Chapter 14
Back in the other building, Ray had joined Oliver and helped him get rid of the minions in the area. Once it was clear, he gave the gun to his friend.
“Cover me, Ray.” Oliver ordered. “Barry, I’m in position. What’s my signal?”
While Ray gained some altitude to cover Oliver’s position, Barry answered in short sentences, the communication becoming jerky as he fought Savitar. “Ok… I’ll… I’ll need to get faster… and … I’ll send a lightning bolt… to Savitar… when you see the light… Savitar should be between us…. That’s your… signal!”
“Okay.” Oliver stood still as he stared in front of him, ready to shoot. After a few seconds, he caught a glimpse of light to his left and without missing a bit, he fired the gun in that direction. For a fraction of a second, he saw the impact of the laser on Savitar’s shield and was able to perceive the God’s silhouette. “Нам пиздец!” He exclaimed.
“What? Is he speaking Russian now or something?” Ray asked over the intercom.
“He is and I don’t really want to translate that …” Lena answered him. “But to put it nicely, he said that we are pretty much screwed.”
“What’s wrong, Oliver?” Felicity questioned with worry in her voice.
“I… I had a glimpse of that… thing.” Oliver paused. “It’s nothing human. It’s... You should be happy it’s invisible.”
“Guys…” Barry interrupted. “It worked… it worked for a few seconds… but… but Savitar seems to recover… pretty fast. We need…something more… more powerful… Any ideas?” The intercom went silent for a moment as everyone tried to figure out a solution while Barry kept fighting Savitar.
Mick was the first one to answer. “We need a bigger gun!”
“Men and big guns….” Sara muttered. “Oliver already has one of the most dangerous guns on this earth.”
While they were discussing their possible plan, Oliver continued to shoot in coordination with Barry’s lightning bolts, hoping the constant assault would weaken Savitar’s shield enough to break it.
“It’s working… I can… see that he’s… a slightly… slower… *ouch*… but it’s like… trying to calm down a… raging bull with a Taser.” Barry said.
“Maybe we just need a bigger power source for the gun.” Ray suggested, still keeping the minions at bay in order to give Oliver enough space to shoot.
“We can’t use our generator; it’s already in bad shape and we need it for the Power Shaker.” Cisco stated.
“And we already calibrated the gun for its optimal use. More energy would probably destroy the weapon and its power source. Trust me, you don’t want to be anywhere near that when it explodes.” Lena added.
“It’s a risk we have to take, Barry can only stand against Savitar for so long. We have to take him down as soon as we can. Whatever the cost. Find a solution.” Oliver replied.
“Barry, I have an idea but it won’t be easy. Can you fight Savitar without the Scarab for a few seconds?” Ray asked.
“A few more punches… and… he should be weak enough… I think.” Barry answered, still fighting Savitar in sync with Oliver. “Why?”
“Ok, so here’s the plan: I’m gonna take the Scarab from Barry when he is ready and I’ll shrink it with me in order to connect it directly to the gun power source.” Ray explained. “With the additional power, the blow should be enough to destroy Savitar’s force field.”
“No, no, no… there should be another way.” Felicity argued. “It could put you, Oliver and Barry in danger. Hell, the explosion might even wipe out the whole building!”
“If that’s the price to pay…” Oliver said simply.
“I’m the one… who brought this all… on you.” Barry jumped in. “As long as… everyone else is okay… I’m ready to… face the consequences...”
“We all knew the risks, Felicity.” Ray stated.
“There SHOULD be another way!” Felicity insisted, trying to come up with another idea.
“Don’t worry, they know what they are doing.” John declared. “Ok everyone, let’s try to give them some time to work on this plan. Push the minions as far away as you can from Ray and Oliver!”
Knowing that it was probably their last and only chance to defeat Savitar, everyone redoubled their efforts and the whole fight renewed with intensity. Lena, Sara and Firestorm had been able to push the minions back to the staircase where Vixen, with the spirit of the rhinoceros got rid of most of them. Nate had joined Ray and Oliver to take care of the minions around them while John was covering him. Thea and Mick were watching the building entrance, struggling to prevent more men from entering.
Finally, after a few more minutes, Barry threw one last punch to Savitar and ordered Oliver to shot “Ok. I think he’s out for a few seconds.” He shouted, removing the Scarab from his chest and handed it to Ray. “Do your best!”
Ray didn’t waste any time and shrank with the Scarab in his hand.
The battle between Barry and Savitar resumed. Oliver was standing still in the middle of the chaos, trying to focus, knowing he would only get one shot. His focus shifted a little when he heard Ray’s voice in the intercom. “It’s in place. But I can’t leave the gun or it might not work. Good luck everyone…”
“Oliver… Get ready!” Barry yelled.
Oliver took a deep breath, waiting for the flash of light to pull the trigger. “I’m sorry, for everything, Felicity…” He whispered in the radio. Then, a lightning and Oliver shot.
White. Everything went white. The silence was deafening. The first one to wake up was Barry since Savitar had absorbed most of the deflagration. He was lying on a pile of rubble near the entrance and it took him some time to regain consciousness, slowly realizing he was, in fact, not dead. After a couple more minutes, he found the strength to stand and started looking for his teammates.
His eyes fell on Savitar, face down on the side, then he noticed Oliver and Ray lying on their back underneath Nate’s body. The man had probably shielded them against the explosion at the last moment. He looked for his other friends but they were all out of sight. Barry quickly pressed his intercom. “Is… Is everyone okay?” No answer. He started to head toward the welcome office where Felicity and Cisco should be. Since they were the furthest from the explosion, they should be awake now. He asked again if anyone could hear him but then realized their radio might have fried after the explosion. He was nearly at the welcome office door when he heard a loud noise, like metal scratching on concrete. He turned around only to see Savitar kneel down and look at his armor.
“NOOOOO. It’s impossible!” The speed God screamed. Before Barry got a chance to react, Savitar was heading toward the entrance where some of his minions had gathered just before the explosion.
“Guys! Wake up! It’s not finished yet! I need your help!” Barry shouted. He rushed toward Savitar, ready to fight him again. He slowed down when his intercom crackled and everyone seemed to come back to life. He recognized the voice of Thea and Mick, then John, Lena, Sara and Vixen. Then, from the back of the building, Cisco and Felicity declared in chorus. “The control is fried.”
His joy was short lived when his eyes landed on Savitar again. Something strange was happening between the speed God and the minions close to him. “Guys, that’s not good… I think he is… well… absorbing the very small amount of speed force his minions have to regenerate himself. We have to act quickly!”
Lena groaned in pain as she slowly moved to sit. She looked around and saw a lot of bodies lying on the floor. The last thing she remembered was reaching out for Kara’s hand before everything went blank. When she noticed Sara grab her weapon and kill some of the minions before they could wake up, she realized the fight wasn’t over yet. She had to push through the ache in her body and keep helping her teammates. She stood up and quickly pressed the emergency button on the machine to release everyone. Since the Scarab and the control were fried, there was no reason to keep Kara and the others inside the pods. She shot a couple of minions that were starting to wake up before standing in front of Kara as the woman slowly opened her eyes. Lena smiled softly. “Hey.”
Kara blinked, clearly confused until her eyes locked with Lena’s. She smiled. “Hey back.”
“How are you feeling?” Lena questioned, cupping the woman’s cheek.
“Disoriented…” Kara stepped out of the pod just when a minion was thrown against the wall next to them. The blonde seemed to snap out of her daze, moving closer to Lena to protect her and make sure she wasn’t hurt. “Are you okay? What’s going on? Is Savitar gone?” She scanned the room, Wally and Jay looked confused and her friends were fighting Savitar’s minions.
“I’m fine but the fight isn’t over. Barry needs you. Savitar’s force field had been destroyed but he’s still fighting.” Lena explained.
Kara nodded and quickly got rid of the minions around them. Once she was sure everyone was okay, she flew downstairs to help Barry, Wally and Jay following close behind.
Now that Savitar was visible, Barry, Kara, Wally and Jay were fighting him, trying to find a weak spot to take him down for good.
“We’re still not strong enough to destroy him, it’s like he’s regenerating his powers as we fight him.” Barry declared after barely avoiding a hit.
“How?” Kara asked just before Savitar punched her. She slid all the way to the other building, her body stopping a few feet from Mick.
“What are you doing, Skirt?” Mick asked as he stared at the woman on the floor. “If you find it too hard for you, you can sit back on the substitute’s bench while I show you how it’s done!”
Kara slowly stood up, trying to catch her breath. “The machine had weakened me, my powers aren’t fully back yet.”
“You need to tank up, Skirt?” Mick said as he handed Kara a flask. “Secret family’s recipe moonshine, also used to start Russians motorbikes.”
Kara frowned and pushed the flask away. “Eww. No, Thanks.”
“Your call!” Mick shrugged and took a sip from the flask before shaking his head. “Good, I can’t even feel my feet anymore…”
“Too bad you can still use your tongue!” Lena declared, rushing down the stairs before joining them. “Are you okay, Kara?” She asked, rubbing the woman’s arm.
“I’m… I’m okay, it’s just… The power shaker had drained more energy from me than I thought.” Kara replied.
“We still have the solar lamps if you need to recharge.” Lena suggested.
“It will take too long… and in this state, I’m not very useful either.” Kara stated. She clenched her fists angrily, she hated feeling useless.
“If the sunlamps aren’t enough for your tan, then you should go for the real thing.” Mick glanced at the roof as if he could see the sun.
“But I can’t leave. I won’t let everyone fight without me. Besides, I haven’t tried it before, I know my cousin did it a few times but…” Kara hesitated.
“You can and you will.” Lena assured, squeezing her fiancée’s shoulder in support. “Now go, I’ve got an idea!” She kissed Kara’s cheek before pushing her gently toward the exit.
Kara nodded. “Please stay safe.” And with a woosh, she was gone.
“I’m feeling a bit weak too…” Mick declared, pretending to feel dizzy as he leaned in Lena’s direction.
“Nice try, butterscotch!” Lena smirked, punching his shoulder before calling everyone in the intercom. “Guys, I have an idea. Kara is unavailable for a short period but she’ll come back soon. Barry, Jay and Wally, can you take care of Savitar? I need Ray with me.”
“We’ll try!” Barry answered.
“But make it quick!” Wally added.
“Okay then, Ray, come with me to the pods, Cisco, Felicity, join us as fast as you can. I’ll explain everything once you’re here.” Lena ordered.
Lena’s plan was simple, the pods were designed to drain the energy of the host. Since it had weakened Kara, it should have the same impact on Savitar, draining the last bit of his power. Of course, it was easier said than done. The control was fried, the power source was nearly empty and the Scarab was destroyed, meaning the drained energy would have nowhere to go.
“We don’t need the Scarab.” Cisco declared. “We can use the extracted energy and redirect it to power the machine itself, creating an infinite loop of exponential power. At some point, the power shaker will reach its critical mass and BOUM!”
“It could work but the pods are on the first floor and it won’t be easy to drag Savitar up here.” Felicity noted.
“That’s why we need Ray,” Lena answered. “Once we fix the power shaker, he’ll carry it downstairs.”
“But we still have to push Savitar inside and keep him there long enough to shut him down.” Cisco pointed out.
“One problem at the time,” Lena stated. “Let’s start with modifying the pod because if we can’t make it work, we won’t have to worry about that part.”
The four scientists started working on the pod, salvaging parts from the control and the power station, while Cisco kept comparing them to the A-Team.
“I’m not sure I appreciate the comparison.” Lena said with a frown.
“Me neither. Besides they’re all men!” Felicity added.
“Maybe you can be the new version of Ghostbusters.” Ray offered amused.
“Safety lights are for dudes…” Felicity joked.
“Safety lights are for dudes!” Lena answered with a chuckle, high-fiving the blonde as she remembered the quote from the movie Kara made her watch.
“Hey, nerds, it’s not tea time, hurry up, we have incoming.” Sara interrupted, unsheathing her sword as more minions reached their floor.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team got rid of the remaining minions, trying to stay away from the speedsters still fighting Savitar.