"Alright, Rufus Mordant," Barry said to himself as he pulled up a missing person report on his computer monitor. Barry looked over the report and found the contact information, picking up his scroll and dialing the number, a few moments passed as the scroll rang before someone picked up.
"Hello?" a female voice from the other line asked.
"Hello, are you Mrs. Mordant?" Barry asked after clearing his throat.
"Yes, I am. Who's asking?" Mrs. Mordant asked.
"My name is Barry Allen, I'm a… I'm a detective for the MPD and we're looking into Rufus' disappearance," Barry said, uncomfortable at the idea of lying about his status. He wasn't a real detective, he collected and processed evidence. Detectives searched for leads, carried guns, and arrested people, but if the real detectives wouldn't play the part, someone had to.
"So they're finally looking into it?" Mrs. Mordrant asked, relief creeping into her voice.
"I'm afraid not," Barry said, trying to let her down gently, "I'm the only one who cares."
"Oh… I see," Mrs. Mordrant said, defeat evident in her tone.
"Rufus is a Huntsman, right?" Barry asked, pacing around the office.
"Yes," Mrs. Mordant said after a momentary hesitation.
"And the last time you saw him he was headed on a mission?" Barry asked, looking at the report on his screen.
"Yes," Mrs. Mordant confirmed.
"Can you tell me where he went?" Barry asked, hoping to find the name of the place that Rufus had disappeared at and continue the investigation there.
"A small town called Ostro, a few hundred miles away."
"Ostro? Gotcha, I'll be on my way, thanks," Barry said, finger moving hit the button to end the call.
"Wait!" the woman's voice, now fainter, emanated from the scroll.
"Yeah?" Barry asked, putting the scroll back next to his ear.
"One way or another, please bring him home," Mrs. Mordant desperately asked.
"I will. I promise," Barry said, his voice firm and filled with resolve.
Ending the call, Barry changed into his Flash gear, his yellow boots, a new pair of red sweatpants with yellow lines on the side, a sweatshirt with the sloppily painted lightning bolt and circle, his golden elbow and knee pads, and finally, his new goggles with attached wingtips.
Pulling up the location of Ostro on his scroll, Barry ran off, running through the streets and down the mountain. Barry was approaching the outskirts of the city when his vision became abnormally bright for the evening. It smelled like smoke too. Skidding to a stop, Barry turned and ran back down the street, then took a left. On the other street, Barry found a burning apartment building. Looking at the bystanders, then at the building, Barry knew there were not enough people on the street for the whole building to be evacuated. Taking note of which floor the fire raged from, he ran into the building without a second thought and raced up the stairs to the third floor. The moment Barry made it to the third floor he felt the heat and wished he wore the t-shirt instead of the sweatshirt, but there was no time. He had to save the people. The fire blocked the hallway, so the average person wouldn't be able to make it through.
Barry wasn't average.
Barry ran through the fire at speeds that made it look like he was teleporting, and moved to the closest door. Kicking it open, Barry searched the apartment and found a family huddled together. Grabbing the two young children first, Bary proceeded to the end of the hallway and ran towards the fire on the other end, gaining enough speed to clear the fire without risking the children by running through it. As soon as he landed, Barry raced out of the building and put the children down before running back up the stairs and evacuating the parents. For minutes relative to him, Barry worked tirelessly to save every living being in the apartment building.
Racing out of the building after his final trip, a puppy and child under each arm, Barry bent over and put his hands on his knees, panting.
Sitting down, Barry could hear the chatter of the people.
"He saved us."
"How did he do that?"
"Is he okay?"
Catching his breath, Barry stood up and raced off in the direction of Ostro, occasionally looking at his scroll to check he was going in the right direction. After half an hour of running, Barry arrived outside the town walls. Taking off his Flash gear, Barry dressed in his normal attire of a dress shirt, tie, jacket, and jeans.
Walking through the gates, Barry found a small town, no bigger than a city block. It had people milling around, people were hanging laundry in their yards, planting food, and children were chasing after each other. It was the least technologically advanced place Barry had seen on Remnant. As Barry was looking around, he heard a voice coming from behind him, "You're new around here, eh?"
Jumping a bit, Barry turned around and found a short old woman looking up at him. The old woman had mechanical blue eyes, a skull cane, and a beaded necklace.
"Yeah, I am," Barry said, not taking his eyes off the old woman's own, which were the likely the most technologically advanced object in the town.
"Well, welcome to Ostro, I'm Maria Calavera, the town elder. What's your name?"
"I'm Barry Allen," he said, extending his hand.
"Well, Barry Allen, what brings you to our humble town?" Maria said as she took his hand and shook it.
"A Huntsman from Mistral has gone missing after being sent here to clear up a Grimm issue. I'm here to look into it," Barry said.
"A detective huh?" Maria asked, shutters over the glowing blue eyes narrowing.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm a detective," Barry said, once again feeling guilty for lying about his profession before continuing, "Is there anyone I can talk to about this? Like a mayor or something?"
"Did I not just say I'm the town elder? Kids these days can't remember a thing they're told," Maria snarked.
"Well, I don't exactly know what a town elder is," Barry apologized.
"I'm the wise sage who people come to when they're troubled. Those troubles include Grimm," Maria explained.
"So you'd have had contact with the Huntsman that came here?" Barry asked.
"Yes… Rufus Mordant, right?" Maria recalled, taking a moment to remember his name, "He showed up a few weeks ago while we were being plagued by Grimm. He set out into the forest to find their nest. The Grimm haven't stopped coming and he hasn't returned. We fear the worst."
"Which way did he head?" Barry asked.
"I'll tell you in the morning. It's getting late. Too late to go out into the woods."
"But…" Barry started.
"You can look through the entire forest yourself if you'd like, but I'm not telling you a thing until morning. Come back then." Maria ordered.
"Alright," Barry conceded, walking outside the town gates and out of view of the guards before changing into his Flash gear and running back to Mistral.
It was dark when Barry returned to Mistral, so he didn't go back to the lab, but rather to his apartment. When Barry got inside, he began his nightly routine of showering and eating dinner. As he ate his dinner, Barry clicked on the TV and switched to the news.
Barry froze when he saw the headline on the screen.
Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt!
Hello, I'm Tawny Tea, and I'm here at the scene of a fire at an apartment complex on Wieringo street where a witness is telling us how everyone got out safely.
Barry watched as the camera panned to one of the people he saved.
We thought we were goners. Then in between blinking, we found ourselves on the street. When we looked around, we saw this man and he wore red with a yellow lightning bolt painted on his chest, and he was sorta just sitting there. Like he was catching his breath. Then he stood up and ran away like a bullet, leaving a trail of lightning behind. I got a picture while he was catching his breath.
The witness briefly fumbled with their scroll before a grainy photo of Barry was shown to the camera. While Barry watched the news, the hairs on the back of his head stood up. Seeing movement outside the window to his left, Barry whipped his head left but saw nothing. Walking over to the window, Barry opened it and stuck his head out, looking in all directions, but found nobody watching him so he shut the window, believing it to be his imagination.
Turning off the TV, Barry brushed his teeth and went to bed. Barry fell asleep completely oblivious to the Seer floating next to his window.
EVERNIGHT
The attack on Beacon had succeeded. They didn't find the Relic, but Atlas was no longer trusted by the rest of Remnant, Beacon Tower was gone, and Cinder had procured the power of the Fall Maiden, but Salem was concerned. The Fall Maiden had been bested in combat. Her power should be enough to topple armies, but a mere group of six had struck her down. Of course, it could be accredited to the fact that Cinder had not been particularly proficient in the usage of her powers. Still, any force that can best a Maiden would be a problem in the future. A problem that Salem needed to be taken care of. What was most worrying, is that one of the men who bested Cinder was now a disciple of Ozpin.
Looking through the Seer, Salem could see Ozpin's newest disciple sleeping. Leo had told her of his power. Commanding the tentacles on the Seer, they slipped under the window and lifted it up. Once the window was open far enough, the Seer floated inside and positioned itself over the man, who Leo told her was named Barry Allen, and Salem moved in for the killing blow.
"Wait!" Cinder shouted, Salem had nearly forgotten she was there.
"What is it, girl?" Salem asked, whipping her head around to stare at the girl, her red eyes boring into Cinder's soul.
"His power… it's too great to waste. We must find a way to extract it from him before killing him," Cinder argued.
"Power…" Salem hummed, "That's all you care about, isn't it Cinder?"
"I felt the power when we fought. He's hardly tapped into it. We should find a way to extract it from him. Then…" Cinder said, igniting a flame in her hand before closing her fist and snuffing it out, "We kill him."
Salem pondered this proposal of Cinder's for a moment, before turning to the awaiting Cinder.
"Very well. I will leave him alive for you, but you must know that any setbacks he causes us will be held over your head," Salem said, willing the Seer to leave the man, "As for extracting the power, you already have a method for that. You just need to master it. Now, the other men who bested you in combat. Do you believe that they pose a threat?"
Salem could feel more anger ignite inside Cinder at the thought of the other men who had bested her.
"Yes," Cinder replied without a trace of hesitation.
Salem looked at Cinder and told her, "You don't actually think they pose a threat to our plans. They humiliated you and you want them to suffer."
Cinder looked away, not denying the accusation. She tightened her fist and released it, stomping away to no doubt train with her powers.
VACUO AIRSPACE, 2 WEEKS EARLIER
Roman helmed the bullhead and Neo fiddled with her scroll, trying desperately to get a signal. Roman scoured the wastes for a populated area to land in and hopefully refuel. As Roman scanned the endless sandy landscape, Neo shoved her scroll in Roman's face. Roman used a finger to push the scroll far enough away that he could actually read. It was a news article from the Vacuo Voyager.
It read Vacuo Village Goes Green!
Overnight, a barren section of the Vacuo wasteland became rich and green. Witnesses report that the weather changed rapidly before it eventually came to a stormy climax, and when the wind died and the sky cleared, the denizens of Anotoite found the streets covered in grass and plant life.
"Sounds like it could be the work of Weather Wizard," Roman pondered while an idea formed in his mind, before telling Neo, "Show me where Anotoite is."
Pulling the scroll back to her, Neo activated the map app and typed the location into the search bar. Neo waited a moment for the results to load before showing Roman.
Jerking controls, Roman turned the bullhead in the direction of Anotoite.
OSTRO, PRESENT DAY
Barry stumbled his way through the thick foliage. Kicking and pushing the leaves and branches out of the way. He wished he could use his speed but the forest was too thick to run in. As Barry ripped a branch off a tree, something caught his eye. A line in the bark of the tree. As he examined it closer, he realized it was a slash mark. Perhaps Rufus had been using it to mark where he's been. Treading deeper into the forest, Barry found more and more slash marks on trees, sometimes multiple on one. Eventually, Barry found a fallen tree. This couldn't have been the work of a bladed weapon, as the stump was jagged. Almost as if someone had punched it over. Taking a closer look, Barry was also able to spot scorch marks.
There had been a fight here.
Looking around the stump, Barry found a tiny yellow shard. Barry pulled on his latex gloves, kneeled down and picked it up, feeling a faint electric charge between his fingers.
It was Lightning Dust.
Taking an evidence bag out of his pack, Barry dropped the tiny Dust shard into the bag and sealed it. Walking around the stump to make sure he didn't miss anything, Barry was satisfied when he completed his search without finding anything.
Continuing deeper into the forest, similarly damaged trees became more common than untouched ones. Walking deeper, Barry soon came to a clearing. In the clearing, Barry found the dirt had been disturbed.
He knew what it was immediately.
Barry got on his knees and stuck his hands between the earth and deposited it behind him. Barry repeated this process dozens of times before he finally found what he knew was underneath.
The partially decomposed body of Rufus Mordant.
After Barry pulled the body out of the hole and into the world above, he began examining the body. Two irregularities stood out about Rufus' corpse. The first was the purple gash on his forearm, and the second was the caved-in skull.
Grimm didn't bury bodies. This was a murder.
As Barry examined the body, he was lost in his own little world and failed to hear the footsteps creeping up on him until he heard a shout from behind, "Hey!"
Barry's eyes widened. This looked bad.
Thanks to DeltaFell for editing this chapter!