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Watching the members of the Legends team standing vigilantly and cautiously in front of him, Allen stepped out of the car.
His eyes casually drifted over the blown-out tires before he smiled and spoke with calmness.
"Pay up."
'Pay?'
'Pay for what? The tires?'
The team, already tense and mentally prepared to spring into action at a moment's notice, were collectively stunned.
Even if this guy wasn't surprised by their sudden appearance, how could he be this calm?
So unbothered?
And even still have the audacity to demand compensation? And more importantly, was that really his focus right now?
"Is he really the one we're looking for?" Captain Cold, asked with a skeptical frown.
"It looks like we did blow his tires… so, do we actually owe him?" Atom, muttered in confusion, glancing around for support.
The captain of the Legends team, former Time Master Rip Hunter, stepped forward, his brow furrowed in frustration.
His voice was calm but clipped.
"We'll compensate for the vehicle damage later. Right now, we need to discuss a matter concerning time safety, immediately."
Allen looked at each of them in turn, his amused smile widening as if they were characters in a play only he understood.
"Alright. I was wondering when you guys would show up, makes sense it's now."
"You were wondering when we would show up?" Sara Lance narrowed her eyes.
"You know who we are… and that we'd appear?"
Her blonde hair shimmered under the sunlight, and the tight white suit she wore accentuated her modest but athletic figure.
With her silver batons in hand, she shifted into a subtle combat stance, silently warning she could strike at any moment.
Allen gave her a sly grin.
"The League of Assassins' top assassin. White Canary. Someone who hooked up with her sister's boyfriend... and even swings both ways. Did I get it right?"
Sara arched a brow and smirked without flinching.
"Right back at you."
Allen turned away from her and casually began roasting the rest of the team, each insult more personal than the last.
"Ray Palmer. Could've been the Superman of this world. Instead, your Atom suit nerfed you into a joke."
"Jefferson Jackson. One half of Firestorm. But let's be real, you're the third wheel in someone else's legacy. The original gets forgotten because of you. And Martin Stein, what kind of brilliant scientist drags a teenager on time-traveling suicide missions? Of course you died."
"Leonard Snart. Captain Cold. You turned to crime because your dad abused you and your sister… Tragic. She's hot, by the way. Also, when you die -which, spoiler, happens before Stein- I wouldn't mind helping her get over it. Oh, and in one reality… You're gay. Not a surprise."
"Mick Rory. Heatwave. An arsonist who found redemption through literature. Honestly? Props to you. Don't forget to write me into your novel someday."
"Hawkman: Carter Hall. Hawkgirl: Kendra Saunders. I've got just one word for both of you: Useless. Eternal reincarnation and still irrelevant every time."
Finally, Allen turned his attention to the team's leader.
"And you. Rip Hunter. I actually admire you the most."
"You tricked this ragtag bunch into thinking they were heroes saving time, when really, it was all about your dead wife and son."
"You're bold, manipulative and shameless. I respect it."
With each jab, the expressions of the Legends shifted, from anger, to discomfort, to something closer to fear.
How did this man know so much?
Not just identities and backstories… but private traumas, secrets, and even alternate fates they hadn't yet lived?
"Have you seen us… in the future?" Rip Hunter asked slowly, his voice low with suspicion.
Their mission had seemed straightforward:
Prevent Allen Robinson from picking up Laurel Lance, thereby avoiding the early formation of the [Birds of Prey] and the domino effect that would alter Sara Lance's fate.
But now, not only did Allen know who they were, he knew things they hadn't told anyone, and future events that hadn't even occurred.
This wasn't just a deviation.
This was an anomaly they couldn't explain.
"It seems we've got a lot to discuss," Rip said grimly.
Allen chuckled.
"Then let's talk aboard the Waverider."
The Waverider was a formidable time-traveling vessel, powered primarily by ion propulsion.
Equipped with stealth capabilities, an automated pilot system, real-time diagnostics, a med bay, escape pods, and run by the ever-efficient artificial intelligence known as Gideon, it was the heart of the [Legends of Tomorrow] and their sole weapon in correcting anomalies across the timeline.
It was, quite literally, the only ship in the multiverse officially designated to correct time deviations.
Allen strolled onto the ship behind the emotionally conflicted team, his hands in his pockets like he owned the place.
As the door sealed behind them, he greeted the ship's AI with casual familiarity.
"Hello, Gideon."
"Hello, Mr. Allen," came the calm, synthetic female voice.
Allen leaned lazily against the central console, his eyes flicking over the team as if sizing them up again.
"So," he began, "let's start with what you think is the time deviation."
Rip exchanged a brief look with Sara, who then stepped forward and took the lead.
"You altered the timeline when you made my sister become the Black Canary earlier than she was supposed to. Then, you helped form a [Birds of Prey] team with Felicity and Catwoman. That kicked off a cascade of events."
She inhaled sharply, steadying herself.
"Because of you, I wasn't killed by Thea Queen. I wasn't resurrected in Nanda Parbat. Laurel wasn't murdered by Damien Darhk. None of it happened the way it was supposed to."
She paused and looked at Allen, her eyes hard.
"Now… I've got two sets of memories. One from the original timeline and one from this new path. But the original memories are fading. Which means time is stabilizing around the new reality you created."
"To us, you're not just someone who caused trouble. You're altering history."
"That's why we have to stop you."
Time moved forward in a straight line.
Even if events hadn't fully occurred yet, reality slowly began solidifying itself based on existing changes.
And the longer those changes existed, the more likely they were to become permanent, rewriting the past as if it had always been that way.
That was the danger.
That was why the [Legends of Tomorrow] were here.
Allen Robinson… was the anomaly that changed everything.