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Harry looks both like he understands nothing and like he despises every moment of it. It's not a question when he finally asks, "What."
"Wait," Wally says, pointing back and forth between Randolf and HR. "The Flash on Earth-19… is your business partner?"
Randolf quirks an eyebrow and looks at HR, appearing a bit put out. "Business partner? I… suppose you moved to another Earth and faked your own death just to get away from me, so I shouldn't be surprised…"
HR, without his drumsticks, looks less like himself. Or maybe it's just the fact that his ever-present smile has vanished. "I moved to another Earth? R, you—you sent me the decoded cryptogram with the caption 'It's for you.' So I think, okay, after our argument, you need some space—you need a lot of space, sure, eighteen Earth's worth, okay. I'll—I'll just leave. So I came here, and then that bounty hunter came after me, and, hang on, why are you here?"
"The gorillas," Randolf says. "HR, we need to talk about all of this, but the gorillas are a larger problem." He looks to the others in the room. "I knew you couldn't be dead, HR, so I talked to Cynthia, and… convinced… her to bring me to you."
"Convinced?" Iris asks suspiciously.
Randolf ignores the question. "We ended up in some forest on—Earth-2, you said? That's where all the gorillas are?"
"Yup, that's Earth-2. Gorilla City," Cisco confirms. He shudders.
"Cynthia changed the moment we arrived. The breach had barely closed when she turned to me, opened another, and shoved me through it. I ended up on this Earth. That was… a day or two ago? I've been running for a while. I landed on the other side of the planet."
"Grodd must have mind-controlled her," Jesse says. She looks tense—in fact, she's vibrating ever-so-slightly at superspeed, appearing blurry. "Cisco, do you have any idea how long until they get here?"
"I don't know." Cisco shakes his head. "I can try vibing again, see if I can figure it out." He leaves. Caitlin glances at Harry, who nods, and they both follow.
"I should go fill in Joe and Julian," Barry says. "We can't keep this a secret from the police."
"I'll go with you," Iris offers, and they leave together.
"HR, we need to talk," Randolf says. HR, looking a little bit like a scared puppy, nods. He adjusts his hat and the two of them exit the Cortex.
Wally and Jesse, the last ones, look at each other.
"We should go train," Jesse says. "If Grodd and his whole gorilla troop are coming, we're going to need all the practice we can get."
Wally nods, frowning slightly.
Jesse, noticing his expression, pauses. "What is it?"
"Nothing, I just wish you'd already talked to your dad about staying on Earth-1. Now it seems like it'll be a while before you'll get the chance."
Jesse gives him half a smile. "Let's worry about the gorillas for now."
"Wait, you're telling me that, after all that, Grodd is coming here?" At Barry's reluctant nod, Joe lets out a heavy breath and rubs his temples. "This is bad, Barr. Does Julian know?"
"Not yet. Can you talk to Singh? This isn't something we can hide from the police this time. They need to be prepared. We can't let them get to the city."
Iris, hesitating only slightly, adds, "It was one of the headlines."
Joe nods immediately. "I'll discuss it with Singh. You go warn Julian that the monkeys are back."
"Allen," Julian scoffs, "I realize you've probably never bothered to look at a calendar, but even you must know that it's not April Fools' Day."
"This is serious!" Barry insists. "Cisco vibed it. Grodd and his army are coming."
Julian sighs and tosses aside the file he's been working on. "It's a good thing the city's light on crime today, isn't it?"
His hands are only shaking a little bit.
"What destruction is the city facing this time?" Singh asks once Joe has closed his office door, before he can even get out a word of explanation.
Joe blinks. "How did you know?"
Singh lets out a long-suffering sigh. "It's always one disaster or another with you, Detective West. I assume this has something to do with the Flash? Some new metahuman?"
"Sort of," Joe says. "Meta, yes; new, no. And not at all human."
Singh frowns.
"Long story short," Joe has always been one for cutting to the chase, after all, "an army of gorillas is going to be marching on Central City before long."
There's a pause. Singh blinks.
"What?"
Joe holds out his hands placatingly. "I know, it sounds insane—but you're going to have to trust me on this, Captain. When have I ever misled you?"
"I'm beginning to wonder," Singh mutters. He shakes his head. "All right, West, so there's an army of gorillas—"
"Oh, and they're telepathic," Joe inserts. "Very smart gorillas who are telepathic and have mind control."
Singh looks blankly at him for a long moment. "…Why do I live in this city?"
Joe gives him a minute longer to process the situation.
"Okay," he finally sighs. "I have no reason not to believe you. I'll figure out some way to explain this to everyone and get them patrolling for… gorillas."
"Thank you, Captain," Joe says. He turns to leave the office.
"Oh, Detective—"
He glances back at Singh's baffled expression.
"When this is over, tell the Flash I need a very pointed word with him."
"I'll see what I can do."
Randolf is pacing around the med bay—mostly at normal speed, though the faintest haze of white lightning occasionally gathers around his figure. HR sits on the edge of a bed, turning his hat around in his hands in the absence of his drumsticks.
"So, have you had the coffee here yet?" HR asks finally. "Because it's incredible, really, you'd love it."
"I don't care about the coffee," Randolf snaps. "Sorry," he immediately apologizes. "I just—I wish you'd talked to me before you took off for another Earth."
"But you sent me the message—"
"You sent me the original encoded cryptogram with at least a dozen emoji and no other explanation, and it was the first time you'd contacted me in a month. So yes, I decoded it. I thought that was what you wanted."
HR places his hat back on his head. Randolf doesn't point out that it's backwards.
"Well, I thought, you were upset, you probably want to be alone. I know you don't like being around people when you're upset. But then it was a month so I emailed you—"
"With only emoji!"
"You didn't like anything I had to say before, so I thought maybe just saying nothing would be better."
"That—" Randolf stops pacing and runs a hand through his hair, exasperated. "That wasn't the problem, HR. Our cover was blown, the city hated us, there was my picture in every paper—not as the Flash, as myself—and you—you acted like it was no big deal."
"I—I—" HR stutters; he tries again. "R, I thought you always liked my optimism."
"I love your optimism, and I love you, but the optimism wasn't helpful in that situation and you weren't either, HR." Randolf sighs. "Sometimes I wonder whether you've ever taken anything in your life seriously."
Before HR can respond, there's the sound of approaching footsteps. Caitlin, hesitantly, pokes her head into the room.
"Sorry to interrupt," she says, "but Cisco's got news."