Chapter Four

Mirror Maze – Wally; Five Minutes Later

Something didn't feel right to Wally; sure he was a speedster and time moved faster for him, but he felt that more than 15 minutes had passed since Artemis screamed over the speaker system. He remembered that Zoom said that the electric shocks would end when ONE of the three of them found the main room where Artemis was held. To Kid Flash; this was a good thing, but that also meant that he and ONE of the twins were in the dead end paths. Kid Flash came to a dead end, but as he was about to mentally kick himself for falling into a trap; one of the mirrors opened up and Wally didn't question the good fortune.

As Kid Flash came to each dead end room; one mirror would open up, and after about five minutes of this, he came into a room that had no mirrors. The 18 year old speedster looked around and saw three chairs and movement within them. He walked over and suddenly the chairs turned so that all three occupants were looking at him.

"GUYS!" Kid shouted as he was looking into the eyes of his girlfriend AND the twin wonders.

"So, you found us, but I'm surprised you haven't attempted to free your friends." Zoom said as he walked out of the shadows.

"Let them go, Zoom; this is between you and me." Kid Flash stated.

"This was never about you, Wally; but then again your uncle would do anything to save you…..even from a life of crime." Zoom remarked.

"I'd never help you Zoom." Kid Flash said and with that he sped over to the chairs and attempted to free Artemis.

Without even hearing the movement from behind; Kid Flash was pulled away from the chair and thrown into the furthest wall, then runs over (speedster run) and beats Kid Flash until he can't fight back quickly. Then; after making sure that the young speedster was looking at Artemis, Robin and Cardinal, Zoom ran over to a spot where there seemed to be a large lever with three smaller ones below it. There was NO hesitation on his part as the villainous speedster pulled the switch and all three captive heroes' bodies started to seize up.

Kid Flash watched as Robin and Artemis screamed out in pain, but there were only groans of pain from Cardinal.

"Maybe the power on Cardinal's chair isn't as high as Artemis and Robin's?" Wally thought to himself.

"There's only one way to make sure your girlfriend survives…..steal the last two items I need and then she can go free." Zoom said.

"And the twins?" Kid asked, wanting the two to know that he intended to take them as well.

"If you're a good boy and follow my instructions then they can leave as well." Zoom said with a sinister grin.

With a second to think, Kid realized there was no other way to keep his friends safe. "Alright; I'll do it." He said with a sigh.

"Good boy; the first part I need you to get is a power source from Lex Corp in Metropolis." Zoom said.

"Wally, don't do it." Artemis hollered as she struggled in her chair.

"I can't lose you babe, and Batman would kill me if the twins died." Kid Flash said; a look of emotional pain in his eyes.

"We'll get out of this, just don't give in." Cardinal told her 'older brother'.

"It's too big a risk if I don't." Kid Flash said and with that he headed out to reluctantly fulfill the villain's request.

Ten Minutes Later

Artemis was on the verge of tears just thinking of Wally stealing only to keep her, along with Robin and Cardinal, safe. Zoom had insured that the three of them wouldn't get free, but that didn't stop Cardinal from trying to heat up the metal to get free. She had started this process about a minute after Wally left and there was NO progress what so ever.

"Try as much as you'd like, Reiena; those electric chairs are made from a material that's from the 25th century. See, metal has come a long way from this prehistoric time. Once something metal is craft, it CANNOT be melted." Zoom said.

Robin and Cardinal tensed as Zoom said the girl wonder's civilian name; but it didn't faze the villain.

"Everyone in my century knows who Batman and all of his protégés were." Zoom said with a grin.

Robin could only glare, which earned a laugh from Zoom then he turned his attention to Artemis.

"You know, Artemis; once my master plan is done, you wouldn't want to be with a regular person. Once Barry and Wally's speed is my own, how about you become my girl?" Zoom asked as he got in the blonde archer's face.

Artemis gave him a death glare, then without notice; she spat right in Zoom's face. Angered by the girl's rejection; he started speed punching her in the stomach just as he had Cardinal, but this time he was punching with much more force. Artemis felt the punches and even a couple of ribs break. As she cried out in pain from the broken ribs, this gave Zoom an idea. He walked off and a couple of minutes later, returned with a strap like the ones that were restricting the girls' breathing, but he placed this one right around the bottom part of Artemis' ribs and made sure it was tighter than the first one.

"You sorry piece of crap; that could kill her; let me go and I'll show you what I'm made of, you coward." Robin said.

Zoom only grinned as he walked over and pulled the middle of the smaller switches after turning a knob. Robin screamed and Cardinal was on the verge of tears. Artemis couldn't get free, but she wanted to rip off Zoom's arms for what he was doing to her friends.

"That should keep you entertained for a while." Zoom said as he turned off Robin's chair and with that he and Mirror Master walked off, leaving the three heroes alone to think about what was going on.

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Metropolis; Twenty Minutes Later

Kid Flash came running out to the outside of the Lex Corp building. Before he went in; the 18 year old took a deep breath and headed in. He figured the power source that Zoom needed was the most advanced one that was being developed so he ran around finding the R&D lab and started looking for anything that could be a power source. Soon enough he found it and just as the security team was heading into the room; he sped out, hoping to get to his friends' in time to keep them safe.

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Gotham Warehouse; Half an Hour Later

Zoom was ready to get the power source connected, and once he had the transference specs from Queens Industries; he would be ready to steal Barry's speed powers, and as an added bonus get the powers of Wally as well. It was then that he heard the sound he was waiting for. Three seconds later; Kid Flash came running in.

"Very good, Wally, and at a fair time as well." Zoom said as he walked over and took the power source that Kid held out.

"Before you head to Star City for the final piece I need; I'll give you a few minutes to talk to your teammates. See, I'm not such a bad guy, now am I." Zoom said as he started to walk away.

Once he was gone, Wally sped over to the chairs and first gave Artemis a hug. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it….you're only doing this to keep us out of harm's way." Artemis said, but Wally heard pain in her voice.

"She ticked him off and he speed punched her in the ribs, then he used a second strap on her, but only he has the means to take these straps off." Cardinal said; her breathing still restricted just a bit.

"Hopefully Superman hears about the theft in Metropolis." Wally said so only the four of them could hear.

"You've been hanging around us too long Wally." Robin said, with a small grin.

Just then, Zoom returned and had a piece of paper in his hand. Kid Flash walked over to the villain and took the picture.

"Alright, so where in Star City is this piece?" Kid questioned.

"Oh, you'll like this one, there's only one place, Queens Industries." Zoom said, knowing that Oliver Queens was Green Arrow, and also knew about the archer's protégés, so he knew this was going to be a bit harder, but he also knew that Wally would get the job done.

"Fine." Kid said, and with that he zoomed off.

"He better hurry with this one, I get the feeling that the League will know about me soon enough." Zoom said lowly.

One thing he wanted to do before leaving the three teens alone was test something with Cardinal's chair, so he went over to the controls and turned on her chair only. Cardinal's body seized up, but she was NOT crying out in pain. With the electricity still activated; he turned the dial slowly and as it was turned, Cardinal started crying out more, then as the dial wouldn't move anymore, she was screaming in pain with tears coming out of her eyes.

Robin struggled to get free, he wanted to stop the pain his sister was in, but he couldn't get free. Artemis wanted it to end too, but she didn't struggle as much since that second strap was put around her broken ribs. After about two minutes of the constant electricity, Cardinal stopped crying out in pain and her head fell to her chest. Zoom then cut the electricity off and left out; laughing all the way. The archer and boy wonder were worried about Cardinal, but she was still breathing so it wasn't that bad.

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Watchtower; One Hour Later

Flash had received a call to meet at Watchtower, and it was from Superman. He was there in a flash (Had to put that pun in), and when Superman arrived, he looked like he had just taken a dose of kryptonite. Flash stayed where he was and it wasn't long before the Man of Steel was right in front of him.

"So what's the big deal, Clark?" Flash said as he pulled his cowl off, revealing his blonde hair and blue eyes.

"I was at a crime scene and when I heard who the criminal was, I couldn't believe it. Lex Luthor said that it was Kid Flash. I tried to argue with the facts, but then I saw video." Superman said, a tone of disbelief at the thought of one of the five original protégés turning to a life of crime.

"Any idea what was stolen?" Barry asked, wanting to get all the information.

"Some kind of experimental medium sized power source, but he knew exactly what to go for." Clark answered.

"Someone's threatening his family or other members of the team to keep him in line." Barry said lowly, but he forgot about Clark's super hearing.

"I'm sure that's the case, but his comm link signal is being blocked as well, so we can't track him down." Clark said, walking over to his colleague and friend, placing a hand on Barry's shoulder.

"We'll find him, you can count on that." Clark said, and with that he said he had to get back to Metropolis, and Barry was left alone in the room.

"I hope you're right Clark." Barry said out loud to himself, a single tear falling from his eye.