" what was under all that armour, all that anger? more anger, and more armour. anger and armour, all the way down " | lev grossman |
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CENTRAL CITY; 2016
Onryō was a force to be reckoned with and Barry Allen both adored and feared her.
The world was known to ruin those who occupied it and it had already ruined Onryō but Onryō had come back snarling and bleeding and the world would have to watch out, because Onryō wasn't afraid anymore. She could defy every law of the universe if she felt like it; gravity did not control her. She was her own galaxy, full of exploding stars and endless possibilities. Barry thought that perhaps he was lucky to know her.
"Changing of the guard?" Onryō asked when Barry opened the door to her apartment and walked in, "really, make yourself at home. You always do."
"No-one's guarding you," Barry said as he picked an old grey sofa to sit on, it was soft but cold underneath him. Everything that came into contact with Onryō was cold.
Onryō was sitting opposite of Barry on a larger, much nicer looking sofa, she had her feet propped up on the coffee table in the middle of their two chairs. Her thin, dark eyes were narrowed as she sipped her tea.
"You're not some sort of prisoner," Barry argued, feeling like a broken record. He'd lost count on how many times he had told her that, but Onryō never seemed to listen.
"But you watch me as if I am one. Tell me, am I a murderer or have I secretly been the hero all along? Because that's some classic M. Night Shyamalan shit. You know, I'm sick and tired of this inner conflict you have with yourself."
"There's good in you, Onryō."
"Not as much as you think, Barry Allen."
Barry barked out a laugh, dry and pained, "God! What is with you and Snart? Every second chance you get you throw away."
"Does that make you angry?" Onryō asked with a smile, "are you upset? You gonna get all weepy on me? Little Barry Allen, Crazy Barry Allen, the Boy No-One Believed -- it's time to drop the hero act with the lost causes. I already told Caitlin -- I like the killing, the bloodshed, the dancing around you while you convince yourself you can cure me. You let me out of my cage and I will kill again. How's that for your 'there's still good in you' shtick?"
Despite every rational part of his brain screaming at him not to, Barry Allen still believed Onryō was capable of some degree of goodness, just as he believed Leonard Snart was more than a criminal. Maybe it was naivety, or maybe Barry could just see past what Snart and Onryō wanted the world to see. People were easy to trick, they often saw one side of someone and assumed it was all of them.
