fightlikeialwayshave:
► So his city isn’t as closed off as he’d thought. Outside this illusion he lives behind so many walls that he’d formed the assumption of them carrying over. There is comfort in hiding yourself away; you are a danger to no-one and in turn they hold no influence on you. The assumption appears to be wrong, for the illusion has dropped a stranger into his city. The thought that he might be able to kick the human out does cross his mind but he puts a pin in it for later. Unknown factors are obstacles in the real world but here in this illusion he’ll grant himself a reprieve—a throwback to better times when he was allowed to indulge his curiosities. If there is one thing he appreciates from this illusion it’s the freedom he can’t normally partake in. ❝I wasn’t aware people could stumble in.❞ He can empathize somewhat with the stranger’s confusion. Far too many times has memory clouded perception. It feels familiar and you don’t know why, or even as the human said; the familiarity waxes and wanes. Out of said empathy he offers information. Arms unfold so one may indicate their surroundings. ❝This is an imitation of Central City.❞ For the most part. Crimson eyes then follow the human’s gesture, an eyeridge raising with a tilt of his head.
► Where are they from that doesn’t have – no, he can hear Rouge’s scolding in his head. He of all people shouldn’t judge someone’s unfamiliarity. And if he answers with snark he won’t get answers in return. So he turns back to face the human, looking up at them with a rather blank expression instead of frustration or annoyance. ❝City amenities. Normally they’re lit.❞ Should be enough of an answer for now. Information for information. Now it’s his turn. ❝Indulge my curiosity. I know of Chaos energy,❞ at which sparks begin to dance around an outstretched hand for several seconds before fading out—a demonstration. ❝but yours is only reminiscent. What is it?❞ His specialties lie in force, not tact. Curiosity acquiesced to means blunt questions out of the blue. This is why Rouge does the talking in their team.
"To be entirely honest, I didn't know that I could stumble in either," Barry admits. His heart leaps at the name. Central City. His home! His hopes are promptly squashed when Barry reminds himself that, no, it isn't. 'Central City' it may be called but it certainly isn't his own. He's fallen into another parallel universe, again. Only, this time, there's no Kara to help him out. Barry takes solace in the fact that he's a fair bit faster now than he was before. He should be able to get home on his own, this time.
Of course, it's troubling that he has no recollection of how he'd gotten here. The last time Barry had made an accidental jump from universe to universe, at least he'd been aware of it. He had been running. Things had gotten out of control, then suddenly he was in a different city with different faces and a girl who didn't seem to care that she was on fire.
Barry takes a hesitant half-step backward, instinctively flinching as Shadow raised his hand. Curiosity overtakes him quickly enough and he leans in the next second, peering at the sparks with all the open curiosity of a child. "Chaos Energy?" he echoes.
Yeah, he’s definitely on a different Earth.
"Mine?" He looks down at himself and thinks. "Ohh, you mean...? Hey, you can sense it?" he asks, enthused. Barry gives his head a shake, realizing that he's only asked questions himself instead of answering.
"Well, I don't know what Chaos Energy is. We don't have anything like that where I'm from. Uh, what you're sensing from me is probably the Speedforce," he explains. He darts in a quick circle around Shadow, lightning trailing after him in jagged lines of yellow-gold. "It's what lets me do, well, that," he says, with a crooked smile and a one-shouldered shrug.
"I was hit by lightning a couple years back. And fell on some chemicals. And the lightning itself was fueled with charge particles from an accelerator explosion in my city. My Central City," he explains, haltingly.
"After I came out of my coma..." Barry gestures widely and shrugs again. "I was this." He tips his head to the side, thoughtfully. "Soo, gotta admit: there aren't people that really look like you where I'm from either. I mean, I did have this run-in with a giant gorilla...and a shark man, but nothing like you. I just gotta ask...did a sort of particle accelerator explosion happen here too? To you? Or...?" Barry trails off, letting the question hang in the air.
