The Great Escapes

[run_barry]

Since Yamato offered to come to Central City and help with the epidemic crisis, things have been crazy, but handling them has been a whole lot easier now that Barry isn't operating alone.

He even got some rest in, on Yamato's orders, and they've got a bit of down time as far as emergencies in the city go so they're using it to work on other problems.

While Yamato recalibrates the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite to track the new meta they suspect is behind a whole bunch of the crime, and a death-trap or two set for Barry, Barry is getting his science nerd-amateur virologist on, trying to find a cure to the bug that has so much of the City down; including his team.

Sitting at a desk in the Cortex, Barry works away with a microscope taking notes on a tablet. Beside him are several boxes of chicken nuggets which he's working through, with a few empty ones already in the waste bin nearby.

In the middle of the space on the floor GP the porg is munching on shrimp treats while bopping around an inflatable S.T.A.R. Labs beach ball.

Comments

[run_barry]

"Seriously, you're the worst," Barry replies, flinching and ducking when that drone piece hits and goes flying off.

"WOAH!"

Looking back at the robot with wide eyes, Barry's expression grows even more alarmed when the robot gears up to fire again and he runs, racing back up to the catwalk.

"How the heck am I supposed to stop something specifically designed to kill me?" he asks Yamato urgently.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"You're so cruel," Yamato replies, reasonably. "I thought I was your very favourite Chosen."

Ex-Chosen. Whatever.

He's relieved to see Barry avoid the lasers, although it doesn't let on in his voice at all.

"Look on the bright side, this is apparently the incomplete version," he says, dryly. A moment later, he adds: "Keep dodging for now. Don't stop moving. Give me a few minutes and I'll -- think of something. Everything has a weakness somewhere."

Apparently those short bursts don't require as much recharging, as the robot swings up to point at the catwalk (prompting another barked command from Yamato) and fires four more volleys, spread out over a twenty metre line.

[run_barry]

"Nope, it's definitely one of the others now," Barry replies.

That recharge is indeed quick, and catches Barry by surprise.

"Oh, geez!" Barry runs again, dodging one blast by racing along the catwalk and then stopping in his tracks just in time to avoid running straight into another.

His arms go up to shield from the bright flare of the blast and he backs up a few quick steps to avoid flying slag.

"Think fast!" he shouts at Yamato, starting to run again before the robot can fire more.

Barry is just going to keep on avoiding laser fire and hurling things at K.I.L.L.F.L.A.S.H., hoping to turn up a weak spot or something.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Well, now you've just hurt my feelings, you mean old man, you."

The things Barry hurls at K.I.L.L.F.L.A.S.H. rebound off its shield with great force, and while it responds by firing another concentrated laser blast, it's slow enough that it misses Barry by a fair margin.

"Okay," Yamato says, after that blast. "I think I've got something. Just when it fires its lasers, that shield it has powers down for just over half a second. If you can use that time to get behind it, you can hit that generator on its back."

Beat.

"But if you're even just a little too slow, you'll run straight into the shield and be pulverised."

[run_barry]

"If I'm crotchety it's because of you," he replies.

Hearing out Yamato's plan while frisbeeing a saw blade at K.I.L.L.F.L.A.S.H. and watching it ricochet off to stick into the side of a conveyor belt, Barry frowns.

"That's a really tight window, man," Barry says, ducking low to let a laser blast go by over his head. "Are you sure?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"I guess it's only natural for you to be grumpy and resentful of younger guys like me," Yamato says, very gravely. "Jealousy's a completely normal emotion to feel in your twilight years."

He frowns a little, and runs the numbers in his head again, just to make sure.

"Yeah, I'm sure," he says. "Think you can do it?"

[run_barry]

Barry would love to throw a retort back to that, but he's suddenly busy running for his life.

"WHOA!"

Outrunning a new stream of lasers, he takes cover behind a large piece of machinery, considering this new crazy plan.

"I guess being pulverized would beat being fried by lasers so, yeah... yeah I can do it."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"I have faith that you can do this. You've not let me down yet, after all," Yamato says. "Tell me when you're ready, I'll keep an eye on when that robot is going to fire and tell you when to move."

[run_barry]

Barry crouches low and peers out from his spot, trying to catch a glimpse of the generator on the scary robot's back.

Just past K.I.L.L.F.L.A.S.H.'s feet Barry spies something on the ground, and he nods to himself.

"Okay, I'm ready." Pulling in a deep breath, he holds his position; drawing together the energy and speed he needs for the burst necessary to make this work.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

K.I.L.L.F.L.A.S.H. turns towards him, angling all of its guns in his direction, and there's a whine as it charges them up, low at first, then louder and shriller.

"Hold," Yamato murmurs, as it charges. "Hold."

At the moment the whining stops, he barks a quick: "Now!"

Just as he's finishing the word, the robot fires off its guns in one massive, bright red beam.

[run_barry]

Barry's tensed, practically vibrating with it as he holds; listening to the sound of the charge building.

He launches into motion on Yamato's order, streaking out from behind cover and racing in a loop around to the backside of the robot.

The red glow of laser fire is just starting to brighten the air around the robot's guns when Barry leans down to scoop up the wrench he'd tried to use earlier.

That glow grows brighter as all of the beams merge into one and start streaming forward as one massive blast while Barry closes the distance.

The beam strikes the hunk of machinery Barry had been behind while Barry jumps into the air and comes down hard on the generator on the back of K.I.L.L.F.L.A.S.H. with the wrench, swinging down with both arms to deliver a speed-backed blow.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

The generator is heavy looking, sturdy even, but a superspeed blow with a heavy wrench is enough to cleave a line halfway through it, leaving a jagged, sparking gash. K.I.L.L.F.L.A.S.H. stumbles forward with a loud, infuriated beep, its laser fizzling out as it struggles to keep itself upright on its spidery legs.

It stumbles forward several meters, nearly falls, but as it rights itself, there's a shimmer in the air around it as the shield around it goes back up. For a few seconds, it seems almost like it was unharmed, or at least that it can go on fighting. Then the shield crackles bright blue-green, shifts colours to reddish-violet, and finally, with an explosion of sparks from the generator, collapses in on itself with enough force that, when the flash of light fades, most of what's left of the robot is just twisted, burnt metal, separated into several different pieces.

Yamato actually does breathe an audible sigh of relief this time.

"Good job, Gramps."

[run_barry]

After landing the blow Barry runs for cover. His last hiding spot is red glowing slag now, so he takes cover behind a workbench, watching the robot struggle from there.

For a moment his heart drops out when he sees the shield come back on and the robot draw itself together. The change in colors is a surprise and Barry ducks down when the sparks erupt and K.I.L.L.F.L.A.S.H. finally bites the dust.

Cautiously coming around to inspect the robot from a safe distance, Barry drops the wrench he'd held onto just in case and lets out his own sigh.

"I'm so over fighting robots, dude."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"But I was going to get Cisco to build an angry Yamatobot for your birthday," Yamato says, a little plaintively. Shaking his head, he adds: "Don't worry, that should be the last one. All that's left is two dudes, you can deal with them easily."

He flicks his hands over the computer, quickly taking control of the security doors and elevator, when he spies something on his monitor.

"Power's going out in the control room. Looks like they're shutting everything down to make a run for it," he says. "If I lower the elevator, is it wide enough for you to run down? That'll give you back the element of surprise and some momentum as you deal with them."

The elevator in question is pretty wide, built not just for people but also for large amounts of cargo.

[run_barry]

"You're so not my favorite Chosen," Barry declares, drawing himself up for what he's hopes is the last battle.

"Two dudes. Easy."

Hearing Camera Commander is on the run brings urgency back to Barry, and he nods to Yamato's suggest before voicing a reply.

"I think so. Do it, we can't let this guy get away."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"You wound me. Cuts deep, man. Feels bad."

He sounds cheerful enough about it.

There's the sound of some furious typing over the comms, and then the elevator drops, a lot more sharply than it ascended, with several crashing sounds, leaving an open shaft leading directly down to the control room, and the distant sounds of two people trying to very hurriedly pack everything of value up.

"There."

[run_barry]

"We catch these guys without anymore fuss and I'll put you back on top of the list," Barry promises, rushing for the open elevator shaft.

The feat isn't exactly as easy as he thought it would be, and he definitely stumbles a bit on the way down, but he gets it sorted out before the bottom and exists in a whoosh.

"Hey, Commander!" he shouts. "What's you're hurry?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Ya-a-ay," Yamato says.

He's fairly confident that Barry has this handled, and he doesn't have eyes on the control room anyway, so he settles back in his seat to watch the camera feeds he can see, just to make sure no drones are sneaking down the shaft.

(There are, he's pleased to find, no sneaking drones.)


The smaller man in the control room, middle-aged, curly haired, immediately makes a break for the door on the far side of the room, starting to shakily tap in a code.

The other -- larger, one of the escapees from before, currently overburdened with several bags full of stuff, starts trying to put down everything in his hands as quickly as possible so that he can reach for the gun on his hip.

[run_barry]

"No one ever just surrenders," Barry tsks quietly before streaking forward.

"Here, let me help you," he says, coming to a stop in front of the big guy carrying everything.

In a rush Barry removes everything from the man's grasp, including the bags, his gun, belt and his pants by unfortunate result of taking the belt, which Barry uses to tie the guy up with.

Leaving the man where he's at, Barry takes off after the Commander. Barry's a touch slow in reaching Camera Commander, but that's by design.

As soon as the door pops open Barry is there, grabbing CC by the collar and propping the door open with his foot.

"Not so fast there, guy."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Barry, didn't anyone ever tell you not to play with your food," Yamato remarks, and there might be the faint sound of him spinning in his desk chair, just for a second.

CC just freezes up nervously, apparently unwilling to struggle or even just move at all. "Listen, if you let me go I will absolutely not bother you or anyone again and I'll just leave and go to Starling Ci -- actually not there, maybe Coast City and I won't cause any problems and ..."

He shows no sign of stopping or slowing down.

[run_barry]

"I'm not," he denies to Yamato. "But after everything I thought this part would be hard."

Barry listens to the man's rambling, shaking his head.

"Seriously, dude? You've been trying to kill me this whole time." And Barry is having a hard time believing, and is actually kind of disappointed, that this is the guy.

"You definitely do not wanna set up digs in Starling," Barry assures the man. "C'mon, let's go join your buddy and you can tell it all to CCPD when they get here."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"I think after he sent out the anti-you robot, he was pretty much out of tricks," Yamato remarks, shaking his head. "All right, he's not in the system anymore, so I can take this place off lockdown and unlock all the doors. I'll send an alert over to CCPD."

There's a pause, and the distant sound of many, many doors opening, even if the vents all remain stubbornly shuttered.

"Oh, and you might want to run the guy up here to a hospital," he says, just a tiny bit sheepishly. "It's nothing life-threatening or anything, but he ended up with a few broken bones from our fight."

Nose, jaw, possibly a few ribs.

[run_barry]

Hearing all of the doors opening up, Barry lets go of the one he caught, assured now that they can get out of this place.

"C'mon, let's go sit down with your buddy," he tells Camera Commander, walking him over to sit with the escapee. Barry finds a long piece of loose cord and uses that to tie the Commander up with.

Hearing Yamato, Barry brows lift, "Say what now?"

With the two bad guys secured Barry leaves them to run back up to Yamato.

"Okay, so now what-- dude are you alright?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato stands up and holds up his hands placatingly as soon as Barry arrives and asks that. "It looks worse than it is. Head wounds are just messy, that's all."

There's no point demurring now that there isn't any risk of distracting Barry from taking down CC, so he adds: "I was in a rush to finish things and got sloppy, and dude got in a hit with a baseball bat," he says, tapping the gash on his forehead, "but I'm fine. It isn't even bleeding anymore."

[run_barry]

Barry gives Yamato a Look.

"How is getting clubbed in the head with a bat fine?" Raising his hand, he waves off the question. "We'll get you checked out when we get back."

Be ready for tests and scans, Yamato.

Looking down at the tied up escapee, Barry asks, "Now what's up with this guy? You whack him back?"

Barry's starting to regret having left, but there wasn't any choice, Yamato did handle things, and everyone is alive. So... in the end it's not so bad.