Running Over Water

[33 - Skeleton Friends]

Barry

I skid to a halt, just meters away from the man who murdered my mother. The anger inside me boiled. It took every muscle in my body to stop myself to ending this fight once and for all.

"Fancy seeing you here," Thawne says, slowly walking towards me.

"Don't act so coy."

He simply chuckles, "I know you view me as a villian, Barry. But if you were to look back, look back carefully at everything I've done, every wheel I have set in motion, you would realize I have only done what I had to do. Nothing more. Nothing less."

I shake my head in disbelief. Was he really that selfish? "And the particle accelerator? How does that fit into your grand plan?"

"Well, why don't we go inside and allow me to show you," He offers but I stay still as a statue in my spot.

"You know, I just learned the hard way not to trust the bad guy."

"And yet. . ." He begins to say, "I've shown you time and time again that you can't beat me."

A loud boom comes from my left, and I begin to hear footsteps come towards me. Suddenly, from my peripheral vision, I could see Nico walk and stand next me.

"Oh, how delightful. Another child," Thawne laughed.

After a moment, I feel to ground beneath me rumble, as if there was a mini earthquake, and Percy appears after dropping ten feet from a wave that dissipated once it collided with the ground. "Hope we're not late to the party," I grin.

"You're just in time," I said, still facing the enemy. "I don't care how fast you are. You can't fight all three of us at the same time."

"Oh, I can't?" He tilts his in a way that makes me want to punch him even harder. "Trust me. This- this is gonna be fun." He holds out his fist, as if he's about to offer me a fist bump. But that's when I notice the ring on his finger that resembled a lightning bolt. All of a sudden, the yellow Reverse Flash suit pops out from the ring, and he runs into it.

I could feel the lightning course through my veins. He ran towards me, and that's when I ran towards him, my own rage fueled my speed. And within moments, we're chasing each other in a whirlwind. But before I know it, he's pinned me to the fence, his fingers clutching my neck. He opens his mouth to say something but closes it before throwing me into the illuminating S.T.A.R. Labs sign. I roll on the ground, trying to save my fall my wrapping myself into a ball. My head aches with pain, but I know I have to keep fighting. I'm about to get up when I see the Reverse Flash tackled by a bunch of. . .are those skeletons?

My eyes widened in fear as I look over to see Nico, the scrawny kid who I remember from inside, was no longer there. There in his place was a monster full of fury.

He controlled the skeletons from afar. He trembled, twitching every so often. I can't imagine the amount of strength he was using. Although the skeletons managed to distract the Reverse Flash, he managed to get out and create a wind funnel that blasted Nico into the air. The skeletons all tumble to the floor in heaps.

Without even thinking, I rush up to save him.

*

Percy

I watch as Barry run to save Nico. I knew this would be my chance. I grab the dagger from my pocket, something Cisco gave me before I came down to help Barry. I clutch it in my hands as I run up from behind the Reverse Flash and stab it in his back. The dagger itself wouldn't do any big damage on him since his suit helps with that type of stuff, but it's the thing the dagger would do to his speed is what I'm excited about.

"Whoops, is your speed leaving you like your ex? What a shame."

He growls before throwing a punch at me mid sentence. I didn't even see it coming. I gasp out loud as my hand flies to my cheekbone. I could feel a bruise growing. "How rude."

I attempt to sweep my legs under him but he just barely misses, so I knock him over in the knees. He's on the ground but back to his feet before I can throw a hit at him. He tries to hit me again, but I lean back. Using my Greek training, I managed to foresee his attacks and dodge them. I then summon water and blast him straight in the gut, where he flies backwards into a bunch of construction stuff.

I walk over to him, when he begins to, like, vibrate. His body starts to become little particles. I lean in, curious on what he was doing. But he caught me off guard and grabbed ahold of me and pins me to the ground.

He's so close to me that I can smell his breath. "You're not a metahuman, now are you? You fight like a-"

He isn't able to finish what he's saying, however, because Barry comes to my aid and pushes him off of me. He's shoved into a dumpster bin.

The Reverse Flash cackles, "Now, that's the spirit."

He runs off and Barry goes to follow him. I watch as Barry chases him up S.T.A.R. Labs and onto the roof. With a moment of peace, I look around in search of my cousin. I find him a few feet away, talking to one of his skeleton friends. Those guys always weirded me out.

He walks over to me once he realizes I'm staring at him. "I got a plan. . ."

---

After what feels like two minutes, I could hear a distant whoosh come towards Nico and I. I nod at him, and he nods back at me. He looks over to his right where one of his skeletons nods as well. I slowly inch away from them.

Barry stops near us and so does the Reverse Flash, but the thing is, he doesn't notice we're there because he's too focused on Barry. Once Barry sees us, he realizes what we're planning as soon as we appear.

The skeleton slowly sneaks up behind the Reverse Flash. They were engaged in yet another conversation that I wasn't really interested. I was just worried that he'd sense the presence behind him and turn around last second. But technically would Skeleton guy count as a presence since he's, like, dead? Who knows.

If I had blinked, I would've missed everything that happened. Skeleton friend suddenly jabs his entire arm into the Reverse Flash. When I say that, I mean his entire arm. It entered from his back and reappeared on the other side. I resisted the urge to gag at the sight.

I watch as the Reverse Flash looks down at the boney arm currently impaled in his stomach and falls to the ground. Barry and I knew that he'd heal from his injury but for right now, he was unconscious and that's all that really matters.

Barry looks up at Nico and I. He didn't have to say it out loud, but we both know he was grateful we were there to help. He panted, "Well, we finally got him."

"Then, if you guys don't mind. I'll leave now. I don't wish to stay for goodbyes and all that," He sighs heavily. I just know he was drained from this fight. I fully expect him to arrive at Camp Half-Blood and pass out from all the power he used today.

"I appreciate your help today, it really helped in this fight," Barry says, placing a hand on Nico's shoulder. Everyone knows Nico isn't exactly fond of physical touch, however, I can tell he acknowledges the gesture. He simply nods at Barry and leaves to walk to the shadows. You see the outline of his figure, even in the dark. But within moments, it's gone.

"That's so cool," Barry stares in awe.

--

happy one year anniversary of this book being published 🥳🥳 so glad you've stuck around this long!

unfortunately, that means this book will be ending soon, I'm guessing in about 4 or so chapters. I haven't written the ending yet, but me and WIldman98 have been talking, and we've got an idea that I'm sure you all will absolutely love -wink wink-

see you in the new year 🫶 (or happy new years for you, we have different time zones lol)