A time-skipping accident strands Barry Allen and his nemesis Eobard Thawne in the past; specifically 15th Century Japan, which is rife with chaos and warring clans. Barry is saved from outlaws by an early metahuman named Mineko Kaze, a disciple of a...
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A few hours later all the sky to the north had darkened and the spare terrain they trod had turned a neuter gray as far as the eye could see. They grouped in the road at the top of a rise and looked back. They had covered a lot of ground, but Thawne was still nowhere to be seen.
"He originates from your time, Ser Allen." Mineko spoke as if she was constantly under surveillance, even the slightest informality would not be tolerated. "If anyone could determine where this fiend has disappeared to, it is you."
Barry's face scrunched up. He wasn't accustomed to being addressed by his last name, it made him feel like an old man. "Just because we're from the same time doesn't mean I understand how his mind works... and it's just Barry."
Mineko raised a dark eyebrow at him. "Well, just Barry, perhaps this little voyage would not be so tedious if you applied that speed of yours to the search."
The man turned to her with an uncertain expression. Had she just made a joke? The thought seemed impossible to him. In the admittedly limited time he had known her she had come across as nothing but a solemn and dull individual. He deducted that it must have been in his head. "I can't... Whatever Thawne did it's disrupted my connection to the speed force as well as his. I can only reattach the link in bursts, and I already used that up saving you."
"You did not save me." Mineko scorned, eyes darkening at the very idea. "That would imply that I was in need of rescuing, which I was not."
"Didn't look that way to me." Barry smirked.
"Then you should get your eyesight examined." She said in a harsh monotone, quickening her pace to create a little distance between the two of them. "You saw only what you wanted to see, I had it under control."
"Yeah, no need for gratitude..." He replied with an air of sarcasm, having little choice but to continue trailing after the stubborn woman.
"Gratitude for what exactly?" Mineko retorted, voice still short and blunt. "For bringing an agent of potential chaos into our midst, or for simply threatening the fate of both present and future civilisations?"
"You don't seriously blame me for this, do you?" Barry said defensively.
"Blame is not the issue here. The fact is that you failed in preventing Thawne from crossing through time, and now he risks the stability of your future." Mineko halted in the middle of their set path and turned to face him. Her jaw was clenched sharply, eyes narrowed in his direction. "I realise that our responsibilities can prove trying at times, but you never should have let him get this far."
"It's not like I had much choice in the matter." Barry returned the same hostile glare. "I came through to help, I could have just stayed back and let you deal with him."
