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.

38. Chapter 38: Tricksters

Now another bedtime story for you guys out there.

Once again thanks for all the wonderful PMs and reviews from your amazing readers. It means a lot and fuels me.

And now a little something for any aspiring readers out there in the world of fanfiction.

T-Rex-1000, a friend of mine and another great author, has posted up an abundance of challenges up on his profile that any of you wonderful people can take up for yourselves if you have the desire to step into the roles and challenges as an author.

If any of you are up for any of those challenges, then give the man a shout and take the first step into fanfiction…

…Second step, maybe. Think reading them is the first step. Who knows by now?

So without further ado…

ENJOY!

Chapter 38: Tricksters

Three plates on the kitchen counter were empty but that were only for a moment.

Seth slowly flipped the bacon slices on the frying pan with a metal tong and let them be sizzled on that side as well. His other hand occupying another pan and watched the eggs frying. The egg white frying and thickening and giving them a brighter white color with each second. The yolks remained creamy and bright yellow in the middle of each of the three egg masses that there were sizzling on the pan.

The elemental woke up thirty minutes ago and got out of his shared bedroom…with Caitlin to prepare breakfast for himself, his mate and his daughter.

With the help of himself and Frankie, they were able to move all of Caitlin's things, pictures, a few of her furniture, her clothes into the loft in a matter of a single day. Her name was already signed on the lease after a quick visit to the estate owner.

Everything was perfect…and so were the eggs and bacon on the pans in front of him.

Using a spatula, he took the bacon slices and eggs and placed them on the plates, evening the portions on each. When he turned off the stove, a pair of slim and flawless arms wrapped around his chest from behind. Feeling her presence before, Seth turned his eyes to meet Caitlin who placed her head on his shoulder. "Hey gorgeous."

"Hey handsome." The two shared a kiss over his shoulder and placed their foreheads together. "I missed you back in there." She gestured to the door of their bedroom.

"I thought I'd surprise you and Frankie with some delicious breakfast. Our first breakfast together." He said through a smile. "Sorry for making you feel alone."

"I don't feel alone with you anymore." She assured him with a calming and loving voice. "I love it. Want me to wake Frankie up?"

"No need!" Frankie's voice called out to them from above them, a second later she landed down in a crouch before getting on her feet again and saw the two holding each other. "I was up for a while now."

"I better not find footprints on your walls again, young lady." Seth said sternly, but his daughter didn't find it stern in any way and merely giggled.

"Don't worry, Dad. I haven't walked on the walls again." She said with a giggling voice.

"Sweetheart, you do realize I know a liar when I see one, right?"

Frankie shifted her eyes around embarrassedly as she was caught in a lie and changed the subject all of a sudden. "What's for breakfast? Sure smells good!"

"Cute. And it's eggs and bacon." Seth said with chuckling voice as he and Caitlin took the plates and each took a seat on the table. "But I am happy and proud of how you love your new powers so quickly. Shows real progress."

"Aunt Liv's been teaching me for a while now. Using my metahuman and symbiote powers at the same time, has gotten easier and easier though." Frankie told him. "But I haven't actually gone out and done anything with them… yet." She added in the end, barely above a whisper.

Hearing the whisper, this got Caitlin's attention and worried her actually for the young girl's sake. "You wanna go out and fight criminals, like your Dad, Frankie?"

She nodded her head and said, barely above a whisper, "Yeah. Maybe." She directed her shaking eyes to her father, purely out of worry and the thought of Seth giving her permission first before she'd take any actions.

Slowly scratching the side of his neck, he thought about her words, not knowing if she'd be able to or even want to handle the pressure of being a hero like himself and his family and Barry. But as these thoughts entered his mind, his "other" chimed in his own thoughts. "We'd be quite the hypocrites if we were to deny her of that request, wouldn't you agree, Seth?"

"I know…but I don't' want her to be put in that kind of danger, and she's just gotten used to having a life with us like this Venom. I don't want her to be put through that and only have a normal life for now." Seth told his reasons. "She deserves that much."

"Then we'll need time to think about this."

Seth slowly nodded to his partner and said to Frankie who looked with her lower lip bitten, "Frankie, sweetie…I would be a bit of a hypocrite, actually a pretty big one at that, if I were to say no to it. But I'd rather be comfortable if you were to wait a little with it…I'm not saying no." he assured her when he saw her face fall a bit. "But I want you to focus on a normal life for now, and when the time comes…I guess I can be open to the idea of you joining our little superhero team."

"You mean it?" Frankie asked excited by the answer her father gave her.

"Yeah, I am. There's gonna be a few rules you have to follow, of course. But I can be open to it, my baby sister is out there as well, you can be too, in time. Hell, we began training at your age." Seth said with a smile.

"But you have to be careful, honey. We don't want anything bad to happen to you." Caitlin added.

"Nor anything that involves a boy." Seth added protectively with a slight sneer.

"What if I did get a boyfriend, Dad?" she cheekily asked him, genuinely wondering if he'd show an entirely new and overly protective side.

Seth slowly and coldly explained, "I'd first meet the boy at your school, then find out where he lives, hack into his computers and phones and such, force him to meet up at a location of my choosing, and tell him that if he'd ever hurt you…he'd find himself with one less-"

Caitlin was worried that he might end up traumatizing thei- his daughter…so she slapped her hand over his mouth to stop him from letting out more words. "You might wanna get that side of you checked, Seth. That's pretty scary."

"I've seen worse." Frankie quipped while eating a slice of bacon.

"Caitlin does know we have eaten people before, right?" Magenta wondered while sending out a tendril to the kitchen and looked for a chocolate bar. Venom saw his daughter's action and sent out a tendril himself and got a bar for both daughter and father, both of whom intertwined their tendrils for comforting each other before retracting into their respective hosts.

"But you still got to be careful, honey. It's a scary and dark world out there." Caitlin further added, concerned for the young metahuman's life as a hero. She loves how Seth is willing to fight and go out like the Lethal Protector, but Frankie is still a young girl and she didn't want anything to happen to her.

"I know, Mom. Don't worry. I mean, Caitlin!" Frankie corrected herself with an exclaim of embarrassment before she shot up from her seat and used tendrils to place her plate and cutlery in the dishwasher while running up the stairs. She was running like a bat out of hell to avoid any questions, even slamming her door shut. Seth thought he heard a few cracking sounds from her door.

Seth went wide-eyed when he saw his daughter squealing out embarrassment and shooting up the stairs like she was being chased by a homing missile. He slowly turned to Caitlin who was just as wide-eyed as himself while holding a gaped mouth. "She…just…called me…"M-Mom"?"

"She did, yeah." The elemental grabbed her hand and squeezed it comfortably. "Are you okay with that? It's still a new thing. Moving in with us and all."

"I am…just surprised. Didn't think I'd ever be called that, you know. Actually, I never pictured myself as a…mother before." Caitlin answered him, while he placed himself beside her with his seat. "My mother wasn't really there that much for me. Cold as ice even."

"I never knew my birth parents. Only the one who adopted me when I was fifteen and he's my parent." Seth said, "And I never even considered becoming a parent until I saved Bucky from a burning hospital. I always feared how I might end up turning into my birth parents…guess you can't turn into people if you've never even met them."

"Sorry about that, Seth." Caitlin said while kissing his lips comforting him wildly. "And I don't think for a second that you'd become anything like your birth parents, you are better than that. way better than that."

"I love you." Seth said to her while gracing her cheek with his fingers.

"I love you too." Caitlin said back before moving to kissing him while her hands moving up from his neck to the top of his head, and treading through his hair. And Seth melted into the kiss and pulled her up from her chair and placed her in his lap, and she purposely squirmed in his lap… stiffening a part near his hips. A groan escaped his mouth when he felt her rub against him like that.

"Our daughter is here and you chose to mate NOW!"

The elemental pulled away from Caitlin's lips when felt his partner shout into his mind like a siren. "I hate you, bloody parasite." He felt like was being blocked right now, tremendously.

"And you're a worse parent."

X

(CCPD, CSI Lab)

Barry Allen and Detective Joe West stood in the CSI lab of the precinct to overview the gathered information they had on the founder of S.T.A.R. Labs. They decided to view their information in the lab because of the metahuman being the one with access to the place and keys to it.

However, even though Joe was happy and kind of relieved that his adoptive son was willing and finally able to see the light, he was saddened and not liking how his elemental friend were not put into the loop himself. He trusted Seth more than anyone right now. In the short time, the two fathers had gotten to know each other, they had become best friends. Sharing stories of each other's families and friends, important moments from either of their own careers. Showing each other pictures of their children, both old and new.

Seth Fury was his best friend, and Joe was going to bring him in on this investigation. His experience as both anti-hero and field agent without a doubt proving to be an asset, but his value as a trustworthy friend would prove to be even more valuable to this cause. And he was going to be brought into this, soon.

The speedster pulled down a screen, and said while showing it to his adoptive father, "All right, this is everything that a we know about Harrison Wells, which is actually not a lot." The screen contents are consisting of pictures of their team, of Harrison's at press conferences, articles about the founder's accomplishments within the fields of science, as well as his failures like the particle accelerator explosion.

The detective took a seat on the chair and asked, "Didn't you read a whole book about him?"

"Yeah, 600 pages, and the big takeaway is, he's enigmatic." Barry said, while truly recognizing how true that book was. The founder being an enigma, one side of mysteries opens up, dozens more of mystery filled sides reveals themselves a second after. Enough to drive a man crazy.

"Your mom was a killed by a speedster." Joe started, while pointing out their facts, "Wells' machine turned you into a speedster. That's way too many coincidences for this old cop."

Barry took his head and placed his hands around it while groaning in annoyance before taking a seat beside the detective. Exhaling deeply and in confusion, he asked, "Do you think that he wanted me to become The Flash?"

Joe slowly swayed his head from side to side before stating slowly and unsurely, "Everything he's done since that night you got struck by lightning…Bringing you to S.T.A.R. Labs, giving you the suit, training you…it's all been to keep you safe."

"And to make me faster." The speedster said additionally. "Wells once said that he needed more speed from me. W-Why?" he finished off in a stammering voice.

"I don't know." The detective shook his head before getting on his feet again. "But he wants something from you, Barry. We just need to figure out what it is."

He was about to ask and suggest Seth's help, but then the speedster added before. "Well, let's go get him then. Let's get some answers." Barry said in a haste.

Joe denied that idea, "We can't do that now as much as we might want to."

"Joe, you had your suspicions about Wells from the very beginning." Barry began, "You thought that he might be The Man in Yellow."

The detective then reminded him, "Except the blood from your house didn't match him."

"All right, so maybe he's not The Reverse-Flash, but you think he knows what happened that night." The metahuman continued, "He may have the key to getting my Dad out of prison."

Still keeping on his eyes on the board before him, "Whatever Wells wants from you…it started 15 years ago. He's been patient. Scary patient. You gotta listen to me on this. We have to be… just… as… patient." He took the board and rolled down the first screen. Before the speedster could move away, joe stopped him. "Barr…I want to bring Seth in on this."

"What? No!" the speedster, unusually and strangely, seemed adamant about it.

"Why not? Seth is our friend and he can help us here with this. He's got experience with his and we can trust him. Best of all, he can keep himself in check under tense situations." Joe tried to reason with him.

"I know, and I do trust him. But he's got Caitlin now, and what if he ends up telling everything to her." Barry worriedly said, thinking that the elemental would indeed divulge everything to his girlfriend without any hesitation.

Joe raised an eyebrow as he said, "I think you're giving him way too little credit son. He's a hero too and an agent too at that. He can help us. He even found out about your identity as The Streak even, all on his own." Barry hated to be reminded of that. "I want to bring Seth in on this. And I am going to ask him. No matter what."

"Fine." Barry said simply, knowing that his adoptive father would not give up on this, knowing that the two of them had become best friends very quickly, and trusted each other through thick and thin times. "But tell him not to say a word to Caitlin."

"Still not giving him not enough credit, son." Joe said back as his immediate counter.

X

The day was beautiful. Not a single dark cloud above the heads of either the parents who watched the slides and swings before or the children who happily ran around the park and used the various slides and other playful attractions.

Some of the kids, boys and girls alike, while playing around happily, ran to their parents for them to join in on their fun, creating fun memories for them all to treasure for the rest of their shared lives.

One young boy in a green jacket was sitting and swinging back and forth in a blue swing. While he swung, his eyes looked up and a smile formed when he took in the skies above him. Seeing parachutes above his head and raining down while holding yellow gift boxes with red ribbons.

A couple of other parents and children saw the same and let out a series of "Oh, wow."

The presents kept descending slowly to the park and another parent saw them and directed his kid to the skies, "Wow. Look." She pointed a finger to the sky.

A series of surprised kids with equally surprised faces of child-like happiness turned their heads to the falling gifts as well and were happy beyond any measures, it was like one of the fairy tales that their parents told them before, finally coming true.

"Wow." A young bot said when the gift boxes slowly closed in on the ground. One of the gifts touched the ground, near a little pink bike…

EXPLOSION

An explosion emitted the moment when the gift box touched the surface of the ground and blew the pink bike into pieces. When the sound of the first explosion greeted their ears, the parents and children ran together and began screaming out in shock and fear.

EXPLOSION

Another explosion emitted when a second gift box touched the surface of the ground again.

One of the kids, a little and young girl with blonde hair pulled into pigtails and a pink jacket over her body, walked over a bench instead. Her eyes looking up and saw a gift box fall down near her head, she smilingly reached up for it, wanting to find the surprise within the gift box.

However, she was saved from the exploding fate that was within the box when a pinkish energy stopped the gift from reaching her hand. The little girl tilted her head to the side out of confusion but also happiness to see her favorite color around the box like it a gift box in a gift box with pink wrapping around it. "Pretty!" she squealed out happily.

"Thanks, sweetie." The little girl looked around and turned to the side, and saw Olivia Rogers in her Angel Fury kneeling down to her side. "I think it's pretty too. And I like your jacket too." The female hero poked the little girl's pink jacket.

"You're pretty!" she said back in another squeal while twisting her body around in embarrassment to stand close to the female mutant.

"Awww." She cooed at the little girlish voice she used, "Thank you, honey. But I think your Mommy's looking for you." she pointed a finger to the back, where a mother ran to her. "Go to her, sweetie." The little girl nodded and ran to her mother's open arms and hugged her mother back.

Angel Fury raised back to her feet and clenched her hand, using her psychic energy to slam into every side of the gift box, and caused it to explode without damaging anyone or anything. "You guys ready for this?" she sad as she twisted around to look at the other explosive gifts descending down to the playground.

A second later, Venom landed down beside his little sister and looked up to the descending gift boxes. "Ready."

"Let's do this." Iron Knight said when he hovered near his friend and his girlfriend when he flew to the place.

Olivia took out her blade-whip handle and lashed out into the air, shooting out the whip. Coating her body with her psychic energy, she leaped into the air and swung her whip around, it's adamantium blades cutting through the boxes they met with ease, and letting the explosions go off in the air, far above the people's heads.

Her left hand forming a psychic sphere before being launched out, and with a motion of her hand, the orb exploded and sent out a pulse that connected with various gift boxes. Exploding the boxes in the air and sending them into other boxes, causing explosions to be unleashed again.

Matt took flight, both of his hands lighting before lashing out to the front and shooting out repulsor blasts, shooting down two gift boxes and they exploded in response. His shoulder pads opens up and fired off small missiles that took down an array of descending of gift boxes.

Both of his arms lashed out to the sides and let the nanites form a pair of elongated energy blades, one on each arm, before shooting off to meet them himself with flaring wings. With a powerful and quick spin, he slashed through four boxes with the speed of a whirlwind and the sharpness of true blades and with expert skills.

Seth jumped back on top of the tallest attraction in the small park, and opened up his maw. A blazing flamethrower was sent out of his mouth and his head swung through side to side, and burned down the gifts that were in his eye sight. Explosions after explosions going off and not anywhere near any of the children. His partner informed the host of the descending gifts behind him.

The back of his form wavered like water before tendrils shot out of it. The water element in them spouting out and forming whirlpool-like barriers around the tendrils. With their strength heightened from the spiraling water element around them, the pitch-black tendrils crushed through the boxes with ease. With the water element's help, the explosive gifts had their explosive capabilities removed due to watered gunpowder.

The three mutants continued their attacks and eliminated the gifts boxes that kept raining down on them. Olivia using her adamantium weapons and her psychic powers to destroy all explosive devices that were to meet her eyesight. Matt using his nanites and his suit to fly and cleave through any explosive devices that were to come onto his path. Seth using his elements and his symbiote's help to pave through the explosive devices that were unfortunate enough to meet him.

"Henry!" A parent was looking for his son.

He saw his child in his green jacket standing near the grassy area and reached up to grab the descending the gift box. "Henry! Henry!" his parent's screams went unheard while he reaches for the box.

WHOOSH

However, Barry came rushing in with his yellow lightning cloaking around his form and grabbed the young child before his fingers touched the box, running him to the other side of the park and put the boy down and an explosion emitted in the aftermath of his actions.

The mutants heard the sound of the parent calling out to his son and saw the speedster putting down the young boy who were embraced by his father. "Henry!"

The name of the boy got the metahuman to smile and he said, "Henry? Nice name."

"Agreed." Venom said while he and his fellow mutants jumped down to stand beside the metahuman. "We took care of the bombs and no one's hurt."

"Thankfully." Olivia said. Her body stiffened when she felt a small pair of arms wrap around her right leg, her eyes looking down and saw the same little blond girl from before hugging onto her leg. "Aww, hey sweetie again. What are you doing here?"

The young girl was lifted up and into the female hero's arms and hugged her. "Thank you miss!"

"Someone's become popular?" Matt teased her with a quip behind his helmet.

The four heroes looked around and found parents and their children all waving at them happily with smiles of happiness for their arrival and gratitude for not losing either their own lives, or more importantly, the lives of their children. Seeing the expressions of happiness directed at them and after sharing a series of looks with one another, the heroes began waving their hands at them in happily.

All the way up on top of a water tower, a figure clothed in a blue, and somewhat funky and punk-like costume with spikes along the shoulders and the collar. A blue-ish mask over his eyes that looked down from on top of a rooftop on a tall building. His brown hair straightened up into spikes in the front. His hand reaching up with a phone in his hand and pointing the camera at himself.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

After taking care of the explosive debacle, the four heroes returned to the facility watched a footage of the person who had been sending out flying bombs in gift boxes. The three mutants stood in front of the monitors with the detective beside them and Barry. Caitlin watched with Frankie beside her at the main console. Cisco and Harrison watched the same at the main console.

As they watched the footage, the speedster kept his arms crossed over his chest, like he was unsure of how he was supposed to act right now in the presence of the founder. The elemental was informed, by his partner, of the metahuman's strange and almost silent behavior with absolutely no word spoken from him. Which got him to think up at least a dozen of reasons while the footage ran.

"Tricked ya." The weirdo in blue said while spinning around with his camera in hand. "Look who's back. My tricks. My treat. But I'll give you something good… to eat. Today's special. A city in ashes. The Trickster proudly welcomes you all…to the new… disorder."

"Did someone miss Halloween this year?" Seth quipped, his daughter and girlfriend laughing in response.

Cisco looked offended somehow and spoke, "Taking in the third person. That's never a good sign."

Caitlin looked to his colleague, and accused, "You're just mad because he named himself."

"Aww, don't worry Cisco. You can get the next one." Frankie said in mock which got her aunt to laugh.

"She's become a little you now, Bro." Olivia said through a laughing voice.

"Poor girl." Matt said with a frown in mock. "And she had such a bright future ahead of her. Now it's nothing more than a dark pitfall." Liv rolled her eyes at his dramatic comment before she lightly elbowed his shoulder.

Joe laughed himself, liking the relationship of father-daughter between Seth and Frankie, before telling them, "Actually, he didn't name himself." This got their attention. "20 years ago, Central City was hit by a series of terrorist attacks. One man killed at least ten civilians, two cops. That guy called himself The Trickster."

"A copy cat then?" Seth deduced intrigued by the thought of someone trying to live up to the original's name and reputation. "Now something interesting happens finally."

"Easy." Caitlin said to him with a mused tone and a stern look, making him hold up his hands in mock defense.

Cisco and Matt got to the computers and a second later brought up the image of the original Trickster to the monitors. The two laughed and scoffed in amusement at the photo. "Whoa. Someone was rocking the unitard." Cisco joked when he took in the strange singlet that the man wore back then, knowing that he could think up a better design in a matter of seconds.

"Got that right, Cisco." The nanite mutant agreed with his friend while grimacing at the sight of the man in the bright and colorful singlet.

Caitlin looked at the monitors herself, taking in the name and said, "James Jesse?"

"Like Jesse James, only more twisted." Joe clarified for the female doctor.

"He looks like a guy who has a thing for tic-tac-toe." Frankie remarked at the suit he was wearing before an idea popped into her mind. "Wait. If he's trying to look and even impersonate the original Trickster, shouldn't we just talk with the original then."

"Nice job, Frankie." Caitlin hugged her with one arm pulling her into a hug after praising her.

Harrison nodded in agreement and said, "Wonderful idea, Ms. Rogers. Where is this Mr. Jesse now?" his eyes looking onto the mugshot on the original Trickster.

"He's serving several life sentences at Iron Heights." Joe began, "He was just about the most dangerous thing Central City had ever seen."

Barry coldly corrected his adoptive father, "You mean until the particle accelerator blew up."

Everyone in the room heard the cold tone he used, and Harrison was about speak, "Um…"

Seth then reminded him, "You mean until they saw Carnage. He's like a few dozens of levels above your guy here."

"You think so?"

The elemental gave the speedster a dry look, "The guy killed another random guy he found in a phone book and killed him because he had a funny name. Not to mention that he killed my kid, and attacked my future kid." He gestured to his daughter who was still in an embrace with Caitlin, which made him smile happily.

Joe coughed into his hand sheepishly, Seth saw it and wondered what his friend had done now, before saying. "Barry and I will go see this James Jesse at Iron Heights, see if he can give us something that can help us catch his groupie."

"I'll analyze the video and see if I can figure out the source." Cisco said before looking to the nanite mutant. "Mind giving me a hand?"

"Sure thing, man." Matt accepted with a smile and went to work with his friend. While the speedster hastily walked over to the exit of the Cortex and went out.

As Joe went to walk, Harrison directed at him. "Hey, Joe." The detective halted and the elemental listened in closely. "Is Barry doing all right? He seems cranky."

"Yeah, he looks and acts like a little brat throwing a temper tantrum." Olivia added humorously. "But seriously, what got his panties in a twist?" Her elemental brother agreeing with them while watching the detective's form with narrowed.

The detective merely formed an unconvincing smile, "Even The Flash wakes up on the wrong side of the bed some mornings. He's fine." He walked out.

Seth muttered under his breath, "yeah, right", not buying that pathetic excuse of a lie for a second. He then began walking after him and when he was out of earshot of the ones in the Cortex, he grabbed Joe by the shoulder and turned him to face him. "You wanna start talking or do I have to do your part, and throw you in an interrogation room?"

"Funny." Joe joked but the mutant remained steadfast and didn't let an emotion cross his facial features to hold a very serious face. Exhaling a few breaths, he looked into the elemental's eyes and said, "It's…something important."

"Something you want me in on? Or do you want me to do all the hard work and actually find out myself?" Seth countered with an offer of his own. His friend remained unresponsive and looked to be deep in his thoughts. Seeing that, he then added, to his surprise. "Does this have anything to do with Brains on Wheels back in there?"

"Kind of, yeah." He nodded, the elemental knowing that he was 100% right on the matter. "It's a bit of hassle to get into right now, actually."

"Tell me in the car to Iron Heights?"

"You wanna tag along?" Joe asked, while inwardly he was hoping that the elemental would join them for the ride.

Seth nodded, "Sure. Gotta go and tell Frankie the same and I'll be back in a second, yeah." Joe smiled and nodded while the mutant went to tell his daughter the same and returned back again to follow the detective to the car, ready and looking forward to meet a native terrorist of this city.

X

(Iron Heights Prison)

"I underestimated this guy." Seth said when he and Barry and Joe were directed downwards to a lower level of the prison by the warden. The warden himself wondered how the doctor was acting so happy to be in a secret and specially built part of the prison.

"What do you mean?" The speedster asked him while he was inwardly surprised how the elemental was back to his usual self after hearing that the founder was being investigated by them, in secret. His surprise increased tenfold when the mutant revealed that he never trusted Harrison in the beginning, despite his otherwise friendly and cheerful persona whenever he meets the founder of S.T.A.R. Labs.

Guess Barry really did give the mutant too little credit and never took his field agent experience into consideration.

"Look around this place, Barry. It's all the answer you need." Seth with a strangely placed twirl of his body. "It's strong and hidden, out of plain sight. Reinforced."

"Yeah, never seen this part of the prison before." Barry said out loud after looking around the internals of the lower part again.

The warden then said, "Yeah, I had to have this cell specially built for James Jesse about five years ago."

"Why is that?" Joe asked him in confusion.

"A criminal psychologist set up weekly visits with him." They stopped when they reached a reinforced steel door and the warden turned around to meet their eyes. "James talked the shrink into committing suicide."

Seth tilted his head to the side, contemplating a thought. "Want me give you my sister's number? She's an experienced psychologist, specializes in dealing with troubled patients and worse. And unlike your guys, she's not able to be persuaded into anything." Seth offered while he reached into his pocket, reaching into his partner's body, and pulled out his sister's business card for the warden. "She'd be willing to offer her assistance willingly. And she is looking for work now, actually."

Taking hold of the business card and looked it over, the warden said, "Thank you. Oh," he let out before they could move on to meet the inmate. "you're gonna need these." He handed Barry a pack of candy strings who accepted them.

"Okay. Let's meet the nutjob." Seth said excitedly while his "other" grinned in his mind and he and Barry walked through the entrance to meet the criminal terrorist. The moment they passed through the doorframe; the door shut closed behind them while they looked forward. Seeing a special cell, with a glass wall separating them from the criminal within, holding the criminal Jesse James within. Three chairs readied for the visitors in front of the cell.

He saw in the middle of his bed, the lamp being the only source of light in his cell while his eyes kept looking down at his hands. They turned to the front, seeing the three men in the room and smiled happily, in a sick manner. "Gentlemen."

The moment his voice spoke, Venom slithered underneath the elemental's clothes in an instant. Both host and symbiote feeling the dark and sickening feeling that were radiating from the criminal terrorist right now, and right now Seth readied himself to burst through that glass panel to go in there to immediately kill the man himself. "He's not right in his head." The symbiote hissed in surprise.

"No, he's not. he's worse."

"Please, be seated." James Jesse spoke again, his eyes pointing to Seth who assumed a battle position. "No need to be so tense."

Joe and the other men took a seat on the three chairs, the younger men taking a seat on either side of the detective who then introduced them, "I'm Detective Joe West. This is Barry Allen and Doctor Seth Rogers. Uh, we'd like to ask you a few questions."

James hummed and looked as though he was smelling the air. "I can smell them in your pocket." He said in a singing voice.

The speedster reached into his pocket, pulling out to the bag of candy sticks for the criminal's eyes. After getting nods of confirmation from the others, he walked over to the left side of the panel to a shut, "Yesterday, hundreds of these parachute bombs were released throughout Central City." He placed the files he brought along with the candy in the shut and flipped it back to the inmate.

"Huh. Fun idea." The terrorist said, "But not an effective delivery system. How many died?"

"No one, luckily." Seth said coldly.

The criminal was surprised to hear such a cold tone coming from such a young man. A smile grew on his face as he said, "You know, when I was free and at my height…a day without casualties was like…Well, like the Cubs winning the pennant. It just never happened." He chuckled sickly.

"We know, that's why you're in there and not out here." Seth added once again in his cold tone, the criminal chuckling even more from the voice that was used to speak to him.

Barry then said, "The explosives they found in all the parachute bombs had the same explosive composition as the bombs you set off 20 years ago."

A frown formed on his face, as he spoke, "That's impossible. I never told anyone that formula."

"Well, someone stole your shtick then. The signatures are an exact match." Seth added, getting the criminal to grit his teeth.

Joe then spoke, igniting a flame with his words, "He called himself The Trickster too, just like you."

"He is nothing like me, Detective. Nothing!" James growled in denial.

"Do you know who he is?" Joe asked of him, not letting the growl affect him.

Exhaling, James Jessie got up from his bed and walked over to the shut and took hold of one of the photos. "Oh." He examined the photo thoroughly. "If I did… I would tell you, so you could find him, cut off his head, and throw it right in his face."

"How does that work?" Venom inquired.

"He's a nutjob, Venom. Don't worry about what he thinks."

He slammed the photo into the glass, "No, this is obviously the work of a rank amateur at best. A mere pretender angling for my throne."

Hearing the angered voice from the criminal, the detective then said, "I hear you. So…" he walked closer to the glass panel. "…help us catch him. Prove there's only one Trickster." He tried to stroke his ego and trick him into his favor.

However, the criminal was not an amateur and saw through the poor act. "Trying to trick the Trickster, Joseph, hmm?" he began unusually smelling the stick of candy. "No. There's only one way this could happen." He turned back to them after walking to stand inf front of his bed. "Whoever he is, he must have found my lair."

"Your lair? That's such a cliché for a bad guy to have." Seth said after a scoff.

James began chuckling even more and louder before saying, or rather, requesting them. "I ask only one thing, when you find this schtick stealer, this gimmick grabber, this pathetic wannabe, fake…make sure your safety's off." His chuckling resumed while he began biting into his candy. His chuckling evolving into a dark and manically laughter, leaving a chill that ran down the people's spines.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs, The Pipeline)

Frankie sat in front of the Pipeline entrance with her hands clutching around the transparent phone in her hands. The screen displaying a picture of her and Caitlin in a tight embrace while holding doughnuts over their eyes while wearing wide goofy smiles after a walk after dinner.

After her father went out to with Barry and Joe, she went out to sit by herself to relive the morning she and Seth and Caitlin had this morning. Or more specifically, she relived the words she spoke. Accidentally, calling her father's girlfriend…"Mom", shocked her.

She had never even called her foster mothers anything like that. Only by first names, because she never felt an emotional connection with any of them nor did any of them actually make an effort to make her feel like their own daughter in the past. They only saw her as an object that needed to be stabilized and kept in good shape to avoid problems with the foster systems that placed her in their houses.

But Seth and Caitlin were nothing like them, they actually love her and make her feel loved and special above all else. They made and treated her she was their own child, their own little special baby girl. She was loved and she received hugs and kisses and other affectionate actions. They were like the parents of her dreams that she would visit whenever she would go to sleep.

It was the dream she always wanted to see and live…it had finally become her reality.

"Why are you still so scared, Frankie? Caitlin does love you. but why are you still so scared now?" Magenta asked her host with slight worry that Frankie's own worry was still residing in her.

"I'm afraid of…rushing…pushing her into a role like a mother's role. I really do like Caitlin. But what if I scare her off." Frankie ran her eyes over the image of her and Caitlin's bonding time. "I really love Caitlin, even more as a mother…and I want her to be my mother. But she's….I don't want to scare her into it."

"You're not scaring her into anything, honey." A series of assuring thoughts entered her mind from an outside source. Frankie and Magenta turned their head to the other end of the Pipeline and saw their aunt Olivia leaning against the doorframe and looked at her with a calming smile. She walked over and sat down beside her little niece, "Are you still worried about Caitlin not liking you?"

"I am." Frankie said softly while placing her head on her shoulder. "I never had a mother before. Only foster mothers who didn't care about me. Caitlin is amazing, she's really like a mother to me, she cares for me and Dad. And I accidentally called her "Mom" back home."

"You did, huh?" Olivia teased with an arm pulling her into a one-armed hug. "What did you do?"

"I did and I began squealing and ran up to my room completely embarrassed. It was weird and embarrassing." Frankie said with flustered cheeks of redness. "Do you think she might end up saying no to being my…Mom?"

"No, she won't honey." Olivia assured her while stroking her arm. She then confessed wholeheartedly, "Caitlin's kind of like my brother, your father. When she gets happy, she wears her feelings on her shoulders, and flooding her mind and heart with them. Caitlin's been nothing but happy when she thinks about you. she even refers to you as her daughter inside of her mind. I know that she loves you even as a mother, no…even more than that, actually."

"I just don't know what's it's like having a mother."

Olivia smiled in recognition as she recognized that feeling of her young niece's, "Neither do I. I had a bunch of people who always looked out for me back then, like extra brothers and sisters. Then there was Seth, he always kept me safe. Even though, we lived in a school full of other mutants just like us, I always felt alone sometimes there and kept to myself. My brother then used all of his allowance to buy us two boxes of the best ice cream, and we'd spend the time just in our room, the two of us and eating ice cream so many times. He did so many good things for and because of me even."

Frankie narrowed her eyes in curiosity. "After what happened to us…I was always so scared of ever having another doctor near me. Even though I knew that they had the bests of intentions, I never felt right when they'd began checking up on me, always thought they'd just hurt us like the other humans who hurt us back then." Olivia knew that her niece knew of what happened to them as a kid, even feeling more and more love for her family after the story. "Seth then used every waking minute of our time and used them to study to become a doctor, he then took it further and became a bio-engineer just for me. I may never have had a mother or a father before I was thirteen, but I always had a brother who looked out for me through thick and thin." She placed a kiss on top of niece's head. "And that same protector is now your dad, honey. He's going to protect you now and so will your mom, Caitlin too."

Frankie nuzzled her head against the side of her aunt's face, getting giggles out of her, "And I know my amazing aunt and my amazing uncle will stay and protect me no matter what."

Liv chuckled before adding, "Or die trying." The metahuman looked shocked with wide eyes. "Your father had a tendency to do say the same back then. Don't worry about it. but the point is, Caitlin loves you and I know you love Caitlin."

"Mom."

"Pardon me?" The mutant raised an eyebrow.

Frankie smiled and made eye contact with as she proudly corrected her, "Caitlin's my Mom, Aunt Liv. And I love Mom."

"Now you're talking Frankie!" Magenta said while sending out feelings of emotions as an reward to the host.

"That's our little girl." The aunt and niece shared a hug and stayed in it for a while, enjoying the sense of loving and familial feelings that washed over them both.

X

(Iron Heights Prison)

After the detective and his two powered friends returned from the Trickster's lair, where they found various artifacts that were used by the criminal terrorist and also close to be incinerated in a burst of flames that exploded from a booby trap in there.

Thankfully, the two powered beings were close by and they jumped away and got Joe out of the blast zone as well. But they turned back into the lair and saw that the entire room had already been emptied out. Feeling like they had been duped, they made a beeline for Iron Heights again to confront the criminal terrorist again about the booby trap and the empty lair of his.

Seth was the one to open up the door and his friends followed, and the criminal looked happy to see them, especially the elemental. "What? No candy, fellas?" he asked them out loud as they walked into the room.

"That storage space you sent us was booby-trapped." Joe said, not liking how either his son or friend were close to be blasted.

"You can never be too careful with your private things." James said darkly with a chuckle.

"That's funny, because you were actually protecting jack!" Seth shouted at him while stepping closer to the glass panel, not liking how his friends and his life were put on line like that, especially Joe's.

This got the terrorist to pale, "What do you mean?"

"No firearms, none of your explosives. Nothing." Joe answered.

Barry then stepped forward himself and got up close to the panel. "Whatever you had in there, it was stolen, all of it."

James' paleness increased, "No. He's stealing my legacy." He said, sounding crushed and devasted from this revelation. "Whoever this is, you need to find him."

"You're afraid of this new guy outshining you?" Seth said mockingly. "Cause I gotta admit, the original before me, is very underwhelming, compared to the new one that is. The original is…pathetic even, not even worth overthrowing."

"He is never going to overthrow me!" James shouted at the elemental. "I will not let this…this…"

"Trickster?"

"That is my name! Mine!" James exclaimed at the detective after hearing those infuriating words be spoken by him, knowing full well that it was meant to light a fire under him.

"What was in that room, exactly Trickster? What were you keeping there? Your next big joke of a plan?" Seth asked mockingly, pouring more oil over his flame.

"A bomb." Now it was the faces of the other men that paled at the word spoken. "A really big bomb." He added for empathy.

"Of course, another bad guy cliché." Venom commented with a mental eyeroll.

"How big?" the speedster demanded to know.

The three men looked directly to the terrorist, "Bye-bye, Central City."

Another series of chills ran down their spines again as they registered his words. As they did, both Seth's and Barry's phones began chiming. They pulled out their phones and said that the speedster got a phone call from Cisco which he accepted. The elemental saw that he got a phone call from Caitlin and accepted it and placed it on his ear.

"What is it, Cait?"

"It's the new Trickster again, he posted a vlog. I'm sending you the link right now." Caitlin answered over the phone.

"Okay, thanks." He said back before he opened the link and showed it to the others. Showing them the video blog of the new Trickster.

"Denizens of Central City, or those of you who remain…Welcome to Boom Day." He chuckled sickly. "I've very proud to report that my first trick was an exploding success. Well, if those pesky costume freaks hadn't butt in."

"Show him." Joe pointed to the inmate.

The elemental placed his screen over the glass panel, making sure that he saw it. "But I think you all deserve something much, uh, bigger."

"No, no, no, no, no." the original Trickster began chanting in dismay and dislike as he saw the charlatan before him smear his own name.

"So for my next trick…"

"Take off my mask, you fraud." James said through a growling voice as he saw the man on the screen just yammering away on his accord while using his name. "Pretender. Sham. Take off my mask. Take off my mask. Take off my mask!" he slammed both of his hands into the screen while roaring in pleading voice. His knees giving out, and his body sliding down his side of the panel.

Obviously, James Jessie took great pride in the name of Trickster, his name. And seeing anyone else wear it, was like a pair of scissors slowly and agonizingly cutting him out of the picture that was the history of Central City's horrors.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

The three men ran back to the facility and just they had watched the video blog as did the others at S.T.A.R. Labs. Once again, they were all surprised again to see the new Trickster in his awfully punky costume. Seth found his daughter and his girlfriend standing near each other again, making him smile in hopefulness.

Once they had gathered, they watched the video again, and Harrison said, "This was posted a few hours ago. Whoever this Trickster is, he's certainly not shy."

"Well, not every criminal likes to hide in the dark." Barry commented coldly while glaring at the founder briefly.

Seth felt like slapping himself in the face as he heard the speedster wear his feelings in his voice and show on his face. "Why that guy is even alive is a wonder." Venom commented harshly at the metahuman's stupidity. Olivia heard his thoughts and narrowed her eyes on her brother's mind, digging into his mind with her telepathic powers.

"…Liv…" Seth called out to his sister whom he knew was searching for an explanation behind what was happening here, especially with the speedster's stranger behavior.

"Yeah?" she called out to him.

"...Dig around, if you want to. But pass it onto Matt as well. The three of us needs to be ready." Seth told her and she sent her confirmation via another thought before her telepathic powers began digging deeper into his mind and learnt everything she needed to know.

Joe coughed into his hand and said, "Cisco, Matt, can you trace where the video was posted from?"

"We tried, but it's not easy." Matt began.

Cisco then continued, "This guy is using some crazy Felicity-Caliber scrambler live I've never seen."

"The origin point of the upload's coming from dozens of hundreds of different locations." Matt added again.

"Until he uploads another video, it's gonna be tough." Cisco added in regret.

"This psychopath has the capability to destroy the city." The speedster reminded them,

Matt cocked an eyebrow and remarked as a counter, "Barry, there's three mutants in here who can destroy the city. And we said tough, not impossible." His mind was then flooded with messaging thoughts that washed over him like his brain has being injected with a large syringe. Eyes drifting between the other two mutants and they gave a nod that went unnoticed by the natives of this universe.

Caitlin looked between Seth and Barry, her boyfriend smiling genuinely happily to her. A smile formed on her face in response as she assured the speedster, "Barry, we'll catch him. We always do. Trickster's not anything we can't handle."

After taking in the speedster's body language, seeing him tense up quickly in his presence, Harrison Wells asked of him, "Mr. Allen, a word please?" he began rolling into the room with the treadmill with the metahuman following every roll of his wheels.

When they were out of earshot, Caitlin directed a question to her boyfriend, "Seth, what's wrong with Barry? He does seem more…agitated." She said for a lack of a better word.

Seth shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Might be a bit hard for him after visiting Iron Heights again."

"What do you mean, Dad?" Frankie asked, her "other" listening in closely as well, but they felt like there was more than what her father was letting on.

"Back at the prison, we walked along the halls and Barry spoke with his father again." Seth began. "He might be feeling a bit on edge, knowing that the man who put his father in prison is still out there. And he's Barry's nightmare, so was the Trickster back in his days to this city. It might stir up some old feelings, maybe."

As he spoke, Olivia continued relaying thoughts from her brother's mind to her and to her boyfriend's mind as well. The three of them used their previous training to keep any and all emotions or other features that might indicate shock off of their faces to avoid suspicion. However, in their minds, they were shocked to even hear those thoughts from the elemental who got them from the speedster and the detective.

"That sounds about right, but he does look like he's crankier. You sure it's just about his dad?" Cisco worriedly asked, thinking that it might have something to do with him revealing his secret identity to Captain Cold.

Seth saw his friend's worried expression and assured him, "It's got nothing to do with you, Cisco. He's just worried about the Man in Yellow is all." His eyes briefly went to his daughter and his sister, the latter he held an extended look with her.

"Hey, Bro. Can we talk about something?" Olivia asked of her brother while moving to the private lab with Matt behind her. The elemental followed shortly after them and got into the room with them. When they reached into the lab, the younger Fury sibling asked her brother for clarity. "Dr. Wells is under investigation now?"

The elemental nodded, "Barry thinks Brains has something to do with the Man in Yellow, The Reverse-Flash. Something about him has always been off, to be honest."

"Agreed." Matt nodded his own agreement. "But do you think there's more to him than we've been led to believe? I mean, he is paralyzed after all."

"Maybe. Maybe not." Seth said, gaining the attention of both of his fellow mutants. He turned to the nanite mutant, "Back at Wells' house, after Hartley's attack, the entire place looked to be a mess, shards of glass everywhere and what wasn't on the owner's body?"

"A single scratch."

"Exactly." Seth confirmed his friend's stated word. "He'd have to be at least a little hurt from that attack. But he wasn't. We know a guy who is paralyzed, who can escape with his wheelchair yes, thanks to his telepathic powers and the chair's features, of course." He reminded them of Professor Charles Xavier. "But Harrison is in the same state, minus the powers. It shouldn't have been possible for him to even dodge while he was bound in his chair. We might deal with the impossible, we are the impossible for that matter. But it shouldn't be possible for him without he has powers."

"You guys have known him for a while longer than I have, right?" Olivia asked them and she received nods in response. "Have either of you guys ever asked him how he lost his legs? We know that it was from the particle accelerator explosion, yeah. But there had to be way more than that to it, right? Like an explanation behind it."

"No we never asked it." Seth began, being the one who's been here the longest ever since he arrived. "We thought it might bring up too many bad memories from that night, for the others, I mean."

"You worried about Caitlin reliving the night again?" Matt teased with a nudge of his elbow. Seth mock glared at him in retaliation. "But yeah, never did." The nanite mutant returned to the matter.

"So what's the plan?" Olivia asked her brother again, her mind returning to their previous missions in their home universe where Seth would take charge and lead the missions their team was assigned to.

Making sure that none of the natives were listening in, Seth told, "Right now, we act like nothing's out of the ordinary. Just act normally as we always do. Make sure that we don't arouse any suspicion. Unlike Barry, we actually know how to do that. So keep an eye out for everything Wells does, all right?" they nodded in agreement with determined eyes.

"What about this Trickster then?" Olivia asked again, worried that they might be prioritizing a future battle than a current one which could result in dozens of casualties.

"This new guy has a bomb that could wreck the city." Seth began. "The three of us are gonna have to go out and find it along with Barry." His eyes drifted to his metahuman daughter who stood near Caitlin. "Maybe the four of us."

Following the direction of his eyes, they saw him look at his daughter. Matt then with a raised eyebrow asked, "You want to bring Frankie in on this? That doesn't sound like a smart idea."

"I know." He agreed with him, shocking him and confusing him at the same time, Olivia too. "It's for the sake of the city, her home. And she actually talked about going out as a hero herself. Like us…like Magenta."

"Aww. Our little girl has a hero inside of her." Olivia cooed with an appraising voice. "She really is a Fury."

"Our children are the very best of us." Venom said happily like a doting father who just witnessed his child accomplish the greatest goal of all time.

"Yeah…but if she does want to, then I'm not going to stop her. I'd be a hypocrite if I said no. But she's gonna stick with me so she never has to fight herself or worse." Seth stated adamant about protecting his little girl against anything that might be thrown her way. "I'm her father, after all. Nothing's going to happen to her while I'm still breathing." The two mutants nodded in agreement.

"Heads up!" Cisco called out to the conversing mutants. "Trickster's broadcasting again!" the three mutants ran back to the Cortex and saw the monitors, seeing the face of the new Trickster again on them. The mechanical engineer had passed the same news onto Barry, who was visiting Iris right now.

"He's pretty annoying listening to." Venom remarked.

"He's trying to prove himself to be the next big baddie of this city." Seth thought back to him with his daughter moving over to his side and he wrapped an arm around her form. Pulling her into a hug, they listened to the new Trickster talking on the video.

"Get ready for the games to begin! I have….A bomb." The Trickster slowly said before snapping his camera to a large wooden box with a bomb symbol on it, like something out of a cartoon. "It's a big bomb. It'll make a big bang, and then a big hole, and then a big drop in the pop…ulation." He began joking to himself, liking his own little jokes. "But never say the Trickster…is not fair." The group listening closer to his next words. "The bomb is somewhere between 52nd street and Avenue B."

When they heard that, the three mutants suited up. Olivia opening up her rectangular box and let her nanites form her suit and change her hair color. Matt letting the Arc Reactor open up and release his nanites to form his Iron Knight suit. Seth was about to slither on his suit but not before he bent down to Frankie's level, looking directly into her eyes.

"Frankie…Remember our talk before? Back home?" Frankie nodded immediately. "…I'm probably going to hate myself for this…but…it's time to suit up, Magenta."

His daughter widening her eyes in shock. "You sure Dad?"

Caitlin shot up from her chair and looked at him with shocked eyes as well, "Seth…she's just a child."

"She is, yeah." Seth agreed with her. "But at the same time, she's got a hero in her. One that is the child of my partner, and even then, she's got a hero in her. She's my daughter after all. And I trust her above anything else." He pressed a finger at her forehead and continued, "She's got a little helper in her, right Magenta?" he called out, knowing that the symbiote child within her was listening in. "You can go out with me now, but only for now and you're gonna listen to me out there, okay?"

"I will, Dad. I promise." Frankie assured her adamantly.

"Good." He got back on his feet and kissed the top of her head to assurance and giving her confident. "Matt, you and Liv, fly above the streets and scan any buildings you pass by, check for the bomb there. Barry's going to check the insides of them." Seth then turned to his awaiting daughter. "You and I are going to check above the buildings, checking to see if he moved the bomb to a higher location." She nodded.

"Why would he do that?" Cisco asked in confusion.

"If he placed the bomb on top of a building, and it exploded, it could shoot out debris in different directions, hitting more targets from high above and raining down." Seth explained while his clothes began shifting and expanding over his form, enlarging while turning black with the white veins following. His head engulfed and Venom looked down at their daughter. "Are you ready, Frankie?"

She confidently smiled and shook her head in denial, "Wrong name, Dad." Her clothes began shifting as well and expanding over her form, turning into a pink miasma that spread over her while black and white veins followed around her body with a spiraling pattern. Her head engulfed by the symbiote and Magenta opened up her maw to look up at her Dad. "The name's Magenta, Daddy."

Smiling happily with a toothy grin in a fatherly way, Venom looked to the other mutants and stated. "Let's go!" they nodded and the two flyers took flight and flew through the skylight. The elemental lashed out a tendril and flung himself out of the skylight with Magenta jumping after him.

X

When they reached the central of the city, the four powered beings were above the buildings and saw that the Flash had already taken action and began searching the buildings using his superhuman speed to run through every and all buildings.

Knowing their individual assignments, the two flyers parted ways and used their powers and suits to scan through the buildings they passed by. Both Magenta and Venom jumped into the air and used their tendrils to swing from the building to building before propelling up to the skies.

Landing on one rooftop, Magenta looked around for the bomb on top of the bomb thoroughly. "Nothing's here." She said when she saw that there wasn't a single evident of the explosive device nor a wooden crate. "Gotta keep looking."

"Don't give up Frankie, we're going to find that." Her "other" added in supportively while sending out feelings to calm her down.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go." She ran to the edge of the rooftop and leaped from it before shooting out a tendril and swung upwards. While higher up in the air, she looked up for anything that might resemble a wooden container for the bomb.

Her father did the same and looked around for the wooden container as well while up in the air. Landing on the roof of one of them, he rolled around before shooting his head around to look for it himself. "Damn it not a single thing is here."

"Maybe the bomb's in one of the buildings." His "other" said back while he and the host looked around for any sign of the Trickster's whereabouts.

"We can't stop here." Venom jumped back into the air again and kept looking for the wooden container.

While he and his daughter were looking around from the rooftops for the bomb's location, The Flash told them and the ones at the facility, "Guys, I can't find it. I need you help."

"Me and Liv aren't having much luck either." Matt said through their comms, the sound of his thrusters blasting could be heard.

"Magenta and us are having the same amount of good luck." Venom told them while swinging before returning to a landing on top of another building.

"There's nothing on traffic cams or CCTV." Caitlin told them from S.T.A.R. Labs.

"I retasked the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite to scan the area for incendiary devices. A bomb that large should be giving off some kind of thermal or chemical signature." Cisco informed the heroes.

"Not that I doubt you, Cisco. But we aren't having much luck with that, you know, pal." Matt said through the communication link while thrusting through the air of his area.

"Well, then why can't you find it?" Barry asked them via his link as well, the wind rustling against him and audible for everyone connected to the link.

"Because it's a trick."

Silence fell over the mutants and the metahumans out in the city as well as the scientists in the facility when they heard what the founder state those words. Venom being the one who to ask, stated, "What do you mean?"

Harrison then added, "The bomb's not there."

Because of what was slowly being accepted by the investigation on Harrison, Barry said in disagreement, "No, it has to be. I'm gonna keep looking."

"That is what he wants, for you and the others and the police to keep running around in circles." Harrison continued.

"Making us chase our own goddamn tails the entire time." The elemental deduced through gritted teeth while his daughter landed down beside him.

"Yes. And there is something else going on, Barry. I can feel it. Now, trust me." The founder aimed at the speedster solely.

However, the speedster was not going to do so and countered, "I'm gonna keep looking." A whoosh emitted through the comms as the metahuman ran around.

"He's gonna blow it all." Venom repeated his former thoughts from before again, stating the metahuman's obvious dislike of Harrison Wells.

"Why doesn't he just listen to you?" Cisco asked them.

"No time for that." Venom said, "Angel, Knight, you two keep scanning the buildings for anything, give Flash a hand. Magenta and us will keep looking as well from above. Brains, the moment you guys figure something out, you contact us immediately."

"Will do, Mr. Rogers."

The two symbiote bearers jumped into the air again and swung again, checking to see if this really was a trick or something else.

X

WHOOSH

The Flash's yellow lightning followed his running form as he ran into a tall building, into the basement of the building. The speedster decelerating and a gust of wind erupted from him as he reached into the lowest level of the building.

His eyes looking around he old and dusty room before turning to the further end of the room and saw, to his relief. The same exact wooden container with the bomb symbol on it, seeing that he said in relief. "I found it." His words echoing over the communications link while he walked over to the container and opened up the box.

Eyes widening with both shock and horror as he saw the contents…or lack thereof. There wasn't a single thing in the container. No bomb, not a single mark of being used, and not even a speck of dust. And Harrison was right.

Barry's eyes looked up the inside of the lid, and more horror filled him immediately at the words written on it.

"Tricked you"

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

'

The monitor before him chimed again, and Cisco looked at the results, saw that there was a police alert coming from Iron Heights Prison. "Uh-oh, there's an explosion at Iron Heights."

Harrison pieced the dots together and remarked, "This was all a diversion."

Caitlin followed the same thoughts and remarked deducing, "The prison was the real target."

"James Jessie." Harrison furthered added as more pieces of the puzzles began to fit. "I guess he's tricked us all."

These words from his statement filled the minds of the scientists in the Cortex and the heroes who listened in on the other end from around the various spots of their search areas in the city. And confusion filled their minds for a while as they began making their way back to the facility.

X

After a while, the news of what happened at Iron Heights had been told to those who had returned to the facility, they were shocked to hear that Henry Allen, Barry's father, had been the one to be taken hostage by the two Tricksters. Not just that, additional information of the second Trickster have been figured out.

Joe began, "We were able to identify the other Trickster. His name's Axel Walker, age 25. Apparently, him and James have been corresponding through snail mail for over a decade."

"I should have been there." Barry said in regret, feeling the weight of his actions slowly increasing on his shoulders.

Seth walked over to him from the left side and patted his shoulder comfortingly, "Barry, you couldn't know that the Tricksters would go and do something like this. None of us could."

Caitlin comfortingly patted his right shoulder, "We're gonna find your Dad, okay?"

Barry looked between the two doctors and saw their comforting looks. As he did, Cisco added adamantly. "Definitely."

Even though the speedster was surrounded by friends and family who was comforting with every words they could think of, all that entered his mind was the feelings of regret of not listening to the founder. Looking to him, Barry said regrettably, "I guess I should have listened to you." with that said, he got on his feet and walked out of the Cortex.

Seth and Joe shared a look before the two walked over to find the speedster together. The two found him, sitting in front of the Pipeline, his face pointing directly at the entrance to the prison. The detective walked over to his left side and the elemental walked over to the opposite side and leaned against the wall, thinking that the two needed to talk before he joined in.

"You okay?"

"Do you guys think my dad is still alive?" Barry asked them after Joe's question, his mind only filled with the image of him holding his father's lifeless body, because he failed to listen to Harrison Wells' orders.

"Don't think like that, Barry." Seth tried to help him. "It's just going to distract you out in the field."

Joe agreed with the mutant, "Yes. Yes, he is. Of course."

"Jesse only took your old man to use as leverage." Seth added, trying to scale the weights in his mind with his calming words.

"He might be crazy, but he's not stupid." Joe followed before pointing upwards. "And everyone upstairs is looking to find him."

The speedster then added in a hurtful voice that's filled with disbelief. "So now I'm supposed to just…leave my Dad's face in the hands of a man who may have had something to do with my Mom's murder." He lightly scoffed. "Guys…I can't do this. I'm not like Seth. I can't…remain lifeless." His eyes turned tear-filled and his voice broke.

"Yes, you can." The detective said while taking a seat beside him.

"And you don't have be like me, Barry." The elemental said while taking a seat beside him from the other side.

"It just doesn't make any sense. I mean, if Wells is a murderer…" he trailed off as more and more disbelief filled him. "…then why does he want to help me? Why has he helped me stop many criminals? Or saved Ronne? Why didn't I see this? Seth you saw it all along, why couldn't I?" he directed at the elemental.

"I've always been distrustful of many humans Barry. I'm used to pick apart people from their behavior after months and years of training as a SHIELD agent. I always just pick out their strange behaviors and began mentally breaking them down to find a solution to their behavior, why it was so strange and…emotionless. That's why I never trusted Wells as you guys did." Seth revealed.

The detective then revealed, "I spent 1/10 as much time with him as you did…and he almost had me believing in him."

"Almost." Barry repeated.

"Look, whatever else he is, he is Harrison Wells." Joe said, "You love science. He is science. It's like you made best friends with Einstein."

"You're saying I wanted to be tricked?"

Seth shook his head, "No that's what he's saying Barry." The speedster turned to him, "Joe told me a lot of things about you, from back as a kid and as the man you are now. One thing, I got out of those stories was, you always want to be the person who sees the best in people." he shifted a finger between himself and Joe "I've been an agent for a decade now and Joe's been a cop for 25 years now. The two of us? We see the flaws, the lies…the darkest thoughts that people think we don't see or want to see."

"He's right, Bar." Joe agreed. "I wish I could be you. As fast as you are, that is your real power. Don't let Wells take that from you. I don't know…why he's helping us."

"None of us do, Barry." Seth swiftly added. "But he is, that's all that matters."

Tears began running down the speedster's face as he said with a breaking voice, "I can't lose my dad, guys." His head hung down as they continued falling from his eyes.

"Barr." His adoptive father got up and walked behind his son, "Barr, come on. Come on. Come on." He clapped his shoulder comfortingly as his child sobbed his heart out.

"Dry your tears, little one." Seth said like he was talking to a child. "Your dad needs us. So get up, dust off your ass, and soldier on, friend. The city needs us." He got up to his feet and nodded his gratitude to the two beside him, thanking himself that he has the two with him.

The three men walked back over to the Cortex, Barry walking around the main console to talk to Cisco. Joe walked over to the middle of the room while Seth walked over to his daughter and hugged her. He saw that her head was looking down.

Slowly rubbing her shoulder comfortingly, Seth asked her, "Are you okay, honey? You seem a little down. You're not sick, are you?"

Frankie shook her head, "No, I'm fine, Dad. I just…hate how I wasn't that good out there. I didn't do much out there."

"Honey." he bent down before her, "It's your first time as a hero out there, as Magenta. Last time you actually become her was to fight off against Carnage. You don't have much experience with this, and that's okay. None of us are born heroes, I wasn't. I made myself a hero through training and even more training. So did your Uncle and Aunt. It's a choice to become a hero, you know. It's not something that can just be forced onto your shoulders, nor it is something you don't have to force yourself into."

"Why did you become a hero, Dad?" Frankie wondered of him.

"Remember what I told you about before? About me, your aunt and uncle, when were kids and kidnapped and experimented on?" She nodded, recalling the story of her family's upbringing. "After that, we decided to become what the humans didn't expect us to be. Use our powers for the better of humanity and innocents, to become the shield." Frankie smiled in response to her father's words of encouragement. "I guess that's why we really became heroes, to the protectors of our home." He took hold of her hand, and said, "Sweetie, you don't have to be a hero, if you don't want to be. I'm not going to force it on you. you don't have to go out there if it's too dangerous or too scary."

"I want to Dad." Frankie said adamantly before adding, "But…Can I wait?"

"Of course, honey." he said and kissed her forehead, getting her to giggle while Seth pulled her into a hug. "When you're ready for it, I'll be there…and with time, I'll even train you myself."

"You mean it, Dad?" Frankie looked up to him.

"I do. When you think you're ready for it, I'll be there and we'll begin training, until then… stop growing up, would you?" He joked while nuzzling against the top of her head.

"I'll try, Daddy." Frankie said through a giggling voice while she rubbed her head against his head.

"Anything?" Barry said out loud to Cisco, the father and daughter on the side pulling away from each other to look in their direction. The detective's phone began ringing from his spot.

"Me and Matt are scanning all the traffic cams in the city." Cisco started.

"But so far, we got squat." Matt added while his hand ran down his face in annoyance.

Joe finally pulled out his phone and pressed the button to accept the call, "Hey baby." He got no voice from the other end. "Iris?" the others turned to the detective whose face paled immediately and he pressed the speaker button on his phone to let them listen in.

"How many of you feel the Trimethyline 32 coursing through your veins, hmm?" The unmistakable voice of the original Trickster speak through the speaker on his phone.

"That's him. That's Jesse." Barry told everyone.

"Cisco, Mat, can you guys ping her phone?" Joe asked the two.

"On it!" Matt called out his answer.

"What was Trimethyl…" Olivia trailed off as she couldn't remember the rest of the word and directed at her brother.

Seth saw the look and explained, "Trimethylmercury 32. It's a relatively fast-acting poison." The natives looked to him and wondered how he knew that already. "When it comes to poisonous stuff, my mind is like a steel trap, okay? Sue me."

"You are still the weirdest doctor in the entire multiverse." Olivia said to her brother.

"Love you, too Bubble." He countered smugly, her teeth gritting from the counter.

"Is there a cure?" Barry asked the two doctors.

"An easy one yeah." The elemental said.

"Yes. We can start synthesizing the antidote right now." Harrison said.

Frankie stepped forward and asked, "Where is Iris right now?"

Cisco got the location of the tracing back and it showed on the monitors, "City hall." He answered.

"The Mayor's having a fundraiser there tonight." The detective informed them.

Seth looked to his sister and her boyfriend, "Okay, I'll stay here and help with the antidote, you guys go with Barry, take care of the Tricksters." They nodded and the two mutants let the nanites release and form their individual suits.

Harrison looked to the metahuman speedster and said, "Barry, do not underestimate the Trickster." He barely registered it and ran to his suit and put it on before shooting off with the two mutants.

X

(City Hall)

When Iris West, journalist of Central City Picture News, came to City Hall for the Mayor's fundraiser, dressed to fit the occasion in a beautiful red dress with gorgeous earrings and hair straightened as well, the last thing she expected was be held hostage by two maniacs with the same exact name.

But now she was, and poisoned by the two criminals from the champagne that was offered around. And she had called her father for help, without the maniacs' notice, who accepted the call and listened on the time while the original Trickster spoke ever so threateningly. Now everyone began sending out their money to the criminals' banks out of fear that they might not get the antidote.

As she waited there, the original Trickster behind her came walking up to her and greeted in an ill-mannered voice. "Well, hello." He walked around to her front and flirtatiously straightened his tie as he said, "You know, I've been in prison for 20 years."

Without a hint of fear in her voice, she said, "Then you'll know the routine when you get sent back."

He rose an eyebrow in response to her count-

WHOOSH

A flash of yellow lightning attacked him and grabbed him by the collar, and slammed him into the nearest wall. His eyes went up to see the Scarlet Speedster standing there before him. "Where's Henry Allen?"

With a crazed look on his face, the criminal said back, "He's where you'll be soon. Heaven!" Axel Walker quickly and stealthily walked over them and placed a device with large beeping red lamb on it around his wrist.

While Barry kept his eyes on the device, James Jessie said, "Are you familiar with the movie Speed? Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock?" he listed the legends before explaining. "See, you're the bus, and that's the bomb. A Kinetic Bomb, actually, and if you go below 600 miles per hour, it'll explode. Same thing happens if you try to remove it." His son flipped a switch, "Oh it's active." He let out excitedly.

"Run, run, run, run, run."

WHOOSH

The Flash ran out of the large hall immediately with all of his might. The moment the two criminals saw the speedster run away they began letting out a loud laughter.

SHATTER

However, their laughter was deafened by the sound of the glass shattering when Iron Knight and Angel Fury slammed through the glass and hovered above the air. The audience below them looked up to them with wide eyes, Iris took out her phone and took a picture of the female hero who hovered in the air with her ethereal red hair floating around by itself.

Matt turned a repulsor out to the criminals who only began chuckling even more manically. "What's so funny?" Iron Knight called out to them.

James Jesse spoke slowly and then raised his voice, "Not much. Aside from this! Have a blast! Or two!" he and his son pulled out two separate guns with grenade launcher, the two launchers opened up and launched a series of weaponized grenades at the hero.

The grenades began shining blue and spinning around before bursting open. A bunch of spiraling orbs came out of the grenade shells and each of them pointed at both Matt and Olivia. The Tricksters began laughing loudly as the original explained, "How'd you like these guys, huh? Miniaturized drones filled to the brim with gas that explodes upon contact with air like Hansel and Gretel when they met the bitchy Witch. Oh, and little something else, they have homing capabilities. So you two better up, up and AWAY!"

"Shit!" Olivia said as both she and Matt flew out of the building, knowing that even with their powers they couldn't risk the bombs explode in such a tight space. Especially with the number of airborne bombs of that magnitude that flew after them.

Sharing a look between each other, they flew upwards and out of the city's limits, the airborne bombs kept following them and their speed increased when the drones spiraled. When the two mutants looked to the drones again, the saw the drones closing in on them.

The two of them looked around, seeing that they were at least a few miles above the city. "Looks far enough! Let's take them out!" Iron Knight shouted to Angel Fury who agreed with a nod of her head. Placing a hand over his arc reactor and opened it up, he turned around before slamming it back in. The nanites clung to his suit before taking the form of Frost-Flame. Olivia used her psychic powers, enshrouding her body with the energy before.

They separated from each other, flying off to different directions, Iron Knight flying off to the left and Angel Fury flying off to the right. The airborne drones separated into two large groups of explosive drones that flew after the two mutants separately.

Twirling around to meet her group of drones, Olivia gathered large masses of energy into the palms of both hands. Concentrating the energy and letting it compress into forms of spheres, she lashed both hands out. The spheres vibrated quickly before combusting and shot into a series of various energy beams. Each of the beams connected to the drones, taking them down and leaving explosive smokes in their wake. "Booyah!" she exclaimed.

Using his thrusters, flaring up and sending him further ahead. While he did so, Matt spun around himself and his mini-gun began spinning, charging up and readying itself to fire. His HUD screen locking onto the airborne bombs. "Fire away!" he exclaimed while his mini-gun stopped spinning and fired off a hailstorm of bullets at the drones, taking them down with various amounts of bullets, each of them charged with either fire or frost energy. Like his girlfriend, the aftermath of the drones' last moments were series of explosions.

The two mutants looked down at the city below them after flying closer to each other, seeing the familiar yellow lightning that followed the speedster who kept running around.

X

"Cisco!" Barry shouted to the scientist at S.T.A.R. Labs who had the scanned his suit and found a foreign object attached to him.

"He wasn't lying." Cisco began with a displeased tone. "That thing's linked to a speedometer, and it will blow if you stop moving."

"I can't run forever!" Barry grunted out loud to them.

"There's gotta be a way to get it off him without damaging it." Caitlin said through the link.

"I can swing over to him and cut his arm off." Seth offered his ideas.

"Not helping, Seth!" the speedster shouted back over the wind that crashed against his face as he ran.

Harrison then asked curiously, for both the speedster and those near him in the facility, "Barry, do you see any walls nearby?"

"Why?" he answered.

"Because I need you to run into one. Or more accurately, through one."

"What?/What?/What?" the combined exclaim of confusion and shock from Caitlin, Seth and Cisco came out from the other end of the communication link.

The founder then explained, "If you vibrate at the natural frequency of air, your body…your cells will be in a state of excitement that should allow you to phase…right through that wall, leaving the bomb on the other side."

"Should?" Barry wondered his query back to him.

"Now my idea of cutting his arm sounds better." Seth said amusingly before a sound of a leaping came through the comms link.

"You can do this. I believe in you." Harrison assured him.

Even though, Barry has always trusted the founder through any tough times that he were to meet as The Flash…he didn't believe that he could handle something of that level, even now, even in life or death situations such as this. "I can't." he finalized his decision.

However, The founder was not about to let the speedster stick with that decision. "Listen to me, Barry….Breathe…Breathe." he repeated slowly, sensations filling the words that were spoken, and those that were to be spoken. "…Feel the air…Feel that wind on your face…Feel the ground, your feet lifting you up, pushing you forward, and the lightning…Barry, feel the lightning…Feel its power…Its electricity pumping through your veins…Crackling through you…traveling to every nerve in your body…like a shock…You're no longer you now…You're part of something greater…You're part of a speed force… It's yours." Barry felt the founder's echo in his head, resonating with his own, and giving him strength, the lightning and crackling like a thunderstorm in his own core. His eyes closing as they echoed again and again, while time slowed down ever slower around him.

"…Now do it…"

Snapping his eyes open again, the Scarlet Speedster ran even faster now, his will fueling his lightning. Like it was a bright flame that bend the wind to its will and intensified itself tenfold. Locking eyes with the front of a large truck in front of him, he ran to it….

…his body vibrating even more…

…and as he ran to collide with the truck… he passed right through it…the Kinetic Bomb popping off his wrist in response…

From the other end of the truck, Barry ran through it and decelerated into a standing. Breathing heavily out of both exhaust and shock from his newfound ability, he looked down at his wrist, happily smiling at his bomb-less wrist.

EXPLOSION

The sound of the Kinetic Bomb exploding from the front of the truck got his attention. Making him let out, "Oh!"

"Barry?" Caitlin asked worried while she and Cisco and Harrison awaited the fate of the speedster.

"Oh, that felt weird." He said back while feeling his body slowly return to normal. The words he spoke, cause the scientists back at the facility to relax themselves. He was then reminded of the situation at City Hall. "Guys what about the poison back at City Hall?"

"Daddy's handling that." Frankie said, deciding to join in on their conversation.

X

"Ooh, I like it." Axel Walker said as he and his father saw the account view on the screen, the current balance increasing more and more as the frightened people didn't want to die just yet.

"Look at that." James Jessie said while the other hostages continued giving them more and more money. "Lobsters on me, kid." He told the kid with his excited offer, seeing the amount of money continually increase.

SHATTER

The sound of glass shattering again got their attention to turn upwards again, thinking that it would be the two mutants from before to come back to the fray. "Uh-oh." James said at the sight. But they were wrong to assume so as they saw Venom standing on top of the staircase as he looked down on them.

Crossing his arms over his chest tightly, he flexed his muscles, making them vibrate like a quake running through water. Letting out a cry, he sent out dozens of tendrils out of his back. The tips of each of them latched onto injection guns with the antidote within their container. "Ow!" All of the guests in the audience let out in slight pain when the injection guns injected the antidote into their bodies from Venom's expert use of them.

When he was sure that each and everyone of them had been injected, Venom jumped down on the stage and called out to them. "You've all been given an antidote. You're safe."

"That wasn't very sanitary." James quipped at the words.

Any other words that were to be spoken from either him or his son were cut off when a large clawed hand wrapped around their throats. Venom brought the two men closer to his face and sneered at them, "Now…where is…Henry Allen? Say it…otherwise…" his tongue slithered over James' face, making him recoil in disgust at the slimy feeling of the demon's tongue touching his face. "We're gonna have us a late bite. Wonder if Iron Heights will miss you…or if they can manage with just your…" his white eyes looking up and down his body. "…feet? Both of you." Axel and James began shivering in fear when they saw Venom looking at them like a demonic predator and hungry irradiating out of him.

Both father and son gulped in more fear, as they only had one solution and no other, at least the one that would actually ensure their safety.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

"Wow." Henry Allen said as he looked around happily and took in the Cortex of S.T.A.R. Labs. After he was saved by the Flash from last night, who then revealed himself to be his own son, Barry, he was brought to the facility to meet everyone in the room the next day. "Half of this stuff didn't even exist when I was practicing."

Cisco agreed and offered innocently, "Yeah, well, I'd be happy to give you a crash course on all of it if you get out." Everyone in the Cortex looked at him with dry eyes, Henry more than others, which made the mechanical engineer say, "I'm gonna shut up now."

Henry chuckled at the man's words and patted his shoulder in comfort. "It's okay." His eyes then went to the elemental who made eye contact with him. "Pleasure to finally meet you. Seth. or should I say Venom."

"Likewise, Dr. Allen." Seth greeted back while he stepped over to him and shook his hand. "And please, call me Seth."

"Looks like you've been keeping an eye on those two, thankfully." Henry referred to his son and Joe.

"It has its bumps but yeah. Being their babysitter is easy as pie." Seth joked with the detective shooting a glare in mock.

Henry chuckled again and looked to the two other mutants in the back and Frankie, who stood near Caitlin. "I assume those are your family?"

"They are." Seth answered confidently while happily, while they in the back waved slightly.

"Dr. Allen?" Caitlin called the elder man, getting his attention while she walked closer.

"Yes?"

"I'm feeling the need to give you a hug." She shyly said.

"Absolutely. I will always accept a hug." Henry hugged the female doctor gently and briefly and said "Thank you." after pulling away.

Frankie stepped closer to him as well, just as shyly as Caitlin, "Can I have one too?"

"Of course, sweetie." Henry said as he bent down and hugged the young girl too. After pulling away from the young girl, he looked to the elemental with a curious look on his face, "I assume this little one's yours?"

"She is." Seth said as he walked over and wrapped his arms around Frankie's form. "My little baby girl, Frankie Rogers."

Shifting his eyes between the father and his daughter, Henry remarked honestly. "She looks to be in good hands." The two nodded their agreements.

Venom from within his host gave the speedster's father a once over and wondered out loud in his head, "Is he really Barry's father? He seems more…nice."

"…Maybe Barry was adopted by the Allens…" Seth thought back his reply darkly.

Henry looked to his son who stood in front of his suit placed on the mannequin. A bunch of questions entered his mind as he walked over to him and began. "Wow. You gotta tell me. What does it feel when you're running down the street like a bat out of hell?"

Barry briefly looked to Harrison Wells who seemed devoid of any emotions as usual and answered his father, "There's not feeling like it."

Frankie then said out, making sure the speedster and his father heard it, "That's up for discussion, swinging is amazing as well." Magenta gave an enthusiastic nod in the young metahuman's mind. Seth leaned down and kissed the top of her head after she said those words.

Once again, Henry couldn't help but chuckle at the voice of the young girl's childlike behavior, reminding him of his short time with Barry at that age. Before and within prison. "I bet. Actually, you're all heroes in my book, especially you, Dr. Wells." He looked to the man before looking to the elemental. "You too, Dr. Rogers."

"I don't like being called doctor. Sounds too formal for me." Seth corrected the elder doctor who chuckled as he walked closer.

He walked over to the elemental anyway and out stretched his hand. "But still, thank you for everything that you've done for my son. For protecting him out there. Means a lot to me."

Seth shook his hand and said, "Ups and downs, but he's a good man on the inside and the outside. And I'm gonna continue aiding him in whatever way I can, Dr. Allen. That I promise you." He swore to the doctor.

The father smiled again happily before walking over to the founder of the facility with his hand out stretched again. "And thank you, Dr. Wells. For everything that you've done for my son."

Accepting the hand with his own, Harrison said back in gratitude, "Well, your son is an extraordinary man, Dr. Allen. And I will do everything in my power to ensure Barry's future."

Henry Allen happy to hear those words spoken about his son, loving the fact that his son was safe in the hands of one of the most intelligent men on the planet along with a man who fights like a demon but is a protector at heart. With those feelings filling, he walked over to his son again and hugged him.

The others around them watched happily as the father and son hugged each other. Cisco smiling himself. Harrison merely smirking instead of showing a smile. Olivia and Matt walking closer to each other and wrapped an arm around each other's waists. Joe's eyes turning teary out of pure happiness at the sight. Seth used one arm to hug Frankie while his other snaked around Caitlin's waist and pulled her to his side, her head falling on his shoulder. The three of them resembling a true family while looking to the hugging father and son.

Barry and Henry pulled away from one another, giving each other a last look of happiness before the imprisoned man walked to Joe. "It's time, Joe." He held out his hands side by side, readying them to be handcuffed.

However, the detective said with a shaking head. "No."

"No?" Henry needed clarity.

"No." Joe wrapped an arm around his old friend.

"Okay." The inmate was cool with that decision and let the detective walk him out.

Caitlin, being as good-hearted as she is, walked over to Barry and hugged him. While he was in the hug, he received a soul-chilling cold glare from Seth, making the speedster shiver slightly in fear. When the female doctor pulled away from him, she said kindly, "You seem like you could use a hug too." He smiled, one that faded when he felt the elemental's eyes freezing his soul now.

Seeing her boyfriend's eyes on him, she walked over to him and took his hand. "Something wrong?"

"Not a single thing, Cait." He told her and wrapped an arm around her and they walked out into the Corridor, just the two of them. Frankie had swung out before with her aunt and her uncle. "Wanna go out for dinner before going back home."

"I like that." Caitlin looked back briefly, seeing that they were away from the Cortex's entrance and she saw that they were out of earshot. Turning back to Seth, she asked, "Do you know what was wrong with Barry before? He was acting different before. Like he was angry or something."

Seth didn't know what to say to her and said instead, hating himself for lying to her. "No idea. Maybe the speed is catching up to his brain, finally." He quipped, she gave a dry look in response. "I honestly don't know. He did visit his Dad after all, some feelings returning and that."

"If you say so. but just so we're clear…" she leaned up to his lips, giving him the impression of giving him a kiss. But all she did was smile teasingly while poking out her tongue at him from close distance, getting him to groan. "…you're buying."

"You got yourself a deal, Dr. Snow." He teasingly said back to her, swiftly capturing her lips in a kiss before continuing onwards down the corridor.

X

(Wests' Residence)

"Flash, Venom, Iron Knight and Ethereal Angel Vanquishes Tricksters." The news title said on the TV screen with a picture of the two Tricksters in handcuffs, in the West's residence that was in front of the couch, where Iris and Eddie was seated.

Eddie Thawne had been brought to CSI lab of the precinct after the night's events by Joe. His partner asked him to sit down on the chair in the laboratory, knowing that it was an important deal, since it was about Iris. Eddie had previously learned that his girlfriend was looking into Mason Bridge's disappearance.

And apparently, Joe…and The Flash couldn't let that happen, and they needed his help. Which they got…after the Scarlet Speedster revealed his face to Eddie…. revealing the face of Barry Allen, the man who was struck by lightning the night of the particle accelerator.

To say his mind was blown was the understatement…cause it blasted itself out of his head and blasted through the stratosphere…and into outer space.

When he got his bearings back together, he was looped in on the plan and did his part. Walking to the West's residence and told the news to his girlfriend who still wrapping her mind around what she's been told. The moment she did, she said, wanting confirmation from him. "Brazil? Why…why would Mason move to Brazil?"

Even thought, Eddie had thought that he might have fathomed the entire situation by now, he was still having trouble dealing with the fact that his partner's kid is the Flash. Coughing lightly to himself, he answered Iris's doubts, with a lie. "Apparently there was a girl involved. And he decided to go hike the amazon with her for a year, you know, live off the grid, write his memoirs or something."

Iris then spoke, while Barry and Joe came walking through the front door. "Wow. I guess you really don't anyone."

Eddie looked to the two men who live here and commented honestly, while hiding the secret meaning in them. "No, you don't." Both Barry and the blonde-haired detective shared a look while Iris kept looking distraught and shocked from the revelation that's been revealed to her.

Joe then pitched in worriedly for his daughter. "Hey, baby, everything good?"

Iris shook her head, getting herself out of whatever trance she was in before, "Yeah, yeah. Of course. Um, dinner will be ready in a jiff, okay?" she told them sheepishly.

"Okay." Eddie whispered softly to her while Joe and Barry hung their jackets on the coat racks.

The elder detective looked in the direction of the kitchen, where his daughter was occupying the space before turning to his partner and asked in a whisper. "She buy it?"

Unsurely, and still inhaling deeply a few times, "I think so."

Barry nodded in relief. Looking back to the direction of the kitchen, Joe said. "Keeping her in the dark, it's for her safety."

However, Eddie didn't think that. "That is debatable, and we will have that debate." His eyes shifting between his partner and Barry before asking, "But for right now, what's our next move? How do we figure out what Wells is up to?"

Thinking back to the night's events, him learning of this newfound ability of his metahuman powers, Barry recalled while saying. "When Wells was talking me through phasing so I could get the Trickster's bomb off my wrist… The way he described my being The Flash, running…Feeling the wind and the power…it's like he was talking from experience." He admitted to the two detectives.

Confusion, shock, and horror-infested curiosity entered Joe's mind as he asked, "What are you saying?" Eddie from the other side awaited the answer.

And when they did, more shock washed over them like it was pouring over them from the skies above.

"I don't know how…But he's the Man in Yellow. Harrison Wells is the Reverse-Flash."

X

"It's not your fault… Cisco…now all of you…can rest…in piece…and move on…and take care of the city…" Seth said to him through a panting and hurting voice, his mouth bleeding and bleeding as he looked at Caitlin's tear-falling face. Leaning up his head, he kissed her, "I love you…Caitlin Snow…and I know you're gonna take…care of…Frankie, Matt and Olivia…I love you."

Caitlin continued crying as she said back, "I love you too…just please hold on for me…Seth…Please."

"I love you." he said before shooting his head forward again, his lips crashing against hers again, this one being more forceful by the looks. Parts of his symbiotic mass began shooting out of his body and slithered over his body, and like a bridge, the masse slid over his body to meet his girlfriend's. The black symbiote continued slithered over his body and going through his mouth and into her.

As the mass continued slithering out of his body, the tendrils that formed his arm shot out and connected to Caitlin's body, the blood shooting out of his open wound again. Grunting heavily as more pain erupted in his body while he pulled away from her body.

His eyes not placing them on the new host of Venom, the love of his life. "I love you, Caitlin…Take care." Seth placed his back against the generator behind him, his lips forming one last smile while his eyes closed shut while turning limp…

At the sight of the man she loves…leaving her…Caitlin's eyes began leaking like a waterfall…and while she did…her clothes began changing color…turning black…forming a dark mass out of her clothes…spreading over her entire body… Her feet enveloped and turning bigger and her nails turning into talon-shark claws… Her hands enveloping and morphing into clawed hands…The black mass continued spreading…and white veins followed and grew longer as did her body…Her hair turning from light-brown into black with streaks off white in it…Her tear-falling face became enveloped, turning into a head with a maw filled with shark-like teeth…a pair of white pseudo eyes looking down at her mate.

His eyes looking shocked at the sight before him…as he saw Caitlin now standing as…Venom?

Her mouth opened up and the next sound was the only sound that filled the room

SCREAM

X

"Argh!"

Cisco snapped up in shock and screamed out in shock, his body sweating bullets as he looked around in shock from his dream…or whatever it was broke him out of his midnight sleep. But nothing was there, only the sleeping form of his girlfriend Bette San Souci who was still sleeping soundly.

But what the heck did he just see then?

Seth…dying…? And….Caitlin…becoming…Venom? what kind of a sick dream is that?!

Or was it even a dream…

Shaking his head repeatedly as worry continued resurfacing into it, he flipped the covers off his body and got up to get his phone from his table. Quickly dialing up the number he placed it up to his ear, and waited for the line to be connected. "Pick up, pick up, pick up." He chanted worriedly.

The line connected finally and a groan of annoyance came out from the other end, followed by a yawn of tiredness, "…Yawn…Cisco, what are you doing? It's frigging late to call someone, you know. Is there any trouble?" Cisco let out a brief exhale of relief when the line connected.

"No, no. Nothing, Seth." Cisco assured the elemental. "I was just worried about you and Caitlin. Are you both okay? None of you are hurt in any way, are you?"

"No, we're fine, Cisco. Why? Is something the matter?" Seth worriedly asked his friend from the other end.

"No…I think I just had a bad dream, is all. Sorry for bothering you guys." Cisco apologized to them.

"Don't worry about that, Cisco. There's no reason for you to apologize for worrying about your friends. And if those bad dreams keep happening, give Liv a call. She can help you out with her powers." Seth explained. "Though, if you want to check up on us again…do it in the day-time…if you think I can get cranky, wait till you see my daughter when she's not getting her beauty sleep." He jokingly threatened.

Cisco shortly laughed, before saying "Will try to remember that one, dude. Thanks again. Good night."

"Nighty night." Seth said back before hanging up.

Exhaling deeply in relief, Cisco walked back to his bed and let himself fall down to it in relief, right beside Bette's sleeping and peaceful form. "He's okay. She's okay. They're okay." He chanted to himself as he recalled the mutant's words from their phone-call.

"Seth's not… dead…and Caitlin's not…Venom."

To be continued…

Now that's a chapter.

Now more realization has dawned on the Scarlet Speedster, steeling his mind of the decision that he's come to. Harrison Wells is the Flash.

And it looks like Cisco Ramon got a certain vibe now from the previous timeline, reliving the memories of that timeline, seeing Seth draw his last breath and Caitlin morph into the form of Venom.

With Eddie Thawne looped into Barry's and Joe's plan to dig deeper into the enigma that is Harrison Wels, they are now ever so closer to expose his truth.

And how will that work out in the end with the trusty mutants in the midst.

Stay tuned and until next time, peeps!