Chapter 132: Reflections of War
The sound of shattering glass echoed through the halls of STAR Labs like a gunshot.
Cisco was the first through the door, eyes wide. Behind him came Caitlin, Wells, and even Nora, all stumbling into the room.
The scene was surreal.
Barry stood frozen. Dante beside him, still gripping the pocketknife.
On the floor—shards of glass. Dozens. Hundreds. Glittering in the light like a broken lake.
"What the hell, man?" Cisco said, his voice high with alarm. "Did you just—what happened?"
Caitlin's eyes scanned the room, the tension in her posture growing. Nora stared at her father with confusion.
Dante exhaled, tired already. "Tell them, Barry."
Barry swallowed hard, then turned to face them.
"It wasn't Patty," he said. "It was… something else. Something pretending to be her. A mirror version."
Silence.
Then Cisco blinked. "You're kidding, right?"
Wells adjusted his glasses and stepped forward, kneeling beside the scattered glass. He pulled out a scanning device from his coat.
As it beeped and whirred, his face darkened.
"This glass—it's infused with metahuman residue. Someone created this. This isn't just tech. This is… biological and dimensional manipulation."
Cisco crouched beside him, grabbing a shard with gloved fingers. "Okay. Okay. So let's do some big-brain math here. We're talking about a meta who can control mirrors. And not just control them—duplicate people through them. Voice, memories, emotional patterns…"
Caitlin looked around, her expression grim. "How long has that thing been impersonating Patty?"
Barry didn't speak. His jaw was clenched.
Too long, he thought. Way too long.
Dante finally stepped forward, brushing glass away with his boot. "You're all acting like we're back at square one. We're not. We've got exactly what we need to go in and find the real one."
They all turned to him.
"What do you mean?" Wells asked, frowning.
Dante pointed at Cisco. "He made a device last year. A thing to open a window—or a portal—into the Mirrorverse. Remember that?"
Cisco's eyes widened. "Oh my God…"
"You did build one?" Caitlin asked.
"Yeah, I did," Cisco said, standing up. "But it never worked. It was unstable. The readings were all over the place, and we didn't even have a proper energy source to power it. I built it more as a theory. It was just a side project, not something I thought we'd actually use."
"Well now it's not a side project," Dante said sharply. "Now it's our only damn chance. That thing in Patty's skin wasn't just lying—it was delaying. Buying time. For what? I don't know. But whatever this is, it's only getting worse. And she's in there. The real one."
Barry finally looked up. His eyes were hard now, clear. "We go in. We bring her back."
"Easier said than done," Wells muttered. "This isn't a physical realm like another Earth. This is a reflective dimension—chaotic, unstructured. The physics obey a different set of laws. It's like trying to walk through a living nightmare. That machine didn't work for a reason."
Dante shrugged. "It didn't work because back then, you built it for fun. For curiosity. Now we've got lives on the line. We've got blood spilled. It's different now."
He stepped forward, almost glaring at Cisco.
"So clean your nerd brains. Build it right this time. And fast."
Cisco blinked. "Clean our what now?"
"You heard me."
Nora let out a breath, nervous. "If we go in there… can we even come back?"
Wells tapped on the device again, glancing up. "If we build an anchor and a fixed return point, we could theoretically stabilize a two-way bridge."
Dante's eyes sharpened. "Then do it. I'll go in first if I have to."
Barry looked at him. "No. We go together."
Cisco looked between them both. "You two seriously willing to jump into a nightmare mirror world without a plan?"
Dante smirked. "That is the plan."
Caitlin crossed her arms. "We're going to need a power source. Something big. Stronger than the satellite grid."
Barry turned. "Gideon?"
They run there. Barry taped the wall and
The hidden door hissed open, revealing the A.I. core. Gideon's voice echoed calmly.
"Yes, Barry?"
"Can you divert energy from the Time Vault and redirect it into a dimensional stabilizer?"
"With proper calibration, yes. But I will require precise schematics from Mr. Ramon and Dr. Wells."
Wells nodded. "We'll have them."
Cisco was already pacing now, mind firing on all cylinders. "Okay, okay. So if we use Gideon to provide the energy, I can rebuild the dimensional tuner and connect it through the reflective neural interface I toyed with last summer…"
Caitlin's face softened with hope. "You can do it?"
Cisco's eyes gleamed with purpose. "We can do it."
---
Three hours later…
The Cortex had transformed into a war room. Tools scattered. Devices sparked. Wires draped from the walls.
The half-completed mirror portal hummed like a living heart.
Barry stood watching it while Dante sharpened a blade absentmindedly on a steel bar.
Caitlin walked over. "You're both really ready to walk into a dimension that might not obey any physical laws?"
Barry nodded. "If she's in there, I'll find her. I won't leave her behind "
Dante grinned. "Besides, I always wanted to fight my own reflection."
Nora watched from the doorway. "What if there's more than one copy in there?"
Cisco replied, not looking up from his soldering. "Then let's hope the real one remembers how to punch."
Wells raised his voice. "Thirty minutes. Then we're ready."
Dante's smile faded. He looked at the glass again. "You know," he muttered, "I've seen monsters before. Real ones. But something about that… thing… pretending to be someone's wife—someone they love—"
He stopped.
Barry finished it. "It's worse."
Dante nodded. "Much worse."
---
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