The Flash: Broken Bonds: A West-Allen Family Story

Chapter Thirty-Five; Lies of a Criminal; Barry West-Allen

Chapter Thirty-Five: Lies of a Criminal; Barry West-Allen

Unknown,

Unknown,

Barry wasn't surprised in the least to see that the locals around him and Nora had changed again after reaching the top of the stairs.

I mean, it's happened both times before, so why wouldn't it happen again?

They now stood inside the Cortex, although it was clearly just as jumbled (if not even more so) as the other places that they had been. It looked like his Star Labs had been put inside a blender with Nora's Flash Museum from her time, and the result was, to say the least, chaotic. The Cortex itself was full of Flash Museum banners, some of Cisco's spare parts, a cash register, the suit mannequin, and so much more that he couldn't track down. Some of these were on misshapen desks, others hung suspended mid air, and some even seemed glued to the wall. Cracks ran along the walls, ceiling, and flooring where orange light peaked through, the storm having apparently switched colors.

The lighting in the room was the same yellowish haze (even though none of the haze itself was visible anywhere this time) as it had been since they got into the Speed Force.

The most notable thing of all though, especially when compared to the other places they'd been, seemed to be the ominous and unsettling silence that blanketed the entire space.

It must just be my imagination.

" This place is weird," Nora commented, as she watched a small screwdriver float past her head.

" Even for all the weird places that we've just been."

" Yeah, I feel it too." Barry agreed, as he looked around cautiously.

Something wasn't sitting right about this place with him.

" So dad, where do we start first?" she asked anxiously, as she looked up at him.

He didn't even have a clue as to where to start. Normally, the Speed Force pushed him in the direction that he needed to go, so maybe it would do it again.

It's worth a shot.

" We should just start looking around, moving through the rooms until we find something. The Speed Force is normally blunt with what it wants, so it shouldn't be too long before we find what we need to get out of here."

" What is it that we're supposed to find again?" Nora asked, her voice still low with unease.

" That's what we have to figure out," he said determinedly, as they started their search.

But I wish that I knew.

They began by looking in the Med-Bay/gift shop (depending on where you looked), where medical equipment and Flash merchandise dangerously mixed together, making for quite an obstacle course throughout the place.

" You've been here before?" Nora asked, weaving around a floating medical syringe.

" Yeah, three times actually." Barry responded, a Flash figure floating past his head.

" Three times!" she exclaimed in awe.

" Yeah, those were some crazy rides," laughed Barry, quietly.

" I'd bet, they probably make great stories." Nora commented, her voice full of hope.

" They do," he said grinning, already knowing where this was heading.

" We have a lot of time..." she begged.

Before Barry could answer though, she abruptly cut him off.

" No, no, nevermind. Sorry. It was silly of me to push you while we're in this life or death situation to..."