Chapter 39 – "Like a Mountain"
The morning air in Central City was clear, warm, and quiet. Sunlight spilled through the tall windows of the Central City Police Department, bathing the interior in soft gold. The place was alive, as always—officers buzzing with paperwork, conversations echoing between desks, and phones ringing without pause.
It was a normal day.
And Dante was exactly where he wanted to be.
Mop in hand, soft music playing in his headphones, he moved across the tile floor with rhythm. There was a peace in repetition, in the simple act of wiping away the grime of the world. He wore the same all-black outfit he always did—plain shirt, dark jeans, boots. His red hair hung messily over his eyes, and those strange red irises made some glance twice. But no one questioned him.
They never did.
Above him, Barry was hard at work in the CCPD crime lab. Paperwork. Blood samples. Analysis reports. It was as boring as it sounded—until the universe reminded him that it never stayed quiet for long.
But before the chaos came, something... amusing happened.
Dante turned the corner of the hallway, mop and bucket gliding along. His eyes half-lidded, relaxed, lost in a soft instrumental playing through his headphones. That's when—
Crash!
Someone slammed into him—hard.
The impact would've sent a regular man flying. But Dante didn't even budge. Not an inch.
The woman who ran into him, on the other hand, hit the ground with a surprised gasp, her folder scattering papers all over the floor.
"Oh my god—" she blinked, looking up. "It's like I hit a mountain."
Dante looked down at her, blinking slowly as he pulled off one earbud.
"Sorry," he said simply, offering his hand.
She took it, smiling a little sheepishly. "Wow. Okay. You're like… built from concrete or something."
Dante helped her up with effortless strength, then glanced at the name tag clipped to her jacket.
"Patty Spivot," he read aloud.
She tilted her head. "You know me?"
Dante gave a small nod. "Yeah. Barry talks about you."
From the staircase nearby, a voice suddenly cut in—slightly embarrassed.
"Dante…"
Barry was coming down, clearly having overheard. His face had gone a little red.
Dante raised an eyebrow at him, smirking. "Oh, come on. Like you don't talk about her every chance you get."
Patty turned to Barry with a teasing smile, brushing her blonde hair back behind her ear. "Is that true?"
Barry rubbed the back of his neck, then chuckled. "Maybe a little."
Dante smiled warmly at her. "It's nice to finally meet you."
Patty's grin widened. "Same."
With that, Dante placed his earbuds back in, turned, and continued mopping the hallway like nothing had happened.
Patty stepped closer to Barry and nudged him with her elbow. "Your friend is kinda hot."
Barry blinked. "Wait, what?"
She laughed softly. "Come on. Red hair, red eyes, tall, strong, warm smile. He's like this mysterious anime character brought to life. I'm just saying."
Barry narrowed his eyes. "He's also, like, twenty."
She shrugged playfully. "Still."
He gave her a look.
She grinned and leaned in, brushing her hand into his. "Don't worry, Barry Allen. You're still my favorite."
Their fingers laced together, and for a moment, the day was perfect.
---
Nightfall – STAR Labs
The glow of the monitors bathed the main lab in blue light. Barry and Dante stood inside, casually going over diagnostics. Nothing dangerous, just another night of checking in on particle accelerator readings and meta-human fluctuations.
Dante leaned against a table, his hoodie half-zipped, hair tousled. He had a half-empty coffee in one hand and his headphones hanging around his neck.
"So, your girlfriend thinks I'm hot," he said casually.
Barry groaned. "Don't remind me."
Dante smirked. "I'm flattered."
"You're impossible."
Just then, the alert system blared across the lab. The security alarm shrieked, lights flashing red.
"Meta-human threat detected. Sector 9."
Barry was already moving to the suit rack, zipping up his Flash gear. "Alright, time to suit up."
He glanced at Dante, who remained exactly where he was, sipping his coffee.
"You coming?"
Dante shook his head. "Nah. I said I'll run when it's earth-level shit. Otherwise…" He waved the cup slightly. "This coffee's still warm."
Barry chuckled. "You're the worst."
"I'm at peace," Dante corrected.
Cisco's voice came through the intercom suddenly, sharp with alarm. "Uh, Barry—you might want to double-time this one."
Barry straightened. "Why?"
Cisco hesitated. "Because I think you're dealing with a literal… shark."
"…Excuse me?"
Dante raised an eyebrow. "Did he say shark?"
Cisco's screen lit up with grainy footage from a dockside camera.
There, lumbering out of the water, stood a creature at least eight feet tall. Covered in thick muscle. With a dorsal fin, jagged teeth, and massive gills. It roared, sending people fleeing from the waterfront.
"Yup," Cisco said. "That's King Shark. First time we've seen him on this Earth."
Barry's eyes widened. "I thought he was from Earth-2!"
"Well, either someone's been swimming multiverse oceans, or this Earth just got itself a shark problem."
Barry glanced once more at Dante.
Dante casually turned up the volume in his headphones. "Still not Earth-level. Just a mutated fish with daddy issues."
Barry smirked. "You're going to regret saying that."
"Probably."
With that, a blur of lightning shot out of STAR Labs and vanished into the city.
Dante stood still, arms crossed, watching the screen.
The calm before the storm.
---
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