Chapter 43 – "Polite Talk"
The Cortex buzzed with quiet tension. Jay Garrick stood before the STAR Labs monitors, hands clasped tightly behind his back, eyes flickering with unease. Barry leaned against the console, arms crossed, while Caitlin, Cisco, and Ronnie gathered around, waiting.
"I need to tell you something," Jay began, his voice calm but visibly strained. "When I said Zoom was an anomaly, a creation of the multiverse… I may have left out a detail."
Barry raised an eyebrow. "A detail?"
Jay nodded solemnly. "He wasn't created from nothing. He was someone. Someone we knew… someone we thought we could trust."
Caitlin looked concerned. "So you do know who Zoom is?"
Jay hesitated. "Not exactly. I mean, I think I know. But I can't be sure yet. That's why I've been trying to gather more information before I said anything for certain."
Cisco blinked. "Wait—so all that stuff about him being a speed demon from some unstable Earth dimension…?"
Jay forced a tight smile. "A half-truth. Technically."
"Technically?" Barry snapped. "Jay, you've been helping us. We trusted you. If you know something that can stop Zoom—"
"I don't," Jay interrupted. "I wish I did. But trust me, this is bigger than any of us think."
The room fell silent, absorbing the new layer of deception. No one said a word.
Then, from the couch near the wall, where a pile of blankets and coffee cups had taken on the shape of a man, came a quiet voice.
"I call it… bullshit."
Everyone turned.
Dante didn't move. He was still sprawled across the couch, hoodie halfway over his head, one arm dangling off the edge, eyes shut. His voice was raspy from sleep, but carried that low, rumbling weight that made people listen.
Jay narrowed his eyes. "Excuse me?"
"I said… bullshit," Dante repeated, louder this time. "You're lying again. And I'm too tired to care, but someone should say it."
Caitlin frowned. "Dante…"
Without opening his eyes, he continued, "Like Luther King once said… Don't fuck around with monsters, because they'll know what you really are."
Cisco turned, eyebrows raised. "Dude. Martin Luther King definitely didn't say that."
Dante cracked one eye open and blinked at him. "Really? Was it Gandhi? Or Lincoln?"
Cisco looked baffled. "...Are you serious?"
Dante yawned. "Okay, who cares. The point is—monsters recognize monsters. And I know one when I see one."
The room was quiet again.
Then Dante stood.
And in a blink—just a flicker of red static in the air—he was in front of Jay. Face to face. No wind-up. No warning. Just pure, silent motion.
Jay didn't even flinch, but the rest of the team tensed.
Dante's eyes, still rimmed with exhaustion from his Dragon Ball binge, glowed faintly with residual energy. His tone was low. Measured. Threatening.
"I don't believe in second chances," he said. "Not like these guys."
Jay held his ground. "You don't even know me."
"Exactly," Dante snapped. "That's the problem."
He stepped even closer, voice now a whisper only Jay could hear. "I don't believe in innocence. I believe in consequences. In death."
His hand twitched at his side—just a flicker of motion. Enough to make Jay's instincts scream danger.
"So help me God," Dante said, "if your secret gets any of them hurt… if this lie leads to one of them bleeding—"
He leaned in, his breath cold against Jay's cheek.
"I'll rip your head off and use it as a chair."
Jay stared at him, unmoving.
Dante stepped back, raising his voice for the others to hear. "And then I'll go to Earth-2, or Earth-42, or whatever you guys are calling it… and I'll burn your world to the ground."
A long pause.
Then he smiled lazily. "Understand?"
Jay said nothing.
"Good," Dante said, already turning. "Glad we had this polite talk."
He began walking toward the exit, muttering under his breath, "God damn it, Goku… why the hell didn't you just kill Frieza? You had one job."
Cisco was still frozen. "Okay… what the hell just happened?"
Ronnie exhaled. "Dante. That's what happened."
Barry looked between Jay and the door Dante had just walked out of, unsure what rattled him more—the lie Jay had told, or the terrifying, half-asleep threat that followed.
Jay straightened his shoulders. "I understand."
Caitlin stepped forward. "Then tell us the truth, Jay. All of it."
He nodded once. "Tonight. I'll tell you everything. Just give me a few hours."
He walked out in the opposite direction, leaving the team in stunned silence.
Cisco finally broke it. "Okay, but seriously—was that Lincoln or Gandhi?"
Barry chuckled softly. "Honestly, at this point, I think it was Dante."
---
Later That Night
Dante lay on the roof of STAR Labs, staring at the sky.
His hoodie was pulled tight around his head. The stars above shimmered faintly, distant and quiet. He didn't sleep. Not really. Just rested.
His mind swirled with fragments of dreams. Red lightning. Screaming. Burning cities. Goku. Frieza. Zoom.
He closed his eyes, letting the sound of the wind calm him.
But behind it all—deep in his bones—he could still feel something.
A tremor.
A storm building in the Speed Force.
And this time, it wasn't his.
---
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