Enter the Demon

by TrueHorror88

Seth Rogers, an experimented mutant and the host of a clone Venom symbiote has only experienced pain in his life. His life as an anti-hero prepared for much, but that didn't include being pulled through a wormhole to save his sister from an unknown world. Now in a new world with their own heroes and villains, he continues protecting the innocents and finding his sister.

26. Chapter 26: The Sound and The Fury

Time for another story for you guys.

Here's the starting chapter of S01E11, where one greatly hated former colleague of S.T.A.R. Labs will resurface again.

So without further ado…

Enjoy!

Chapter 26: The Sound and The Fury

Everyone has a hero, someone they're look up to or admire, someone they just wish they could be. It's easy to believe in heroes.

What's hard is when our heroes stop believing in us.

That was the thoughts coursing through the red speedster as he and other powered beings each went after the group three motorcycle thieves. Apparently, the thieves of Central City still tried to have their way, even though they knew that all three new heroes have their appearance to the public eye.

"My God, Iris is an amazing blogger!" The nanite mutant said to his communication's link in his armor, while his suit was set to autopilot so he could read the new article Iris put about him on her blog without needing to direct it's flight pattern himself. "Damn, I like how she put most of suit's features in the article. Someone give that girl and award, cause she's deserves it."

"You choose now to read?!" Seth said through their link with a loud roar-like voice as he leaped after a motorcycle thief. Leaping from one building to another, he jumped after the thief. He lashed out his tendril from his hands to occasionally swing after his target, who dodged them before contact.

"Hey if you got the time, then you might as well make something useful out of it." Matt said back. He had already read the article about him more than three times already. It was so amazingly good in his eyes, that he couldn't stop rereading it again. It was way more interesting than what trying to fly after the thieves on their motorcycles right now.

"He's rereading it again, isn't he?" Barry said through the link himself, noticing the lack of participation from the nanite mutant, while he also ran after his own motorcycled thief.

"He is!" Seth answered annoyingly while swung after his own thief, he really hated how traffic was not helping either of the three heroes right now. And the occasional people using flashes on their phones as they took pictures of him from on top of buildings.

"Barry, there's an intersection coming up. Hurry!" Caitlin told the speedster. "Matt stop reading while flying, it's not very smart. And Seth try to get your friend to focus actually."

Seth then said back to his girlfriend, "Already trying, Caitlin!"

"This should slow 'em down." They heard Cisco state back at S.T.A.R. Labs beside Caitlin, as he changed the traffic lights that were in front of them. But it did no help, as the three thieves separated from each other and went their own separate way at the intersection.

Barry stopped right in the middle of the intersection, Matt halted his flight progress and hovered above the area of the intersection, Seth latched onto a nearby building so he could look over the place himself. "Guys, which way?"

"He does realize that he's no longer alone, right? There are more than him right now." Venom stated in Seth's mind right now.

"Maybe. No matter how smart Joe say Barry is, his mind is definitely not living up to the hype right now." Seth said back.

"Left/ Right." Both Caitlin and Cisco instructed through their shared communications link. "Right/ Left." Caitlin and Cisco tried again.

Seth scratched his overly large chin with a clawed finger in confusion, Matt was too busy with his resumed reading on Iris' blog, while Barry asked his team. "Stop! You both hear you're telling me two different things, right?" The speedster told his team… he didn't notice that both mutants had disappeared.

"Barry, listen up. Listen carefully." Harrison let himself known as he became known to the speedster. "Here is what you're going to do." Barry began running ahead, following the instructions of the paralyzed scientist. "Now… go right." He did so. "Now the King is headed for the entrance to the interstate."

Barry saw it and asked, "Okay how do I stop it?"

"I'd recommend a blockade in his path." Harrison gave his suggestion to the metahuman, who knew what he meant and hijacked a delivery van and drove it to the entrance to the interstate, blocking off the King's path to victory.

"What entrance?" Barry quipped to the founder before continuing on his path to find the King again.

"Atta boy." Harrison complimented to him as he and the other two scientists saw that the King was nearing a place where Barry could stop him by himself. But they wondered where the two other mutants had gone off too, as well as the two other motorcycle thieves.

When Barry followed the King to another intersection, the King stopped himself to look around for his companions. But he couldn't find any of them there, which worried him very much. And it worried him to the point that he didn't notice the red speedster sped around him, taking his motorcycle keys and handcuffing his hands to the handles.

"Got the keys!" Barry happily said to his team via his comms device. He then asked, "Uh guys, what about the other two? They're still out there."

"Barry, look up." Caitlin instructed the metahuman, who did as he was told and directed his eyes upwards.

His eyes widened when he saw Venom looking down at him from the side of the building that he was latched onto. Below him, was the Queen, who found herself frozen to the wall with her body being upside-down. On top of the building was Matt was sitting on top of the Ace member, with his hand showing a holographic image of the article he had reread too many times already. Both Queen and Ace were unconscious right now.

"Okay, got it." Barry nodded sheepishly before running off with the two mutants, all three heroes going to the facility of S.T.A.R. Labs again to meet up with the other team members.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

Barry sped into the Cortex of the facility immediately, Seth and Matt dropped down through the skylight, both of them retracting their suits.

"Give me some!" Cisco said excitedly to the speedster, who let out an equally excited "Yeah!" before the two of them high-fived each other.

"Efficiently done, Mr. Allen." Harrison complimented the metahuman before looking to the mutants, "The same goes for you two as well, Mr. Almond, Mr. Rogers."

The two mutants nodded their thanks. Caitlin walked over to them, and stood in front of Seth who smiled at her smiling face. "Nice job out there. But if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you two disappeared to show off?" she accused the two mutants.

"Don't know about Seth and his slithering friend, but I was too busy reading the article about me." Matt said with a shrug.

Seth chuckled before he answered, "Maybe, I did. Why? Was it a bad thing to do?" he stepped closer to Caitlin's form.

"No, but maybe you could have let Barry take care of it. He does need the experience." Caitlin said with blushing cheeks. She slowly stepped closer to him and kissed his lips before adding, "But you guys did save the day, so that's important."

"True enough." He said with his own hand running through her soft hair, and removing the bangs of hair that were in front of her porcelain-like skin face.

Matt still found their affection between each other delightful. And more than that he was happy for them both right now. But he couldn't deny the feeling of happiness that came over him, at the thought of his new armor that was going to be finished soon enough.

"We need a picture." Cisco stated excitedly, and before he could accept or hear any protests, he shot after a camera immediately. Harrison give a frown of confusion while the mutants grimaced at the idea of being taken a picture of.

Barry then gave his own opinion. "Pretty sure rule number one of having secret identity is not taking pictures of yourself in your super suit without a mask on."

"Actually, it's to be more careful when and where to show off your powers, Mr. Allen." Seth said sarcastically, knowing full well that the speedster was having trouble with that. "I can give you a guidebook if it's still a problem." He said with an evil smile on his face.

Barry shook his head in denial, just as Cisco returned to The Cortex with a camera in his hands, he then said to them. "Oh, come on, please! This is just for us. This is to document all this."

Then the paralyzed scientist got their attention with his next spoken words, "Who knows? Maybe people in the future will want to know how all this happened."

"Two things will happen if that does happen actually." Seth got their attention next, "They are going to build some sort of an attraction in his name and they are going to fake all the information to make him seem all superior and all. Which would be a load of bull."

"If they build an attraction in your name instead, Seth. Then I'll blast it to pieces with a bunch of missiles." Matt immediately said. He honestly didn't want something like a museum built in his name, it would be too much and utterly ridiculous. Venom museum? Nobody wants that. Neither did Venom himself actually.

Seth saw Caitlin's mouth gape in slight shock at the thought of a picture right now. He then heard Barry continue, "All right, well, if you want the future to have the whole story, then we all need to be in it." the mutants wondered if that meant them too, and the speedster answered their doubts. "Yeah, that means you two too, guys. You're part of the team as well."

All the males of the team smiled happily, Caitlin then asked them in an almost desperate plea, "First, let me put on some makeup?" Seth blushed at how cute she sounded when she pleaded to them like that.

But then Cisco shot her down immediately, "The future does not care about your makeup." Barry agreeing with a humming.

Seth then moved closer to her and assured her, "They're right, Cait." She briefly looked down before she then heard, "And besides, why mess with perfection? You're still an angelic beauty without makeup. And you're just going to catch the attention of anyone who looks at the picture, as it is. So no need to change that."

Caitlin looked away briefly in embarrassment before pressing her lips to his cheek, his entire face heating up immediately with embarrassment and the fire element blazing up his entire face.

He then heard his "other" insult him in his reddening moment, "You are beyond cheesy, partner. Shame on you."

"I hate you, you slithering pile of goo." Seth told his "other" back, who growled at him.

"Get a room you two!" Matt told the couple of doctors with a teasing tone, forcing Caitlin's face to glow red like magma and Seth's reddening face to emit smoke because of both anger and embarrassment like a cartoon character.

Barry then took hold of the camera and stood behind the main console, pointing the front of the console. Harrison was seated in the middle with Cisco on his right and Caitlin on his left. Beside Cisco was Matt who had his arm around the other engineer's neck. Beside Caitlin was Seth who had an arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him, her head falling on down his shoulder in response. All four of them had wide smiles on their faces.

"Okay." Barry got their attention again before he instructed them, "Big smiles." They already held smiles on their faces. He then counted down. "Three… two… one." The camera in his hand beeped a few times, and then the speedster-

WHOOSH

He sped around the main console and placed himself somewhere among them, to make sure that he was in the picture as well.

The camera's flash appeared and the second later, the speedster returned back to his previous place and held the camera and laughed shortly at the success of the picture. "Does that count as a selfie?" Caitlin asked them all before turning to Seth who shrugged his shoulders.

"Absolutely." Barry answered cockily, before giving the camera to Cisco.

"Sick. Came out good." Cisco commented on the picture.

Barry and Seth walked over to the founder of the facility, Matt went to work in the workshop again. Caitlin decided to wait for the elemental mutant right now. "Thanks for talking me through things out there." He then told the mutant, "And thanks for taking care of the others out there, meant a lot."

"My pleasure. Well done. Both of you." Harrison said.

"Yeah, Barry don't worry about that. It was good to be out there again." Seth then got a sheepish expression on his face, "Though I feel like I should apologize for Matt's behavior out in the field, he's way more excited about becoming known in this universe than I thought." He might not be blood related to Tony Stark, but he must have gained his likeness for the popularity.

Harrison then added, "I have to say it was a bit of a rush feeling like a…"

"A hero." Barry finished off for him.

The founder agreed immediately with a somewhat embarrassed expression on his face.

Seth the told him, "Just because Barry, Matt and I are out in the field like we were tonight, doesn't mean that you guys here are any less of heroes, Brains. I mean you built this entire facility to make the lives of everyone in the city better. And Caitlin and Cisco are the same. You guys are just as much heroes as we are, and it doesn't take powers to be a hero. Just a will to do good."

Both Barry and Dr. Wells admired the mutant's words. They were full of sincerity and kindness, and filled with truth. One of the qualities that they admired about the mutant, because he was always honest.

The two powered beings walked away, bidding their farewells to the founder, they walked out. But Seth wrapped an arm around Caitlin before the two of them continued on their way out

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs, Cisco's workshop)

Matt was in the process of working on his new project in Cisco's workshop by himself. He hadn't told anyone about his new project yet, and he wasn't going to do so for a while.

Placing his screwdriver in his mouth, he removed the sub machine gun from his suit and placed it aside. Walking to the computers, he pressed a few buttons on the keyboard to run simulations before asking the AI system, "Jarvis, run a couple of simulations, and check to see if the compatibility between the suit and the first appliance is good enough for field test."

"I just performed them, sir." The AI system stated before showing the results via blue holographic screen. "According to the simulations I have just performed, it shows the compatibility between the suit and the device to be 56% compatible with each other."

"56% huh?" Matt rubbed his chin as he thought about a way to increase the compatibility, his eyes drifting from the suit he was modifying right now to the devices he was combining to it. "Try reducing the energy that's needed in the gauntlet's repulsor cannons and convert it to the device. Run a simulation again and check the compatibility. And let's hope for a better result this time."

"I can confirm that is very much true right now." Matt perked his head up returned his eyes to the updated holographic screen. "According to the new simulations, it shows the compatibility between the suit and device is now 89% compatible with each other."

"That's what I like to hear!" he exclaimed at the results. "What if we had the second device to the other gauntlet, would the compatibility still be the same?"

"It will, yes. Because the similarity between the devices, then the compatibility will remain the same on both sides."

"Any idea on how to increase the compatibility, without losing its main functions? I still want it to be able to fly and fire off repulsor blasts as the other one." Matt added his worried thoughts.

"I believe there is actually." Matt listened, "The machine gun should be able to serve as a third repulsor cannon, one that could be prove more powerful than the gauntlets', and with the application of your mutation, the ammunition could be changed as well. And I do have some thoughts on the dispensers and launchers as well as the arc reactor."

"I'm all yours Jarvis. Just remind me to splash on some red and blue painting." Matt heard his AI system give his go ahead. "Let's finish this, once and for all. Shall we J?"

X

(Harrison Wells' house)

The time was night, when Dr. Harrison Wells returned to his very elegant and prestigious home within Central City. The doors opened and he wheeled himself in. Knowing that no one awaited his return in his lonely home, Harrison didn't hesitate to get back on his feet.

Walking over to a pillar near the entrance, he pressed a button on it, and the lights received the signal and turned on. His fireplace was burning brightly with wild flames as he pressed a button on his remote and turned on his preferred music. The pleasant sound of a male opera singer singing filled the entire household, and more importantly his ears as he walked.

Reaching a table in the kitchen, he took off his glasses and placed them on the table. He rubbed his eyes after that, and poured a glass of whiskey for himself. Inhaling the smell of alcohol before taking a well-earned sip of it. His time with his drink was short because his phone rang now.

Pulling it out, he looked at the screen, but only for a short time before placing it on his ear to answer it. "Harrison Wells." His opera music was suddenly cut off and stopped playing. He looked around in confusion with slight alarm, before asking, "Hello?"

"…We both know what you did…"

Harrison looked around again, he felt as though he recognized the voice from somewhere. He became quite alarmed by the voice, feeling hints of threat in it, he walked over to his safe and pulled out his gun after punching the password. He cocked the gun before walking into the center of his household, his firearm ready to go off to defend the wielder.

"It's time to pay the piper!"

The scientist turned his weapon up to the air, but lowered when he saw it. The windows of his skylights, slowly cracking one after the other. And when the ones above him cracked to pieces, he turned around…

WHOOSH

He sped away with red lighting cloaking his form. When he halted, he stood in front of a large glass wall. He saw a blast of… transparent circles? He wasn't sure but that was the only way to describe them. The blast connected with a glass door, blasting it to pieces and it traveled on. And as it was about to hit him, he dodged it by ducking, letting the blast target become the glass wall behind him. And it shattered immediately.

Dr. Wells jumped out of the way and into safe distance. From down his floor, his head looked up and around for the assaulter but his eyes never caught any sight. But wondered about the familiarity of the voice that spoke to him twice before.

He knew who the person was.

X

The day after last night, Harrison chose to do the smartest thing and contact the police and inform them of the attack on his home. And when they came, both Barry and Joe took in the magnificent state of the founder's household. Even though more of the glass as shattered, it was still an incredible sight to behold nonetheless.

Seth and Matt appeared shortly after. Both of them had spent time and slept at either of two S.T.A.R. Labs worker. The elemental obviously spent time at Caitlin's and the nanite mutant spent time at Cisco's. Both mutants parted ways with them to search for Olivia again just together, and promised to meet up with them again later the day.

But when Joe told them about the incident at Wells' household, they contacted his colleagues and told them to come. However, the mutants weren't far from the house, so they managed to arrive in short time.

The front doors to the estate opened for the four men and Harrison Wells appeared behind them. "Come in." the founder offered them. The two lawmen had slightly gaped mouths as they walked in with the mutants who held stoic faces. "Look, Joe, I apologize for all of this. It just…It really feels like a case of so much for so little." He turned around as he spoke. "The police should not have been called. I got a prank call before all this happened."

The four men followed the wheelchair bound scientist who led them deeper into his house as he explained. Seth looked around with narrowed eyes, taking in the places of shattered glasses and their original place before they were shattered. "Prank call, huh?"

"This does not feel nor look like any form of prank call, it looks like an attack." The symbiote stated with its senses taking in the damage as well as the host. Neither of them believed that this was just some prank call. This was far too damaged… no, calculated for a prank call.

Matt looked around himself and took in the damage himself. In his mind, he drew his own conclusions himself, very similar to the ones that the elemental and his slithering roommate had drawn.

"This feels like more than just a prank, Doctor." The detective stated his thoughts.

"Gotta agree with Josephine here." Joe shot Seth an annoyed look at the nickname, while the others chuckled. "This seems to be more be more elaborate for a prank call."

The founder has now directed them all into the living room of his home and continued, "Well, there are those who feel I did not suffer enough for the particle accelerator explosion of last year, and some of them act on it." Everyone else took in the damage of the skylights above them and felt like this seemed way more than a elaborate prank call.

"Doesn't seem right to attack a defenseless and paralyzed man like this." Matt said, his eyes looking at the house owner from the corner of his eye. "Wonder who would go so far to attack him like this? It seems more and more like an act of revenge instead."

Before they could ask any more questions, the sound of rapid footsteps echoed from the entrance of the household, and out of the doors came Caitlin and Cisco walking with long strides towards them. The female doctor looked to her boss with concern, "Dr. Wells. Dr. Wells, are you okay?"

"Dr. Snow, I'm…I'm fine. A little chilly. Otherwise, I'm fine" He replied to her before looking to his other colleague. "Hello, Cisco. Make yourselves at home as best as you can. Mr. Rogers, please refrain from raiding my kitchen." Seth threw his hands up in defeat, since he was briefly curious if the founder had chocolate in his kitchen. "I'm gonna a make a hotel reservation."

As his boss wheeled away, the mechanical engineer then stated impressed by the place, "Oh…this place is so sick." Caitlin walked over to Seth who took her hand and held it tightly.

Matt chuckled at comment before he complimented himself, "This house is bitchin."

"Yeah…hey what took you guys so long?" The speedster wondered at their late arrival. After all, they did work with Dr. Wells, then they'd have to at least visited him before.

But that was not there case. "We… got lost." Cisco answered embarrassedly.

Caitlin got an equally embarrassed expression, which Seth was cute. "We've never been here before."

"Really? Never?" Barry wondered baffled.

"Seriously? Not a single time?" Seth wondered just as baffled.

"He tends to keep his private life private." Caitlin answered them both with an embarrassed tone. Barry nodded in agreement.

"Really? That's weird." Matt said.

But then Seth said to him with a dry look, "You do know that the only reason you know the Director's house, is because you're dating his daughter, right? Otherwise you'd be just as clueless as them, dumbass."

"If he didn't date Olivia then he would have been spared the hours of being locked up in an interrogation room with his father giving him "The talk"" The symbiote added his comment with a mocking laugh in the elemental's head. Seth grimaced he was reminded of how Tony Stark informed Matt about the importance of protection back in the days. But it was too much for either of the mutants to hear.

"The horrors of that day." Seth thought to himself, before he left Caitlin and Cisco and Matt to talk with one another, while he went to talk to Joe who had gotten a grimace on his face after talking to Eddie for some reason.

"Joe." The detective turned to Seth who walked over to him. "What's up? You seem a little confused for some reason."

"Something about this case doesn't add up, is all." Joe said, before he told Seth some good news. "Good news though; Iris screamed yesterday."

Raising an eyebrow, the mutant commented, "First, I never understood how a girl screaming is good news. That sounds like "Bad Parenting 101". Second, am I correct in assuming it's a good scream? Cause a scream can go both ways."

Joe chortled before telling, "Good scream. A very good scream. Iris got a letter from Central City News Picture, who offered a job as a reporter. Apparently, the editor's a fan of my baby girl's blog." He smiled like a truly happy father.

"That's amazing, Joe!" Seth exclaimed to his friend, ecstatic for his friend who was very happy for his child to realize her dream right now. The mutant then serious, "And we have to celebrate with a drink, but before that." He stepped closer to him, "How about you tell me what's on your mind right now?"

The detective shortly looked around before saying, "Wells said that he's right there when it happened. And think about it? All that glass shattering down around him and he can't walk?"

Seth then knew what he getting at, "And Brains doesn't have a single scratch on him." Both Seth and Venom made a mental note and stored it deep in the memory bank.

A while later, Caitlin and Cisco decided to go back to the facility with Matt, he was however did it because he was going to do some more work on his project. The other police officers cleared out as well, and with the free space vacant now, Barry went to do his work as a CSI scientist.

He walked over to the living room again, this time with his hands clothed with gloves to prevent cross contamination. His eyes looking over the floor with fragmented pieces of the glass wall. Looking around, he saw that he was alone right now. With no eyes on him, he used his trusty superspeed to put all the glass fragments back together.

Before his days as a metahuman, this would have been an extreme pain in the ass to do and would take a while, but now he was able to piece it together in an instant right now. And when the final piece was placed, Harrison Wells wheeled closer to the speedster, who saw his mentor come near.

Barry then stated his conclusion of his examination of the glass fragment puzzle, "There's no point of impact. No rock or bat or… any solid object went through these windows. It's as if they just shattered themselves. Or maybe Seth blasted some wind to scare you?" The metahuman joked, before looking to the founder who shared a brief smile at the joke. "This wasn't some teenage prank?" he guessed.

"No, it wasn't." Harrison agreed with a shaking head.

"But you don't want our help. Why?" Barry further inquired of his mentor.

Then with a slow voice, Harrison said, "Because I already know who did this. Hartley Rathaway."

At the drop of the new name, one that Barry didn't know at all, making him ask, "Who is Hartley Rathaway?"

"Hartley Rathaway is the prodigal son." Harrison informed with a serious tone, confusing the speedster because of the choice of words that Wells used.

"And he has returned."

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

Later on, Caitlin, Barry, Cisco, Wells, Joe, and Matt Seth all stood around in the facility and looking a picture of a young man with brown hair with a pair of glasses on his face, the young man being Hartley Rathaway. And the guy looked anything but happy on his face, and the sight of the photo made Seth wonder if he even knew how to be happy.

His eyes drifted to Caitlin and Cisco, both of whom who looked uncomfortable just from looking at the picture of the guy. It was like they didn't even want to be reminded of the guy again. But fate had other plans for them instead.

"Wonder if this Hartley character was the black sheep of their flock?" Venom wondered as he took in the sights of the scientists' expressions.

"Maybe?" Seth thought back to him. "But now we know who didn't make the cut for the Harry Potter movies." Venom laughed in response to his joke, but like always why any of his laughs sound like a villain's malicious laugh.

Matt narrowed his eyes in deep thoughts, wondering deeply, "Rathaway? Why does that name sound so familiar?" he thought to himself. He had no idea why but the name "Rathaway" kept resurfacing in his mind for some reason. The name had been heard before, but he couldn't figure out from when or where.

But right now, that could wait.

Harrison now began introducing, reintroducing in some's cases, to everyone around them. "Hartley Rathaway possesses on of the finest scientific minds I've ever encountered."

Joe recognized the name and inquired, "Any ties to Rathaway Industries?"

Dr. Wells then explained, "His grandfather founded the company, his father expanded it, and Hartley here," he gestured to the stoic looking picture of Hartley, "was set to inherit the throne."

Matt the snapped his fingers at realization, "He's the son of Osgood and Rachel Rathaway, isn't he?" Dr. Wells nodded to the nanite mutant, "I thought I recognized the name somewhere."

"Where?" Seth asked his friend.

The nanite mutant started, "Remember the incident where Snart and Rory attacked an airport before?" Seth nodded in response, "They stole a painting from the Rathaways, the same ones who returned from a trip from Paris in a private jet that same night. I heard the name "Rathaway" back there, and just remembered it now. it's been bugging this entire time."

They smiled when they heard Matt get his answer to the question that's been bugging him this entire time. But then Barry got them back on track, "What happened?"

"He came out to his parents." Caitlin told them swiftly, getting their attention. Matt clenched his fists angrily with wide eyes. "Old money, old values."

At that explanation, Seth turned his eyes to his friend who clenched his fists in anger, he could hear his metallic knuckles crack beneath his flesh. And he could understand that. Having one's parents turn their backs on their child because they chose to be true to themselves. It was low.

… kinda of like what happened with Matt's birth parents…

"Sounds like some curses are universal." Everyone heard Matt sneer out the words like it was venom. Feeling the eyes on him, the nanite excused himself and walked out of The Cortex, leaving them to continue.

Everyone was left in confusion so they turned to Seth, who immediately stated, "Sorry can't say anything about that, guys. It's Matt's job, not mine." They respected his decision and didn't ask further of him.

Harrison cleared his throat and continued, "Hartley's parents and himself were estranged when we met, but brilliant. I couldn't have built the particle accelerator without him."

Seth looked between them all and wondered if he was such an important member of their team here, then why wasn't he mentioned before. Barry thought the same. "You guys have never even mentioned his name." he said.

The elemental then asked himself, "If he sounds so important, then why is he like the guy is the taboo of the team?"

Caitlin scratched her ear sheepishly and said just as sheepishly, "That's because Hartley had a… challenging personality." She finished off for the lack of a better word. Seth placed his interrogating eyes on her form.

Then Cisco explained her true thoughts with a less than subtle tone, "What she means is he was mostly a jerk. But, every once in a while…he could be a dick." Both Joe and Seth chortled at his words, however the mutant noticed Caitlin did incline her head in agreement.

Harrison added his own explanation, "Let's just say that Hartley, like many outliers, had trouble relating to his peers."

"So? Doesn't mean you have to be a total dick about it to everyone around you." Seth said bluntly. "And for you guys to say that he's a jackass? Must not have been rubbed off with your likeness like the rest of us, huh?"

Both Caitlin and Cisco smiled almost embarrassedly at the mutant's words of compliments. But they did really like it, especially because it he had been with them in less time than Hartley, and he deeply cared for them.

"Thanks for it, Seth." Caitlin thanked the mutant with blushed cheeks, which turned into a giggle when he bowed in mock. She then bluntly told Harrison with some bitterness. "But he was always your favorite."

"The chosen one." Cisco added, getting looks from everyone around him. "He referred to himself like that."

Joe then asked the scientist curiously, "So if you two were so close, why would he target you?"

"Bad salary?" The symbiote wondered seriously.

"Well, I'm here every day and I hardly get paid for it…I don't get paid at all." The mutant thought to himself sadly.

Harrison then explained, "Hartley left S.T.A.R. Labs about a year ago after we had a… disagreement." He said with no better word to come to mind.

"About what?" The detective wanted to know. The mutant and his partner felt his distrust in his words, and wondered what was the foundation behind it.

Harrison shared a brief but tension filled look with him, and before any words could be uttered, the speedster said. "Look, don't worry. We'll stop him. I won't let him hurt you… any of you."

"You do realize me and Matt are here, right?" Seth said annoyingly, as though he and his friend were forgotten by the metahuman, again. "But what about the parents? Anything we might get out of them?"

Joe looked unsure, "Maybe. But I don't know how we could get near them. They're not feeling very chatty with the police after their painting got stolen before."

"Would an appointment with the couple perhaps be of more use, Detective West?" the AI asked the detective as well as the

The natives of this universe had forgotten about Jarvis since, the AI system didn't speak unless spoken to. "Think you can arrange a meeting with the Rathaways, Jarvis?" Asked Seth who looked from the corner of his eye and saw Matt coming back in with a calmer expression on his face.

"Just did, Dr. Rogers."

"Thanks, Jarvis." Seth looked to Joe. "What do you say now, Joe?"

"Might get us a lead, yeah." His face then frowned, "But like I said, they are not so happy about us losing their painting, so don't know if they will respond will enough to us."

"What about the FBI?" Matt asked.

"Can you guys bring the FBI here?" Cisco asked, almost worried right now.

"Kinda." The nanite mutant answered as both he and his elemental friend brought out their SHIELD badges. Flipping them open, both of them placed their finger above the zipper, a moment later their badges simultaneously changed. Instead of the SHIELD emblem, it now said FBI agents as their title and their names.

"That's cool, right." They nodded with gaped mouths. "So see you guys later, then. Call me if somethings come up, okay Caitlin?" Seth told the female doctor before he and Matt walked out of the facility to meet up with the Rathaways.

But when he got into the corridor, Caitlin caught up with him and asked, "Hi." He turned around to meet her eyes, "What's with Matt? He's seems agitated for some reason."

"He's a bit… sensitive about this matter. It's got a lot to do with his birth parents." Seth said.

Caitlin then asked worried about his tone, "I thought he didn't know his parents like you and your sister?"

"No, not exactly." Seth stated, "He… I'm going to tell you later. I promise, but I need his permission first."

"Okay." Caitlin nodded before kissing his cheek, "See you. Good luck with the Rathaways." Seth nodded before following after his friend and Caitlin walked back to the others.

X

(Rathaway Industries)

After a while of agreeing what their cover should be and changing into other suits, Seth and Matt walked through the entrance door of the Rathaway Industries. Both of them wore black suits with their eyes covered by black-tinted sun glasses.

The security guys noticed them, but the two of them quickly showed them their FBI badges without even making eye-contact, showing a lot of confidence like any other FBI agents would be. And any other security guards who saw the same, let them pass through.

The elemental looked to Matt and was worried about what happened before at the facility, "Are you okay? I mean you looked a bit hurt there. I know that parents lik-"

"I'm okay." Matt cut him off, "I know you're just trying to help right now, but it's still a bitch to even remember it, you know."

"I know that." The elemental, "But remember that you're with a better family right now. Even though it is to one of the world's biggest playboys, you know."

The nanite mutant chuckled, "I don't know, he might end up tying the knot on Pepper's finger." With a smile, he continued seriously, "Are you thinking about telling Caitlin? About me, I mean?"

He nodded slowly, "Yeah, with your permission, of course. I mean, it's one of your well-guarded secrets."

Matt lightly swayed his head as he thought about it. He could trust Caitlin Snow, and if Seth was willing to tell her about their shared past of being biological weapons for the human military, then she could be trusted. And if Seth was comfortable with telling her of other aspects of their past, then she was indeed trustworthy. The nanite mutant then stated his decision, "Caitlin only, other people not yet. That's my choice to tell."

"Thanks. Now…" he straightened his jacket, as did Matt. "Let's go."

They passed by a reception, and the female receptionist behind the desk saw them, and stopped them. "Excuse me, but you can't proceed past this point without an appointment."

Matt moved closer to her, and pulled out his badge. "I believe we do have an appointment with Osgood and Rachel Rathaway." He flipped it open, "I'm FBI Agent Stark. This is my partner, fellow FBI Agent Fury." Seth pulled out his own badge and showed them.

The receptionist leaned over the desk and examined the badges in front of her, and saw them. A moment or two passed afterwards, with her eyes looking between the agents. She then opened the door, "Please proceed, agents."

"Thank you, ma'am." Seth told her as did Matt, both making sure to use their training to keep their authority voice intact and to make sure to sound as professional.

When they were far enough away from the reception desk, Matt turned his head to his friend, "I missed this." He nodded in agreement, both of them missing the old times where they could go out in the field and portrait agents of another organization again.

And instead of waiting for them be called in, they were immediately led into the office and saw the two parents of one Hartley Rathaway. One Rachel Rathaway and one Osgood Rathaway, both of them standing over a desk while looking over some of their files.

"Agents Stark and Fury, correct?" Osgood asked them, the two of them pulling out their badges and showed them to them. They could see the man was checking out their posture, their words, their clothes, their badges. Checking to see if they had any merit, and more importantly looking for any signs for falsehood. Seeing none, he said. "What can we help with, agents?"

"Is there any problems with our protypes perhaps, agents?" Rachel asked after her husband.

But she was relieved when Seth shook his head before speaking, "No, Ma'am. The topic behind this meeting is regarding your son," Both parents grimaced. "Hartley Rathaway."

"We have no son." The husband stated bluntly right away, to the masked surprise of the mutants. "So I do not believe that either my wife or I will be able offer more assistance than that, Agents."

"Have Hartley been in contact with either of you, or have he tried to do so in any way?" Matt asked them, keeping his disgust of their old-fashioned thinking hidden.

"No, he has not." Rachel answered.

"She's lying. Their son tried to contact them before, but looks like neither of them tried back. Disgusting." Venom said with disgust in his voice, not liking how the parents just turned their back on their one and only child.

"I know. But calm down, last thing we need is for Venom to berserk in a contained space." Seth thought back.

"Has something happened to him?" the mother asked, feeling slightly worried for her estranged son right now.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but we have been instructed to not to divulge any information whatsoever, anything that could prove sensitive to the case right now. But what we can say, is that we're just trying to cross him off as a suspect." Matt said.

Seth then began speaking to the elder couple again, "Is there any place where Hartley may have gone to, any place you can think of, somewhere he might be feeling safe again. Perhaps a friend or someone else?"

"No." the father growled at them, inwardly expecting a reaction from either of the agents, but neither came. "Perhaps you should talk to that disgraceful quack, Harrison Wells from S.T.A.R. Labs. Left we heard, Hartley was working for that man before he blew hole in the sky with his failure of an accelerator."

Obviously, they weren't going to tell the rich couple the truth, so they told a lie. "We already have agents at S.T.A.R. Labs, asking Dr. Wells about Hartley." Seth said.

"Then, if there's nothing else?" Osgood asked, not wanting to spend any more time with questions.

"That'd be all, Mr. Rathaway, Mrs. Rathaway." Matt told the couple before bidding their farewells and walked out of the office, leaving the rich couple to their own thoughts right now.

"Looks like they know nada." The nanite mutant said as he and Seth walked out of the front doors.

Seth scoffed as he thought of their home universe, "Reminds me of our universe, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, and it's like some of the curses are universal. And I hate it." The nanite mutant said with grit teeth. He shook his head before stating, "I think I'm going to go for a flight, clear my head then back to S.T.A.R. Labs."

"Sure thing, I heard Iris got a new job at Central City Picture News. Think I might tell her congrats face-to-face." Seth said.

Matt raised an eyebrow, "You're trying to be a better friend to Joe by becoming better friends with Iris, aren't you?"

"I recall someone buying muffins, of various flavors, in various colors, and in different shapes, for my dad, hoping to get a better relationship with his girlfriend's family." Matt looked away in embarrassment because of the memory. "Though I think dinosaur-shaped muffins were a little too much. But the ones with SHIELD-formed frosting, they were marvelous."

"I hate you." Matt muttered before walking into the nearest alley, and flew out in his suit.

"Now I want muffins." Venom said with the host's stomach growling in response to the request.

"Let's buy some."

X

(CCPD)

At his desk was Joe West going over some paperwork from various cases. Though he was concerned with what happened at Harrison Wells' household, but he still had to file more paperwork that he had left behind because he chose to spent with Seth.

"I really gotta spent less time with Seth now. Otherwise I might lose my job already." He told himself.

"Detective West?" Joe looked up from his paperwork and saw a woman around his own age. Her hair was long and blonde, eyes with the color of amber. Her body was clad in a white frilly sundress with a long blue coat over it. Her beautiful appearance caused a few heads to turn around at first glance.

"Yes." He said as he stood up to shake her hand, he like his colleagues, found her beautiful. But he remained professional.

"Hi. I'm Jasmine, the receptionist told me to come and talk to you." Jasmine said.

Joe nodded, "Yes of course." His eyes drifted into the lobby, seeing a beat cop talk to an unresponsive little girl around the age of ten, maybe younger. She had the same features as the mother, blonde hair and amber eyes. Clothed in a sundress and her arms pulling her little teddy bear closer to her chest, while her head was placed on the head of the toy.

Jasmine saw his eyes look into the direction of the lobby and saw the same, "That's my daughter, Hope. I'd rather not have her hear this."

The detective saw how worried she was and gestured to the seat. "Please take a seat." The mother nodded as she and Joe took a seat. He took out her notepad and readied a pencil to take notes, "What's the problem?"

"I'd like to file a missing person's report, for my husband Richard." Jasmine started, "I haven't heard from him since Christmas. He went out to buy some more presents and such for me and my daughter, but… he haven't called back since. And I'm worried."

Joe knew that it was going to be difficult to ask her the harsh questions, but it had to be done. "Any places he might visit? Friends or families, maybe?"

"No that's the weirdest thing." The woman said, "He didn't bring along his car keys. He went to the store not far from our house, it's two or three blocks away from our house. He didn't see the need to drive the way."

The detective then asked, "Any places he might frequent maybe? In times when he wants to be alone, perhaps."

"No, he doesn't, not anymore. After Hope was born, he stopped going to his usual places. Devoting each and every second of his life to me and his child." Jasmine said before pleading with tears in her eyes, "Detective West, please help me find my husband. I can't tell my daughter that her father's not coming home anymore."

"Ma'am." He placed her hands in his own, hoping to comfort her while he said. "I promise you, that I will find your husband, using all the powers that I have in the department." She smiled warmly and with more tears in her eyes of gratitude. "Do you have a photo of your husband?"

Wiping her eyes clear of the stinging tears, Jasmine took out her wallet and pulled out a picture of her middle-aged husband who disappeared from her and her daughter's life. Joe took the picture and went over to the tech guys, making sure that they got a copy of the photo for the missing person's report.

Joe returned a while after and they continued with the necessary questions that needed to be asked from Jasmine. But his eyes continuedly looked over to the young child in the background, feeling pain from what happened with his own wife. He couldn't help but compare them.

But what none of them knew was that the missing husband was not missing at all. His life had been vanquished by red claws that took him away from the realm of the living. Because his innocent kindness drove him into the very pits or Carnage.

X

Seth went to the newspaper publisher but that was only brief because he saw that no one was really there, so instead he chose to go swing around the city as Venom.

He had found a place on the side of a tall building, where he used the opportunity to read Iris' latest update with a tendril holding a phone in front of his eyes. He skimmed through the article before but that was because he had to go to work at the bar.

Some of his colleagues at the bar found it strange that a doctor/bio-engineer would end up working in a bar of all workplaces. But Seth told that he wanted something simpler for now. And working as a bartender seemed like the right fit.

But now that was out of the way, Seth chose read Iris' article.

"I think we can all agree Central City is full of wonders. This year has proven it, times and times again. It started out with a red streak saving people in danger. Then came the pitch-black demon who joined the fray and saved people. Both The Flash and Venom were thought to be the only heroes in our city for a long time after their appearance, the only impossible in the city. However, we were wrong."

"Like I said before, this city is full of wonders, and once again our city proven itself so. The night of the fateful showdown between the two gun wielders and The Flash and Venom did not turn out as we all expected. Instead of Venom, another hero chose this showdown to reveal himself. A white knight in armor unlike any we have ever seen before descended that night in Venom's stead, able to soar through the sky with wings of steel. And he fought valiantly against his foes and alongside our Scarlet Speedster, protecting both bystanders and his partner with blasts strong enough to strike anyone down from afar. And his name is Iron Knight. And to whoever you are underneath the helmet, I wanna say, "Thank you. Iron Knight""

"The cop's daughter is quite sharp with her words. Quite a magnificent article, really. She deserves the job at the newspaper." Venom complimented Iris' article on her blog. "It's no surprise that she got a fan in the publisher."

"Yeah it is. She deserves this job, and I'm happy for both her and Joe's sake. It's incredible." At the thought of Iris, he remembered his missing sister, making his eyes look over the entire city. "Where are you, Liv? Why haven't you reache-"

Multiple flashes of realization came over his mind at the thought, making him slither out his form, with a single tendril taking the form of Venom's head, letting them look into each other's eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Liv's powers." Seth stated to the wide eyes of the symbiote, "Liv should have been able to reach out with her powers, to either me or Matt. Something's blocking her powers, somehow."

"Could be possible, yes. But if so, what exactly?" Venom inquired his host.

That was the question. Would could actually prevent Olivia's powers from reaching out to him or Matt, two people she could easily connect to with her powers. It wouldn't be impossible for her, so what exactly could prevent her from calling out to her loved ones in this universe.

Before he could continue, he got a call from Cisco, telling him that there's an attack on Rathaway Industries right now. "Never a dull moment in this city." He got back on his feet, the symbiote tendril wrapped around his entire body, slithering over his entire body.

Once again Venom breathed in the air of Central City, before shooting up into the air with both wind accelerating his leap and a tendril shot out, latching onto a building before swinging.

X

(Rathaway Industries, outside)

Venom swung through the city and jumped onto the building opposite of the Rathaway building. A moment later, the Iron Knight flew through the air and hovered right beside the other mutant. They both took in the sight of the black hooded character attacking the building with sound attacks, from the looks of it. Glasses shattering from each and every attack the hooded man launched at the structure before.

"Sound attacks? Shit!" Venom said dismay, he knew that he couldn't handle any sound-based attacks while enveloped by his partner.

Matt turned his helmeted head to his friend, "Need me to take care this. I know sound isn't exactly on your strong side."

"Maybe, yeah-" Venom stopped himself when saw the hooded character continue his blasts of sound. "Think it might be better if you do it."

The hooded character turned his head around, the mutants saw that it was Hartley's face underneath the hood. Hartley shoot a blast of sound at an incoming police car, the hood opening up with smoke emitted out of them. The targeted car came to a stop because of the attack, while two other cars came from the other side.

The mutants on top of the building heard the police officers call out to Hartley with "Get down on the ground!" exclaims. Hartley wasn't going to have any of that, and blasted the car with sound again. Matt looked to the left and saw a red streak of lightning run through the streets.

"Guess who's here?" Iron Knight quipped with a finger pointed to the side, the other mutant following the direction and saw it too.

"About time."

WHOOSH

Hartley saw the blur of yellow lightning and turned to it, but he couldn't get to speak because he was pushed down to the ground.

The armored mutant looked to his friend, "Wanna help him?"

Venom shook his head and said, "No need, he needs the experience. Let's go back to S.T.A.R. Labs." He nodded to his friend's request and flew to the air. Seth took a last look at the speedster and the hooded Hartley before jumping away.

Back in front of the building, Barry said. "It's over, Rathaway."

Hartley smirked, "You know my name. I know some names too." The speedster grew curious, "Caitlin Snow. Cisco Ramon. Harrison Wells." Barry grew worried, while his team listened over his comms device and became alarmed themselves, "I can hear the radio waves emanating from your suit. About 1900 megahertz. Is that them on the other end, listening? Along with Venom and Iron Knight, maybe? Are they gonna hear you die?"

However, Barry with confidence in him brewing up, countered back. "No. They're going to hear you get your ass kicked."

"Okay." Hartley simply stated, like it didn't bother him, so he thrusted both of his hands forward and sent out a sonic blast, hitting the speedster and lunged him into the air, and into the glass sign behind him.

From down in the midst of broken glass pieces, Barry looked before getting back on his feet. He sped away, dodging another sound attack in the process. The speedster went back an officer, pulled out his nightstick and threw it at the enemy.

Hartley took it and bowed down with his hands covering his face, from the repeated series of thrown nightsticks. When the repeated attacks stopped, the hooded man lashed out his hands again.

WHOOSH

But not a single sonic blast came out, as both of his weaponized gauntlets were pulled off of his hands by the speedster. Barry threw them to the sides and pulled the enemy closer to him by the collar of his hood. "Looks like you're not as smart as everyone says."

Without a moment's notice, Hartley countered back, "Smart enough to have figured out who Harrison Wells really is. You see… I know his secret." Barry let that sit in, so did the others back at S.T.A.R. Labs along with the mutants who heard the same from the speedster's hacked comms.

Barry sped away with Hartley in his hands.

Leaving everyone who listened to wonder one thing:

What was Harrison Wells' secret?

To be continued…

Now the team of Central City have been washed with confusion.

Hartley Rathaway's words sinking deeply into their hearts, making them wonder what their idol, mentor, boss and friend have been hiding right now.

And now will Seth take on this metahuman, and risk being damaged by sound waves, or will Rathaway get an unexpected surprise by Matt?

Stay tuned, peeps…