Chapter 138 – Lightning Strikes Twice
With Eva gone and Nora having returned to the future, STAR Labs slowly drifted back into its familiar rhythm. The chaos had passed. For the first time in what felt like years, things were quiet.
Barry found comfort in this. So did Patty, who spent her days at the precinct and her evenings helping Caitlin and Cisco in the med bay. There was peace now—one that felt earned.
Before leaving, Nora had hugged everyone tight. She clung to Barry and Patty longer than the others, whispering soft words and wiping away tears neither of them wanted to shed. Her final hug was for Dante.
"You're the coolest uncle I never had," she told him with a grin.
Dante, flicking ash from his cigarette, gave her a crooked smirk. "Come back if you ever need someone to teach you how to win a bar fight."
Nora winked. "Only if you promise to stay out of trouble."
"I make no promises."
And then she was gone—back to her time, her team, and the legacy she was building.
As for Dante, life resumed as it always had.
He returned to the CCPD—sweeping floors, mopping blood, occasionally grumbling about cheap polish. His red hair was a mess as usual, and his ever-present headphones blasted music loud enough that even Kramer could hear the bass from her office.
Kristen Kramer wasn't pleased to see him.
"You've been gone over a year," she'd said sharply. "According to our reports, you disappeared mid-shift. No resignation. No explanation. And now you just... show up?"
Dante had only shrugged. "It's a long story."
She narrowed her eyes. "I should suspend you pending review."
But then came a call. A donation had been made to the department—generous, anonymous, and very well-timed. Kramer wasn't stupid. She recognized the name: Eva McCulloch Industries.
A quiet message came with it: "He saved me. Please let him stay."
And so, with no more resistance, Kramer allowed it.
Dante resumed his role like he'd never left. He kept his head down. He liked it that way. Peaceful. Quiet. No one asked questions. He was just the janitor again, and that was exactly how he wanted it.
Until that afternoon.
He was wiping down a bloodstained window in the back hallway of CCPD when he felt a light tap on his shoulder.
Turning, he was met by the sight of Eva.
She looked different—clean suit, sleek hair, a poise that spoke of boardrooms and power meetings. But her eyes were still soft.
Dante removed one headphone. "What brings you here, love?"
"I had to say something," Eva replied. "I promised to help you with anything. One call—that's all you needed. And I was expecting a request for a new home or a job as head of security. But instead, you asked to be reinstated as… a janitor?"
Dante grinned. "What can I say? I've got a thing for mops."
Eva raised an eyebrow. "You know I would've given you anything."
He leaned back against the mop handle. "I like it here. It's peaceful. No pressure. No one notices me. It's like I'm invisible."
Eva paused, trying to understand that mindset. She couldn't. But she smiled anyway. "Still the strangest man I've ever met."
Dante smirked. "Takes one to know one."
And that was when it happened.
The air shifted. It crackled—like a storm was forming inside the building. A shriek of wind tore through downtown Central City, and the lights in CCPD flickered violently.
Then came the sound. A buzzing—metallic, inhuman.
A white blur tore through the precinct doors.
He wore a pristine white suit with golden lightning insignias, no visible face, and his movements jittered unnaturally. He didn't speak. He didn't announce himself.
He simply appeared.
People screamed and scattered. Officers drew weapons, but the figure didn't flinch.
Dante stepped protectively in front of Eva, but the white speedster was already moving, faster than most could track.
Eva, eyes sharp, reacted on instinct. She summoned her mirror powers—shattering nearby glass and warping it into a jagged, protective barrier.
The speedster slammed into the mirror wall, trapped for a brief moment inside the reflective maze.
But it wasn't enough.
The creature vibrated—then screamed, a sharp digital sound that echoed through the building.
It broke free, shards of mirror flying in every direction. In a flash of white lightning, it lunged toward Eva.
Dante shoved her aside at the last second.
The speedster's fist struck him directly in the chest—hard enough to bend his ribs inward.
Dante was human now. No sped force no void force No powers. Just flesh and bone.
The impact sent him flying across the precinct. His body slammed into the wall and dropped to the floor, unmoving.
"DANTE!" Eva screamed, rushing to him.
His eyes were closed. Blood trailed from the corner of his mouth.
Eva turned back toward the white speedster, rage in her throat, tears brimming in her eyes—but she didn't have to act.
Because then… he came.
A blur of red lightning roared into the room, streaking past desks and shattered glass.
The Flash.
Barry had received Cisco's alert a second too late. Four Godspeeds were attacking downtown. He was holding them off, barely. But then came the fifth—this one—sneaking into CCPD.
Cisco had tracked his location just in time.
Barry burst through the entrance—only to witness what happened next:
Before he could move—before even he could blink—a second blur appeared.
Not white. Not gold.
Red.
But darker. Angrier. Like blood on fire.
A streak of crimson lightning struck the white speedster dead on—cutting through his body like a blade.
The Godspeed didn't even have time to react.
One second, he was upright.
The next, he was split clean in half—his body vaporized into smoke and digital static.
And just like that—the red blur was gone.
Eva stared at the space where the creature had been. Her heart was pounding.
Barry skidded to a stop next to her, his mask pulling back. "What the hell was that?"
Eva looked at Dante's body, still crumpled by the wall.
"I… I don't know," she whispered. "But I think it saved us."
Barry's jaw tightened. "They're here."
This was their first true attack on Central City—a coordinated assault, five duplicates. And they wouldn't stop.
But Barry couldn't think about that yet. Not until he was sure Dante was alive.
He knelt beside him, placing a trembling hand on Dante's chest.
A heartbeat. Faint, but steady.
Barry let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
Eva closed her eyes and whispered, "Thank you."
But her words weren't to Barry.
They were for the red lightning.
Whoever—or whatever—that was.
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