The Not-so-abandoned Warehouse: Thursday Evening

[badassprodigy]

Barry was back in his portion of his warehouse running experiments on a certain device which was sitting in the middle of a block of ice.

While he waited for the results on the most recent readings, he did something he hadn't done for a while which was initiate a connection to his remote lab back in his home dimension. He had shut down most of the operating equipment there but for one reason or another he was looking at the GPS tracking system he had in place for his friends and family. (Some people might call it an invasion of privacy but Barry had reasons, okay?) Looking at his scanner he could see the two blips for his mother and father. There was another two blips which were practically on top of each other representing Jeremy and Roxie and then... there was the single blip for Sara.

Barry stared at the screen for few moments taking it all in before terminating the connection and going back to his experiment. This was no time to be homesick or missing people.

There was science to do.

In a fancy hat.

As you do.

[Open Warehouse. Open Post. Subject to SP this evening.]

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

"Not that kind of ribbon," Kathy sighed. "Have you ever watched rhythm gymnastics? Or, like, jazzercise of whatever?"

She wasn't helping her case, was she?

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

No. She wasn't.

"Yes. I regularly watch rhythmic gymnastics and do jazziercise three times a week," Barry said with just a HINT of sarcasm.

...

"SERIOUSLY?!?!"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oh for--! Come on!" she said, trying to grab his arm. She'd drag him outside if she had to. "Look, I know it sounds stupid, but trust me, okay? Let me show you something."

Kathy wasn't going to pretend it was badass. But it was effective. And, y'know, she dressed in a rainbow gi and called herself the Social Justice Warrior. It was a little late for dark and gritty.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"You're not going to gift wrap me are you?" Barry quipped as he followed her outside.

[spin_kick_snap]

"You should be so lucky," Kathy sniffed. "I bet if I did, you'd be a lot less likely to make snarky commentary."

When they got outside, Kathy pulled out a gymnast's ribbon; 3 meters of fluttering rainbow cloth attached to a 60 cm fiberglass stick. The stick was thin and flexible, but had a decent enough heft to it--necessary, considering the way that gymnasts flung them up in the air.

"So, I'd set up a training route up on your roof, which is why you heard me banging around up there. I dragged a bunch of training dummies up there. But they're up there and we're down here..." Her smile had a slightly mischievous cast to it. "Were you serious about not getting gift wrapped? Otherwise, I'll have to go fetch one."

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Or we can both just go to the roof," Barry suggested with a mischievious smirk of his own...

And suddenly Barry was running at a wall then doing some serious parkour moves off a nearby telephone pole, security light and other elements up to said roof.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy laughed delightedly and took off after him. And she would overtake him, too, unless he was also roughly three times faster than the average person?

She was much bouncier than he was, almost a perpetual motion machine given human form. She was also able to balance on the most precarious of perches, finding her balance within instants before leaping off to grab onto something else.

"Nice moves!" she said, giving him a victory sign once they'd reached the roof. Barry would be able to get a clear idea of Kathy's path to his rooftop; fallen dummies made for excellent trail markers. She set the three on this roof to rights, then stepped back to give them--and him--a bright grin. "I didn't know you could move like that!"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Mind-body thing," Barry said with a shrug. "And clearly you have some sort of meta-human powers going on. Let's see what you can do with a ribbon, SJW."

[spin_kick_snap]

See? He was already taking her more seriously, calling her SJW rather than Rainbow! That was probably a step in the right direction.

Right?

Twirling her ribbon to get the momentum up, she let the stick slide through her fingers and caught a length of fabric a few feet behind it. "Head!" The fiberglass stick went slamming into the back of the closest dummy's head. Catching the flying ribbon with a foot, she flipped, sending the stick flying backwards into the dummy behind her. "Right arm!" The stick smacked into the dummy's right bicep with a satisfying thwack. Yanking on the ribbon, the stick changed direction again, sailing back to the first dummy and hitting it right in the "Solar plexus!" A kick and the stick was flung into the hip of the dummy closest to Barry, right on the heels of her call.

She was going through several simple routine moves as she flung her stick into the dummies. It was how she'd learned and she wasn't sure that she could get the necessary accuracy by staying still. After a few minutes of warming up, she started speeding up. Her flips sent her flying all over the rooftop and she stopped using the stick only for ranged attacks. A low roll had her tossing the stick around the bottom of the dummy, tangling it in ribbon. When she bounced back up to her feet, she tugged and the dummy toppled over. A high roundhouse sent her flying over another dummy's head, and the stick flashed out to smack into a temple. She ran at the third, tossing a loop of ribbon over it and kept running until it too crashed to the roof.

When she came to a stop, barely breathing heavily, she stood in front of Barry, beaming, with all three dummies down and the ribbon fluttering at her ankles. She might even been posing a bit--if so, she wasn't going to tell.

[Link goes to a rhythm gymnastics vid. Starts at 40 seconds in; the next 10 seconds are pretty neat if you're interested.]

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Barry watched and gave a nod of approval when she was done. "Not my style but I don't have the speed you do," Barry commented. "The calling out of your attacks was for my benefit, right?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"No," Kathy deadpanned. "I figured that calling out where I'm about to hit someone and giving away my location is a really smart idea. I'm extra-looking forward to it if they have guns!"

There was a nascent smart-ass lurking beneath Kathy's meek demeanor.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Seems to me you'd be better off with a stunning ray gun than a ribbon," Barry said shrugging off the sarcasm. "But if you're going to be hopping around like I can probably improve upon your protection with your gi."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Stunning rays require a different kind of aim," Kathy said. "Or, rather, I think so. And--you can? Are you sure?" She gave him a hesitant smile. "I didn't come knocking on your warehouse door expecting to get presents, Barry. Or need them to be convinced you're a decent guy."

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"You didn't even know someone was even in my fucking warehouse," Barry said shaking his head. "And this isn't a present. It's to prevent you from getting fucking shot because someone isn't afraid of a ribbon coming at their head. I mean you look fast and can handle a fight but I'm guessing your not immune to bullets. I've made some lightweight material that will provide you better protection."

...

"And we can make a better mask and find you a voice modulator."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm not really worried about anyone recognizing my voice," Kathy said with a shrug. "I mean, I highly that I'll be recognized in Baltimore. But I'm not going to turn down help."

It was hard, though. She still felt she ought to turn it down, if for no other reason than because she didn't want Barry to feel as if he had to give her things. On the other hand, he sincerely seemed to want to help, which meant that refusing might offend him.

In the end, necessity won over politeness. She couldn't afford to be coy when she really might run into guns.

"Thank you. I really am grateful the help. I'm trying not to be stupid about this, so... Anything you can offer to help keep me in one piece is much appreciated."