Chapter Five: Nora West-Allen
Central City, 2049, Jitters
Nora had had to go back to the station to write up any of the findings that she had found (excluding her plan to break into the Flash Museum after dark of course), which was really easy now that she had super speed, before clocking out for the day with Kurtis. Then she had to do the hard part, wait until dark to get Gideon. She couldn't just walk in when visitors were there and open a secret door in front of them. She would have to wait until everyone had left to go inside.
She had decided to wait at Jitters (why not, it has coffee, the best nighttime heist companion) until it had been an hour after the museum closed. Nora looked down at her watch, which now read seven fifty-five.
" So close!" Nora moaned impatiently. She watched as the holo-clock on her wrist communicator clicked down ever so slowly, the numbers chaning what felt like evry hour instead of every minute. As she watched the time go by, an unpermitted thought appeared in her head, pushing to the front of her mind, despite her efforts to bury it deep down inside her.
Does dad hate me? No, that's not true, he's just mad, that's all. So mad that he'd never want to see you again?
These unpleasant thoughts disappeared as she saw the time on her holo-clock turn to eight o'clock, exactly one hour after the museum closed.
" Yes! Finally!" Nora exclaimed as she jumped out of her seat and bumped into her table a little, sending some of the many, many empty coffee cups that were on the table onto the floor.
" Umm, just excited that my favorite show has been renewed?" Nora said, feeling very embarrassed as everyone looked at her for a brief moment, before returning to what they had been doing.
" Okay, now it's go time," she thought, happy that her wait was finally over.
" Right after I clean up all of my trash. And, I'm sure that grabbing one more coffee wouldn't hurt..."
Nora suited up in her purple and white Xs suit, before heading to the Flash Museum. The same suit that her mom had worn for a brief time during her outing as a speedster, the suit that Nora had found inside the Flash museum when she had found her father's message to her. The suit that Nora had decided to make her own.
When she arrived outside of it, everyone had left for the day, and it had been locked up for the night. Not that that was a problem for Nora though, who was able to phase right through the front door. She knew what and where all of the security measures were and how to avoid them (this wasn't the first time that she had come in after closing time). As Nora snuck past any alarm triggers between her and the Time Vault, she remembered all of the fond memories that she'd had here. This museum was her favorite place in the world, and she'd probably spent more time here than any other place that she could think of. She had been amazed by The Flash and his amazing heroics the first time that she had stepped foot in this place, and that only grew as she learned more and more about everything that he had accomplished. The Flash was her hero. And if only she had known that he was her father back then!
Nora was able to make it to the Time Vault without running into any problems, using the ring that she had gotten off of Thawne's suit last time she was here to open the secret door. After stepping inside, she suddenly remembered how less grand it looked in this time compared to the one she had been living in for months. The white, luminous walls were now a dull grey providing little light to the room. The open space of it now full of old and dusty boxes, shelves, and various other relics from the past that Team Flash had stuffed inside it. The only thing that looked similar was the single stand that Gideon was activated by when touched. Before she touched it though, Nora noticed what she had been doing, again.
" Come on Nora! Can you not go two seconds without thinking about your parents!" she said, scolding herself aloud.
" Also, I really need to stop talking aloud, I sound like I'm insane," she added as she brushed her hand over Gideon's stand.
"Hello Nora West-Allen. How mmmaaay I helllppp you?" Gideon said as her transparent blue holographic form appeared in front of Nora.
" Gideon? What happened to you?" Nora asked as she looked at Gideon. She looked almost... broken? Her holo-form kept glitching mid air, disappearing and reappearing on and off, and her voice was extremely choppy.
" I am sorry for concerning you, Nora. Allow me to expppplllllain." Gideon said as her voice continued to give out.
" I am the back-up entity assigned to take care of this Time Vault after the primary one has been reassigned."
" Wait, reassigned?" Nora asked confusedly.
" Yes. The primary Gideon was taken by an accepted user approximately 15 hours ago. When she was removed, I caaaaammme online."
" Do you still have access to all of 'primary' Gideon's memories?"
" Negative. I have all of the core functions that I was programmed with, and have no data entries since being put into service."
" Do you know who took the other Gideon?"
" Negative. I have noooo data entriiiieesss prior to being activated, at which time primary Gideon was already taken."
" So there's nothing that you can do to help me find out who has the other Gideon?"
" Negative. I am sorry, Nora West-Allen."
Nora thought this all over. It was obvious that whomever broke Thawne out had also taken Gideon, but why? What were they planning? And most importantly, who was it? The fact that they could access the Time Vault didn't narrow it down at all. Everyone that was a suspect before still was, because they all had access to it, or could've easily found someone who did.
" I wish that dad was here. He'd know what to do." she sighed aloud before she could stop herself.
" Your father isssss here, Nora West-Allen." Gideon said casually.
Nora immediately stopped pacing and froze in her tracks. " Really?!? Where is he?!" she exclaimed as she rushed back over to Gideon's stand.
" He isss in theeee Haallll of Villains'' Gideon stated. One of the grey lit walls next to Nora came to life as a current time recording of the Hall of Villains appeared. Nora gasped, a tear or two of joy coming to her eyes, as she saw her father there, looking at one of his villain's suits.
She immediately sped out of the Time Vault and across the museum to the Hall of Villains, her mind racing as she ran.
He came back for me! He's really here! Has he come to give me a second chance, to let me say sorry, to say sorry for leaving me, to bring me home?
When she got there, Barry still had his back turned to her, as he admired the Savitar Armor.
" Dad?" Nora said, a hopeful look worn across her face as her voice started to crack.
" Hello Nora." he said, not turning to face her.
" Have you come back to give me a second chance?" she asked, hope filling her heart.
" I promise that it won't be a mistake! I'll do whatever you want to earn back your trust! I'll.."
" I think that you are misunderstanding why I'm here." Barry started, cutting her off.
" You're still mad?" Nora said, her hopes beginning to fall.
" Yes, I'm still very mad, Nora. I don't think that you understand the full extent of what I'm saying though. I'm not just mad at you, I hate you." he said, still not even facing her.
" What?" Nora croaked, as tears filled her eyes.
Her worst fear had come true, her father really did hate her.
" But not just hate," he continued, running his hand across the armor, " I feel utter disdain toward you, against everything that you do. It's not just you though. It's everyone who's close to Barry Allen."
Nora took a step back as she began to realize that something was off.
" Barry Allen..."
" Cisco, Catlin, Joe, your mother, all of them." he continued.
" You're not my dad." Nora said as she began to back away from the man that she had thought to be just that.
" You see Nora, you're wrong about that too," the man said as he turned around.
Nora saw the face of her father, but extremely deformed and scarred. She had seen it before, but never when it had been looking right at her.
" I am your father, just not the one that you know," Savitar said, with an angry and bitter look in his eyes as he glared at her, a small vile grin spread across his lips.
Nora stumbled backward, taken aback by the realization. Mustering all her courage, she finally spoke to the time copy.
" So it was you who broke Thawne and Heart out?"
" Well, I certainly helped," he responded, still with the same cold stare in his eyes.
" I haven't met you before, well at least personally, but if you're anything like my father, then there's still good in you!" Nora pleaded, trying to reach what little remained of her dad.
" Like your father? I'm nothing like your father!" Savitar bellowed as he started to storm towards Nora.
" They cast me out! Shunned me! Left me with nothing!" he hissed.
" I'm sorry." said Nora quietly, as she was stepping backwards, getting closer to the exit.
" I bet you are, daughter, because that's just what he did to you, isn't it?"
" No, you're wrong, my father loves me!" Nora exclaimed, as she began to desperately look around the room for a good distraction.
" Really?" Savitar said, as he stopped advancing.
" Is that why he kicked you out of his life as soon as he got a little angry?"
Nora stopped backing up, trying not to let his words, ringing with the voice of her father, get to her.
" You're wrong!" she yelled, trying to get his voice out of her head.
" It seems to me that it's a good thing that I'm not like him," Savitar stated.
Nora, with all of these thoughts booming in her head, barely had time to notice Savitar's fist come speeding toward her. She sped back a step, stumbling after the sudden attack. Savitar used her lack of balance to his advantage, and was able to lunge forward, his fist connecting with her side. Nora fell back against the wall, clutching her side. As she stood up, Savitar sped backwards into his armor, and began powering it up.
" Uh oh."
Nora watched as blue lightning began to surge through the massive silver suit, unlocking all of its joints and bringing it to life. She sped to the exit, trying to escape the Hall of Villains in order to come up with a plan, but before she could leave, a flash of white blocked the exit.
" Leaving so soon, little speedster?" Godspeed laughed, blocking the only exit.
Xs backed away from Godspeed, realizing that she couldn't get past him by charging through him.
Come on Nora! Think!
Savitar's suit finished powering up, and it moved with a heavy thud, thud, thud towards her.
As Xs backed up against a nearby wall, she got an idea.
I can phase through it!
Savitar, who was now standing next to Heart, and was mere feet from her, noticing what she was about to do, grinned ever so slightly, before telling her, " Run, Nora. Run"
Xs took off through the walls of the Flash Museum and out into the city, both speedsters right behind her. They sped past dozens of people who were going about their daily lives, all moving so slow that it looked like they were almost frozen. As they all continued their race, purple, orange, blue, and white lightning blended together to make what would've been a beautiful sight if not for the given circumstances. Xs turned, swerved, and rounded corners to try and lose them, but they stayed right on her tail, getting closer with each second that passed by.
" I need a plan! I can't outrun either of them for long!" she thought as she dodged around a car and sped past a man walking his dog.
" I can get dad's help! If I try to time travel, he'll come to stop me, and then see that I'm in trouble and come help me! Now all I have to do is find a way to buy myself some time."
Continuing to run as fast as she could, Xs looked around for something that she could use to slow the others down. After another second or two, an idea hit her. She would phase into a wall, but not pass through it, and as the others kept running, they would fly right past before noticing where she had gone. Xs saw an apartment complex right up ahead of her that would work perfectly for just that.
As she ran toward the side of the building though, she felt someone grab her shoulder.
" Tough luck, kid."
Before she could react, Godspeed yanked her off of her feet, using all of his momentum to throw her into the wall that she had been trying to get to. Xs hit the wall with the combined force of both her and Godspeed's momentum, sending her smashing through it, and to say that it hurt would be an understatement.
As she smashed through the first wall, Xs was able to regain her balance and use the force and speed of the impact to phase through the next one instead of smashing through it as well, coming out on the other side of the building before tripping and rolling onto the sidewalk.
She felt a large flare of pain shoot up her left arm, and realized that she couldn't move it. Getting back up as quickly as she could, Savitar and Godspeed rounded the corner.
" What should I do? What should I do?"
Nora then heard her father's voice in her head once again, this time offering his advice.
" Slow down. Think before you act, and fix the problem the right way."
Nora closed her eyes and took a deep breath, clearing her mind as she focused on the task at hand. An idea soon formed in her head, but there would be only one shot at it.
Xs stood still as both Savitar and Godspeed continued to charge toward her, Savitar's blade extending from his arm.
Wait.
They were now less than half of the street's length away. She noticed how Godspeed was a few inches in front of Savitar, trying to beat him to their prey.
Wait.
They were now mere feet away from unleashing their attacks, blue and white lightning flying off of them as their fists raised high into the air.
Now!
Everything around the three speedsters slowed to a complete stop, purple and orange lightning encircling all three of them as time began to go in reverse. Both Savitar and Godspeed took numerous steps backward, as Xs still stood where she was, and as soon as they reached the middle of the street, the purple and orange lightning disappeared and time resumed. Both of the villain speedsters continued their charge like they been had a few seconds ago, but this time Xs knew how they were going to strike. She used her own speed to, at the very last moment, quickly dodge to the left, grabbing one of the metal support bar from the broken wall, and held it out next to her. Godspeed and Savitar were both going too fast and were too close to avoid her counter attack.
Godspeed (who was ahead of Savitar) smashed his leg into the bar, not only causing himself injury, but causing him to trip and fall, tripping Savitar as both of them flew across the street and through the front door of a nearby karate dojo, debris flying all over from the decimated entry. As he had fallen though, Savitar's blade had slashed Xs across the leg.
" Aaahh!" Nora cried, as she felt the cold metal cut into her leg.
" That is definitely going to leave a mark," she said, wincing in pain as she looked down and saw a large gash across the back of her leg. Xs looked over at the dojo (the sign of which had said Cobra Kai and was now laying amongst the other ruble) which the two speedsters had just crashed through. She didn't see any movement, which meant that her plan had worked, and that she had little time to execute the rest of it.
Nora had time traveled so much in the past few months that it had practically become a second nature for her. The problem was, she needed to go really fast to do that, and she couldn't run that well with a large part of her leg cut open.
Nora weighed her opinions for a split second before making a decision.
They aren't going to stay down for long, and I need dad's help to beat them. Even if it's going to hurt, I have to leave now while I still have the chance.
Xs got into her running stance, took a deep breath, and then sped off. She ran as fast as she could manage, purple and orange electricity sparking all around her as she passed all of the various people and buildings of Central City, feeling the pain in her leg spike every time she took a step. After several seconds (considerably longer than it would normally take for her to get into the Speed Force), a portal into the Speed Force opened and Xs raced through it. Blue light encircled everything around Nora and her purple and orange lightning trail as she traveled down the tunnel-like portal. Times from the past (or if you'd prefer between 2049 and 2019) raced by as she continued to run, playing through scenes from her past, and even from before she was born, as she began to reach her destination. Everything seemed to be like the dozens of other times that she had done it, until she saw the exit point.
" What is that?!" Nora exclaimed aloud as she looked at the exit.
Orange lightning sparked and crackled all around the edges and the inside of the portal, making a sort of energy barrier that covered it.
" I need to stop!" cried Nora as she tried to dig her heels in to slow down, but it was too late. Nora slammed into the energy barrier, causing it to shoot out orange lightning bolts that combined with her speed and momentum and smashed into her, blasting her backwards down the speed tunnel, so fast that everything around her blurred into obscurity. She was sent flying out of the Speed Force and back to 2049, where she tumbled into an alley until her back hit the brick wall, her eyesight starting to return to normal.
"Ooowww!" Nora cried as she clutched her injured leg.
All of that running had really done a number on it. As she held her leg, she began to panic aloud.
" No, no, no! It didn't work! It won't be long before they find me, and if I couldn't beat them before, I certainly can't now! "
Right then, Nora had a realization.
" He left me, again." she said, heartbroken.
Suddenly, the already cold alleyway got even colder, the air seemed to hang heavy, and an aura of dread filled the void in the space.
"Don't worry about your old man," said a deep, terrifying voice through the thick fog that had suddenly appeared. The voice sent chills down Nora's spine, and she began to slightly tremble as she saw a silhouette appear in the fog, walking towards her.
" I'm not afraid of you!" she shouted, trying to sound convincing as she struggled to stand.
There was a quick ZOOM, and a flash of blue light as the man appeared right in front of her.
" I would be." he hissed, as he looked down at her.
Had Nora not seen the suit before, she might've mistaken the person in front of her for a monster rather than a man. His suit was all black, including his pure black eyes, his mouth etched with a monsterous grin, and blue lightning menacingly sparked off of him periodically.
" Hello there." he grinned evilly, as Nora's face drained of all color.
" I'm glad to finally meet you," he said menacingly.
" You're.. you're.. You're Hunter Zomolin." Nora stuttered, failing to suppress her fear.
" Ah, so you have heard of me!" he exclaimed in his demonic voice.
" Well then, no need for formal introductions. I already know all about you." Zoom laughed.
Nora wanted to say something brave, to show him that she wasn't afraid, but she was too overwhelmed to do so.
" You've given us such a hassle bringing you in, Nora," he sighed, shaking his head.
Nora could feel her heart start to beat even faster than it had since the chase had started.
" I think that it's only fair that you get what's coming to you."
" Move!!!"" boomed the voice in her head, but he had already sprung into action.
Zoom became a flurry of fists, pounding Nora all over. She felt something in her right shoulder snap, and was sure that she felt several ribs crack, before he landed one last lightning charged blow to her stomach.
She was completely out of breath as Zoom stopped his assault and looked down at her, who was now laying on the ground.
" And like I said, there's no reason to be upset with your father." Zoom purred.
" Because I'm going to help all of you with your family issues."
Nora, clasping her hurt leg with the one arm that she could barely move, tried to crawl away from him, but got nowhere with her attempt to escape.
" He'll stop you," she said defiantly, feeling some of her bravery return.
" I doubt it." Zoom said, with a clear air of confidence in his voice. And with that, he sent his speeding fist right into Nora's jaw, knocking her out cold.
The next thing that Nora knew, she was slung over Zoom's shoulder, who was talking with Savitar and Godspeed, the latter of which looked rather banged up. She also noticed that they had put one of her power disabling bands on her wrist, rendering her speed healing useless.
" Ah, good. You're finally awake, now we can get this reunion underway." Zoom laughed, as he watched Nora stir.
The three villainous speedsters all got into their running positions, and then took off as fast as they could. Nora watched the lights and shapes of the buildings wisk by, getting more and more blurred the faster they went. It was odd experiencing the sensation without her own speed. It felt like she was missing a part of herself without it.
After very little time, a Speed Force portal opened and the four of them raced through it, the hole in space and time sealing behind them. The normally familiar blue lights and scenes that Nora saw were now replaced by blurs and blinding blue light that began to overload her eyes and ears. Luckily, after only a few seconds, they exited the portal at their designated time.
As soon as they exited the portal, all three of the speedsters went straight to work, running all around wherever they had appeared, leaving destruction as they ran, Nora a helpless prisoner as they did so. Blue lightning whipped all around the space as they continued on their rampage, several bolts coming close to striking her. After only a brief few seconds of real time though, Nora felt herself abruptly lurch to a stop, as Zoom stopped speeding. If she could have felt anything, she was guaranteed that she'd be sick right now. As Zoom slowed to a stop, Nora felt his hand wrap around her throat, pulling her over his shoulder as he held her off the ground.
Nora looked around and saw the Star Labs of 2019, or what was left of it. Various pieces of equipment were scattered across the floor, destroyed, and the glass between the Cortex and the Med Bay was shattered. She saw Savitar standing next to Zoom, her mother being held by him, a blade to her back, and her father standing in front of them both, limping from an injury done to his side. She had no idea where Godspeed had gone.
Even though he was hurt, Barry immediately got ready to charge Zoom, but was abruptly stopped by Savitar, who told him, " Careful Barry. You may be faster than both of us, but there's no way that you could save them both." as he gestured to Nora and Iris.
" What are you doing here Zomolin?" Barry asked, shifting his attention to Zoom, probably trying to buy time for something.
" You know what we want Barry," spat Zoom.
" Revenge." growled Savitar.
" We want to make you suffer as we have." Zoom hissed.
" By hurting my daughter?!" Barry angrily exclaimed, taking a small step forward.
" Yes. By killing everyone that you love most, and then by killing you." stated Zoom.
Nora's eyes met Barry's for a fleeting moment, before Zoom continued.
" And to think Barry, were it not for your help in making sure that the little brat didn't come home, we wouldn't have caught her." Zoom said, enjoying his position of power.
" What?" Barry gasped, taking a step back, horrified at what he'd just heard.
"She'd have been gone, safe, nothing that we could do to get to her, but you pulled through and saved the day for us, Flash," Zoom continued, a large evil grin visible even with his mask on.
Nora weakly shifted her attention over to her mother, and watched as she slipped one of the beads of her bracelet off, and placed it in one of the crevices of Savitar's armor while he was distracted by Barry and Zomolin's talk.
A sharp increase in Zoom's grip around her throat brought what was left of Nora's attention back to their conversation.
"Do you remember Barry, when we were in a similar situation?" Zoom asked, as he further increased his grip around Nora's neck.
Nora started to gasp for air, as not only was she suffocating, but also feeling like he was crushing her neck.
"Everything's going to be fine Nora."
"Ah, yes I remember it now! I was holding your father in front of me," Zoom taunted.
Nora felt everything start to get blurry as she began to get light headed.
"Nora! Nora, look at me!" Barry yelled, trying to look into her eyes, " Everything's going to be alright." he told her, taking another step forward.
" And you two kept going on and on about how much you loved each other," Zoom continued.
Nora felt the last bit of air leave her lungs, as she weakly tried to use her one good arm to get Zoom's off of her neck, but to no avail. She saw her dad take another step forward, seeming to be getting ready for some kind of signal.
" And then I put my hand right through his chest." finished Zoom as he slowly put his vibrating hand through Nora's back and out her chest.
Nora felt the cold, vibrating hand pulsing through her chest, at any moment ready to be turned solid, piercing straight through her.
" And then, I killed him." he sneered, enjoying the anger that lit up on Barry's face as he spoke.
" Any last words for daddy?" Zoom asked Nora as he continued to hold his hand steady.
" Dad...I'm...Sorry." Nora croaked, using the last of her strength.
" Say goodbye to your daughter Barry." Zoom hissed, as he got ready to deal the killing blow.
Before he could though, Nora heard Savitar scream out in pain as something electrocuted him, causing him to drop Iris.
" Nora!" yelled Barry as he used his superspeed to rush forward, using Iris's distraction to lunge at Zoom, charging him straight through the set of unshattered glass walls that lead to a workspace area.
But he was too late.
Or so they thought. Because all of the sudden commotion and chaos that had erupted, Zoom had been caught off guard and stumbled backwards, causing him to miss Nora's chest and instead put his hand through her lower back.
Nora felt a massive surge of pain shoot through her entire body, as she silently fell to the ground, the last thing she saw being her mom rushing over to her side, before everything went black.