Chapter 47: Fury of Firestorm

Caitlin approached the pipeline doors, a bag of Big Belly Burger in her hand. She inputted her access code, which opened the doors and revealed Ronnie. He'd been cleaned up a bit since being brought in, his hair trimmed and his tattered clothes replaced with some STAR Labs sweats. They were already beginning to show signs of radiation burns, meaning he'd be needing new clothes soon.

"How are you doing today?" Caitlin asked.

"Better," he replied. "Cleaner. It helps us… any luck with… our situation?"

"We're working on it. Barry outsourced to the entire League, trying to figure out what exactly happened to you and what Firestorm is. Are you sure there's nothing more you can tell us?"

"No… no… jumbled, fuzzy…. It hurts… it hurts, it burns..."

Ronnie's hands began to smoke and his head exploded into flames. Caitlin quickly tried to calm him down.

"It's ok. It's gonna be alright, I promise. We'll fix you, Ronnie. I swear."

The flames died down, his clothing now heavily burned. Caitlin just slid the bag into the food slot, then let out a breath, closing the pipeline. Once he couldn't see her, she let out a shuddering breath, fighting back tears.

Clark was sitting at his desk in the Daily Planet, working on his latest editorial for Perry. As he worked, a massive file was suddenly dropped in front of him by a grinning Lois Lane.

"I expect coffee and donut runs for the next week for this, Smallville," she declared. "I found it."

"Found what?" Clark asked, picking up the file.

"Firestorm. Turns out, it's an acronym. Fusion, Ignition, Research Experiment and Science of Transmutation Originating RNA and Molecular Structures. My dad was able to pull the files from the project, including the 800 page research paper."

"Impressive. Think it's some kind of military project?"

"Not entirely sure. The guy behind the project up and vanished 10 months ago, taking the prototype with him. No one's seen him since."

"You happen to get his name?"

"Professor Martin Stein. Hopefully this will be enough to help out."

"More than."

Clark pecked Lois on the cheek, gathering up the file. As he turned to leave, Lois called out to him again.

"I meant what I said about coffee and donuts!"

"I hear ya!"

"... and no ones heard from him since," Superman finished as he explained it to Flash and the S.T.A.R. Labs team.

"Let me see the report," Flash requested.

Superman handed Flash the report, who immediately began speed reading it. It took him less than a minute to finish it, and when he did, he let out a breath.

"Ok, there is a lot here, but the basic jist of it is a means of transmutation. The process of altering the structure of an element by breaking down its atoms and reassembling it into an entirely new element."

"That kind of power, it could revolutionize so many fields of study," Caitlin marveled.

"Or become one of the deadliest weapons known to human history," Cisco added. "I mean, if what the paper says is true, then no one would be safe."

"An outcome, I assume Professor Stein would not desire," Dr. Wells assumed. "Perhaps locating him could be the key to finding out what has happened to Ronnie."

"I can help on that front," Superman offered.

"Any idea what Stein even looks like?" Flash asked.

Dr. Wells rolled over to a computer terminal, bringing up Dr. Stein's picture. He was an older man with a somewhat receding hairline, and square glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. Flash perks up upon seeing it.

"Wait, that's Stein? I've seen him before."

"You have?" Superman questioned. "Where?"

"It was the night before the particle accelerator was set to go off. I was taking the train back from a crime scene and he was there as well. We struck up a conversation for the last leg of the journey, but I never got his name."

"Did he give any idea as to where he was heading?"

"Yeah… here."

"I'll check the security cameras," Cisco spoke up. "Maybe something happened to him that night."

He went over to the security footage, going over all the footage from that night. As he checked them over, Flash noticed Stein near one of the side exits, holding a strange looking device. It looked like a tiny sun suspended in a metal box frame.

"What is that?" Flash asked.

"It must be FIRESTORM," Superman suggested.

As they continued watching, a wave of dark matter swept over Stein just as the security camera feed cut out.

"Wait," Superman spoke up. "Rewind."

Cisco began rewinding slightly, playing the footage again.

"Go frame by frame," Superman requested, Cisco doing so before being stopped again. "There. Anyone else see that?"

Cisco zoomed in on the dark matter wave, revealing a human face within the energy.

"Is that… a face?" Flash questioned.

"Not just any face…" Caitlin answered. "It's Ronnie."

"I think we know why Ronnie keeps referring to himself as 'we' now," Cisco realized. "Because there's two people in his head. Ronnie Raymond..."

"And Professor Martin Stein..." Caitlin let out.

Suddenly, the Star Wars theme music began playing out of nowhere. All eyes turned to Cisco as he began reaching for his phone.

"I am so sorry, I swear I put it on vibrate." he quickly answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Mr. Ramone," Dr. Miller's voice came through the phone. "I require your assistance on a case I'm working. I'll text you an address. Please come immediately, and bring that Super Light you've been working on for me."

"I'll be right there," Cisco replied before hanging up. "Sorry guys, somethings come up. I gotta go."

"Go?" Caitlin questioned. "But what about Ronnie and Stein?"

"I know how important this is, but this is beyond my expertise. Besides, you have Superman helping you, you don't need me.

"I'm sure that's not true," Superman insisted. "But if you're really needed elsewhere, we'll try to manage."

"He's right Cisco," Flash agreed. "Go on. We've got this."

Cisco nodded, then headed for the door.

"Wonder what that was all about," Flash commented.

Cisco followed directions to the address Dr. Miller had provided him, which turned out to be a quaint, 2-story house in the suburban area of Central City. Dr. Miller was already there, along with Detective West, who was trying to pull her wheelchair up the two steps leading to the porch.

"Hey," Cisco spoke, getting their attention. "I'm here."

"Great, give me a hand with this?" Joe requested.

"Sorry, I was unaware this place had a porch," Kari apologized.

"What is this place, anyway?" Cisco asked as he went over and helped Joe pull Kari up onto the porch.

"This," Joe grunted as they finally got Kari safely on the porch, "is the Allen household. Barry's childhood home."

Cisco was speechless for a hot second.

"You mean this is where his mom got murdered?"

"The very one," Joe confirmed. "Dr. Miller and I are still working the case, and after the Reverse Flash attacked S.T.A.R. Labs, we realized something."

"There was more than one speedster in this house on that night 15 years ago," Kari explained. "More than that, the police at the time didn't know what to look for when it comes to speedsters and metas, but we do."

"So we can give this place a more scientific once over," Cisco commented.

"Exactly," Kari agreed as they all went inside.

"Guessing no one's home?" Cisco assumed.

"The house has remained untouched since that night," Joe explained. "Barry begged me not to sell it, so it's just been sitting here."

"Handy for us," Cisco noted.

As they entered the house, everything was covered in white sheets to keep dust and dirt at bay. The entire house was cold and the lights didn't work. What was once a warm home was now nothing more than a husk.

"Alright, so, where do we start?" Joe asked.

Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin went back to check on Ronnie. He was sitting in the corner, looking up when he saw her.

"Ronnie, can I ask you something?"

"What…?"

"Do you know a… Martin Stein?"

Ronnie seemed to perk at the name, his entire demeanor shifting. His eyes seemed to look older, and when he spoke, he sounded more soft spoken and wise.

"You… know me? Know him? Know us?"

"I know Professor Stein was at S.T.A.R. Labs the night the Particle Accelerator exploded. You were there because of Firestorm, weren't you?"

"Yes… needed to talk… to Harrison Wells… the project…. Funding… military…" He began clutching his head, smoke returning. "It burns, it hurts… make it stop..."

"We will. We will find a way."

"Please… Caitlin… Clarissa… please..."

"Clarissa? Who's Clarissa?"

Ronnie was in no condition to speak anymore. He retreated further into his cell, clutching his head while muttering both Caitlin's name and Clarissa over and over again. Caitlin decided to back away and close the door, not wanting to overtax the distraught meta.

Just outside Central City, an armored truck began driving towards town. Inside, a woman with short red hair in a purple bodysuit with grey gloves and boots sat with several men in full body armor and facemasks.

"We're thirty minutes out from the target, ma'am," the driver reported.

"Good," the woman replied. "Remember, stay out of range unless you want to lose something important."

Yes, ma'am," the men replied.

"Let's make this short and sweet. We have a job to do, and no room for screwing around. Think we can pull that off?"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am."

"Well then, let's make some noise."

The white sheets had been removed from all the furniture in the living room, Cisco going over each piece with his Super Light.

"I'm not finding anything," Cisco lamented. "At least, nothing we didn't already know."

"How does that thing even work?" Joe questioned.

"It's a multi spectrum ultraviolet laser enhanced scanner that detects molecular schisms in the 600 megavolt range," Cisco explained.

"Oh, of course," Joe remarked.

"Why do you think I call it a super light?"

"Hey, I have seven PHDs and even I got lost a bit there," Kari quipped. "Mechanical engineering is still a new field for me."

"We're getting off topic," Joe insisted.

"Right," Cisco agreed. "Let's try and go over it again. Nora's body was in the center of the room, the knife beside her. Blood spatter from her was on the wall over there…"

"Hang on," Kari piped up. "Cisco, come here."

Cisco went over to Kari, who was sitting next to a mirror on a small stand. Cisco approached, squatting down next to her.

"This is an antique, right?" Kari asked. "Has to be, probably late 1800s if I had to guess."

"If that's true..." Cisco grabbed the super light, shining it on the mirror before gasping. "Silver nitrate."

"The compound used in photography?" Joe questioned.

"It was also used to back vintage mirrors."

"If there were two speedsters here that night," Kari assumed. "The sparks from their movement would've ignited the nitrate. Exposing images onto the mirror."

"Wait a minute," Joe spoke up. "You mean we could actually get photos of what happened that night?"

"We can," Kari replied. "We can see exactly what happened that night."

Meanwhile, Caitlin and Barry decided to follow up on the "Clarissa" angle. Given that Caitlin had never heard of anyone named Clarissa, the two assumed she was somehow connected to Professor Stein. Doing a quick search, the two soon realized it was the name of his wife, prompting them to pay her a visit.

Once the two arrived at the Stein house, Barry knocked on the door, prompting an older woman to answer. She looked at the pair, a bit confused.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Ms. Carissa Stein?" Barry inquired.

"Yes?"

"My name's Barry Allen of the CCPD. This is Dr. Caitlin Snow of S.T.A.R. Labs. We'd like to ask a few questions in regards to your husband's disappearance."

"Has there been any updates?" she asked. "Have you found any sign of him?"

"We're… following up some leads. Did your husband ever mention working on a project called Firestorm?"

Clarissa let out a soft chuckle.

"Of course he did. It was his life's work."

"Was it some kind of military project?" Caitlin asked.

"Oh heavens, no. Martin's always been adamant about not wanting anything he worked on to be weaponized. He used to say that 'inventions to destroy were a dime a dozen, but to make something with the sole purpose to build things, now that's worth something'."

"He sounds like a good man."

"He is…"

Her voice trailed off as she fiddled with her wedding ring.

"Did your husband… ever mention receiving calls or messages from anyone wanting to weaponize his work?" Barry asked.

Clarissa nodded solemnly.

"Unfortunately yes. Not long after he disappeared, a General Wade Eiling came here and seized all of Martin's notes and work on the project."

"Did he say why?"

"Only that it was a matter of national security, but I had a feeling something wasn't right about it. In fact… wait right here."

Clarissa stepped out of the room for a moment, returning with a small device that looked like a large, six-pointed snowflake, or an abstract atom.

"He called it a quantum splicer. It was… the only thing I could save from the project. I wanted something to remember Martin by."

Both Barry and Caitlin went wide-eyed at the device, both of them knowing exactly what it was and what it could do.

"Ms. Stein," Barry spoke up. "As crazy as it might sound, this might be the key to bringing your husband home."

Clarissa looked at him, a spark in her eyes. She then held out the Splicer to him.

"If you can bring my Martin home, then take it."

"Thank you. And I promise we will bring him home."

Elsewhere in the city, the armored truck continued driving down the streets, heading towards a local power plant. The truck failed to slow down as it plowed through the gate. The act managed to catch the attention of Flash and Caitlin as they sped through the city.

"What's that?" Caitlin asked.

"Not sure," Flash replied, coming to a stop and placing her on the ground. "Stay back."

Flash then ran towards the truck, seeing the woman and several armed men exit and prepare for some kind of operation.

"Take your positions around the perimeter," she ordered. "If there's any trouble, shoot it."

"I wouldn't do that!" Flash declared, stopping in front of them.

The woman looked Flash up and down as if sizing him up.

"The Scarlet Speedster, I guess I shouldn't be surprised I ran into you. However, you're not my target."

"If that's the case, then you shouldn't have caused trouble in my city."

"Sorry, it's just business."

The woman then pulled out some metal disks from her suits, seemingly charging them with some strange purple energy. She tossed them towards Flash, forcing him to dodge them as they exploded on the ground.

"Nice trick."

"You should see me when I'm actually trying"

"Thanks, but no thanks."

Flash ran up and grabbed her by the wrist, only for her to place a hand on his suit, charging it with the same energy.

"What the hell…"

"If I were you, I'd get that fancy suit off, fast."

Begrudgingly, Flash sped off down the street. Caitlin just watched as he disappeared and there was a large explosion.

"That takes care of him. Alright, everyone back to work!"

As the men got back to work, Caitlin ran down the street to try and find Flash. She eventually found Flash in an alley, hiding behind a dumpster.

"Flash, are you-"

Her words were cut off at the sight of Barry being completely naked. She immediately turned around at the sight.

"Yeah… I'm good. Just… a little embarrassed."

"I can imagine. I'll… uh… call Dr. Stone to come get us."

"And tell him to bring a spare suit. And… maybe not mention this to Iris."

"Sure. So long as you don't tell Ronnie."

"Deal."

Back at the Allen house, Kari and Cisco were putting the finishing touches on a strange machine, Joe watching them the entire time.

"So this thing can get actual photographs off this mirror?" Joe asked.

"Oh yeah," Cisco confirmed. "It works like an old film camera."

"And because I felt like it, I added in a holographic imager so we'd get full 3D images," Kari added.

"Well, let's see 'em," Joe insisted.

"Hit the lights, please," Cisco requested.

Joe turned off the lights as Kari activated the projector. The three of them were in awe of the sight as several images of Nora Allen being surrounded by red and yellow lightning were displayed before them.

"Wow…" Joe let out. "How many images did you get."

"The lightning went off about ten times that night," Cisco replied. "So we got about ten images to look at."

"Crossing fingers there's something on them we can use."

The images continued to play, with Joe noticing something on one of them.

"Hold up. That one. One of the speedsters looks hurt."

Cisco focuses in on the image, seeing that one of the speedsters striking the other. Kari rolled over, following a trail into the back room.

"Hang on… there's blood on this wall."

Joe went over to the wall and saw the blood.

"We found Henry Allen standing over his dead wife with the murder weapon in hand. We weren't looking for any more suspects. That blood belongs to one of the two speedsters.

"Maybe even the one that killed Nora," Kari realized.

"I'll get a sample kit," Cisco told them.

Back at the power plant, the men stormed in and began seizing control. They made their way into the man control room and held the workers at gunpoint. The woman entered and eyed the controls. She went over and began setting everything to its highest setting.

"Wait!" one of the workers let out. "You can't do that. You'll cause an overload!"

"Only if there was a sudden burst of energy. Say… an explosion?"

"You could destroy half the city!"

"Only if my demands aren't met. And for your sake… they better be met."

"Wh-what do you want?!"

"... the burning man."

Meanwhile, Dr. Stone finally arrived in the S.T.A.R. Labs van, stopping in front of the alley as Caitlin approached.

"I came as soon as I got your call," Silas told her. "How's Barry?"

"Fine… for the most part. Did you bring that extra suit?"

"It's in the back."

The second Silas finished speaking, Barry sped into the back and came out fully suited up.

"Oh that's so much better, thank you."

"You're welcome," Silas replied. "How did this happen anyway?"

"A new meta, a woman who could make things explode just by touching them."

"Sounds like trouble."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

"Flash," Superman called over comms. "Are you there?"

"Go ahead, Superman."

"Just received a report on someone holding the Central City Power Plant hostage."

"Let me guess, woman in purple bodysuit? Causes explosions?"

"Guessing you met her."

"Yeah, you could say that."

"She's calling herself Plastique. And she says she'll blow up the power plant unless she gets the Burning Man."

"Ronnie. That's not gonna happen."

"Wonder Woman and Green Lantern are already on the way, we'll be there soon."

"Just don't let her touch your clothing," Flash replied. "Get back to S.T.A.R. Labs and keep an eye on Ronnie. We're on our way."

Flash then sped off as Caitlin got in the van so she and Silas drove off.

Cisco and Joe leaned on one of the worktables in Kari's lab, watching the doctor work.

"Guess the DEO has some lax janitorial staff," Cisco commented.

A coffee mug then went flying at his head, forcing him to duck.

"You can wait outside if you're gonna diss my lab, Ramone."

"Sorry. Whatcha got?

"We're in luck. I've isolated two different DNA signatures in the sample, meaning we have something from both Speedsters. I'll just need to run it through the database to see if there are any matches."

"Can you run the DNA against a specific person?" Joe asked.

"Sure, if I had a sample to compare it to. Who did you have in mind?"

"Harrison Wells."

Cisco turned towards them, looking shocked and somewhat betrayed. Kari turned to Joe as well, though she looked more confused than anything.

"I thought we already ruled him out as a suspect," she recalled.

"Why would you even suspect him in the first place?" Cisco questioned.

Both Joe and Kari exchanged looks.

"Up until the particle accelerator, there were no Metahumans, nor any speedsters," Kari explained. "We theorized that Dr. Wells created another particle accelerator 15 years ago."

"He didn't," Cisco replied.

"We know, we… came to that conclusion."

"But it doesn't change that Wells keeps secrets," Joe chimed.

"Dr. Wells isn't a murderer," Cisco insisted. "He isn't the man in yellow. He's in a wheelchair for gods sake."

"He could be faking it, or maybe he's not as disabled as he appears," Joe argued. "Either way, I have to be certain."

"I… too must admit my suspicions," Kari said quietly. "remember when we were creating the Speed Trap and we came up with the Reverse Flash's name?

"Yeah, what about it?" Cisco asked.

"Remember what he said when we caught him?"

"That his goals were beyond our understanding?"

"And that some would say he's the reverse of the Flash. Only three people heard that conversation: You, me, and Dr. Wells."

"It...could've just been a coincidence."

"I don't know about you two," Joe interjected, "but I don't believe in coincidences."

"And I don't know what to believe right now," Cisco replied before storming off.

Joe went to stop him, but Kari grabbed his arm.

"Let him go. I'll run the test, see what I find."

At the plant, several of the soldiers had taken positions along the complex, keeping an eye out for any sign of trouble. As they scanned the area, a shadow passed overhead. Several looked up, going wide-eyed when they saw Wonder Woman flying down and kicking one of the soldiers in the head, knocking him back. The others opened fire on her, prompting her to use her bracelets to deflect the bullets as she approached.

"Those weapons are military grade," She noted. "Who are you working for?

The soldiers said nothing as they continued to open fire on her. She blocked each and every bullet with her gauntlets, trying to place their uniforms. However, they bore no insignias or flags, making that a fruitless endeavor. Finally, they ran out of bullets, allowing her to dart forward and take them out with ease. One of the soldiers managed to roll out of the way and reload, allowing him to open fire just as a green energy wall blocked the bullets from Wonder Woman.

"Now, it's not nice to hit a lady, and it's even less so to try and kill her," Green Lantern remarked as he lowered himself down.

He then whipped the wall, slamming into the soldier hard.

"For a self proclaimed ladies man, you can be quite the gentleman," Wonder Woman remarked as GL landed near her.

"I may be a ladies man, but I also have what's called respect and common decency."

"Which is more than can be said for some."

Just then, the truck the soldiers arrived in drove towards them and whipped around so it was backwards. The back opened up, revealing a massive gatling gun inside.

"Case in point," GL let out.

The gatling gun began warming up, letting out a barrage of bullets towards the two heroes. They quickly took a stance, preparing for the onslaught that was to come, but something got in the way. A blur of red and blue flew down as Superman stepped between the heroes and the bullets.

"Always gotta make an entrance, don't you?!" GL remarked.

"It's kinda my thing!" Superman shouted back.

He then began marching towards the gatling gun, the bullets bouncing off his chest effortlessly. As Superman made his approach, Flash ran up alongside him, dodging the ricochets as he made his way to the gun and quickly took it apart. It's left in pieces, the gunner reaching for a pistol on his hip. He aimed it right at Superman and shot him. The bullet simply bounced right off his eyeball, crushed into a flat disk.

"You know, if the gatling gun didn't work, what makes you think a pistol would?" GL questioned.

"Desperation, I'd wager," Superman remarked, flicking his finger at the soldier and causing him to fly towards the front of the truck.

The impact easily knocked him out as the four heroes reconvened.

"These men are well trained," Wonder Woman pointed out. "Military, I think."

"No flags or symbols on the uniforms though," GL noted. "Mercenaries, maybe?"

"Would explain why they want Firestorm," Flash assumed. "Maybe they want to use him as some kind of human weapon."

"If that's the case, then we have more than enough reason to put a stop to this here and now," Superman insisted.

"What are we looking at on the inside?" GL asked.

Superman turned towards the main building, using his x-ray vision to see Plastique and several more soldiers inside, with her sitting at the control panel.

"Her hands at the controls. All she needs to do is touch it, and this place will light up like the fourth of July."

"So we need to get her as far away from here as possible," Flash surmised.

Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin and Cisco returned to the cortex as Dr. Wells was looking over some data.

"We've got a problem," Caitlin spoke up.

"What'd I miss?" Cisco asked, genuinely confused.

"There's someone attacking the power plant, demanding the Burning Man in exchange for not blowing the entire city away."

"I fear that might happen either way," Wells dreaded, getting their attention.

"What do you mean?" Caitlin asked.

"I've been running tests on Mr Raymond, trying to find a way to stabilize him, but I found that as more time passes, he's growing more and more unstable. It seems that the merging of both Mr. Raymonds and Professor Stein has led to a clash of molecules, one that is affecting both their physical and mental health. At the rate he's deteriorating, he's going to have a critical meltdown within the hour."

Both of them were shocked beyond belief.

"We… we have to do something," Cisco insisted.

"The Quantum Splicer," Caitlin realized. "It could stabilize the Firestorm matrix."

"Possibly," Wells replied. "But it lacks sufficient power to do so, and we don't have time to find a suitable power source.

"So what?" Cisco replied. "We just wait for Ronnie to go nuclear?"

Wells thought for a moment.

"There is… one other option. The matrix will lose power if the host bodies were no longer functional.

"Wait…" Cisco spoke up. "You want to kill Ronnie?"

"No, I don't want to kill Ronnie, but in this instance, Ronnie is the host body."

"If you kill Ronnie, you'll kill Stein," Caitlin interjected. "That's two lives."

"Two lives verses millions, and if Ronnie or Professor Stein were given the choice, they would say the same thing."

"I already lost Ronnie once," Caitlin threw back. "I'm not going to do that again. You said we have an hour, let's use it."

She stormed off in a huff as Wells began rolling off.

"Dr. Wells, you don't really think we should kill Ronnie, do you?" Cisco asked.

"Stay here and monitor Barry's situation," Wells told him before leaving the room.

Cisco was left standing there in disbelief and horror. Suddenly, Joe and Kari's accusations didn't seem so misplaced.

In the pipeline, Caitlin went to check on Ronnie with a glass containing water, and a small paper cup with several pills inside.

"What's this?" Ronnie asked.

"Something to help relax your mind," Caitlin replied, handing him both the pills and the water.

He took them and popped the pills into his mouth before downing the water. He returned the glass, letting out a breath as he felt the medicine kicking in. He stood up, turning to her.

"A cocktail of anti-psychotics, depressants, and mood stabilizers. The same formula used to treat dissociative identity disorders. I can see why Ronald cares for you so much."

"Professor Stein?"

"Indeed. Ronald is… quite exhausted to say the least. Considering his connection with you, I elected to remain as out of the way as possible. I fear my absence may have overtaxed him."

"I… appreciate that."

"Is something wrong?"

Caitlin remained silent for a moment, unsure of how to inform him of the situation.

"Dr. Wells… found that you're growing more and more unstable by the minute, and soon…

"I'll go nuclear. That sort of instability was always a fear when working with transmutation. Still, if that is my fate, you have to let me get as far away from here as possible."

"We're working on a solution. In the meantime, someone is calling out 'The Burning Man'. They've taken over a power plant and threaten to blow the place sky high if you don't show up."

"Then… then I have to go."

"It's too dangerous. And if you're going critical-"

"Then I'd at least like my last few moments to be doing something right. And Ronald would agree with me."

For a moment Ronnie's eyes shifted.

"I do..."

Caitlin reeled slightly in surprise. She honestly considered the request for a moment.

"I… may have something that might help."

In Wells secret room, Wells opened a special compartment that held a simple pistol.

"That is a crude weapon if I may say so, Dr. Wells," Gideon commented.

"Couldn't agree more Gideon," Wells agreed, cocking the gun. "Crude, but effective for what needs to be done."

Wells paused for a moment, considering the views of his colleagues, and other factors of his situation.

"Gideon… could the Tachyon device's power core be used to power the Quantum Splicer?"

"Theoretically, yes. But disabling the Tachyon device will delay your timetable."

Dr. Wells let out a very long sigh.

"Time, thankfully, is the one thing I have plenty of."

Back at the power plant, Plastique continued drumming her fingers on the control console, waiting for the arrival of the burning man.

"What's taking so long? How hard is it to find one meta in this city?"

All of a sudden, a red streak zoomed in and grabbed Plastique, speeding her out of the room. Plastique quickly realized what was going on and grabbed the wall. It exploded instantly, the shockwave knocking Flash off his feet. He tumbled on the ground as Plastique hit the floor hard. She quickly got back up as the other Leaguers arrived.

"That was a mistake," She threatened.

"So is messing with us," GL retorted, holding his ring hand up. "What do you want anyway? Who are you working for because, no offense, you just scream yes-man right now."

"I don't answer to you!"

Plastique pulled out several spheres from her sut and charged them up before tossing them at GL. He quickly formed a shield to block them as Superman flew upwards and moved towards her. Seeing this, she lobbed some spheres past him, hitting the ceiling and causing some debris to fall on top of him. He was buried under the rubble, but quickly began digging himself out. Wonder Woman quickly stepped forward and shot her lasso out at her, causing it to wrap around her.

"Who do you work for?"

"I am an independent agent. I work for whomever I am assigned to."

"Whom are you assigned to at present?"

"I received this contract from my superior officer, I did not ask questions."

"What is his name?!"

At this point, Plastique ripped the lasso off of her, tossing it aside. She grabbed a piece of debris and charged it before tossing it at Wonder Woman. The blast knocked her back, causing her to collide with a wall.

"Any other questions?" Plastique remarked.

Meanwhile at S.T.A.R. Labs, Ronnie walked into the cortex, wearing a red and orange suit with a head piece that allowed a stream of flame to flow from his hair.

"How does it fit?" Caitlin asked.

"Fairly well," Ronnie replied. "Anti-radiation?"

"And flame retardant. Cisco was working overtime to get it working."

"Makes you look pretty good… Firestorm," Cisco remarked.

Firestorm smirked in response to the name.

"We'd better get over there."

"Wait!" Wells called out, wheeling into the room.

Everyone turned, seeing him enter with the Quantum Splicer in his lap. He stopped right in front of Firestorm, holding it up. Firestorm's eyes widened at the sight.

"The Quantum Splicer. But I could never get it to-"

"Work? Turns out it just required a sufficient power source, which I found, thankfully. With luck, this device will allow the Firestorm Matrix to properly settle, stabilize, and, if our luck holds out, separate you two."

"We'll worry about that in time," Firestorm replied before taking the device and placing it on his chest. "Right now, we've got a city to save."

"Good luck you two," Caitlin told them. "Please, come back. Both of you."

Firestorm nodded, then his expression changed, growing softer. He then leaned in, kissing Caitlin passionately. She returned the kiss in kind for a few seconds before Firestorm pulled away.

"See you soon."

Firestorm then shot two streams of fire from his hands, allowing him to take off like a rocket out of the facility.

Back at the power plant, Plastique continued bombarding the League with explosive blasts as she slowly backed away from them.

"You were fools to try and interfire! Now this city will pay for your meddling!"

"So you'd risk millions of innocent people just to get to one metahuma?!" Flash questioned. "Why?!"

"You'll never find out!"

Plastique quickly leapt through a window, landing on the ground and making a beeline for the transformers. Just before she could reach one though, a fire blast touched down right in front of her. She looked up to see Firestorm landing in front of her.

"Heard you were looking for me," Firestorm announced. "Well here I am."

"The Burning Man," Plastique greeted, smirking. "I was wondering when you'd finally show up."

"The name's Firestorm, and you're not going to hurt anyone else."

"He's right," Superman confirmed as he and the others landed behind her. "You're outnumbered and out of options."

"I've got one."

Plastique placed both hands on her suit, charging it with energy and causing the heroes to back up.

"Next person takes another step, and I blow us all sky high!"

Flash suddenly zipped towards her, running around her in a tornado of red and yellow before pulling away. He left Plastique in nothing but her underwear, her charged uniform now in his hands.

"We have to get his out of here right now!"

"I'll take it," Firestorm declared.

"What?! No way, you-"

"There's no time!"

Firestorm just yanked the uniform out of his hands and took off upwards. Everyone looked up as Firestorm flew higher and higher, his entire body building with his own nuclear energy in addition to the power given off by the suit. Finally, there was a massive explosion that rippled through the sky, a blinding light accompanying it that has everyone covering their eyes. Then the dust settled and it was over...