Chapter 12
The next day, everyone prepared for the big fight and soon, Kara and her friends were ready to set the first part of the plan into motion.
As the little group gathered at the entrance of building, Lena and Sara joined them.
“Ready to go?” Sara asked them. They all nodded in agreement.
Lena moved closer to her fiancée and hugged her tightly. “Since I’m not sure I’ll see you once everything starts, I’m going to give you your good luck kiss now.” She pulled away, smiling back at Kara before leaning in and kissing the blonde lovingly.
“Be safe.” Kara kissed Lena’s lips again.
“You too.” Lena squeezed her lover’s hand before stepping away.
“Hey, Ice Queen, can I have a good luck kiss too?” Mick asked with a smirk. “Skirt isn’t the only one who’s gonna face danger.”
Sara smirked. “I’m not going with them but I wouldn’t mind either.”
Lena chuckled. “Dream on.”
Quickly, the arson squad arrived on site. Kara scanned the perimeter from the air to be sure no one was around while Mick, with the help of Firestorm, finished moving a few things. Suddenly, Kara spotted a car and flew back inside the building.
“Guys, there’s a police car approaching and with all the noises you’re making, they’ll probably want to check what’s going on here.” Kara said nervously.
“We should send someone to tell them that nothing is going on in there.” Firestorm replied.
“You can’t go, Skirt, at least not in your carnival suit. B’sides, a nice girl in this part of town would look suspicious.” Mick declared. “I can’t go either, gumshoes can smell an ex-con a mile away.”
“Black guys and cops, you know…” Firestorm shrugged. “But Martin said he can go.” As soon as he finished his sentence, the two halves of Firestorm separated.
“Gentlemen, Lady, I’m sure I can make up a story convincing enough for them to stay away from this facility.” Martin assured. “In the meantime, please stay quiet and invisible.” He nodded before walking toward the exit.
Mick and Jefferson headed to the back of the facility with Kara on their heels.
“I wish I was a little mouse to hear what he’ll come up with.” Jefferson murmured. “Usually, he’s pretty good but he flunks it up with too many details.”
“He’s good at it? Ah! I’d see a better poker face playing against Pinocchio.” Mick sneered.
“Hush you two,” Kara chastised. “I’m listening.” When she noticed her friends stare at her, she added. “Super hearing, you know.” She shrugged.
While they were discussing, Martin was at the factory gate with a pile of papers under his arm and a pen in his hand, seemingly lost in thoughts as he contemplated the building. Soon, the police car arrived and two officers came out.
“Sir!” The driver shouted in his direction. Seeing no reaction from the man, the officer came closer to the gate, hitting it with his nightstick. “Sir! Police, what are you doing here?”
“Oh… eh… Excuse me, gentlemen, I … I was a bit lost in my calculations and didn’t hear you.” Martin replied, faking confusedness. “What can I do for you, Officers?”
“We are patrolling the neighborhood, some intel suggest there might be some robberies in the area.” The second policeman stated.
“Robberies? Here? Are you sure? There nothing here apart from those ruins I plan to demolish to build a huge wind power plant! You want to see my preliminary drawings?” Martin asked, searching his pile of papers. “Do you know that in the near future, we will run out of fossils energy resources? But the major part of our electricity come from them and if we don’t make changes soon, it’s going to be catastrophic and no one seems to take that into account and…”
“Sir.” The first officer interrupted. “May I see some ID, please?”
“Of course, Officer.” Martin pretended to search for his ID while he kept talking. “You know, I’m not the only one concerned with the ecological disaster our country is facing today… Where did I put it?” He searched his pockets despite knowing it wasn’t there. “And… no, not here… Well, and you should worry too, it’s not my future I’m building here, it’s the future of everyone, our children, do you have children, Officer?”
“Sir, your ID.” The policeman repeated mildly irritated.
“Oh yes, my ID…” Martin smiled politely. “I… I think I might have left it at the office. You know, this big project is monopolizing all of my attention and, sometimes, I’m a bit of a scatterbrained.”
“Sir, I need to see some ID or I’ll have to take you with us at the station. Please, open this gate and come with us.” The officer instructed, pointing at the car with his thumb.
“Professor, Mr. Rory on the line!” Kara suddenly came out of the building, now dressed in a power suit, handing a cellphone as she ran toward the gate. “Oh, and you forgot your suitcase.” Only when she was standing next to Martin, she pretended to notice the policemen. “Sorry, I wasn’t aware the police was here. Is there a problem, officers?” Kara asked with a charming and innocent smile.
“We are patrolling the area.” The policeman informed her. “We’ll need to see his ID and yours ma’am.”
“Of course, of course,” Kara spoke on the phone as if someone was there. “Could you wait a minute, thanks.” Kara smiled at the officer as she pocketed her phone before reaching inside the suitcase to pull out a driving license. “Here’s Professor Farnsworth’s and…“ Kara searched inside the pocket of her jacket. “And here’s mine.” She handed the two to the officer.
The officer looked at the IDs. “So… Mr. Farnsworth and Ms. Starr?”
“Karen, yes.” Kara smiled sweetly.
“Right, Ms. Starr, what are you and Mr. Farnsworth doing in this area?”
“Oh, hum… Professor Farnsworth is here to study the possibilities to install a solar and wind power station here. It’s fantastic, it should provide enough energy for the entire neighborhood!” Kara replied excitedly.
“Right. That confirms what Mr. Farnsworth said. You should not stay here, it’s not safe so I will recommend you to leave as soon as possible. Have a good day.” The officer nodded goodbye before returning to his car with his partner.
Martin waved goodbye to the officers and leaned closer to Kara. “How did you know I was in trouble and where did you get these false IDs and this suit so fast?”
“Super hearing, super speed and a super time ship with a super fabrication room managed by a super computer.” Kara replied with a proud smile.
“That’s… that’s super-brilliant!” Martin joked. “Should we continue with the plan now that the police saw us?” He asked more seriously.
“I asked Barry and the others the same thing and they said it was too late to turn back now.”
The two walked back inside the cement factory and checked if everything was ready for the big show. Mick assured them that even a single smoldering cigarette would set the whole building ablaze with a lot of raging fire and explosions. “All we need now is some booze and S’mores.” He joked.
Kara still had questions regarding the security of the operation. She was uncomfortable with the idea of destroying a building in the first place and wanted to be sure no one would get hurt. “It’s already against my beliefs to set a building on fire just to catch Savitar’s attention but if anyone – firemen, police, medic, even journalists… especially journalists – is hurt, I won’t be able to forgive myself.” She stated. “And you, Mick, seems a little bit too enthusiastic to set things on fire. Are you sure the whole place won’t blow up at the worst time possible?”
“Listen, Skirt, being the nice Girl Scout is your job, mine is to be the nasty guy who does fun things like arson, robbery, drinking and punching people. Not necessarily in that order.” Mick replied.
Kara still didn’t look convinced by Mick’s answer so she turned to Martin and Jefferson for confirmation.
“Believe me, Kara.” Jefferson started. “Mick is the guy you want for this job. I wouldn’t trust him anywhere near my wallet but I’d be glad to have him on my side for any fight any time.”
“Ms. Danvers… Or may I call you Kara? Never mind.” Martin cleared his throat. “I’m sorry to tell you this but seeing how things went maybe we should leave and let you set the building on fire in case these officers come back.”
“What?” Mick and Kara exclaimed at the same time.
“I did all this for nothing? I can’t even get the fun reward. That was my idea.” Mick growled.
Martin shrugged. “Things have changed, Mick, I’m sorry but I think it would be wiser. We’ll just send Wally for reinforcement and as soon as he’s here, you can start the fire, Ms. Danvers.”
Kara crinkled her nose, crossing her arms. “So I’m the one who has to do it?”
“Yes. If it helps, just remind yourself that you are a good person, maybe the kindest amongst all of us. As long as you feel bad about this, you’re sure to stay on the right side.” Martin said with a warm smile.
“Guys… Time to move or we’ll be late for the big party.” Mick declared, heading toward the entrance of the building.
Martin and Jefferson merged once again in Firestorm and flew away. Kara looked for a place to hide as she waited for the signal to start the fire. While she was stirring some dark thoughts, she heard Mick singing in the distance with his deep voice. “Cause baby you’re a firewoooork… Come and show 'em what you're worth”. It brought a smile to her face and she decided to keep this information to tease him later.
Back at the base, everything was ready for the attack and they were just waiting for the fire squad’s return. As planned, Oliver had contacted Quentin Lance who in return had contacted the SCPD to spread the alert to the local authorities. He did the same with his journalist girlfriend while dodging her questions regarding his absence in the mayor’s office for a week now. The police and firemen should already be on alert and the journalists in search of intel on the incoming terrorist attack.
Felicity and Cisco - with the help of Nate for the historical background and John for the first hand field information - were quite busy creating a terrorist group from scratch and making it realistic enough to raise some red flags if anyone ever tried to dig deeper. Nate came up with the idea of a sister organization of New Order and Felicity decided to name it Blue Monday, injecting a lot of references to the song in their messages. They were still discussing the topic when Mick and Firestorm showed up without Kara.
Oliver and Barry welcomed them and asked if they had already started the fire. Suddenly, Lena rushed in their direction, interrupting the conversation. “Why is Kara not with you?”
“Don’t worry, she’s waiting for the signal to start the fire at the cement factory.” Barry replied.
Lena turned to Mick. “And why pray tell didn’t you stay with her like it was planned, Mr. big muscles, small brain?” She crossed her arms and looked at him sternly.
“Hey, relax, Mrs. big mouth, small smile.” Mick answered. “Skirt can take care of herself.”
“I know that, but it’s a God we’re facing, not a rogue alien. If anything, any-thing, happens to her, I will hold you, and you…” Lena pointed at Firestorm, “responsible. You’ll learn not to never make a Luthor angry.”
Firestorm turned to Barry and Oliver for support. The first one seemed to be embarrassed and the second one was making his famous lone ranger poker face.
“The whole place was starting to be crowded with Police cars, looks like the message Oliver sent spread rather quickly.” Firestorm explained, since the others didn’t seem to be willing to help. “We thought it was better to leave before more cops show up.”
“You should have waited for Wally to join at least but what’s done is done.” Oliver stated. “Wally, go meet Kara and tell her to send the plan into motion.”
Wally nodded before running out of the building.