THE GATHERING STORM

By David Brashear

Bart Allen brushed his shaggy brown hair back as the wind blew it into his eyes.  He looked around and found himself in the empty campus quad.  He was barefoot and wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt, both emblazoned with the Academy’s logo.  The sky overhead was filling with dark, threatening-looking clouds.

For a split second Bart started to ask how he’d gotten there, but then things clicked into place.  He stepped off the sidewalk and into the cool grass.  “Danny?” Bart called as he looked around the quad at the empty buildings.  “Are you here?”

“Yes,” came the familiar disembodied voice that seemed to emanate from everywhere.  “I need to talk to you, Bart.  You are all in danger.”

“What do you mean?” Bart asked while still trying in vain to find the speaker.

“Merlyn has learned everything,” Danny replied.  “He knows about your abilities.  He knows that you penetrated the lab building attempting to locate me.  He knows that you were the ones who confronted Mahkent in his cell.  And he has deemed you all too dangerous to continue.”

“Continue?” Bart asked as the wind picked up and rain began to fall and pelt him.  “What do you mean?  What’s Merlyn going to do?”

“He is going to have the seven of you terminated,” Danny said.

“What are we supposed to do?” Bart asked as the rain fell faster and thicker.  Another question popped into his head and he didn’t wait for a response before he continued.  “And why aren’t you talking to Connor about this?”

“Connor refuses to grant me access to his mind,” Danny replied sadly.  “It may be too late for him to be saved.”

“No!” Bart yelled as the rain turned into a torrential downpour and the wind whipped around him.  “I’m not going to write off my best friend!”

“I am sorry,” Danny said in a saddened tone.  “The only way you can save him is to separate him from Cheshire.  She is not all she seems.  If Connor is truly lost, then you must assume the leadership role to protect your group.”

“Wait!” Bart shouted.  “There’s more I need to ask you!  How do you expect me to lead them?  How can I help Connor?  Answer me!”

Bart’s only response was to sit straight up in his bed.  His sweatpants and T-shirt were soaked with sweat.  He grimaced and climbed out of bed before walking across the room to change into clean ones.

Bart finished changing and stared at his new roommate, seeing only Connor lying in the bed in his mind’s eye.  How could he lead the group?  And how could he save Connor from Merlyn?

Jade Nguyen sat in the hard wooden chair once again and glared at Merlyn, who nonchalantly thumbed through a folder.  “Well done,” Merlyn finally said.  “If your report is accurate, it appears that you have done an excellent job of earning Ellis’s trust.”

“Of course it’s accurate,” Jade snarled.  “You would know if it wasn’t.”

A slight smirk tweaked at Merlyn’s lips.  “Indeed,” he said while he locked his eyes on Jade’s.  “And if you lied to me, you know that you would suffer for it.”  Jade shifted uncomfortably in the chair under Merlyn’s gaze.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked as her own eyes dropped to the floor.

“Continue as you have been,” Merlyn said.  He returned to studying the file.  “I need you to keep Ellis under your control for a while longer.”

“And then what?” Jade asked.

A sadistic smile crossed Merlyn’s thin lips.  “That is none of your concern.”

Outside the office, Karin Grace knelt on the floor while she gathered up a sheaf of papers she’d ‘accidentally’ dropped in order to allow her to eavesdrop.  She tapped the papers back into order, stuck them under her arm, and stood before continuing down the hall toward her office.

She locked the door behind her and tossed the unwanted papers into a chair that sat against one of the walls.  She sat down behind her desk and spun around to face the room’s back wall. She thought a moment, then stood and picked up seven printouts from her desk.  She pinned the pictures to a corkboard, sat back down, and studied the seven students.  Why was Merlyn so obsessed with them?

She drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair as another thought kept niggling at her.  Why wouldn’t Rick Flagg agree to meet with her?

Karin frowned.  The deeper she thought about these questions, the more she disliked the answers she came up with.

Finally she turned around and started working on her computer.  It was past time for her to dig into some classified information.  The pictures of the smiling students watched her from behind.

Donna Troy sighed and blew her hair out of her face as she walked out of the science building.  The chemistry paper she’d just been assigned looked like a nightmare.  In addition, she felt like she was carrying an entire library of books with her.

“Help you with your books?” a voice asked from behind.  She turned to see Bart standing there with his hands outstretched.

Donna smiled.  “Sure,” she said.  She handed over a third of the stack to Bart, who grunted as he accepted the books.

“You could’ve left a few behind for somebody else,” he said.

“I’m thorough,” Donna said with a shrug.  The two started walking through the quad.  “What’s going on?”

“I think we need to meet,” Bart said in a low voice.  “All of us.”

“Danny?” Donna asked.

Bart nodded.  “He talked to me again last night,” he explained.  “He said that Merlyn’s going to try and kill us.”

Donna gasped before she regained her composure.  “So what are we going to do?” she asked.  “He’s probably got the entire campus under surveillance.”

“That’s why we’re going to get together,” Bart replied.  “We need to figure out a plan.  I’m thinking midnight in the usual place behind the bushes.”

“I’ll talk to Cissie,” Donna said.  “I can get word to Duela, too, and she can let Charlie know.”

“Okay,” Bart said.  “Roy won’t be a problem for me.”

“What about Connor?” Donna asked.  “You know how tight he’s gotten with Cheshire.  Can we still trust him?”

Bart lowered his head and thought for a moment.  “I don’t know,” he finally confessed.  “But I’ll do what I can.”

“Be careful,” Donna warned as they reached her dorm.  She stopped and turned to face Bart.  “I really think that Cheshire’s working with Merlyn,” she said as he handed the books back to her.

“Don’t worry,” he said with a cockeyed smile.  “I can handle her.”

“You’d be the first,” Donna said, but Bart was already gone – heading across the quad.

Connor swallowed hard as he walked down a sidewalk arm in arm with Cheshire.  Her head was laid on his shoulder and she was all but purring.  His heart was hammering inside his chest as they walked.

“Hey, Bart,” he said as his former roommate approached him.

“Connor,” Bart said, returning the greeting.  “I need to talk to you.  Alone.”

Connor glanced down at Cheshire.  Was he sweating?  He turned back to Bart.  “Now’s not a good time,” he started.

Jade smiled up at him.  “It’s alright, Connor,” she said.  “I need to get to class anyway.” She leaned up and kissed Connor on the cheek, causing him to close his eyes for a moment.  Bart didn’t miss the glare that she shot him before her smile returned and she started down the sidewalk.

“You can talk in front of Jade, you know,” Connor said, folding his arms.  His eyes flicked between Bart and the departing Jade.

Bart took a deep breath before he spoke.  “We need to meet,” he said.  “All seven of us.  Without Cheshire,” he added when he saw Connor starting to talk.

“I don’t see why you’re so intent on leaving her out,” Connor said in a tone that was almost sulking.

“Danny showed up to talk to me last night,” Bart said in an urgent tone.  “He said that we’re all in danger.”

“Maybe we’re overthinking this Danny thing,” Connor said.  “How do we know it’s not just a bad burrito from the cafeteria or something?”

Bart took a deep breath to calm his frustration.  “Just be there,” he said.  “If you don’t want to talk, then don’t.  Just at least listen to the rest of us.”

“Maybe,” Connor said.  He craned his head as he tried to look around Bart to find Cheshire.

Bart smirked.  “Remember who the speedy one is around here.  I’ll find you if you’re not there.”  He turned and walked away.

Jade walked down the sidewalk beside the library and cursed under her breath.  Why had that idiot chosen that moment to show up?  She frowned and fought to regain her composure. She’d find out exactly what was going on soon enough.  The simpleton she was dating would be more than happy to spill his guts when she asked.

She paused as she saw a bush rustling behind the building.  Her eyes narrowed as she slowly approached the bush.  If Bart or one of his friends was spying on her, they’d be sorry.

She looked behind the bush to find Billy Hayes hiding there.  He was wearing only a pair of dirty pajama bottoms and he had some sort of strange paint smeared on his body.  His hair was plastered against his skull with blood.  He was whimpering and rocking back and forth.  Finally he looked up at her with tear-stained eyes.  “Why?” he asked in a voice that was cracking. “Why has the dark lord abandoned me?  Why is my power gone?”

Jade simply smiled a sinister smile.

That night the team was gathered behind the bushes outside the administration building once again.  “So what’s so important that we need to do this again?” Connor asked.  “I was hoping to get some sleep tonight.”

“You know, why don’t you shut up?” Roy asked.  “You might learn something.”

Connor snorted.  “I doubt it.”

“Quiet,” Donna ordered in a forceful tone which caused Cissie to look nervously at Connor.  Connor scowled but obeyed.  Donna turned to look at Bart.  “Go ahead,” she said.

“Thanks,” Bart said.  He stepped forward and the others formed a circle around him.  They were unaware that Jade was crouching on the other side of the bush, listening to everything that was said.

“I had another dream with Danny last night,” Bart said.  Although Connor still looked bored, the others were listening intently.  “He told me that Merlyn knows we’re the ones who broke into the lab building.  He knows that we know that there’s more to this place than there appears.  And he told me Merlyn’s getting ready to kill us for it.”

Connor scoffed at that.  Donna’s face didn’t lose its resolute expression.  Roy hid any emotion he was feeling behind an expressionless face.  Cissie, Charlie, and Duela stared at him with stunned looks.

“If that’s true, we’re running out of time,” Bart said.  “I think there’s only one thing that we can do.”

“We have to break out of here,” Bart said with a determined look on his face.

Next issue: With the team considering the idea of escape, they begin to make their plans.  Cheshire reports in to Merlyn, and Merlyn makes an unexpected visit.