked at the formulas on the board. "Hey. Wow. Um... any ideas?"
"Well, the best plan we've come up with so far is to set off a nuclear warhead next to the city's electrical grid," Cisco told us. "So..."
"We're not gonna do that," I told them. "Um..."
"I think I thought of something, though," Barry told us. He looked at Quinn. "Tell us everything you know about Cisco's doppelganger from Earth 2. Reverb."
Quinn sighed. "I'm guessing you met him over there on Earth 2."
"And watched him and Ronnie's doppelganger get killed by Zoom and Phoenix," Cisco answered.
"What were Reverb's powers on your Earth?" I asked.
"Well, he could tap into the multi-dimensional energies between Earths," Quinn answered. "He could see through dimensions, find breachers. Like Cisco."
"I mean, we saw Reverb do more than that, though," Barry told us. "I mean, we saw him shoot vibrational bursts out of his hands. Really painful ones."
"What do you mean?" Caitlin asked.
"Reverb had the ability to somehow manipulate the multi-dimensional energy," Quinn answered. "If his powers are linked to the energy that ties together the multiverse, and he can manipulate it?"
"Then he can open a breach to any Earth he wants," Caitlin finished.
I realized they were right, nodding. "Exactly."
"And if Reverb could do it, I could do it, too," Cisco told us.
"Cisco, I think that the way back to Earth 2 is you," Barry told him.
We all looked at Cisco.
Cisco was stunned with all the information.
~
We were in the basement next to the closed breach.
Cisco was trying to open it with his mind. "I got nothing."
"Try again, okay?" Barry asked.
"What if he can't do it because he thinks he can't do it?" Caitlin asked.
"He can do it, though," I told them. I looked at Cisco. "You can do it."
Cisco once again tried, only to give up, scoffing, shaking his head.
"You..." Quinn trailed off. "It's gonna work, okay? Maybe we're just not in the right place."
"Or maybe I'm just not the right man for the job, okay?" Cisco asked. "Let's go."
"Cisco..." Quinn trailed off.
Cisco walked out, leaving.
"I'm sorry, Quinn," Caitlin told her. "I know you want an explanation. And you deserve one. I just don't know if you can get one."
Caitlin walked out.
Quinn sighed in frustration, turning away.
I walked toward her. "It's gonna work. Come on."
Barry and I led Quinn out, leaving.
~
The next day, Barry, Cisco and I found an asylum with a machine that kept beeping.
"This area has the highest levels or residual trans-dimensional energy," Barry told us. "You should be able to open the breach that used to be here."
"It's right here," I told them. "This is it."
"For real?" Cisco asked. "In this Patch Adams nightmare, right here?"
"Yeah," I answered.
"Love it," Cisco told us sarcastically.
"All right," Barry told him. "Look, dude, if this doesn't work, we'll stop asking you to do this, all right?"
"Okay," Cisco told us, trying to do it, but giving up, sighing.
"What?" I asked.
"I can't do it," Cisco told us.
Harrison walked in. "That's right. You can't."
"What are you doing here?" I asked. "You said--"
"I know what I said," Harrison told us. "But you're not gonna stop, are you?"
"No," Barry answered.
"Okay, then I'm gonna do what I can to make sure you don't get killed," Harrison told us. He showed us Reverb's glasses, looking at Cisco.. "I recalibrated these to the electromagnetic frequency of this Earth. It should help you access enough of the trans-dimensional energy to manipulate it."
"Just like Reverb," Cisco told us. "All I'm missing is the guyliner and the transformation's complete."
I chuckled.
Harrison tossed the glasses to Cisco. "Take them out for a spin."
Cisco took the glasses, putting them on, raising his fist, focusing, slowly opening his fist.
The breach peaked open in front of him.
Barry and I looked at each in slight surprise, though we had known he could do it, smiling.
The breach continued to open.
"It's working," Barry told us. Cisco gasped, letting the breach close, pulling the glasses off. "Hey, what happened? You were doing it."
"No, no, no, no," Cisco told us. "I can't do this."
"Why not?" I asked.
"I can't," Cisco told us. "Don't. Please. Don't ask me to do this. Please."
Cisco walked out, leaving.
We watched him go in confusion.
~
I walked into Harrison's lab at STAR Labs to see him working on something. "Hey, what do we got?"
"It's Barry's tachyon absorption enhancer upgrade," Harrison told me. "Retrofitted for when it was used to steal Barry's speed to now give him more of it." Caitlin and Barry walked in. "I am doing something similar with your fire one. I'm almost done."
"That's amazing," Barry told him. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Harrison told us.
"Hey, is Cisco back yet?" I asked. "Have we seen Quinn?"
Caitlin shook her head. "I haven't seen either of them."
"Check Cisco's workshop," Harrison told us.
We walked toward the door.
"Yeah, all right," I told them.
We walked into the Cortex to see Joe and Iris walking in.
"Hey," Barry told them.
"Hey," Iris told us. "We just came by to see if you guys needed some help."
"Oh, yeah," I told them.
"Uh, sure," Caitlin told them. "We could always use an extra set of hands. Do you want to help me in the med bay?"
"Yeah," Iris answered.
Caitlin, Iris and I walked into the med bay, watching as Joe and Barry were talking and laughing.
I smiled a small smile, looking at Iris. "You guys really have a special bond with Barry, don't you?"
"Yeah, me and my dad, we sure do," Iris answered. "Barry's family, and we love him." She looked at me, smiling a small smile. "But you have a special bond with him, too. It started out as friendship, sure. And partners. But we could always tell it was building up to something more."
"Was it always that obvious?" I asked.
"Oh, yeah," Caitlin answered.
We smiled, chuckling.
"I wasn't much for feeling before," I told them. "It was just easier to shut everything out so that I never got hurt again like I did when my family died, and when I found out that I was unknowingly part of it. And now that I'm finally ready to feel more of life... He was always there. And he always is."
"Do you believe in destiny, Vera?" Iris asked.
"I never really have before," I answered. "But now... I don't know."
"You really love him, don't you?" Caitlin asked.
"Yeah," I answered. "I really do."
Iris smiled. "And I happen to know that he really loves you, too."
We smiled small smiles.
~
Quinn had talked Cisco into trying again.
We were all in the Cortex.
Harrison put new, small devices in our suits. "You're all set. You won't even know it's there."
"Because whoever said aesthetics aren't important?" Cisco asked.
"Not me," Harrison told us. "Let's go."
"Hey, Quinn," I told her. "I know how hard this is gonna be for you, but we have to stop them."
"I know," Quinn told us. "That's why I'm doing all of this, helping you. I just... I don't know if I can face Jay or Natalia. Or whatever his real name is."
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"Well, you remember when we were looking for his doppelganger, right?" Caitlin asked.
"Yeah," Barry answered. "I mean, you couldn't find him."
"Because there is no Jay Garrick on this Earth," Caitlin told us. "His doppelganger's name is Hunter Zolomon."
"Hunter Zolomon?" Quinn repeated. "How did you figure that out?"
"I just found him online," Caitlin answered. "I didn't tell you, because he was a dead end."
"Are... are you sure?" Quinn asked.
"Yeah," Caitlin answered. "Why?"
Quinn sighed, bringing up information on the computer screens and the screens on the wall. "Well, because on our Earth, Hunter Zolomon was a convicted serial killer."
"That's Jay?" Caitlin asked.
"No, that is Hunter," Quinn answered. "I never saw his face, but I saw his name in an asylum. When Hunter was 11, his father killed his mother right in front of him. Father sent to prison, Hunter grew up in the foster care system."
"Years later, he was convicted on 23 counts of murder?" Barry asked.
"23?" Cisco asked. "That's like, some real Hannibal Lecter type level."
"After the trial, Hunter was sent to the St. Perez Mental Asylum for the Criminally Insane," Quinn told us. "Given daily electroshock therapy to cure him of his urges, and then faded from view. Guess who else was in the St. Perez Mental Asylum?"
"Natalia?" I asked.
Quinn nodded. "Her and her father were in Starling City on our Earth, where Natalia had been killing the kids she was babysitting. Her father, my stepfather, didn't believe she was guilty of the crime when suspicion fell onto her, so he moved her to Central City where they met me and my mom, and they became our family by marriage. More than 15 other kids and teenagers were killed in Central City before I followed Natalia one night to where she was keeping a victim, so I called our parents. She caught me, and captured me and our parents, tied us up and tortured us. And then she killed them in front of me." I looked down in regret. Quinn looked like she was trying not to feel a thing. "When the police arrested her, they put her in the asylum. I had gone there on visitation to see if they could make her better, where I saw Hunter's name on the patient list. I'm the reason that Natalia got caught. I'm the reason they locked her up for six years. That's why she hates me so much. That's why she wants to destroy me."
"And why she manipulated Hunter into helping her," Barry told her.
"They were in that asylum together," I told them.
"Until the night our particle accelerator exploded," Harrison told us. "The dark matter crept into the mental asylum. I'd thought piping the explosion underground would limit exposure. I was wrong. All it did was create two unstoppable monsters. They were delivering the electroshock therapy to Hunter Zolomon when the dark matter hit, which turned him into Zoom and created a fire that burned through more than half the asylum and its patients, killing most of them, except for Natalia Tate, who turned into Phoenix."
"They're not unstoppable," Barry told us. "They don't know that we know who they really are. They think that their pasts are a secret."
"So?" Cisco asked.
"I think I have an idea of how we can stop them," Barry told us.
Quinn looked at us, looking overwhelmed by all of the information regarding Hunter and Natalia.
~
Almost everyone was in the time vault back at STAR Labs after dark.
Barry and I, suited up, were with Cisco at the asylum on this Earth.
"You ready, buddy?" Barry asked.
"Yeah," Cisco answered. "You've always believed in me. Thank you."
"Well, you've always believed in us," I told him. "How can we not believe in you?"
Cisco smiled a small smile.
"You got this," Barry told him.
Cisco put Reverb's glasses on, raising his hand, focusing on opening the breach.
Hunter and Natalia, suited up, came through the breach, standing in front of us.
Barry and I stood in front of Cisco protectively, making him back away.
Cisco ran away.
"Reverb's doppelganger has increased his powers," Natalia told us. "Not so much his bravery."
"Hatred is a strong motivator," Barry told her. "You would know that well."
"You were unwise to reopen the breach," Hunter told us.
"We're not gonna let you two terrorize another world anymore," I told them.
"Without your powers, you won't be able to stop us," Natalia told us.
I smirked slightly. "Let's see. By the way, Quinn wants an explanation, and it better be a good one. If you want her, you're gonna have to come through us."
Barry zoomed us out of the asylum.
Hunter and Natalia followed us.
I started to use fire to fly, rocketing through the sky.
Natalia chased me through the sky.
Hunter chased Barry through the streets.
We heard the others in the time vault back at STAR Labs.
"Hunter and Natalia are gaining on Barry and Vera," Iris told them.
"They can't catch them," Joe told them.
"Better not," Harrison told them.
We continued the chase.
Hunter and Natalia nearly caught Barry and me, but we managed to go even faster and get away.
"That was close," Joe told them.
"Too close," Iris agreed.
"The tachyon devices are working," Caitlin told them.
"Yeah," Quinn agreed. "Here they come."
We got to STAR Labs, inside.
"They're here," Iris told them.
Barry and I stopped in the foyer, breathing heavily.
Hunter and Natalia followed us inside.
Natalia smiled. "Ah. You've gotten. Faster and stronger. Good. There'll be more for us to take."
"You want our powers?" I asked. "Catch us."
Barry and I took off down the corridor at zooming and flying-with-fire speeds. Hunter and Natalia followed.
We gave them a race in the parking garage.
A pop out cardboard picture of James Zolomon, Hunter's father that had killed his mother, appeared in front of Hunter.
A pop out cardboard picture of Tony Tate, Natalia's father and Quinn's stepfather, who Nat had killed, appeared in front of Natalia.
They both hesitated.
Barry punched Hunter repeatedly.
I threw fire into Natalia with so much strength behind the flames I made her fall to the floor and slide away from me. Natalia seemed to be in pain from the flames.
Hunter and Natalia stood.
"Get them, guys," Joe told us.
"It's working," Quinn told us.
Barry and I continued to give Hunter and Natalia chase.
A pop out cardboard picture of Ashley Zolomon, Hunter's mother that had been killed by his father in ffont of him, appeared in front of Hunter.
A pop out cardboard picture of Tiffany Tate, Quinn's mother and Natalia's stepmother that she had also killed, appeared in front of Natalia.
Quinn walked in, taking advantage of their distractions to shoot them with dart guns, making them fall, making closer, taking off their masks.
Barry pushed Hunter to the floor.
I used fire to burn Natalia for a moment, making her groan a scream of pain, using the fire to push her down next to Hunter.
Natalia looked at Quinn, smirking. "Hey, sis. Do you figure out who we were? About time."
Quinn used the dart gun to hit Natalia in the face. "Shut up."
Natalia smirked, laughing.
Barry and I took off our masks.
Quinn looked at Hunter, hurt, betrayed and angry.
Hunter looked at Quinn expressionlessly, guardedly. "And that we were Zoom and Phoenix?"
"The Velocity-Nine, and Cisco's vibes," Barry answered. "When you run fast enough, it turns a speedster's lightning blue. Cisco vibed you taking off your mask and calling her Natalia. Quinn figured it out from there."
Hunter looked at Quinn. "Well, you are a smart girl."
"I would have helped you," Quinn told him. "I would have done anything I could to save your life."
"Not everything," Hunter told her.
"Caitlin found you a cure!" Quinn told him angrily.
"A temporary one," Hunter told her. "I'm dying, Quinn! There's only one thing that can give me what I need."
"And you just don't care how many lives you destroy trying to get it?" Barry asked. "How many people you kill?"
"It's not completely his fault," Natalia told us. "I'm the one that gave him the speed drug in the first place, and I'm the one that got it in his head to take a speedster's speed to save his own life."
"To use him as a pawn in your revenge against me, right?" Quinn asked. "After the accelerator exploded on your Earth, after you two left the asylum, you used him to get to me."
"Absolutely," Natalia answered. "I could become your enemy, I could become the person that you could be afraid of, but I was never really going to hurt you until I gave you someone to love only to take him away. But that feeling was taken from me a long time ago."
"You're sick, playing this sadistic game against your stepsister," I told her. "You could have destroyed her."
"Good," Natalia told us. She looked at Quinn."I want you destroyed."
"I got to say, that was smart, using our parents against us," Hunter told us, rising to his feet. He looked at Quinn. "Your idea, I'm assuming."
"You assume right," Quinn told him.
Hunter smirked, sighing loudly, looking at Natalia. "Although, I never killed my parents."
Natalia rose to her feet, brushing back her hair out of her face, sighing. "I did what I had to do." She looked at Quinn. "I would have killed you that night, if you hadn't busted in the cops and sent me to a mental asylum for six years. Family. Such a weakness."
"Not for all of us," I told them.
"And how would you know that, Vera?" Natalia asked. "Yours died before you got the chance to know them. In fact, you killed them, so maybe we're not so different after all." I glared at her. "It's time to get what we came for."
Barry chuckled bitterly without amusement. "You're not getting anything, from any of us. You're not getting anything from anybody ever again. On any Earth."
Natalia looked up, letting her eyes glow with fire, whispering evilly. "You can't lock up the darkness."
"What did you just say?" Quinn asked.
Hunter let his eyes turn black, speaking in Zoom's voice. "You can't lock up the darkness."
Hunter started to phase his hand. Blue lightning crackled over his body.
Natalia smirked, shooting fire from her eyes toward Quinn.
I used fire as a shield to protect Quinn.
Natalia breathed a huge amount of fire toward Quinn, Barry and me.
Barry zoomed us out of the way.
Hunter zoomed him and Natalia out of the STAR Labs.
Barry and I followed, pulling our masks on, chasing them all over the city, but they got away.
Quinn turned after us in frustration. "No!"
~
Wally had been taken by Hunter and Natalia.
Natalia had left a burned message in the wall saying: Your powers for Wally.
We were in the West house, devising a plan.
Iris handed a coffee cup to Joe. "Dad. Dad, coffee? We're gonna get him back."
"What if we can stop Zoom and Phoenix through a vibe somehow?" Cisco asked. "We can weaponize the goggles."
"Not enough time to weaponize, Ramon," Harrison told him.
"Okay, what if we modify the pulse rifle to emit a low-level EMF?" Caitlin asked.
"We don't have the equipment to modify the pulse levels now," Harrison told us.
"Then we do another snatch and grab mission," Cisco told us.
"By the time we scale those cliffs, Zoom and Phoenix could already--" Harrison started.
Quinn turned away, overwhelmed. "I need a minute."
Quinn was in shock from seeing Hunter and Natalia earlier, and that they would do this now, breathing shakily, running a shaking hand through her hair, turning away from all of us.
Everyone looked at Quinn, Iris and Joe in concern, worry and sympathy.
Joe walked upstairs to have a moment alone.
Barry went upstairs to talk to him.
I walked toward Iris to talk to her.
"Vera, I know you can't give up your powers to those monsters, but I also know that I want my brother back, and I don't know what to do," Iris told me.
"I do," I told her. "Wally, I mean, he's... He's your brother. And I care about your family, Iris. I'm the one that told Wally about you and Joe. I'm the reason that he came to Central City, because I wanted to reunite that family. And we do whatever we have to to keep the ones we care about safe."
Iris shook her head. "No. No, you... You can't give up your powers."
"That's not your decision," I told her. Iris looked as if she was about to cry. "This is the only way, Iris."
"You already talked about this with Barry, didn't you?" Iris asked.
"Yeah," I answered. "And we came to this decision together."
~
Everyone was in the Cortex, talking about our decision.
Quinn was holding Jay/Hunter's helmet.
"Barry, Vera, are you sure about this?" Cisco asked.
"We're sure," Barry answered.
"I mean, we don't even know if they'll be able to hear me," Cisco told us.
"They'll hear you," Quinn told him.
Cisco sighed, putting on Reverb's glasses, holding the other side of the helmet in Quinn's hands, touching her fingers to use them both as a connection to contact Hunter and Natalia over on Earth 2. "I see him. Wally's alive."
Iris and Joe sighed in relief.
"Thank God," Joe told us.
I looked at Cisco. "Do you see Hunter and Natalia?"
"I see them," Cisco answered. "They can sense me. Jay. Natalia. They'll do it. Barry and Vera will give up their powers."
~
We were waiting in the Cortex.
Barry and I were suited up with our masks on.
"Hey," Joe told us, handing a gun to Iris.
Hunter and Natalia came in with Wally.
Joe, Iris and Harrison aimed their weapons at them.
"Dad?" Wally asked.
"Wally," Joe told him in relief. "Hold on." He looked at Hunter and Natalia angrily. "Let him go."
Barry and I stepped closer.
"We had a deal," Natalia told us.
Barry disguised his voice. "Our powers for Wally's life. Hand him over and they're yours."
They let go of Wally.
Joe pulled him away from them. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Wally answered.
Joe, Iris and Wally hugged in relief.
Joe handed car keys to Wally. "You need to get out of here now."
"I can't," Wally told us.
"Go fast," Iris told him. "Cisco."
Cisco ran toward Wally. "Let's go."
Cisco led Wally out of the building.
I glared at Hunter and Natalia. "Let's get this over with."
Hunter and Natalia pulled off their masks.
Quinn took a deep breath.
~
We were in the med bay.
Harrison showed us a device. "This thing is how I stole the Flash's speed the first time. Now all they need to do is run or fly and the force will transfer into these vials. But only as long as I can calibrate them."
"It won't work for a blaze; it won't work for Vera," Natalia told him. "I'm sure you've figured that out by now. But it will work for Barry. Get to work."
Harrison raised his gun.
"Wells," Barry told him.
Everyone watched.
Harrison looked at Hunter and Natalia. "One day, I'm gonna knock those smug expressions clean off your faces."
Hunter smirked.
"So was your plan all along, huh?" Quinn asked.
"With a bit of tweaking and twists and turns that involve my little stepsister," Natalia answered.
Iris looked at Hunter. "How are you still alive? We saw you die."
"You did," Hunter told us.
"So what was that?" Caitlin asked. "A speed mirage?"
Natalia laughed.
"Speed mirage?" Hunter repeated. "Uh, no. Even I'm not that fast. I knew that I couldn't be on two Earths at the same time. So, I went back in time and I met another version of myself."
"You're a time remnant," Cisco told him. "Just like the Reverse-Flash."
"I also knew the only way to make Barry become faster and Vera become stronger and deliver my dear little sis the pain that deserves was if you all witnessed your old pal Jay die," Natalia told us.
Caitlin looked disgusted.
"When did you decide to do that?" Iris asked.
"Oh, once you closed all the breaches, went to Earth 2," Natalia answered. "See, I had been planning on making Quinn watch someone she loved die in front of her for a long, long time. I just decided to have Hunter do it for me, now. Believe me, getting both Hunters to agree to this plan of mine took a bit of convincing."
Natalia giggled evilly.
"Who's the man in the iron mask?" I asked.
"You wouldn't believe us if we told you," Hunter told us.
"Why the charade?" Joe asked. "Natalia, this scheme of yours to get revenge on Quinn, was it all for hate?"
"Of course, Detective," Natalia answered. "Having Hunter parading around as the Flash and Jay gave Quinn someone to love, and gave the people of our Earth hope, so that I could rip it away from them. Come on, Hunter. Feel free to tell them how fun it is to pretend to be a hero. To pretend to be in love with a heroine."
"You are no hero," Quinn told him. "Neither of you are anything but monsters."
"That's where I get all of my fun," Natalia told her, leaning closer to kiss Hunter in front of Quinn, though all Natalia seemed to get from it was pleasure of seeing Quinn's pain, and Hunter didn't seem to react to it at all.
Quinn looked away uncomfortably, pained.
Natalia pulled away from the kiss, smirking smugly.
~
Barry was in the training room, stepping onto the treadmill.
We were all watching.
"Barry?" Joe asked.
"It's all right, Joe," Barry told him.
Harrison and Barry readied the devices that would take his speed away.
Barry started to run, zooming in the treadmill, until the device took his speed away, having to come to a stop.
"He's slowing down," Caitlin told us.
"The force is leaving his body," Harrison told us.
"He's becoming human again," Cisco told us.
It was over. Barry's speed was in the goal.
Barry couldn't stand anymore, falling from the treadmill to the floor.
I ran into the training room. "Barry!" I knelt next to him worriedly, holding him. "Are you okay?"
Barry nodded. "I'm okay. I'm okay."
Joe and Iris walked toward us.
Harrison handed the vial of Barry's speed to Hunter.
Hunter injected it into his arm without hesitation, powering up, breathing heavily. "Thank you, Flash."
Natalia grabbed me from the floor next to Barry, slamming me into the wall. "That is how a speedster transfers power. You already know what a blaze does to transfer power. Or, well, take it."
Quinn ran closer. "Natalia, don't!"
Hunter held Quinn back.
Natalia sent her fire to surround me. The flames from Natalia burned me, wrapping around me
Like before, the flames from Natalia could actually hurt me to the point of agony. I could feel the flames siphoning my power excruciatingly, screaming in pain. She was siphoning more and more of my power by the second.
Barry stood, struggling to do something. "Natalia, stop!"
Natalia continued to burn me. "I told you that I would burn you alive in front of Quinn."
I continued to scream in agony, crying through the flames and the pain.
Quinn struggled against Hunter's restraint. "Enough, Nat!"
Natalia burned me, using her flames to absorb my fire power, making me scream in agony and the others flinch at the sound, until there was nothing left, leaving me a burned mess, letting me fall to the floor. "Now it's enough."
Harrison, Joe and Iris aimed their weapons at Hunter and Natalia.
I was lying on the floor, burned, broken, powerless and weak, nearly dead, breathing heavily in pain.
Barry knelt next to me, holding me, helping me sit up, making sure I was okay, looking terrified that I wasn't going to make it.
I didn't look like I was going to make it, let alone feel like I was, still in agony.
Barry held me, worriedly. "Vera? Vera, are you okay?"
I nodded weakly, unconvincingly. "Yeah. I'm okay."
Natalia was flickering with all of the fire that she had taken from all of the blazes she had encountered, including mine, closing her eyes at the feeling, looking content and sickly happy, smiling through the flames that were lapping around her.
Hunter let go of Quinn.
Quinn turned to face Hunter, pushing him away. "If anything you ever said to me was true, or anything we ever shared was real, the please just let them go. Please. I know some piece of you did care for me, even if my stepsister did force this on both of us, so if you have any humanity left, then please, let them go." She turned to face Natalia, tears in her eyes. "Please, Natalia, let them go."
Hunter looked affected by her words.
Natalia looked annoyed, letting some of the fire diminish, but not completely. She flew toward Quinn, grabbing her, flying out, taking her away.
Hunter followed at zooming speed.
Cisco ran up to the door. "Quinn!"
Caitlin ran up to Cisco, looking out of the door. "No!"
Barry and I were still on the floor from our injuries and weakness from giving up our powers, with me being burned to hell and in Barry's arms, both of us breathing heavily, in shock and denial, horrified that Hunter and Natalia would take Quinn.
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