Within Seconds: Sylas & Allen

Parker v.s. Zoom

One minute, everything in the Cortex was quiet. The next, the one and only Cisco Ramon came rushing in, screaming, "I was attacked! I was attacked! I barely made it out of there alive!"

"What happened to you?" asked Parker calmly.

Cisco inhaled a deep breath to explain. "I was attacked--"

"We got that," said Harry flatly.

"--by an evil Grim Reaper! A-And he had this glowing red stick, and he was swinging it way too close to my precious face, and he took his mask off, and it was Dante!"

"Your brother, Dante?" asked Barry.

"From Earth-2," assured Cisco.

"He calls himself Rupture. He's another meta-human under Zoom's control from my Earth," explained Harry.

"Great, so he's bringing more of his friends over," grumbled Iris.

Harry shrugged arrogantly. "That's what I told you he would do."

"Zoom must've lied to fake-Dante, and told him I was the one who killed Reverb, 'cause dude wants me dead. We gotta do something," begged Cisco.

"What else do you know about him?" asked Barry. His inquiry was directed at Harry.

"He gets his power from that scythe he wields."

"Thing's legit, too, it almost took half the van with him," said Cisco.

Barry clapped his hands. "All right, then that's what we need to do. We need to figure out a way to get it away from him."

"I'm sure I can come up with something," Cisco told them as he made a move to exit the Cortex. "I just have to figure out a way to not tell Dante how this psychopath looks exactly like him."

Barry waited for Cisco to leave. In what he believed was a conspicuous manor, he rubbed at his neck; a sure sign of defeat. He was at a loss. Without his powers, aiding in a meta-human take down was risky to not only other people, but himself.

Harry took notice. Blatantly, he stated, "You know what you need to do."

"I need a minute," stalled Barry. He left, though seconds after he did so, he shouted, "That means I need you, too, Park!"

Scrambling to follow, Parker muttered, "Since when was that a cue?"

Barry didn't stop walking until they reached the contraption Harry built in the basement. The massive device was built adjacent to the corridor in which the breach once stood.

Parker took a seat on the three steps leading to the platform. She reclined on them, making herself comfortable, as she assumed the two were going to be there a while.

Just before her, Barry paced, eyes locked on the machine that was supposed to bring his speed back. At last, he came to a stop.

"This should be an easy decision," he whispered, "Why isn't it?"

"Because you're afraid it might cause something worse than it already has," guessed Parker.

"I thought bringing my Dad here would make this easier. It's just made it a lot harder."

"I get why he doesn't want you to do it. You're his baby, Barry. He doesn't want to lose you and be alone again. All he wants is for you to be safe."

Barry turned, squatting in front of her. His chin rested on her knees. "Well, what do you want?"

"This isn't about me," she said, sitting up.