Tiger Stripes and Lightening Strikes

3: Glimpse

True to his word, Diddy had certainly updated the security of his warehouses. Barry could barely hear Cisco and Caitlin's voices in his ear over the screeching wail of a siren. Flashing, red lights illuminated the bitter darkness. Barry slunk through the winding corridors and faltered. A huge set of double doors opened into a shimmering haze of a force field. It crackled and spat, incinerating any dust particle that strayed too close.

Barry pressed the flash symbol over his ear. "Diddy has a force field around his produce," he spoke softly, his eyes scanning the corridors.

"He's taken it up a notch," Cisco purred in Barry's ear. "So long as the field is up, the stock is safe."

"Our scanners are detecting some fast moving heat signatures on the north side of the build-," Caitlin didn't get to finish her sentence before Barry had slipped into Flash Time. He whooshed past guards and security, sliding to a halt in an empty corridor. "-ding," Caitlin's sentence finished.

Barry's body froze. There were no lights. They had been ripped from the wall. The stench of burning flesh made his hair stand on end. At the opposite side of the corridor, was a hulking shadow. It was at least double the height of him. Low, rumbling snarls emitted from the beast. It turned slowly, footsteps plodding on the cold ground. A pair of golden eyes glowed in the dark as the only clear thing he could see. The pupils tightened to slits.

"I've found... something," Barry whispered into his com. "A big something." The beast lowered itself down onto all fours, the snarling fierce enough to rattle his bones.

"Be careful," Iris warned. "We don't know what this thing is capable of."

"Murder. It's capable of murderer," Cisco chipped in and a distinctive thwack echoed down the line followed by a pained mew.

Creeping closer to it, Barry kept his arms up in surrender. "What are you?" he murmured. His brows pulled into a frown. "Are you a meta?" Only agitated snarls responded.

Barry crept closer. His heart was racing in his chest, the blood pulsing through his ears. "Look, whatever has happened to you, we can help," Barry tried to reason. The lumpy shadow shifted towards him.

They both advanced, until only a single beam of dust speckled moonlight separated them. "You don't need to kill people," he whispered. The creature slunk into the light. Vibrant, orange fur was striped with black. Golden eyes were locked onto him. "I've met metas like you before," Barry told it calmly, emerging from the darkness into the moonlight. "I can help."

The creature tilted its head to one side. Barry reached a shaky hand out towards it.

A nearby screech made Barry jolt. He barely had time to duck before the tiger beast threw itself over Barry's head and through the window. Glass shattered, spraying everywhere.

"Wait!" Barry cried, zooming out after it. His eyes frantically scanned his surroundings. Startled birds flew off into the night with terrified screeches. There was a shadow glaring down at him from the roof tops. One with perfectly golden eyes. Barry utilised his speed, racing up the wall after it. By the time he was at the top, it was already moving. The tiger beast leapt like a cricket from roof to roof, crossing huge distances in one bound. Although Barry was faster, it took him longer to cross the gaps.

"It's a tiger beast," Barry spoke into his comm. "I think it was listening to me."

"A were tiger?" Cisco's voice hitched. "Every day we stray closer to a D and D world, and I, for one, am not mad about it." Barry rolled his eyes.

The creature fluctuated between speeds and directions.

"Barry, it's heading for the city centre," Iris's panicked voice rang out in his ears.