Adventure Of A Lifetime

Chapter 22 - I Have This Human Heart

***BARRY***

I thought Kara didn't like Taylor Swift. So when she's actually flying towards a speaker system that's playing her crappiest tune at maximum volume, I'm more than a bit worried. Especially when Conner flies up and joins her.

"What are you waiting for?" asks Diana. "We gotta go after them!"

Her insistent voice snaps me out of my daze, and I get ready to run. Before I take off, though, I stop to watch her crouch, draw her sword, and get ready to spring forward. She's about to cut whoever gets in front of her, so I slide a foot to the right before placing my hands on the ground next to my feet.

"You know what's happening?" I ask.

"Not a clue," says Caitlin.

"Clark's said something about this before," says Diana. Ahead, Kara and Conner sail over the outer edge of the stadium and soon pass out of sight. "He doesn't have musical dysplasia like the others do, but he's sometimes been...attracted to certain tunes. They pull on him, like magnets. Luthor must be exploiting that..." Her voice trails off, and she springs forward, finally. I take off running, looking up to see her practically gliding until she lands in front of the stadium gates at the same time that I reach them. Good thing I give her some space, because otherwise, she might accidentally cut me in half at the waist.

The crowd waiting to go in gasps at the sight of two superheroes in their midst. Cries of adoration ring out. "Oh my God, when did Wonder Woman get here?" "It's the Flash!" "No, it's not, where's his helmet?" That sort of thing.

I'd phase through the gate, but Diana can't do that, and I don't want to make her have to open the gate herself. Then the crowd might interpret that as a sign that they're clear to enter when they're really not.

I hold out my hand to Diana and look up at the outer wall towering above us. She nods, takes my hand, and holds on tightly as I run us back a little way, then forward and up and over the wall until we stop right on the edge of the nosebleed-section seats.

Last time I was here - on my own Earth, but still - it wasn't football season, but the joint was hopping because I'd Swiss-cheesed the fabric of the space-time continuum in Central City, and a redemptive Eobard Thawne lent me a hand taking all the near-infinitely-spawning Captain Colds, Heat Waves, and Golden Gliders back to where they came from. Of course, the joint wasn't hopping from the very moment my friends and I stepped in. At that very moment, it was empty, and so it is now, almost. Empty but for Kara and Conner descending to the ground in front of the temporary band shell set up on the field. Who's supposed to be doing the pre-game entertainment, I wonder? Not Sweet Tay, I'm pretty sure.

On that subject, I'm bummed to find out that there's at least one Earth that's just as scarily obsessed with her as mine.

"Kara!" I'm even more on edge when she doesn't even turn my way in response to me calling her. "Conner!" No more luck with him.

"Even I'm starting to get tired of this crap." Diana points her sword at the band shell. "The speakers, where are they?"

"On the sides."

"You get Kara and Conner. I'll destroy the sound system myself."

"You sure that's a good idea?" I ask.

"Taylor Swift makes me a dangerous woman." Diana flashes me a grin of steel. "Why couldn't they at least play some Beyoncé?"

"Then you wouldn't wanna destroy the equipment?"

"No, I'd just cut the power."

"Okay then..." I'm not much of a Beyoncé fan, but hey, whatever floats Diana's boat. "Count of three?"

"Sure, sure."

"One..." And we both take off, Diana taking a flying leap down to the field and me blazing past her, leaving what I'm pretty sure is a trail of burned grass between my initial point of contact and Kara's and Conner's positions, rapt in front of the band shell.

Not for long, not now that I'm pulling them away. And not a moment too soon, because Diana's busy wrecking the speakers until that annoying ear worm dies away completely. Thank God for her and her ancient sword. I'm assuming it's ancient, along with the rest of the armor she wears, but it doesn't look quite as aged.

Kara and Conner, however, look no less entranced after the music stops. Jesus, did Luthor put the whammy on them or what? What was his secret ingredient? No, scratch that - I'm not sure I want to know.

Speaking of Luthor, though...the stadium isn't so empty now. Out of nowhere, the lowest row of seats, all the way around the field, is filled with what looks like a bunch of commandos with green circles glowing on their chests. Kryptonite? I hope not.

"Kara? Conner?" I shake their shoulders gently. "Uh, now would be a good time for either or both of you to wake up...?"

They stare ahead, unblinking, like I'm holding up a pair of corpses. I know I'm not - I feel their heartbeats - but they're so still and lifeless all the same.

Until Kara's the first one to blink. "They're fake," she whispers.

"Glad to see you back," I say.

"That stupid song's still chasing its way around my head, but I can power through it." And power through it she does, punching through the air and flying towards the nearest bottom-row enemy.