Professor Candice Providence was not a believer in the afterlife. She did not believe in God, or any other deities. She was a believer in absolutes, Mathematics, Physics and other forms of science. The closest she ever came to believing in a 'higher power' was when she witnessed purposeful genetic mutation for the first time. The white lab rat had had it's DNA spliced with genetic markers that caused bioluminescence in Jellyfish, transferring the 'ability' to its new host. A glowing lab rat, Actually glowing. Candice was fascinated. Her job at MERCURY Labs may have been the medical application of nanotech, but every moment of her spare time was spent hunting down each scrap of information currently available on genetic manipulation.
She was a woman obsessed.
The day of the particle accelerator explosion she had been visiting the labs residential counselor due to her 'unethical approach to human testing'. There wasn't anything she had done wrong, at least in her mind. If people didn't want to be tested on, they shouldn't leave their food or drinks unattended in the break room fridge overnight.
Counselor Mark had been working with hypnosis therapy in finding the reason for patients behavior. First building a hypothetical scenario, building on the characters, then letting the patient interact with the people and places they 'saw'. It was groundbreaking work and considered life changing. At least it was.
Until the blast of dark matter from the accelerator tore through his mind, ripping his conscious and memories from his body and forcing all of them into the already psychotic Professor Candice Providence.
An unstable combination of obsession, super high intelligence and the ability to force people into a fantasy world of which she had complete control over was a deadly force to be reckoned with. Her need to experiment was great and she found herself working on stray animals, building up to homeless people, lost children and tourists. Whispers of the *things* she made floated about in the darkness of night. Whispers of monster animals and people with a hunger for blood and flesh. She felt such power. She felt like a God. She felt a power that she would willingly kill for.
Her laboratory was always full of new bodies, the people in them trapped in their own minds, captive to her each and every whim. The ones she kept with her. Her 'guards'… they were not something to be thought too long about. Twisted creatures with useless limbs and strange bone protrusions, trapped in their own minds, slaves to her every wish. Her success rate was quite low. At first. Just a handful survived, and the bodies of those who didn't, well, they were never found. The ones that did survive took care of them.
She was content with her findings. She was happy with her current research until she saw her first Meta-human in action. People with the powers of Gods? Beautiful. Absolutely divine. Unique. And so strong. So quick to heal from her little experiments. Perfect little lab rats. She had to have one.
For nine months she sat in her laboratory, manipulating the human genome, splicing animal to human, Meta-human to animal, warping the description of life.
Divinity. The creatures she created served her every whim. Complacent in their tasks, not knowing the true weight of their decisions. Those that disobeyed were destroyed. Those that obeyed her were given free reign of the night and all of its precious bounty.
The creatures she created served her every whim. Complacent in their tasks, not knowing the true weight of their decisions. Those that disobeyed were destroyed. Those that obeyed her were given free reign of the night and all of its precious bounty.
She was quite content with her findings. Until she saw the Flash. Such speed and strength. Pure poetry in motion. Imagine what she could do with that speed. Her creatures would rule. She would be a God. The flame of obsession rekindled and she set her sights on Central City's own Scarlet Speedster.
*Providence Waits*
Barry was currently in a heated battle with a few members of the Rogues, Golden Glider, Captain Cold and Heat Wave, trying to keep them from escaping with the latest shipment of silver from Central City Jewelers. What jewelry company casts their own metal in this day and age? Hadn't they heard of outsourcing? Why go after silver and not diamonds? Who really understands the motives of the criminal class?
A blast of ice passed less than a foot away from Barry's face. "Dammit Cold," Barry snapped, skidding to a dramatic halt. "Are you trying to kill me?" He continued speaking in a scant whisper, obviously infuriated by the crime he was being forced to thwart.
"Relax scarlet," Captain Cold drawled, sending another blast Barry's way. "I never miss."
Barry continued to mutter under his breath, "fuck my life, the damn Arrow never has to deal with this kind of shit, what did I do to deserve this?"
Cold stared incredulously at the speedster. Seriously? Was he really talking to himself right now?
"Stupid Grodd, damn gorillas, why is this my life now? Damn League of Assassins, damn Rogues Gallery," Barry continued, raising his voice in volume and not paying any mind to the trio staring at him or his team talking in his comm. "Fuck Star City, stupid fucking Gideon and self-fulfilling prophecy."
Snart blinked in confusion behind the reflective goggles. "Are we still fighting or what?" He stopped talking when he realized Barry wasn't going to stop his angry rant anytime soon. He holstered the cold gun and removed his goggles. "Look scarlet, if you need a moment don't let us stop you," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. The entire time the speedster was ranting, Glider and Heat Wave continued loading the getaway van with crates of looted silver.
"I'm fine," Barry grumbled, "just tired of all this bullshit, fuck it all." Tapping into the Speed Force, he quickly removed all of the plundered silver and sped the criminals who were loading it into the front seats of the van which they soon drove off in. He sighed loudly and turned away once he was back in place, speaking into his comm. "Cisco, I'm done here, going dark." He switched off the comm and turned back to Cold. "Are we done here? I haven't slept right all week and really don't want to deal with your criminal bullshit right now."
"Fine scarlet, we're done here," Snart paused dramatically. "For now."
"Let me know it there's a *real* issue," he said as he pushed past Cold and sped off.
The sharp clicking of high heels grabbed Captain Cold's attention and the sound of a slow clap soon followed. "That went well," a new, feminine, voice sneered. "You lost the loot, your team ditched you and the Flash left with no fight, that's no fun is it? Not fun at all."
Cold drew his gun in one motion, searching the shadows for the voices owner. "And who might you be," he asked, preparing to shoot at the first sign of movement.
"An interested party," the interloper's voice said. "Not interested in you of course." A figure stepped out of the shadows. A woman, early thirties, dark hair, dark eyes, an easily forgettable appearance were it not for the psychotic grin marring her otherwise plain face. She leered and stared over her horn-rimmed glasses. "The Flash is quite unique." Staring Snart straight in the eye she continued speaking. "You will help get him for me, won't you?" Her voice seemed to reverberate from every surface rendering Cold immobile. The woman turned on her heel and began to walk away.
"Now follow me, my dear Captain, for Providence waits."
*Providence Waits*
Hell.
Leonard Snart was in Hell, there's no other word for this place. He doesn't know how long he's been here, but all he can see or hear are the faces and voices of everyone he ever cared about, all asking the same question.
"Who is the Flash?"
So he walked through the hellscape, red the only color he saw. Red sands, red sky, red sun, and the constant voices. And he walked on, never answering the question, knowing this was the only way. And he walked on. He knew it wasn't real, at least he hoped it wasn't real.
Alone in a darkened laboratory a cold man walked through the fires of his mind, silently protecting the identity of the Flash. He made a promise that he wouldn't tell anyone, and he never breaks his word. Professor Providence sighed daintily, her hand resting on one of her creations. She needed the Flash. Her creations needed the Flash. "No matter," she murmured. "If Captain Cold won't give up the Flash, I'll make the Flash give himself up."
Snart's hellscape shifted towards darker themes, from simple physical harm of the few people he cared for, to the pure destruction of their souls. His greatest fears came to life in scenarios worse than what he could have ever imagined. Heists gone wrong, misfiring the cold gun, rogue Meta-humans, and the worst, the one he knew was impossible but still filled him with dread. The reappearance of his dead father.
Still, he walked on, knowing he had only one the option. He couldn't reveal the Flash's identity. Yet the question 'who is the Flash' repeated through his mind until the whirring figures in the red stopped.
"Who is Barry Allen?" That voice seemed so familiar. Captain Cold stopped where he stood as the voice continued. "He is quite prominent in your mind, but there is no story behind the name. Just a name and face." Around him, the world faded to white, the red hues falling away and revealing the woman from the heist. "So tell me Cold," she stepped forward menacingly. "Who is Barry Allen?"
Snart stood his ground, not moving back. "Barry Allen is none of your concern. Nobody of interest."
A vicious grin spread across the woman's face. "Really now? I wouldn't be so sure about that." A low growl rumbled under her words, and her shadow rose up off the ground taking the form of some kind of beast. "You see Cold, I can control everything in your lovely little brain right now, and I can, and will, make you tell me." The creature lumbered forwards towards Cold as the woman stepped aside. "So last chance before this gets ugly. Who is Barry Allen?"
Snart stumbled backward as the misshapen creature moved towards him, the snarling beast moved with a speed unbefitting its size. Demonic red eyes followed his every movement and paws equipped with heavy talons swiped at each opportunity. Expanses of white lay in every direction, and so Snart ran, hoping to put some distance between himself and that thing the woman had brought with her. "There's nowhere to run Captain, your mind is my toy." With each step, more and more space was put between himself and that woman, but that creature she had brought was still following, heavy footfalls growing closer and closer.
In the darkened lab Professor Providence smiled sadistically. Cold has a weakness, she thought. Now then, who is Barry Allen?
*Providence Waits*
Cisco and Barry had been sitting in the Cortex for a few hours now, talking about nothing, trying to take their minds off of what had happened in Starling City. A new Vertigo dealer had cropped up, trying to perfect the formula, making it exponentially more addictive. And much more deadly. The Arrow had called in a favor from Team Flash after a few dozen deaths from the drug had occurred. It was an easy enough case, more CSI work than Flash work, but it still showed that people would do desperate things just to get high.
Barry was loath to admit it, but the stress from the past week was getting to him. Running back through time. The time wraith. Non-evil Hartley. That and the fact that Harry was on some sort of mission trying to track down Jesse. Barry was just glad he could count on Cisco to be there whenever he needed someone to talk to. A random question jerked him out of his musings.
"What do you think would happen if you used rollerblades at super speed?"
Barry turned in his seat and stared incredulously at Cisco. "What," he said blankly.
"Or how about a pogo stick?!"
"No," Barry stated flatly. "No, bad idea."
Cisco just kept talking, "oh, I know!" He was spinning in his seat excitedly, "speed hula-hoop!" Cisco unwrapped the twelfth sucker and continued his rambling, "what about super speed biking? Would it shatter? Would you phase through it? Or just go full E.T. and fly off into the night?!"
"I don't think I'd fly on a bike Cisco," Barry screwed up his face in concentration. "Maybe I could fly on a unicycle, though. Or maybe jump rope…"
"What about Super speed kite flying?"
"I would probably fly that way too."
Cisco continued on, "Super speed trampoline jumping!"
"Hah! Super speed ballet!"
"Wouldn't that just be *FLASH* dancing?" Cisco exclaimed, pointing the sucker at Barry.
Barry groaned dramatically, "ugh, no puns!"
"Aw, why not? You listen to all of Cold's puns."
"Well, he's a villain, I can't exactly stop him," Barry shrugged. "Besides, almost all of his puns are speed or cold based. And they're still just awful."
A familiar voice broke into their conversation. "I'm sure Lenny would disagree with you on that, but I'm here for a different reason." Lisa Snart stepped into the center of the Cortex clad in black motorcycle leathers. "I need your help," she said desperately. "Someones kidnapped my brother."
"Wait, are you serious this time?" Cisco looked a bit concerned, "or is this another complicated family thing?"
"When did this happen?" Barry grabbed a pen and notepad, completely in 'CSI mode'. "And where was it? Do you have any security footage of the abduction?"
Lisa raised an eyebrow, "so who is this then? Wait." She looked around the room, realizing that there was no one else in there. "This is the Flash?" She huffed out a laugh, "you're just a kid!"
"Not important right now," Barry waved off the comment about his age and moved with a fraction of his super speed, grabbing a spare analysis kit. "Now, tell me everything you know about the crime."
"Well, after the Fla-well, you, stopped our heist, Mick and I took off for one of the safe houses." Lisa slid into one of the chairs and continued her tale. "Lenny should have been back after an hour, but when he didn't show up I went looking for him. His bike was still in the alleyway, and there was no sign of a fight."
Cisco brought up the feed from the security cameras at the Jewelers. He rewound to the time of the attempted heist and paused when he saw a person lurking in the shadows. "Uh, guys? There was someone there the entire time."
Barry sped over to the monitor and took a seat beside Cisco. "Who is that?" He gestured at Lisa then the screen, "Cisco, can you zoom in and clarify the image?" On the screen was a picture of a woman. Dark hair, horn-rimmed glasses, and a psychotic grin marring an otherwise forgettable face. "Someone you know?"
Lisa shook her head. "I have no idea who that is."
"Cisco, can you run that through the CCPDs database?"
"Yeah, running it right now." Cisco continued the video, "you guys really need to watch this, I think we've got a real problem on our hands." He gestured at the screen, which showed the woman talking to Captain Cold, who then followed her out of the alley with no struggle, almost as if he was in a trance. The computer beeped, then displayed a file on one MERCURY Labs employee.
Barry read the screen, "Professor Candice Providence, medical application of nanotech, multiple reprimands for 'unethical approaches to human research', missing and presumed dead along with Counselor and Hypnotist Mark Jean, in the… oh, in the STAR Labs particle accelerator explosion. Great." He stood up from his seat and faced down Lisa and Cisco. "Call in Caitlin, it looks like we've got a mind controlling Meta-human out there."