What Tears Us Apart(Sequel to What Brings Us Together)

Chapter Sixty-Two: Cheap Knockoff

"Its just one word. Superman." Barry told him.

"And for the record, having powers doesn't mean anything if you don't have the critical thinking skills to back them up."

"What is this?" Oliver asked. "Hmm? If you're testing us, then let us get back to it."

"Oliver Queen, a man who channels his hubris and anger and calls it strength. Are you truly that eager to die? No. Not eager. But willing. Ready to. Good. There might be hope for this universe yet."

"If that's supposed to be a pep talk, I've had better." Barry said.

"Self-sacrifice alone will not see you through this trial. Survival will only be found by knowing your true self or this world will be doomed...like all the others."

"Ok, that's enough." The Monitor waved his hand and we were suddenly back in the hallway again.

"Well that was very glass-half-empty" Barry pointed out.

"We need to find Cisco." Oliver said.

"Well guys, think about it, if we're bad guys, it would only make sense that the rest of our normally good-guy friends are too."

"Sure. You two are CCPD. Where do criminals hang out in this city?" I nodded.

"I know just the place." I told them.

~~~

 We walked into the bar, and it was for sure, full of criminals. Criminals who were side-eyeing us and backing out of the way once we got close.

"Are they all afraid of us?" Barry asked.

"Go with it. Play the part." I said through my teeth.

"This is a terrible idea."

"You keep saying that."

"And yet here we are anyway."

"The only obstacles there are for a quote 'hero' is a bad guy, which in this world is us, so this is where we're gonna find the help that we need, you got it Barry?" I asked. We stopped in front of the bar.

"Oh my gosh, the trigger triplets!" The bartender said. "Sorry, I'm just a huge fan of your criminal history. You guys are my heroes. Well, not heroes. Legends."

"That's cute. Specs over here says we're heroes." I said, leaning on the bar. He laughed nervously.

"Can I get you guys something?" He asked, very clearly attracted to me. I decided to use this to my advantage.

"Some information?" I suggested, tracing a finger up his forearm that was exposed by his rolled up sleeves. "We need to find Cisco Ramon." He leaned closer to me.

"You mean the boss?"

"Whatever you want to call him." He glanced to the side and we followed his gaze, spotting Cisco in a corner booth counting money.

"Thanks a lot, Specs." I blew him a kiss, making my way over to Cisco without hesitation.

"Laura, what are you doing?" Barry whispered.

"Playing the part, how many times do I have to go through this?" I asked. I walked over to Cisco, putting my hands down on the table.

"We need to talk." I said.

"Make an appointment with my assistant. I should have an opening around 'go screw yourself'."

"Well, that's all menacing and all Cisco, but I don't really have the time to be reenacting the Godfather. We need your help."

"Look, I don't know who you think you are, but around here, people call me Mr. Ramon."

"You got a problem here, Mr. Ramon?" I furrowed my eyebrows, turning around to see Jimmy Olsen, and right by his side...Ralph. That once caught me off guard a bit.

"Case in point. Jimmy, Ralph, I think they Pet Shop Boys here need an education in how things work around here."

"I don't think that should be a problem." Ralph said, stepping up directly in front of me. "It'd be a shame to mess up such a pretty face though." Ralph grabbed my chin, and despite me instincts, I smacked it away, moving his arm and clasping a hand around his throat. 

"Touch me again, beanpole. Seriously, I dare you." I said.

"Look, we don't want any trouble." Barry said.

"We just have a business proposal for Mr. Ramon."

"Business proposal. I'm gonna pass. You see, I like watching my people put the beating on other people. So..."

"So I guess we got that in common." Jimmy said. "They don't call me Superman's worst friend for nothing."

"We've got this, right?" Barry whispered.

"Totally."

~~~

Barry and Oliver went flying over my head, crashing into a long table and flipping it as they went. That left the four of them just looking at me. I crossed my arms.

"We gonna dance or what?" I asked. Both Jimmy and Ralph whipped out a baton.

"Stop, Stop, Stop." Cisco said. "Boys, what are you thinking? What are you gonna kill 'em here, now? Gary's still cleaning up from the last mess you made, Clockwork Orange." No matter what reality we're in, Cisco's still coming up with his clever little nicknames. Wait...

"Survival will only be found by knowing your true self."

"Do 'em out in the alley."

"Would now be a bad time to mention that we knew your brother Dante?" I asked, just as Ralph and Jimmy started pulling us away.

"Stop. Hold up." They stopped pulling us away. "How'd you know Dante."

"Its a long story, one that we really don't have the time to tell you. But, needless to say, if he were here right now, he would tell you to listen to what we have to say." I looked at Oliver.

"How'd you like to get rid of Superman?" He asked.

~~~

"Alright, I've got ledgers to keep and miles to go before I sleep, so talk fast." Cisco said, leading us into his office.

"Right, first, we need to know if you can vibe." Oliver said. Cisco shoved a bunch of stuff off of his desk.

"Teleport. Open a breath. You can still do that, right?"

"Rhetorical question, how do you think I got into all those bank vaults?" He sat down. "But you three...you didn't know that. You came in here not knowing if I could do what you thought I could do. That's very risky."

"Risky is kind of all we have at this point." I told him.

"Please keep giving me more reasons to not do business with you."

"Alright, listen. You could use your powers for so much more than breaking into bank vaults." Oliver said.

"Go back to the part about taking down Super-douche. That's the part I wanna hear."

"We're gonna get to that." He pointed to Barry and I.

"For now, the two of us could teach you how to use your powers to get to a whole different Earth." Barry told him.

"A whole different Earth," He repeated, taking a sip of his drink. "Tell me more. But do us all a favor and let Rizzo here do the talking."