Raven's POV
"Want some cheetos?" I ask Wally as I outstretch my hand, shaking the orange bag. He shakes his head slowly before I add on,"Oh c'mon, they're even the puffs."
The corners of his lips tighten before he reaches out and takes a handful from my bag, making me somewhat satisfied that we were at least somewhat bonding. Iris and I were becoming great friends, but I still knew little to nothing about her brother, and here we were now, locked away in the pipeline together in the same cell. It was a good time to learn more about one another.
"Thanks," he says to me before shoving a few puffs into his mouth, munching away. I grab a few more cheetos out of the bag as silence starts to wrap between the two of us, like it had been for most of the time we were down here.
I lick my lips slowly. "I know this is random but...I'm sorry about what happened back when I was still, you know...with Hunter."
Wally furrows his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"When he had kidnapped you and taken you back to my earth," I state, causing realization to flick behind his eyes. "I'm sorry for letting that happen, and I'm sorry for not helping you."
He sticks another cheeto in his mouth as he shakes his head. "No need to apologize, Raven. I know that he was just in your head; you couldn't have done anything, even if you really had wanted to. Don't worry about."
I nod my head slowly, letting my eyes drift towards the floor I was sitting on. It was then I let my head rest up against the wall as my mind starts to float; mostly about what was going to come next.
"What do you think is going to happen to us?" I ask out loud, not realizing that I said it until afterwards. My eyes stay glued to the celling as I think more about myself than Wally.
"I guess I'll get powers like how I had them in Flashpoint," Wally states, almost sounding joyful about it. I didn't blame him; I knew he had always wanted powers, especially speed, so in a way, I was actually happy for him. "I just can't wrap my mind around why Alchemy would want you."
"I can't either," I agree with him, setting my bag of cheetos to the side. "I already have powers, and I didn't even exist in Flashpoint. There's no reason for him to even want me."
Wally leans his head up against the wall in that moment and closes his eyes. "I'm sorry that all of this even happened to you, Raven. I always thought that my past was rough; I was raised without a father, and after finding out that he was still alive and that I had a sister, my mother died of cancer. I know that doesn't even come close to comparing to the hell that you were brought up in, but just know that if you ever need to talk about anything, I'm here, and maybe I'll be able to somewhat understand."
A faint smile forms on my face. "Thanks, Wally."
His eyes find mine in that moment as he nods his head, and I knew what he said was true. Hearing what Wally said reminded me vividly of what Hunter had always told me: to not love, and to not trust, for it would lead to my end. I smiled at the thought of knowing that he was wrong, and I had everyone here at S.T.A.R. Labs to prove it.
However, my thoughts are torn short as a piercing scream hits my ears, coming from Wally. When I look over in his direction, I find him covering his ears as he presses his forehead to the floor, beating on it as if it would help. I quickly scramble to my feet and go towards him, hoping to help, but knowing that there was nothing I could do.
"Make it stop!" Wally shouts over the sounds of his own screams. "Please, just make it stop!"
I extend my hands towards him, but don't know what to do with them. "I-I don't know how to help you, Wally! You have to fight it! You have to get him out of your head-"
"I can't!" he shouts back at me, almost sounding demonic. "I have to go to him! I have to get out of...this....cell!"
It was then he exploded to life and jumped at the cell door, beating on the glass with his bare hands. I fall back in awe as he continues to shout that he needed out, beating his hands to a bloody pulp.
Finally, I come to terms with what was happening. Before I can even think, I'm leaping towards Wally, wrapping my arms around his so that he couldn't hurt himself anymore. I thought that doing this would just prevent him from attacking the glass, but instead, it led him to go after me.
The next thing I know, Wally is throwing a clenched fist at me as it hits me square on, knocking me to the floor. I blink rapidly as I stare up at him, shocked that that had even just happened. Wally leaps towards the floor to pin me down, but I was quick on my toes and rolled to the side before he could catch me.
When I get back on my feet, I see Iris outside of the door, panic on her face. "What do I do!"
I shake my head as I stare at her. "Don't let him out! He can't get out-"
Wally finally is able to find another punch on me, which throws me up against the cell wall this time. When I open my eyes again, I'm met with another fist across my cheek, causing pain to spark and fester across my face. I let out a little groan of pain, wondering to myself why I felt so weak.
"Wally!" Iris shouts through the cell door. "Listen to me, you have to fight this! He's just in your head, you know that!"
He acts as if he can't even hear her as he throws another punch across my face, and I still wasn't able to comprehend what was even happening. It was as if every punch that was met across my face drained my energy more and more, and eventually, the whole room started to get fuzzy.
All I can hear are Iris' screams as Wally continues to punch me left and right, and I couldn't do anything about it; my body just wouldn't let me. Before long, I feel myself collapse onto the floor, where Wally just follows me to continue his business.
Then, all of a sudden, I hear the sound of a door opening as two pairs of hands wrap around Wally's shoulders, throwing him off of me. I force myself to sit up then, seeing Iris there with the door open, trying to calm down Wally. Instead of that working, Wally goes to punch her as well, but in return, Iris sends one back his way, which knocks him out cold.
I watch him fall to the ground before I let my head fall, closing my eyes.
-*+*-
"It's getting worse. We have to do something-"
"We can't just let him walk right into this mess. It's too dangerous."
"But doing nothing is just as dangerous. Like Caitlin said, he could have permeant brain damage if he keeps this up. We have to make a move, Barry."
I slowly start to open my eyes, seeing nothing but a white celling above me. It was then Barry and Iris' faces pop up over me into my sight, relief on their faces. Iris helps me sit up as I question what was going on.
"She's still taking forever to heal," Barry notes as Cisco looks over me. "What does that mean?"
"It means that whatever is wrong with her is starting to catch up with her," Cisco states before shaking his head, lowering his eyes. "Listen, I know that this is dangerous, but we have to let them go to Alchemy. There's nothing else we can do."
"Wally I understand," Barry states, his eyes flicking back between Cisco and I. "It's dangerous, but at least we somewhat know what he's walking into. But we have no clue what Alchemy wants with Raven, Cisco. I won't let her just waltz in there with the risk of losing her-"
"We're already losing her!" Cisco shouts back at Barry. "Just look at her, Barry! She has powers, just like you, and she's taking three times the amount of time needed to heal, and we don't know what's wrong with her. We've tried helping her, but we just can't. We can't save her...not this time."
The room is silent for a long time before Iris finally speaks up. "He might be right, Barry. As much as I hate it, it's our only move."
"If Wally is going to Alchemy, I'm going with him," I state as everyone looks at me. "I don't know what this means for me, but it's all that I have left."
Barry's eyes find mine then, and I so badly wanted to rip away the pain that was in them, but instead, all I could do was give him a look of hopefulness. I wasn't sure if I would walk out of this dead or alive, but I did know that it was the last thing for me to try in order to save me; to save this second chance that Barry had given me.
And for the first time in awhile, I was afraid to die.
-*+*-
"An abandoned subway shop? Of course that's where Alchemy decided to set up shop," I hear Cisco say into my earpiece as I walk along beside Barry and Wally, leading the way as cops such as Joe follow suit.
"We're moving in now," Barry says back through the earpiece as he looks over at me, almost as if he was waiting for my approval. I just nod in return, shooting him a faint smile to reassure him before we continued to move forwards.
As we walk inside, darkness consumes us as we wander aimlessly, flashlights dancing in the dark, waiting for something to happen. Wally starts to take charge as he directs us where exactly to go, causing chills to run down my spine. Reality was starting to set in, and fear started to become my worst enemy.
Finally, Wally stops before a doorway, looking back at everyone as if this was the place. His eyes connect with my own as I nod, taking a step forward to go inside with him before an arm tugs me back; that arm being Barry.
"You're sure you want to do this?" he asks me, and I knew that he desperately wanted me to tell him no.
Instead of giving him a yes or no answer, I reach down and take his hand. "Whatever happens, thank you for giving me a second chance...Flash."
I faintly smile at him one last time before gently tugging my hand away, following behind Wally as we step into the dark room, Alchemy waiting for us inside. My stomach flips twice before I finally come into view of the dark cloaked Alchemy, who was facing away from us. Once he hears up come inside, he turns and shows us his mask covered face, which causes goosebumps to rise on my arms.
"Wallace West...Raven Black..." he hisses at us as I glance over at Wally, seeing that he wasn't going to dare break his stare at Alchemy. "Here together, but for different reasons."
"You're him," Wally breathes. "You're the voice I keep hearing in my head."
"I am Alchemy," the figure in front of me repeats. "I am here to give you both what you desire most...speed, and life."
I decide to speak up. "Why me? I didn't exist in Flashpoint; why are you in my head?"
He doesn't hesitate to give me answers. "You're more important than you may realize, Raven. You were given a second chance, and now I am giving you a third."
"But why!" I shout at him, still bothered by my unanswered questions. "Why me?"
"Because, you're what He wants," he hisses, causing more frustration to course through me. "He needs you to live in order for what comes next. You're important to Him, Raven. You'll know in time."
I knew that he wasn't going to give me what I wanted; not where it wasn't in the form of some sort of riddle. "You're wrong."
Barry doesn't miss a beat after my sentence before he's racing into the room, handcuffing two of the three other followers of Alchemy before I could even blink. However before he could reach Alchemy, he's reaching for the stone and blasting Barry with it, causing him to fly across the room.
I try to go to Barry, but the next thing I know, I feel a pair of hands wrap around me before I realize that it was one of Alchemy's followers. Before he can get a good grip on me, I am able to grab his wrist and twist it around before kicking him to the floor, knocking the knife in his hand away.
I quickly look over at Barry in that moment, finding Alchemy still blasting him with his stone. "They have been chosen, Flash. You can't do anything to stop what comes...what they will become."
Alchemy goes to blast Barry once more, but before he can, I'm using all of my strength to focus on the rock in his hand, which soon is flying out of it and over towards my direction. Joe then uses this chance to shoot Alchemy, which knocks him to the floor. Barry quickly smiles in my direction before flashing over to Alchemy and handcuffing him.
Barry walks around to face Alchemy. "It's over. All of this is over."
"Over?" he laughs in return. "You have no idea what's about to begin."
As if on cue, a bright blue light starts to flash around the room quickly, causing that same fear of mine to set back in. Barry looks around at it as I do as well, unsure as to what it even is. "Do you see that!"
"What the hell is that!" I shout back as Joe and Wally look around confused, as if they couldn't see what we were seeing at all. Suddenly then, the police men start to fly left and right, some of them even floating in mid air before their necks are snapped seamlessly.
"Get the hell out of here!" Barry shouts over towards the three of us as Wally and Joe start to head towards the door, but I'm paralyzed with fear and with curiosity. Plus, there was no way in hell I was just going to leave Barry down here alone to fight whatever this thing was.
Before long, the entire police force are picked off, either dead or knocked out cold. The next thing I know, that same blue lightning flashes towards Barry and picks him off of the ground and holds him up against the celling, choking him.
Instead of seeing just lightning, I'm able to see a figure. Standing there holding Barry was some sort of metal suit; one that sparked of blue lightning, just like Hunter. The figure was twice as tall as me, if not more, and for some reason, the moment I saw it, something inside of me felt almost as if I had seen this thing before.
"Who are you!" Barry shouts at the figure, choking in its grasp. Instead, the metal hand tightens its grip around his throat, causing Barry's face to light up with red.
I step forwards then, outstretching my hands. I knew I couldn't fight this thing, but it was worth a try to get it to let Barry go. "Please! Put him down!"
The figure turns and looks at me then, its eyes burning into my own. The metal face on it seemed as if it hid so many dark secrets, and I wanted to know what those were. To my surprise, the metal figure drops Barry to the ground, leaving him in a coughing fit. I gasp out of relief before I realize the figure was walking towards me, which caused me to back away quickly.
"Raven Black," it says to me, it's voice sounding exactly as it looked. "I've been waiting for you."
"What do you want!" I shout at it, shaking my head. "Just please...take me, and leave him alone!"
It stops in its tracks then as it cocks its head. "I'm sorry, but I need him as much as I need you."
I watch closely as it bends over and picks up the stone then, extending its arm towards me as Barry shouts. "Raven, run!"
However, I'm frozen in place as I watch the stone emit a bright white light, which is soon shooting out towards Wally and I, hitting the both of us hard. I feel its power within my chest as my eyes flash open wide, feeling it's strength course through my veins. Something inside of me feels as if it's awakened; as if it dug its roots in me and was impossible to get rid of now.
Before I lose all consciousness, I hear the metal creature say one last thing to me, which bounces around inside of my mind as long as it can before I lose it.
"You are my beginning."
-*+*-
a littttttle bit longer of a chapter for you guys to make up my absence! I hope it didn't feel as if I was gone too long..
but womp, there it is! what do you guys thing? what happened to Raven, and most importantly, why tf does Savitar need her so bad? Only time will be able to tell!
don't forget to vote n comment! I really appreciate it <3