Hey everybody. Another week, another chapter. It seemed like a lot of you liked my conclusion to Elseworlds, so I'm glad. Just wait to see what I have in store for Crisis with the changes I've done. But that's much further down the line. Enjoy this week's update.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash.

Wally stayed in Central City for a couple more days, spending time with the family and secretly meeting with Barry to discuss everything that happened in that other reality and what it entailed. They'd both agreed not to tell anyone else about what happened as apparently they would no longer be involved with the coming Crisis. If circumstances forced them to talk about it, they would, but for now they didn't see any reason to share it with the others.

When there was no further response of anything happening, Barry and Wally both felt they could relax a little again. But it all came crashing back when Jesse contacted them that she had also gotten a visit from The Monitor and subsequently passed his test as well. As such, she had been enlisted into fighting in the Crisis on the side of The Monitor.

It also came as a shock when she had revealed that she had retained memories of helping them in an alternate timeline where they had retrieved the Book of Destiny in less than a day with Kara and J'onn from Earth-38 before The Monitor blasted the three of them back to their own Earth and forced the inhabitants of Earth-1 to redo the whole thing again without interference from the multiverse. That must have been what The Monitor had been talking about.

Either way, now all that was left of them was to wait it out. There was nothing they could do besides prepare and perhaps warn their friends on Earth-38, but they weren't sure when The Monitor would seek to test them, or if he ever would. Kara had participated with them in the initial test, so she knew The Monitor was coming, if he hadn't already. But the order The Monitor was going about testing them literally depended on the roll of the dice. And with an infinite number of Earths and only a finite amount of time before the Crisis approached, it would make sense if some Earths got lost in the cracks.

It was that thought that forced Barry and Wally to relax themselves. There was nothing to do aside from doing what they were already doing. Everything would handle themselves in the meantime. They had other problems that needed taking care of.

Like how Barry was currently on the phone with someone extremely important to him on a personal level as he was strolling through STAR Labs. "Yes I know. We're really trying. Don't expect so much in such a short time. It'll happen when it'll happen. Yes, we're very excited and we can't wait but we don't want to rush things. Alright bye. It was great talking to you." With that, he hung up.

"Who was that?" Cisco asked behind his desk. "Caitlin?"

"No, she should still be asleep. At least, she was a couple minutes ago."

"It's past 9. Caitlin's usually here by 7. Why is she so late?" Cisco wondered.

"Late night." Barry responded with a forlorn expression and a goofy grin. "A really late night."

"Eww," Cisco stuck his tongue out in disgust. "Change the subject. Who was on the phone? Iris?"

"No, Carla," Barry answered.

"Your mother-in-law? Why were you talking to her?"

"She called me. And do I need a reason to talk to her? She's family," Barry shrugged. "Besides, I've actually been friends with her longer than I have been with Caitlin with all our internet activity."

"That's weird," Cisco commented. "So what reason would she have to check on you?"

"You're very snoopy today. You know that?"

"It's a boring day. Entertain me," Cisco demanded.

"If you must know, she was calling for an update. She wants to be more involved with Caitlin and I's life. And I'm not exactly the one who's going to tell her no," Barry answered.

"Really? Why the sudden interest? Did something happen recently?"

"Actually-" Barry's eyes lit up as he was about to tell Cisco the news but was interrupted by a notification alert on Cisco computer. "What's that? Trouble?"

"No. Felicity finally got back to me on that last foster record that I couldn't get into. She finally managed to get through the red tape," Cisco reported. "We may have finally found Cicada,"

"Well open it," Barry demanded. He was never one to be patient. And this trait was only further enhanced by his speed and altered perception of time.

"Alright, here it is." Cisco opened the file. "Name is Grace Gibbons. She's currently 20, 15 at the time of the accelerator explosion. She lost her parents, Mason and Elizabeth Gibbons in the explosion although they were reported missing. The investigation is still ongoing, but it's assumed they're dead,"

"Well there's the reason. She would blame the accelerator for taking away her parents, and then metahumans come out as a result of it," Barry comments. "Where did she go? Any family members take her in?"

"Yeah, her mother has a brother in the city who took her in. Orlin Dwyer."

"What happened to him?" Barry asked.

"Hmm. Nothing as far as these digital records go." Cisco stated.

"No. Something happened to him. It had to have. Where has he been for the last year?" Barry asked.

"Well, Grace actually moved on campus this past year, so she's no longer living with him. The bills are still being paid though it seems. But now that I'm looking there hasn't actually been any transactions for the past year or so. He's not using his credit cards. He could have switched to cash but this seems a little extreme."

"No, he's gone missing. I know he has. Grace just didn't report it for whatever reason." Barry pondered the situation for a second. "Maybe she was actually the one who caused it. Killed her uncle in an accident. Blamed his death on the powers she never wanted and decided to lash out against all the other metas too."

"That's pretty crazy. And likely, but maybe it was just a random meta that did it." Cisco pointed out.

"Yeah. Could be. Just spitting out theories." Barry shook his head. "Let me call Caitlin. She'll probably be awake by now. Tell her what we know. You got a picture of Gibbons?"

"Hold on. Let me just- Here you go. This was taken when she was put into the system so it might be a bit dated but we've got an aging software I can put through for 5 years." Cisco pulled up an image of a young teen girl. Despite the years, Barry could already make out the similarities to the young woman he'd seen the night she'd broken into Joe's house. The aging software only confirmed it when her features became more defined in the short amount of time.

"That's her," Barry confirmed. "Can you get me a location?"

"She should be in one of her classes at the university."

Grace listened to her professor, completely unaware that a speedster was on their way right now to confront her. Somewhat ironically she was in her sociology class and they were in a family unit and how society has changed to where there can be multiple forms of family rather than the typical nuclear family of a mother, father, and 2.5 kids. Maybe even a dog.

It got her thinking when she was first dropped off on her uncle's doorstep.

Grace hadn't spoken a word since the day social services picked her up. The workers found out about her uncle and were hoping for him to take her in, at least for a time until a decision could be made on whether he or someone else in the family would take her in or she would become a foster child and go through several families before aging out of the system. It would only be for three years. She wasn't exactly being considered a serious case with the several other children that had been left orphaned after the catastrophic event that had turned the city into a nuclear crater.

Her mother would sometimes talk about her brother, but sparingly. Her uncle had been on the outs with their father when he'd left. As a result, Grace had never been to actually visit and meet her uncle despite him living in the same city. But everything her mother had said put Uncle Orlin in a positive light. There was nothing wrong, he was just very stubborn, especially when it came to their father.

Really, Grace had no expectations as to how this would go. And what if they found her parents? What would happen then? They were out there somewhere. They had to be.

Her uncle was currently working as some construction worker or something. It required physical labor and that was about all Grace got from their explanation. She wasn't really paying attention. They weren't sure whether her uncle would be up to the task of caring for a teenager, or if he would even be capable of doing so, but due to legalities, he was her next of kin and currently her guardian and they had to inform the man of his new situation.

Despite the social worker's reservations, Grace could tell they were all hoping Orlin Dwyer would just accept it and they could all move on. They didn't want to waste anymore time on someone who was almost out of the system more than they had to. It just made sense.

Orlin was pretty shocked to see the social worker standing out of his apartment door along with his niece. He didn't recognize her at all. That hurt, as she kinda hoped he and her mother kept in contact somewhat in order to know that he even had a niece. It would have made this whole situation a little less awkward. But apparently not.

The social worker explained everything. How her parents, his sister and brother-in-law, were missing and had left her behind. And now he was her legal guardian until such a time that someone else would decide to step up if he wouldn't or her parents miraculously returned.

Orlin took the news pretty calmly. At least, as calmly as one could. He just sat there with wide eyes, not speaking but nodding at the appropriate moments to show that he was at least somewhat following along. When it was asked whether he would take in Grace, he hesitated.

He had his doubts, obviously. He worked a menial job and wasn't sure if he could support the two of them. He'd been on the outs with his family for years, since before Grace was even born, but that was no reason to take it out on the only family he really had. And if he didn't take her in, she would be shipped off to who knows where. At least with him, she could retain as much of her old life as possible. And it wasn't like he was getting a newborn. Grace was a teenager, already a little self-sufficient and looking for independence. This probably wasn't how she was looking to do that though.

They stayed for hours before Uncle Orlin finally made a decision and Grace would forever be grateful that he decided to accept her and take care of her. It was clear there were serious doubts on his decision and he almost looked like he wanted to take back what he said, but he stayed his tongue, and so Grace went on to live with him for the next few years.

They moved out of his tiny apartment and into a rundown house. With a little work, Uncle Orlin was able to get it in a state where they didn't have to worry about the walls falling on them.

It was hard, and sometimes she took her frustrations out on him, but he never got angry with her. He took it all and turned the other cheek. He took care of her, just like he promised. Until he didn't. Because of her.

Grace was jolted out of her reminiscing when a pair of invisible hands grabbed her and whisked her away without anyone noticing an entire person having vanished into thin air.

Barry ran through the entire campus of the university, moving so fast that there wasn't a single spark of lightning that could be seen as he moved through each room, searching for one particular student.

In the end, Barry couldn't find her. There wasn't a trace of the girl anywhere. And in fact, Barry was slightly relieved as he really had no idea what he was going to do with her should he confront her. This was a particularly disturbed individual and he needed to approach this delicately lest he possibly send her into a blind rage.

"Dad, have you found her yet?" Ace spoke through the coms. Ace had joined him, speeding through the university grounds with him, double checking everything for anyone that could look like Grace Gibbons.

"I'm guessing that means you can't find her either," Barry sighed.

"Maybe she didn't come to school today. We'll have to look elsewhere,"

"She could be anywhere in the city. The only benefit is that she doesn't know we're coming for her." Barry commanded. "We've gotta get out of here. If we're seen, it'll eventually get to Grace and she'll start getting suspicious and paranoid that we're onto her. We don't want that yet. Not until we find a way to locate her," Barry sped off with his child following suit.

"Get your hands off me!" Grace shouted once the world finally stopped moving. She pried the hands of the speedster off of her and took in her surroundings, noticing that they'd stopped in some old warehouse. The speedster in question was covered from head to toe in an orange and black speedster outfit. The midsection was pitch black as well as the boots, trailing up to their knees. Along the side of the leg was orange, covering the back and arms and stopping at the neck. On their head, instead of a cowl was a tinted race car driver helmet with two prongs on top like antennae to hide their identity. And instead of a speedster symbol, the black parts of the suit were designed in a zig-zag pattern. "Where did you take me?"

"An old STAR facility. We won't be staying long and The Flash would never think to look here." The speedster who'd taken her growled, disguising his voice. "You should be thanking me. The Flash was on his way to find you. Should I have arrived too late, all our plans would be for nothing."

"I could have taken him. He can't stop me." Grace declared, not worried in the slightest.

"Like you stopped me? With you unaware, I managed to take you right in public without anyone the wiser and traveled for miles before you even had the realization you'd been kidnapped. If you had confronted him, at best your identity would be revealed. At worst, you would have killed him and I cannot have that happen."

"So what if they figure out my name? They already saw my face. It won't matter in the end,"

"Your identity reveal is only inevitable. But when that happens should be on our terms. For the meantime they have suspicions. Not confirmation. Confirmation is absolute, but where there are suspicions, there is doubt. And doubt is the bane of these heroes' existence."

Grace stood her ground, not letting herself be intimidated by this speedster. "You don't need to wear that helmet. I already know who you are,"

Grace could feel the speedster's gaze fixed on her behind the helmet. A tense moment passed when the speedster placed a hand against their head and the helmet actually retracted into the suit.

A pair of eyes locked onto hers with such intensity. "Let's get to work,"

Barry was nervous because he wasn't sure. He was almost 100 percent certain that Grace Gibbons was the one known as Cicada, but that little part of himself in the back of his mind was weighing him down more than he would like to admit. But those thoughts came with the pondering of what would happen if they were wrong. Barry was no stranger to coincidence, even if more often than not, they proved to be right. What if this time they were wrong? What would happen when they would go to confront her? This wasn't like the others. This was simply a lost soul. She was doing this out of a misguided sense of justice for the people closest to her in life. Barry could relate to that.

In another life, Barry could have gone down the same path as her, blinded by a need for revenge and mistaking it as justice. Cicada needed assistance, not condemnation.

With that thought, Barry suddenly grew concerned of whether he himself actually wanted to capture Cicada. He didn't want to kill her, but he also didn't want to ruin her life by placing her in a cell for the rest of her time. She'd clearly already been through enough, having lost her family and her sense of normalcy. Did he really want to add to that and take away her freedom?

But Barry had to push these feelings down. He had a job to do. Barry could understand why she was doing this, he could even respect and admire the length she'd gone, but that didn't change the fact that this wasn't the way to go about those things.

And there was also the fact she was in big need of help if she truly was suffering from hallucinations.

They placed a tail on Grace Gibbons. The facial scanners in every street camera to alert them immediately should Gibbons show herself in public again. She'd disappeared the day Barry was going to retrieve her from the university, but according to social media, she'd left to visit extended family. More doubt, but it was a heck of a coincidence.

Either way, they had their primary suspect on the run it seemed and it was only a matter of time before they caught up.

In the meantime, Team Flash was on the trail of another metahuman. Peter Merkel, or as Cisco called him, Rag Doll. A person with the incredible ability to contort his body into impossible positions. A simple thief who came from a wealthy family and turned to a life of crime after being cut off and disowned by his mother.

It was the first time Barry was bringing Ace along with him to a heist. Previous attempts had happened before Team Flash could really get involved as they mostly involved Cicada in some way and there was no chance that Barry was letting his son near that monster. Cicada came, killed their victim, and if there was even the slightest sign of being interrupted, she would leave. She had a ritual with her victims, but clearly could adapt if the need should arise. She was smart. That much was evident at least. That made her dangerous.

But this was a simple case. A robber, not a mass murderer. A person who'd felt wronged by their family and had turned to petty crime. Emphasis on the petty.

The team had determined that Merkel would be targeting a party, hosted by Merkel's mother, and robbing the place blind. All they needed to do was be there when it happened. And with Barry's big name of being CEO of STAR, it wasn't hard to secure an invitation. So now they were just waiting whilst rubbing elbows with some of Central City's wealthiest and most influential individuals.

"Alright, keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious, but make sure to not draw any attention to yourself." Barry said through his ear piece.

"Really killing two birds with one stone here Dad," Ace commented as he watched his father being approached by several people. Ace had come as his guest and introduced as a distant cousin. His mother was scouting the perimeter with Uncle Cisco.

"We all got jobs to do. Not all of them relate to hero business." Barry retorted with a fake smile before going back to some conversation he was engaged in.

Ace had always hated this side of the family business. It often took one or both of his parents away for weeks at a time. And Uncle Cisco was forced to pick up the slack of protecting the city. Even if they were physically there, their minds would always be gone hundreds of miles away. Ramona was always the same, fitting into her role of heiress to the entire empire. As the second-born, Ace was given a basic education of the runnings of STAR, but was never expected to take over, so he wasn't let in on the secret meetings and such behind the door. It was the same with the twins, but they were still a bit too young to understand exactly how important their family really was.

In fact, Ace felt that he'd spent most of his teen years with Uncle Ollie since his parents were called away a lot. That man was like a second father to him. He had even taught Ace a couple things about combat since Ace had yet to achieve his powers.

Ace was so lost in his ruminations of his disdain for his family's company and all it brought with it that he didn't notice something slithering out of an air duct behind him.

It was like a living piece of cloth moving across the room with none the wiser, slowly inching itself closer to the hostess of the party.

Neither of the speedsters noticed when the rags wrapped themselves around the hostess until they heard the scream of the mother. Barry and Ace both turned to see the torso of a man in a doll mask beside the mother with the rest of their body ensnaring the woman. "I think it's time for a family reunion. Don't you think so, mother dearest?" the man said.

"I have no son," Theresa Merkel said.

"Of course, I forget. You just tossed me away when I became inconvenient for you like trash. Well I'm not going to be turned away this time." Rag Doll mumbled to her, extending his legs to the ground in order to lead the woman away from the party.

Barry made eye contact with Ace and tried to subtly gesture at him to escape while everyone was distracted.

Ace inconspicuously nodded and ran away, leaving a tiny gust of wind. He quickly went out to inform his mother and honorary uncle of Rag Doll's appearance and they set to work on making sure he wouldn't be able to get out by finding out how he slipped past them. Not that they thought they could. With Merkel's powers, even the tiniest crack would probably be enough for him to squeeze through and that was just too many possible entrances and exits for them to cover. This was mostly to get them out of the way to allow Ace his first act of heroics on his own. And should he fail, they would be able to step in at a moment's notice.

Ace raced into his speedster suit for the first time. It was primarily a cream color with red on opposite sides of his chest and gloves. He had yellow boots and instead of a mask he wore tinted goggles.

After getting dressed, Ace rushed back into the gala to see people depositing their valuables into a bag in front of Merkel who was still wrapped around his mother. The sound of rushing wind drew everybody's attention in his direction. Ace could tell they were all confused at his appearance, obviously having been expecting a different speedster but were grateful to some help.

"Oh? A Flash Junior?" Merkel commented upon his appearance. "Didn't realize the man in red had taken on another brat. Can I expect him to show up tonight?"

"Just me. You're not exactly high on his list of priorities," Ace barked.

"I can imagine with that meta serial killer on the loose. I'm not sure whether to be insulted or not that the big man didn't bother to show up."

"Well you've got me at least. And I'll tell you one thing. As my first act of heroism, I'm not letting you get away," Ace pulled a metallic cylinder off his belt that nobody had noticed until now.

"A metal rod. I'm scared. Definitely insulted now," Merkel said sarcastically.

Ace responded by shoving the rod forward and squeezed the handle, making it expand on both sides, placing a metal staff in his hand. Spinning it around in his hand, showing himself adept at the weapon, before getting into a ready position to fight. "Still bored?"

"Things just got slightly more interesting, Flash Jr.," Merkel said, mostly to himself. With the new threat, Merkel got off his mother to prepare himself for a fight.

"The name's Impulse. You know why? Because I was never one for waiting around," With that, the battle began as Ace charged forward, moving side to side to keep Rag Doll guessing where Ace would attack from. All the while he was spinning the staff in his hand to keep its momentum going.

Rag Doll just stood there. He didn't really have any hope of keeping up with a speedster. The only thing he had going for him was stamina. With his collapsible skeleton, the worst thing he would suffer through from that staff would be bruises. He could live through bruises. The only time Merkel would have an opening would be when the inexperienced speedster would come to land a hit on him.

And that was his saving grace. Impulse had made a big mistake revealing this to be his first encounter. Merkel wasn't going to run. He couldn't afford to. His mother was here and he wasn't leaving until she was gone. He didn't care how. Merkel was going to ruin her one way or another tonight.

Finally Ace stopped circling around his target and launched an attack, swinging the staff like a baseball bat and collided with Rag Doll's side, but his body caved around the staff. As expected from a meta that could rid themselves of their bones.

Rag Doll tried to pull the staff away from him but Ace tugged back and heaved the metahuman over his head, slamming him to the ground. Every attempt at getting up was met with a swift strike to various parts of the body. Keeping moving, Ace twirled the staff between his fingers, keeping an eye out for any movement against him from his adversary.

Barry was very surprised at the sight of the weapon. Ace had never said anything about a weapon or wanting to have something made for him, meaning he had probably brought this item with him from the future. And with the way he was handling it, Ace was obviously trained. But why would his son be trained in the ways of a weapon if he had his powers to protect him?

Maybe Barry was thinking too much into it. He had no idea why Ace would decide to pick up a weapon or the reasons behind it. Caitlin used weapons in her fights, though she made them instead of carrying one around. It really wasn't anything to worry about in concern to his child. He hoped not at least.

No time for that now though. He couldn't stand there speculating the reason why his son wielded a weapon and had failed to inform them of the fact after months of being here. Right now he needed to herd these people out of here, away from the battling metas.

Finally Rag Doll managed to get a good enough grip to keep hold on the staff and not let go. Ace just smirked and sparked his arms, letting the staff act as a lightning rod and the electricity shocked Rag Doll, doing some massive damage that couldn't be achieved with just blunt force.

Rag Doll was forced to let go and collapsed to the ground. Sparks were still crackling over Merkel's body, jolting him and causing involuntary muscle movements.

Barry paused in his evacuation to look at the aftermath of the fight. Another reason for Ace to carry the weapon. It seemed to help with his lightning control. That would be both useful and helpful.

Ace stood over his foe. Eyes trained on the fallen form to see whether he was truly knocked out. The mask made it hard to tell. There was a grunt and a twitch of a hand. Ace let the defeated man raggedly push himself off the ground, taking deep breaths all the while. When Merkel finally got into something of a stance, Ace charged his free hand and shoved it forward. Arcs of lightning flew off and struck Merkel in the chest. But it wasn't like ones from Barry, short little sparks. These were a continuous flow of energy, endless streams of electricity that never seemed to end until it did.

Merkel was left as a smoking heap. If it weren't for the gentle rise and fall of his chest, he might as well have been dead.

Ace twisted the staff in his hands and it retracted back into the handle which he clipped onto his belt. He turned around to face what was left of the crowd which included his father. Ace picked up the unconscious meta and heaved him over his shoulder, nodded to the people and took off, presumably to drop Merkel at an ARGUS base.

As soon as they both got back to STAR, they were going to talk about his performance. Barry had some notes to share.

Meanwhile, at the very same time, Raya Van Zandt was going on a joyride that she had jacked with her powers. It seemed that she was able to control certain machinery, mainly vehicles, but it wasn't like she was complaining. She knew she could turn anything on.

Zandt was speeding through the city when a flash of lightning passed her. Zandt internally groaned. She knew her streak of going unnoticed by The Flash was going to dry up someday. But that didn't mean she wasn't going without a fight. The lightning stopped right ahead of her to show two figures. One being the speedster and the other she assumed to be The Flash's partner, Killer Frost.

They were right in the middle of the road and she couldn't let such an opportunity pass her. Zandt was going to run over The Flash. Well, she was going to try anyway. No doubt the speedster would get himself and his partner out of the way when it became clear she wasn't slowing down.

Zandt sped up the car and the two figures remained stationary. She was going to be upon them in just a few seconds. She would be worried if she weren't in the most exciting game of chicken. Zandt was going so fast that she didn't notice the glowing dagger flying straight at her and when she did, it was already too late. The dagger had smashed straight through the glass and impaled her in the chest, killing Zandt instantly.

The car kept going though even with its driver dead, but Cicada just kept standing there, letting the vehicle collide against her body and feeling the metal bend around her form. Her speedster partner standing behind her, shielded from the impact.

Grace walked out of the mold her body made in the engine and strolled to the front door. She ripped it off its hinges and grabbed the carcass out of its seat. The seat belt snapped. She pulled her weapon out of the body and knelt down, studying the newly dead metahuman. She never stood a chance. Now onto business.

"Well done." The speedster put a hand against her shoulder in approval. "Do as you wish, but be quick about it. The explosion no doubt drew some attention in the area."

Grace almost purred in excitement as she reared her hand back and plunged her knife into the corpse again and again, delighting in the sound of piercing flesh.

Once she was done, the speedster whisked them away before anyone arrived to investigate the car 'accident'.

So Rag Doll isn't all that important. It was just something to take up space to give them something to do while they were waiting for Grace to come out of hiding and to showcase Ace as a hero. And what did you all think? Another speedster. Where did they come from? Who are they? Anyone care to make a guess? Things are starting to get exciting, don't you think?

I can't wait until all will be revealed. But I want to see if anyone is able to figure it out beforehand. Let me know. I'll see you all next week.