starlaboratories | A wild Bart Allen appears!

A wild Bart Allen appears!

"Run, Flash, RUN!"

Those were his last conscious words, his whole being as the Speed Force poured from him into his grandfather, giving him everything he had, everything he'd taken from every other speedster, that last push he needed to finish things. Bart knew he was lost, but this would let the world, everything he fought for, his grandfather, win. That was the important thing.

He'd never expected to feel anything. To live. Except...something had happened, and the Speed Force spat him out, all the worse for wear. That was the only thing he could guess. No, wait, this place...he’s never been here. Bart knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he would remember every place he’s been. This place is new, different. It feels subtly off, or is that just the way he feels his connection to the Speed Force?

There really is only one thing to do, and that’s gather information, learn, find out if he’s alone or if there’s anyone else he knows here. Making certain his cowl is firmly in place, Bart Allen, better known as Kid Flash steps out to see what he can see.

"Star Labs, huh? I wonder if Val is here..." he muses aloud.

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"It always felt like all they wanted was to study me," Bart said. "Nobody likes being a lab rat."

She looks up at him.

“A lab rat? That’s. That’s not what the Star Labs back home is about. They’re all about scientific betterment. Like I’m starting to create different prosthetics for metas who have—“

She stops because no one wants to hear her ramble about science.

"They weren't trying to be underhanded about it or anything. But my case is, well, unique, even among speedsters, not that there are many of those," Bart said. "It just brought back bad memories of the Earthgov scientists when I was younger."

“Earth gov?”

Her heart goes out to him.

“I know I’m not affiliated with any of those scientists but I’m so sorry that you went through that.”

"Time stuff. I was originally born a long time from now. At least, what looks like now. 21st century, unless you're really into retro stuff."

"Oh, I'm from 2047," she explains. "The STAR Labs I know looks nothing like this and it definitely isn't owned by ARGUS. Even if you were a special case among speedsters, like you said, you wouldn't have been treated like a lab rat. Just...potentially recruited for Team Flash."

"Who's the Flash then? Wally? Iris?" Bart has to ask. It wasn't him, he knew that much. He'd...yeah.

"ARGUS? What do they have to do with anything?"

"There was a rumor that ARGUS bought out STAR Labs." She waves her hand a little and makes a face. "Kind of a big deal but not going to happen at all. And anyway, The Flash is Jay Garrick."

Crystal seems to perk up at that, excited to talk about the team she's helped.

"He works at STAR Labs. Mom and pops work there too. Kind of a place where I grew up."

"I knew Jay redefines well-preserved, but he was in his ninties at the turn of the millenium," Bart said, startled by that.

Crys lets out a laugh.

"His nineties? He's old, Kid Flash, but he's not that old. Maybe he is when you're from."

"He was the Flash before there was a Flash, as my grandpa put it. I lived with him and his wife in Denver for a while."

"You know Joan?" she asks. "I used to go to their house after school because the folks were working pretty often. Plus it was probably safer there than staying in our own house when they were beating up bad guys."

"Yeah, I do. I still remember her chiding me for dropping the phone to run over from California because she'd just made butter tarts. But they're totally worth it," Bart said. "And sometimes, when Jay was busy I'd be a plus-one for some of her society things. I tell you, that woman is cutthroat on the dance floor."

That gets her laughing.

"Those butter tarts are amazing. But I don't thin kI've danced with her yet."

Crys relaxes a little, glad to meet people who knew some similar people, at least.

"You've never had to learn how to do lifts and dips with a care for osteoporosis," Bart said, grinning. "But it was fun. How many kids learn the difference between a foxtrot and a fandango?"

"Oh I've got two left feet, so I would be a horrible date for her."

She can't help but grin back.

"I'm sure that comes in handy when you're out there."

"I think you just haven't found the right partner," Bart said, with an easy smile. Not that he expects to be the one, but still, it is true.

"Right partner?"

Crys raises her eyebrow as if silently asking if he was joking.

"No, I really can't dance. I've stepped on way too many toes to be considered a salvageable disaster. I'd rather put together new limbs for a meta who's constantly shifting form."

"Everyone steps on toes. It happens. It's about trust, reading what your partner is about to do to follow them when they do it. And having your hands in the right spots to feel the movements before they become big enough to see," Bart explained. "I mean, surgery is a dance, too, making sure you and the other technicians aren't in each other's way yet are still where you need to be to take care of things."

"I uh...haven't gotten to being in the surgery theatre yet. I barely started my medical program. And it's getting pretty intense. But no cutting up. Yet. Except for Operations the game. Let me tell you, Killer Frost is a sore loser at that game."

"Killer Frost? I thought she was in prison." Not that he really kept a close eye on the minor Rogues. Maybe Pied Piper, although...

He'd worried about Hartley, for all that he'd been one of the ones at his death. It was hard to believe the guy who'd sat around a table and tried to teach him about the beauty of sound would really change like that.

Instantly, her good feeling is gone, and Crys stands up from her leaning position on a console.

"...Maybe she is on your earth. On my earth, she's just mom. She's paid her dues, she's a good guy now. Works with Team Flash."

"I never met her, on my earth. She wasn't one of the regulars, like Kadabra. People can be different. I didn't even think she could have kids, with such an advanced case of cryogenetic transformation."

"She did. I didn't ask for the details. Story goes that she and Firestorm got together after she cleaned up her act."

Crys gives a fond smile.

"Then I came along. It's almost like having three parents. Dad, Mom, and Aunt Frost. She's the one that would let me watch scary movies as a kid and have cake and ice cream for breakfast."

"Three parents? And I thought my childhood was weird." Bart isn't really sure what to say without having her get defensive.

"Hey, is there anything to eat around here? I could murder a pizza or ten."

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froststorm - 2018-01-16 07:04 (UTC) - Expand

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