28

Strike A Chord

With light music drifting in from the next room, Kara rolled over as she curled her pillow around her head. I futile attempt to keep the music out she knew, especially with her super hearing. It of course didn't help that Deity insisted on having the music turned up full, like all teenagers she seemed determined to shatter her ear drums before she reached her twenties. But with her healing ability she had to turn the music up extra loud to stand a chance of doing that, which had led to a number of Kara's neighbours coming over to complain.

At least this song wasn't as bad as some of the other songs she'd been putting on. True, it was the Christmas season, but one could only take so much of Michael Bublé before they began to lose their mind. A new obsession that Kara was partly to blame for as she full well knew. Now she seemed to have moved onto more classical pop songs, like the current 'Mr. Blue Sky'. And with the rhythmic beat floating in like the lively beating of a heart, it was hard for Kara not to move her feet to the beat.

Then she picked up the voices, not just the usual members of the Electric Light Orchestra, but her daughter as well. She removed the pillow from one side of her head and turned, staring towards the doorway as she listened. She must have been practising when Kara wasn't around because she was starting to sound quite good. Alex's suggestion of Glee club actually hadn't been a bad idea after all. It wasn't like it was one of their powers or anything, it was a natural skill that Kryptonians and Humans both shared. The ability to sing.

Smiling, Kara rolled from the bed and, after making sure her nightgown wasn't revealing anything, made her way to the doorway. She peered out, spotting Deity in the kitchen, also in her pyjamas. Though more interestingly, she appeared to be cooking her breakfast. It was something she'd been trying a bit more off since getting back. She had improved but still one out of three times she would start a fire. Though breakfast was easier, and she seemed to be getting the hand of multi-tasking in the kitchen.

So much so that she was now twirling this way and that, between the counter top and the island as she kept an eye on the sizzling bacon. Singing along to the song while preforming her in head dance moves that felt great, but in reality, looked out of sync to the music. Still, everyone danced that way when they thought they weren't being watched.

Grinning, Kara let out a forced couch, catching Deity's attention as she swung around whacking the pan handle and sending the bacon flying to the floor. "Jeez!" Deity exclaimed as she caught her breathing, having been clearly shocked to hear her mother. "Could you not sneak up on me like that?" Deity asked rhetorical as she brushed her hair from her face, sending her mother an angry pout once her face was clear.

"Sorry," Kara said as she walked over to the speaker. The force and volume of the sound waves almost pushing her back. "Though maybe you might have heard me if you turned the music down," Kara pointed out as she tuned the volume down enough so that she could hear herself think once more.

Deity only responded with a sad sigh. Kara turned back around and saw the girl pushing her lower lip up as she stared down at the strips of bacon that now lay in a heap on the floor. "Sorry," Kara said as she joined her daughter in the kitchen, placing her hands on Deity's shoulders as she leaned over to see the bacon strips that her daughter had been working on.

"I really thought I had it this time," Deity mumbled as she knelt down and picked up a single strip. Probably still edible but considering how often the two heroes cleaned the floor, Deity thought it would be best just to call it quits. "You owe me for this," Deity said as she stood back up, picking up the last of the bacon before dropping it into the bin.

"Sounds fair, how about I grab us waffles from that new place across town?" Kara suggested.

"That'll do," Deity said with a grin as she joined Kara around the island, leaning down.

"Alright," I'll be back in a minute," Kara said, grabbing her handbag and heading for the door, ready to change at super speed when suddenly she stopped. Frowning, she looked down at her legs, tilting her head. She moved again but still she continued to stare.

"What's up?" Deity asked, noticing her mother was taking her time in leaving.

"It's my speed," Kara said as she slowly turned back round, lifting her gaze to meet Deity's. "It's gone."

Cadence shifted her finger in front of Barry's eyes, intermediately shining a flashlight in them. Spots erupted before his eyes and yet he dutifully followed her movements. Finally, he pushed her hand aside. "I don't think studying my vitals is going to tell me anything about why my powers are suddenly gone, Cay."

"I don't either," Cadence agreed. She stepped back, punctuating her sentence by clicking off the flashlight. Then, quicker than Barry could anticipate, she smacked him on the knee with the side of her hand. His leg slightly shifted, a cry of pain escaping his lips. "Then again, working on your reflexes can do wonders."

Barry brought his foot to the end of the examining table. He clasped his hands around his knee, waiting for the throbbing to go away for the second time since his rude awakening. "I think we know when my powers go away that my reflexes go along with it." He turned his scowl to the side, noticing Cisco's, Caitlin's, and Brady's heads all disappear back around the side of the doorway that led to the medical bay.

Barry curled his fingers around the side of the table, shaking his head. He had to face the truth. Now that he didn't have his powers to distract him from his personal life falling apart, he wasn't sure how much more he could take. It was one thing to lounge around on Cisco's couch in a pair of sweats he hadn't changed out of in a few days, letting his facial hair grow out due to boredom and depression. It was another when the hero part of him couldn't do anything.

The Flash was one thing, not being a CSI was another.

"Funny," Barry snarked. He stopped rubbing his knee and gingerly lowered his foot back to the ground, trying not to wince. God, he'd gotten too used to the Speed Force within his system. Within him. Without the Speed Force, he was nothing. He let out a sigh through his nose, lifted his gaze to her beneath his eyelashes. "I bet you've been waiting to do that."

"To hit you? No." Cadence folded her arms, looking directly at him. He could see she was as frustrated as he was. Funny how so much time had passed and he still knew her so well. Every nuance of her facial expressions and the way she held herself. What a joke, he thought. He was the one who should be angry and annoyed.

For a fleeting moment, he had had the thought that he was being a jerk. Knew he wasn't the only one hurting and been punishing her for too long. But it was hard to listen to the rational voice when it just hurt too much. Hurt that the reminder of how much he lost was constant.

"To get you to sit still long enough to talk? Yeah." Cadence's eyes dipped over his face. Barry looked away. "I mean, I know we're not together right now, but you didn't have to come up with an excuse to see me."

Barry tried his hardest not to snort. So she could joke about it. That was fine. She could do whatever she wanted. It was none of his business. Not anymore. Barry lowered his chin, a tactic to not look directly at her, and said, "I didn't think there was anything wrong with wanting to have some space." Cadence fell silent. Just as he knew she would. "That's what you wanted right?"

Cadence blew her hair back out of her eyes. A humorless smile came to her lips as she shook her head. He wasn't getting it. "I didn't say anything about wanting space, Barry. You were the one who ran as soon as the opportunity came."

Barry's cheeks flushed with mortification as he had to mentally relive the moment. Not that it wasn't all he thought about. His brain wouldn't let him forget it, running the moment she said 'no' to him over and over at warp speed. It burned in his memory, almost as much as each of his parents' deaths. It was the only good thing he could find about his powers being removed. Not having it play so much. (Though he wanted nothing more than to punch Music Meister in the face for taunting him with it).

"And you're still not going to give me the chance to explain why?" Cadence's question brought his attention once more. Barry didn't response. Cadence let out a frustrated grunt. Barry could see flames flicker in her eyes as she did so. Despite the circumstances, he felt his stomach drop. She wouldn't attack him, he knew that. But it still wasn't a good sign. "You know, your stubbornness is something a lot of people like about you, but it's also one of your more annoying qualities," she remarked.

A wry smile came to Barry's face. "That sounds very familiar." He jumped off the examining table, pulling up his hood as he went. Barry walked with a wide berth around her, heading towards the door to the medical bay. Through the doorway he could see Cisco and Brady leap towards the computers to pretend they weren't listening. At least Caitlin had the grace to blush as she buried her head in the nearest medical textbook she could fine…let alone it being upside down.

"Barry—"

"—Cade!" Barry stopped in his tracks. He clenched his hands. A drastic change from before; he was momentarily glad he didn't have his powers. Otherwise he would've rapidly quaked with anger. "Right now, we need to figure out why I don't have my powers. We need to find Music Meister, figure out who he is, and figure out how he got into my dream. I don't…" He briefly closed his eyes. "I can't talk about this. We said we'd find a way to keep our lives separate, right? Well, this is the time we need to make sure that line is hard drawn."

Cadence pressed her lips together in a thin line. "Fine," she conceded.

Barry left the medical bay. He stepped into the Cortex, rolling his eyes when he saw Cisco and Brady enthusiastically nodding to each other as Cisco said, "And then with this part of your suit—"

"—You don't have to pretend anymore," Barry said, voice dripping with irritation.

Cisco lifted an eyebrow, sitting up straight. Offense was clear on his face, plain as day. He gestured towards the computer screen with a wave of his hand. "We actually were talking about his suit," he said. Then, holding up his hand, he added, "Trust me, Barry, we have better things to talk about than you."

"Like, figuring out where this meta is you were talking about it," Caitlin agreed. She closed the book she was reading with a low thump, carefully putting it upright on the table beside her. She stated to pace. "This Music Meister. He didn't have to do much to get your powers and yet…he held off you and Supergirl."

"Without even having to lift a finger," Barry agreed. He noticed Cadence walk out of the medical bay and listen to the conversation. "It was just…he did this thing with his eyes and the next thing I knew, I was waking up on Cisco's floor with my powers gone."

"Could be stress," Caitlin suggested with a shrug. "A psychosomatic response to…everything that's been going on."

"Wouldn't the rest of us have lost our powers, too?" Cadence asked. "I mean, what with Alchemy and Savitar and Breathtaker…I think we're all under a lot of stress."

"Yeah, but…" Caitlin chewed her lower lip. It was obvious what she wanted to say, but wasn't saying out loud. That Barry'd lost even more. If there was anyone who had the excuse to be stressed, Barry certainly fit the bill. Though her own work on the Metahuman Encyclopedia wasn't working out too well and there was the matter of money missing from the grant Bruce Wayne had given them.

She looked apologetically to Barry, who nodded in response. Did everything short of saying 'it's okay'. His look conveyed it all.

"…What about Kara?" Brady piped up, nose wrinkling. He looked to his mother, who encouraged him with a nod. He smiled, sitting up a little straighter, glad to be taken seriously with the conversation. "If she was in the dream, too, and what happened to you happened to her, does that mean her powers are gone?"

"I don't know," Barry admitted with a shrug. Just because he saw it in the dream didn't mean it necessarily happened the way the dream worked out. With a sigh, Barry rubbed the back of his neck, starting to pace. Scratch that, the only thing worse than not having his powers was not having any answers. First with Alchemy and Savitar and now this. He couldn't catch a break.

"Well, if he's got Barry's powers, have you tried tracking his speed signatures?" Cadence suggested. "Just like how we tracked your cold signatures when you were freaking out about Killer Frost?"

Caitlin nodded. She nodded to her own computer screen, focused on Barry's DNA strand as it gently spun around. "So far I haven't found anything."

"Which is even more worrying than having it," Cisco pointed out.

"But…if he has Barry's powers, he has to be using them," Caitlin twisted her fingers. Her eyebrows came together, creating a wrinkle in her forehead. She chewed her lower lip. "Why else would he take them?"

"If I had the Flash's powers, I'd use them all the time," Brady offered. Barry gave him a disapproving glance, making Brady lower his head. "Sorry."

Barry closed his eyes, thinking back to what happened. The cities combined. He ran in circles. The Music Meister showed up, got him to fight. Did something with his eyes, stole his powers…"He can teleport," Barry spoke up, suddenly remembering. He frowned, trying to think clearly. "Or…or create breaches. It's very similar to if Cisco's and Cadence's powers could combine. It's hard to explain if you didn't see it, he could move fast and…well, we know he can get into people's dreams."

"So we're just supposed to start writing things down in our dream journals?" Cisco demanded. "Keep track to see if this Music Meister suddenly decides to show up? See if he's been giving us nightmares for as long as we could remember?" He lifted his finger. "And I don't like the name Music Meister."

"That's because you didn't come up with it yourself," Cadence pointed out.

"Well, I'd need to see why he'd be called that, it's never good if they name themselves."

Brady ignored him and said quietly, "Maybe he's been watching longer than we've thought."

Wouldn't that be their lucky? "No, I would've noticed this guy," Barry murmured. He certainly would have over the past couple of days. He had more than enough time on his hands to patrol the city. Any new meta that arrived would've immediately caught his attention. No. The way Music Meister spoke was too familiar. As if he knew everything about Barry's life without it having to be explained. Especially knowing Barry's identity without him having to say anything. There were too many coincidences for it to actually be a coincidence he realized. "Trust me, he's not someone you forget."

"Do you think he's someone Alchemy gave their powers to?" Cadence asked. All eyes turned to her. In turn, her gaze flickered over each of theirs. "You did say there was a potential that others got powers from him, since you didn't see a lot of them in Flashpoint. Like Frankie."

Barry tilted his head, gaze shifting to the ceiling as he thought. It wasn't inconceivable. Flashpoint was an entire other universe. There were so many people there who could have gotten powers they didn't know about. Just like on their Earth with the Particle Accelerator explosion. Had Alchemy had anything to do with it, he would've announced his presence straightaway. Alchemy couldn't keep his success to himself for too long, Savitar made sure of that.

"Whatever it is, I'll start looking," Cadence offered, pushing herself off the doorframe. Caitlin looked like she was about to protest, but Cadence continued. "The sooner we get an idea of where this…Music Meister is hiding, the better we can to figure out what he plans to do with Barry's and Kara's powers. I seriously doubt he took them just because he could." She teleported into her suit and re-appeared in the Cortex, pulling her goggles up over her eyes. "I'll let you know what I find."

"Wait!" Cisco's cry stopped her in her tracks. He pointed to the other side of the Cortex where a swirling breach was opening.

Barry exchanged a glance with his friends, who all held varying degrees of trepidation on their faces. It looked like a normal breach, but 'normal' was anything but in Central City. Especially with a meta who could breach or teleport faster than Barry could move. If he could travel to different dimensions—different worlds, including dreams—chances were he could travel to different Earths.

How unbelievable was it that he'd come back to finish the job of taking his powers?

What was better than beating a man at his own game with his own powers?

Barry held his breath as he watched the breach shake and swirl in front of them, growing as the seconds passed. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Brady straight arm as he pulled back on the ammo he'd threaded into his slingshot and Cadence flex her hands at her sides, flames licking their way up her arms. Barry's muscles twitched. Depression settled in his stomach once more, if it was a threat, he was going to do something, anything, to help.

Finally, the breach opened and J'onn, Winn, Alex, Kara, and Deity appeared. Barry started towards them, excitement replacing his trepidation, then stopped immediately once his eyes locked on Kara's. She looked back at him, sadness flowing through her baby blues.

Barry knew then that it hadn't all been a dream, like he'd hoped in the back of his mind.

His powers were gone, and hers were, too.

Before he knew it, he was across the room and bringing her into a hug. One mixed with emotions. He was glad to see her as always but at the same time their embrace was tainted with sadness by the loss of their powers.

"You feeling okay?" he asked quietly, probably only loud enough for him and Kara to hear. She nodded into his shoulder, but he could feel the aura of uncertainty radiating off her, much like with him.

"You?" Kara asked in response.

"About the same," Barry said. A sad smile came to his lips. He glanced around at the familiar faces. J'onn, Alex, and even Winn. All with varying degrees of emotion across their faces. Then he moved onto Deity who smiled quietly back at him. Despite the circumstances, he could tell she was glad to be back on Earth 1. Barry's eyes then dropped to the bag in her hand.

He hadn't intended it, but he couldn't help himself in suddenly panicking as he looked back over to Cade seeing she had the same look. Though at least had the grace to hide it a bit better. He turned back to the Supergirl Team, and while pointing to the bag, said, "She's not staying here again is she?"

"Rude," Deity said with a frown full of attitude. Barry smiled sheepishly in response.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"No. She's not staying. At least not any longer than the rest of us," Kara said as she placed her arm around her daughter's shoulders. Internally Barry sighed. With everything going on right now was not a good time to have Deity back. While it had been nice having her and for the most part she'd managed to take care of herself – excusing the free meals anyway – considering everything going on with him and Cadence and Savitar and Breathtaker, dropping Deity in the middle wasn't going to help matters.

"Okay. So, what is in the bag?"

"Christmas presents," Kara answered with her sunshine smile returning, the one Barry always associated with her, a Kara Danvers smile.

"Though after your bad welcome I'm thinking we might just keep yours," Deity said with an annoyed look to Barry. Barry quietly apologized once more. He really did feel bad. But at the same time, it was hardly the most pressing issue on his plate right now.

The last thing he wanted to think about was Christmas. The decorations were still up, mostly because he'd been too preoccupied to take them down. Normally he would've ran back during his long bouts of free time and take them down, but without his speed it'd take him a good half hour just to get home, never mind taking down decorations.

"What is this?!" Snapping from his thoughts, Barry turned to find Winn had moved around the Cortex and was now standing next to Cisco and Brady staring down. Barry quickly introduced the team to each other as they all walked to see what'd drawn Winn's ire.

"It's my suit," Brady spoke said with a grin. He leaned on the computer desk by Cisco, grinning with pride at what held his identity a secret from the public.

"Oh, god…it's hideous!" Barry's eyes widened when he saw the fire flash through Cisco's eyes. Cadence and Caitlin exchanged equally amused and surprised glances. The speedster quickly looked over to Kara who seemed equally alarmed. Barry gulped. Cisco took in a deep breath, pressed his lips together. "I mean, who designed this atrocity?"

"I did!" Cisco spoke up as he shot out of his seat, waving his hands madly about at the screen. "And it's not an atrocity. It's a work of art," Cisco said in defence of his work.

"A work of art by a first-year fashion student, maybe," Winn scoffed. He leaned forward to get a better look at the screen, face screwing up in disapproval. "I mean just look at this!" He waved his hand at the screen. "This is…this is all wrong."

"Oh boy," Cadence murmured, tapping her fingers against her lips.

"All wrong?" Cisco shouted in outrage. His body quaked with fury. People could threaten his city and his life, but they wouldn't make comments about his suits. "All wrong?!"

"Cisco," Caitlin started.

"Well, I mean, who wears capes?" Winn straightened and turned to Cisco, folding his arms. He smoothed down his tie and added with a small smirk. "Capes are ridiculous."

"Winn." Alex sighed.

"It's not a cape," Brady added. "It's a cloak."

"Hello!" Cisco waved his hand to Kara and Deity who were both in their suits, red and yellow capes gently floating around their legs.

"That's different! They need the capes to fly properly."

Cisco pointed a furious finger toward the eleven-year-old. "Brady can fly!" Brady made a low whistling sound and rolled his chair away from the two maverick superhero suit designers.

"How?" Winn demanded with a curious glare.

"Yeah, I wanted to know that, too," Deity added. She frowned, completely ignored by the two team engineers. Everyone else seemed to feel the same as they watched passively.

"He phases through the atoms in the air," Caitlin quickly supplied, hoping to get in and end the argument before it went any further. She didn't get that chance however as before she could go on to explain Brady's powers in more, depth, Winn had started to shout.

"Oh!" Winn laughed sarcastically. "Well, in that case,"—he abruptly stopped laughing—"This is still all wrong!" Winn leaned into the screen and motioned to the cape with his finger. "See this. See this here; far too long. Needs to be shortened."

"No, it doesn't!" Cisco snapped. His eyes blazed with fury, shifting over the design he'd spent so much time putting to create.

"And this hood is just bad! What if it falls off when he's out? Game over," Winn said, referring to Brady's identity.

Cisco turned his glare from the computer to Winn. "He has greasepaint to account for that!"

"Oh, sure. Just let me slap some grease on their faces," Winn said gesturing over to Kara and Deity who were both taken aback by Winn's passionate argument. They'd never seem him argue with someone like this before. It was a little unnatural. "That will cover up their identities."

"It worked for the Arrow, and he's doing just fine."

"Cisco—" now Barry tried to appease them, but was ignored as well.

"They wear glasses! That's practically the same thing!"

"No, no, no! The glasses are tinted to hide their true eye color and they make their eyes look bigger," Cisco's only response was to make a variety of flabbergasted noises. Noises Barry had only heard him make when he was truly angry and bewildered by someone's stupidity.

"That's just idiotic!" Cisco finally got out. "And what qualifies you to judge my work? What have you done? Made a female version of Superman and then done the same thing for Debby but turned her into a bumble bee."

"Black works with everything!" Winn cried out. He jabbed at the screen. "His whole suit is black!"

Cisco paused. "You got me there," he conceded. "And, besides, the color scheme may change. I'm currently working on some upgrades."

"Really? Where?"

"Down in my lab."

"Well, I better go down and fix it before you send the poor kid out there looking like some crappy CGI hero out of a Ryan Reynolds movie!" Winn followed Cisco as they left the Cortex, heading in the direction of his lab.

"You take that back my friend! My suits are far better than anything Ryan Reynolds has ever put on and that includes…" Cisco's shouting voice and Winn's then began to fade as the two stomped off down the corridor, leaving behind two very confused teams that were all bewildered.

"Does anyone else feel like their heads just exploded?" Barry asked, only to be met by an agreeing hum from the room. "Alright then," he sighed. He and Kara might have lost their powers to some musical nut job, but at least Cisco had made a new frenemy and Brady was getting a new suit.

Anything that'd give them the upper hand.

"Don't worry, with Winn around that's a normal occurrence," Alex joked. She sucked in a deep breath, looking around the Cortex. "So, this is the famous STAR Labs, I've heard all about." She nodded appreciatively. "It's nice."

"Nice isn't the word we'd use," Caitlin said.

Deity snorted humorously. "There's a big hole in the roof," she pointed out with a grin.

"That's just so people think STAR Labs isn't being worked out of," Brady said.

"Other than HR's plan to turn it into a museum, anyway," Cadence said. She ruffled Brady's hair as she moved by him. "I'm going to head out. The sooner I go, the sooner we'll find this guy."

"Wait! Wait!" Kara held up her hands. She bent and rustled through the bag by her feet. Finally, she produced a long, flat box and passed it to Cadence. "This is for you two," She said. "I know it's kind of lame, but I saw it and immediately thought of you." She clasped her hands together, tucking them under her chin as she waited for their response.

Sighing, Barry moved to Cadence's side. He was at least curious to know what it was. No matter what was going on, a present was a present, Christmas was still his favorite time of year…Barry's face screwed up when Cadence finished tearing off the wrapping and opened the box to reveal red and white swatches of cotton inside. Upon further examination, Barry saw monograms of their initials printed on the front.

"It's his and hers towels!" Kara squealed as soon as the gift was revealed. She started to bounce on her toes, the curls in her hair bouncing along with her movements. "Deity said your new place is amazing and since you only just moved in, I thought it'd be a good gift. And…" she rocked back and forth. "A good excuse to see it?"

Her words were obviously a prompt for an invitation, but Barry found he couldn't focus on the impending invitation. No, he could only focus on the mounting tension throughout the Cortex. Even Caitlin and Brady busied themselves with anything that'd keep them from joining the conversation. J'onn and Alex continued to stroll around the Cortex, casting a critical gaze over everything. Deity, on the other hand, tilted her head as she watched the two. Beside him, Barry felt heat radiate from Cadence—knowing it was from embarrassment rather than anger.

Kara's eyes shifted over her friends' faces, her own smile slowly fading. "Uh…is everything okay?" She asked. "Do you not like it? It's the wrong color, isn't it? You know, I wanted to get a higher thread count because there were more color options but I thought you'd like the whole red and gold theme going on with it."

Barry and Cadence exchanged a glance, prompting Cadence to clear her throat and quickly put the towels back in the box, of which she thrust into Barry's hands. "It's great, Kara," she said flatly. "Thanks." She pulled her goggles back up over her eyes. "I'm going on patrol."

"Oh, uh, okay," Kara replied. Her eyes shifted. "I'll go with, um…" her face fell. Then, sucking in a deep breath through her nose, she rolled her shoulders back. "Anything I can do to help?"

"You can help me monitor things over here," Caitlin offered, with a tilt of her head to the computer systems.

"Okay. Hey!" Kara looked around. "Where are HR and Jesse? And?" She thought for a moment, trying to remember the name of the other speedster she'd only briefly met. "Wally?"

"HR's on vacation," Barry explained. Which was probably one of the brightest side of their current situation. "Jesse went back to Earth-2 to visit her dad. And Wally's…" he ran a hand through his hair, trying to remember. Was he always this slow or was it that his powers aided in his memory? "Wally's hanging out with Iris and Joe, I don't…he doesn't need to be here until things get bad."

"And this isn't bad?" Deity asked. Barry glanced at her, turning his gaze to the ceiling in frustration. That was happening a lot lately. "Your powers are gone, so are mom's. How can it get any worse?"

"It'll only be worse if we don't find this guy," Cadence reminded her. "And we'll find him." She turned to leave.

"Be careful," Barry said to her. He couldn't stop himself before the words slipped out.

Cadence looked at him. "I always am." With that, she teleported from the Cortex.

The Music Meister whistled to himself as he appeared on the outskirts of Central City. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks and looked around. So many people milling about, he noted. So many happy looking people. But were they really happy? It didn't seem like this Earth was as good as the others in terms of happiness in social settings.

Music Meister tilted his head, eyes scanning the crowd. Where were the couples? No one seemed to be in that lovey-dovey state they all deserved. "Maybe they need a little push," he murmured. A low sound of triumph escaped him when he saw a nervous couple standing near each other. Looking around for a moment, ensuring the coast was clear, Music Meister pressed his lips together and blew as hard as he could.

A frosty wind kicked up that thrust the young couple together. The woman looked over her shoulder, whole body racked with shivers, as she stepped closer to the man. The man grinned, closed the gap between them, and rubbed his hands up and down the woman's arms, making her smile as well.

"That was fun," Music Meister remarked. He started to stroll once more. "I wonder who else I can help." He picked up where he left off, whistling his tune as he looked around for those he could help. A young gay couple caught his attention, they appeared to be having some sort of a spat. "Oh, no, no, no, we can't have that." Music Meister lifted his foot and when he stepped down, he tapped into The Flash's speed to find the nearest florist, grab a bouquet of roses, and run it back, placing it into one of the man's hands.

His companion swooned and leaned over, giving his partner a kiss. Music Meister smiled and nodded. Dusting off his hands, he stretched his arms in front of him. His eyes and fingertips crackled with electricity. "Let's see what else these powers can do." He started to run, then stopped, hearing a loud growl. "Oh, whoa! I guess I'm hungrier than I thought. What's good to eat around here?"

Music Meister streaked up and down the streets, leaving a trail of lightning behind him, until he stumbled upon CC Jitters. He skidded to a stop then walked inside. Glancing over the menu, his eyes lit up at the themed drinks, he had to go with a 'Flash' of course, and looked around, waiting for his name to be called.

Yes, it was the right place. All he had to do was be patient.

"Max Masters?" The barista called.

Music Meister held up his hand, flashing a charming smile. "That's me." He sauntered to the counter and picked up the steaming to-go cup. He raised it to his nose, closing his eyes as he sniffed. "There's nothing better than coffee. I wish it was something we had where I'm from. And, hey, what did you think of the name I came up with here? Kind of has a ring to it, don't you think?"

The barista ignored him, calling out the next order. Music Meister shrugged and walked to a nearby table and sat down. He angled himself to directly face the doorway of the coffee shop and looked at his watch.

Not much longer.

"So…" Deity planted her feet firmly on the ground, stopping her chair in its rapid rotations. She thought there'd at least be something interesting to do around STAR Labs while waiting for a sign of the Music Meister. Truthfully, she wanted to check out a few more of the rooms, maybe get a run on Barry's Cosmic Treadmill, but it didn't look like that was going to happen.

Brady seemed to have the same idea as he quickly commandeered a computer to watch YouTube videos. She still needed to catch up on what was popular, her Netflix profile already had a queue filled with everything that everyone else seemed to have been born knowing. Brady glanced at her when she spoke.

"What's going on with Barry and Cade? They seem to be mad at each other."

Sighing, Brady pushed back from the computer. "Um…" He sucked his lips into his mouth, making a face. "I don't know if I can say."

"It's not like it's a secret," Deity said. She tossed her head back towards the Cortex. "The air around them is going to explode the moment someone says something wrong. Even Winn was smart enough not to say anything and that's saying something." She laughed at her own joke, knowing how the IT expert managed to cram both his feet into his mouth at the best of times. "Then again, he did seem a bit preoccupied with your suit."

"Yeah, he seemed really opinionated," Brady said with a roll of his eyes.

Deity grinned. "Don't get between Winn and his suits." Brady snorted. Deity smacked him on the knee. "Don't change the subject, what happened?"

Brady thought for a moment. "I just didn't know if my mom wanted to say anything. But…Barry asked her to marry him,"—Deity's eyes immediately lit up—"but she said 'no'." Deity's face fell again. "I know. And now unless it has to do with meta stuff, Barry doesn't really want to talk to her and mom is trying to explain why she said no, but he won't listen and…" he waved a hand. "It's a whole thing."

Deity looked like she didn't understand. She tilted her head, eyes narrowing, thinking about her friends. Even when they were on her Earth with their memories wiped, she could see there was something between them. Anyone could. It didn't make sense they couldn't make things work. They must've been miserable, she realized. "Why'd she say 'no'?"

Brady hesitated then explained, figuring it was better to say some of it and leave the actual explanation to his mom. She may get mad, but at least it was keeping her from being bombarded with them. (And it'd keep Barry from stammering his way through an answer). "She says because he never talked to her about it. And that he was rushing into things."

"How do you not talk about getting married?"

Brady shrugged again. "That's what mom said."

Deity pressed her hands to her knees and leaned forward. "Well, what do you think? Last time I was here, you were practically bursting at the seams to have Barry as your dad."

"Step-dad," Brady corrected her. He'd grown very close to Ryder over the last year and was as glad to have him in his life as he was with Barry. "I already have a dad. But they're both cool." Brady blew a raspberry. "Mom explained it to me, I get why she said 'no'. It sucks, but I get it."

"Do you think they'll get back together?"

"I don't know. I asked them, and they said they don't know. They say it's complicated." Brady ran a hand through his hair, eyebrows coming together. "And I thought things with Conner and Leah were complicated." He noticed Deity's confusion and clarified. "My best friends, they're dating. Sort of."

"Oh!" Deity nodded. She thought, maybe, they were a little young. But, maybe that sort of thing worked differently on Earth. "My best friends used to date, too. They broke up."

"Why?"

Deity suddenly looked sad. She'd really missed a lot from her time away. As if her time on War World had been a vacation. Deity cringed at the thought, the memories of the time she'd spent with the other Hybrids. Whom she thought were her friends, her little family. "Just weren't compatible I guess. They're still good friends though," she finally said. "And anyway, aren't you guys a little young to be dating?" She teased.

Brady frowned, a pink hue lightly coming to his cheeks. "No!"

"So, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Ugh." Brady's cheeks darkened even further. He rubbed his neck and slouched down in his seat. "Not really."

"No one you're interested in, at all? I'm sure there are plenty of cute girls at your school."

"Not that I've noticed." Brady's eyes shifted to the side and he pointedly turned his chair to face the computer. His YouTube video had ended, switching to a live one instead. A news report slowly shuttled in.

"We've got him!" Cisco called out. He and Winn had abandoned their supersuit argument—rather Caitlin forced them to stop once their shouting could be heard up to the Cortex—and aided the others in their search for the Music Meister within Central City. Once he shouted out, everyone moved in to watch the monitors as Cisco brought up the security footage retrieved from his metahuman app. It was from outside Central City's bank where Music Meister was now stood, grinning away smugly.

"Not that he's trying to hide all that much," Caitlin pointed out as she stood next to Cisco watching footage as Music Meister ignited his new heat vision and blasted the doors to the bank clean off.

"Alright, me and Debby will head out and deal with this," Cadence said.

Brady sat up straight. "What about me?" He asked.

"No, way." Cadence said sharply as she fixed her son with a look. "This guy's got both Barry and Kara's powers. I don't want you near anyone like that it's too risky. If he gets your powers too, he'll be invincible. Me and Debby can handle this."

"Are you sure?" Caitlin asked with a concerned look to her friend.

"Sure." Cadence grinned. "I've fought Barry loads of times."

"Except it isn't just Barry's powers you're dealing with," Alex argued as she stepped forward. "This guy has Kara's powers too."

"Why do you think I'm taking Deity?" Cadence asked, stating it as if it was obvious. The two hadn't been getting along as well as Kara had hoped. Alex still seemed a little sour about what had happened way back when Barry and Cade first arrived, and Cadence had snapped at Kara. Though Kara had quickly moved on, Alex seemed less inclined and after Deity's little get away to Earth-1 Alex's mood on the subject of Cadence hadn't improved.

"You should be taking everyone," Alex snapped back.

"We can handle it. I have a plan."

"Seriously?" Deity, Brady and Cisco all spoke up at once before they were each silenced individually by Cadence's glare.

"What's your plan then, Cade?" Barry asked in a level tone.

"Simple," Cadence said before pulling out one of her guns. She opened the clip at the base to reveal a dim green glow to her bullets.

"Kryptonite!" Alex shouted in outrage, making the team jump. J'onn was the only one who stood firm. His eyes flickered from the bullets to Alex's, Kara's, and Deity's faces. "You have kryptonite and you claim to be friends of my sister!" Alex had begun to advance but Deity and J'onn quickly stepped in to hold her back before she could start a fight. Thankfully Kara was across the room with Winn, safely out of the range of the radiation.

"It's only for emergencies. Like this one. So, me and Deity will just go over there, she'll distract and then I'll knocking him down with this," Cadence explained as she slid the clip back into the gun. Then she looked at Barry and added snarkily, "And don't worry, I won't kill him. Just injure him enough so I can get him back here and into the pipeline."

"I'm not having my niece go out anywhere with you and a gun full of kryptonite," Alex growled before Deity tightened her hold on her aunt, forcing her to look over to her.

"Aunt Alex, trust me. I know these people, they're my friends and Cade would never hurt me or Mom. You I'm not too sure about at the moment. But she's on our side."

Alex trusted Deity. She didn't trust Cadence, even if the rest her family did. She couldn't trust anyone that had the power to kill her sister or niece. If anything were to happen to them…she didn't want to think about how that could break her down. With one last final defiant glare to Cadence, Alex shrugged off Deity and J'onn and walked over to join her sister and Winn.

"Come on, let's go," Cadence said as she pulled on her googles and held out her hand for Deity. The teenager glanced over at her mother and aunt. She quickly sent them a reassuring smile, then took Cade's hand before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Next thing she knew they were outside the bank, watching as Music Meister sauntered on out with a bag full of money slung over his shoulder. He was whistling away, happy as could be until he spotted the two heroes and stopped skipping. A Cheshire-cat grin formed on his face.

"Oh! Hello, friends!" Music Meister cried out in delight as he waved with his free hand. Cadence and Deity looked to each other with matching frowns before homing in on the villain once more.

"Sorry, how rude." He held out his hand, shaking an invisible hand in front of him. "I'm the Music Meister." He snapped back his hand, holding it up. "Don't bother introducing yourselves, I know all about you both from your partners' dreams," he explained all while grinning. Music Meister glanced them over like he would an open book before slamming it shut out of boredom. He dropped the sack of money and did a few minor stretches before getting into a mock fighting stance.

"Now this is the part where we fight, right?" he asked with a tease.

"Keep him busy while I look for the shot," Cadence muttered lowly to Deity. Once she nodded to show she had heard her, Cadence teleported, and Deity shot forwards, coming to a stop before Music Meister. She swung and Music Meister blocked with the strength of a Kryptonian, catching Deity off guard momentarily.

"Nice try, kiddo," Music Meister said with a smug wink before he shoved Deity back with a single push of the hand.

Deity stumbled back but Music Meister made a mistake by advancing on her. Then using her momentum, Deity let herself fall. She reached back with her arms, arching her back inwards. Her hands touched down and then she flipped with ease thanks to her flight ability and her legs came up catching Music Meister from beneath his chin.

The villain grunted in pain, running his hand across his jaw as he took two steps back while Deity landed back on her hands and knees. Then, lifting her head, her eyes turned bright yellow before two beams of light shot from her eyes. A smirk from Music Meister before he vanished from sight and Deity's energy vision hit the bank wall. She blinked in astonishment before standing up.

"Over here!" Deity heard from behind before she turned to face the Music Meister. Another smug smile as he waved his fingers towards her, lightning crackling as it passed between them.

Deity lunged at him but then he moved fast, faster than either she or Kara could move, leaving behind a trail of yellow lightning. Deity watched him go but wasn't fast enough to stop him as he grabbed her leg with Barry's speed before throwing her into the bank wall with Kara's strength.

"Hate this guy," Deity grumbled as she fell from the crater she'd left in the wall, falling onto her hands and knees as Music Meister clapped his hands from across the street.

"Not bad, Deity Ann. Not bad. But you're going to have to stop holding back if you're going to compete with me." So he knew about her, about War World, or least as much as Kara did. Why else would he be making remarks like that and be so smug about it.

A shot sudden then rang out through the quiet street of Central City and Music Meister twisted to the side, clutching his now bleed shoulder. A second shot and he dropped to his knees, holding back a scream of pain through a clenched jaw. It was then Deity spotted Cadence, making her way towards Music Meister with gun in hand. When he moved to get up, she fire a third shot into his upper back and he dropped.

From there she closed in on him, kicking him onto his back once she was close enough. "Say night, night," Cadence said smugly as she stood over a weakened Music Meister with her gun trained on him.

Suddenly Music Meister's eyes shot open and all pain vanished from his face. "Not quite," he said smugly. Cadence pulled the trigger, firing another shot but Music Meister was gone in a flash of lightning before the bullet even left the chamber.

"Damn it," Cadence cursed as she lowered her gun, searching around for Music Meister as Deity sped over to her side, watching her back as Cadence searched.

"Over here!" Music Meister called from across the street. Cadence swiftly turned, Deity ducking behind her as Cadence pulled out her second pistol and opened fire. She unloaded both guns, firing every Kryptonite bullet she had. And yet Music Meister just stood there, grinning away.

"Did you shoot him?" Deity asked as she peered out from behind Cadence, seeing their enemy still standing.

"I did…" Cadence said slowly as she lowered her guns and Music Meister began to chuckle. He then lifted his closed fists and opened them up to reveal all the kryptonite bullets in his palms. The radiation quickly took effect, weakening Deity. She took a step back and Cade followed, making sure to keep herself between Music Meister and the teenage girl. She couldn't work it out, how was the kryptonite not causing Music Meister to drop down on the floor because of Kara's powers. His cells should have been torn apart by the radiation.

"Let me help you out there, Flare. Central City's Dancing Flame," Music Meister said charmingly as he threw the bullets over his shoulder and out of sight before dusting off his hands. "You thought that because I had Supergirl's powers, I'd be weakened by the Kryptonite. Good theory, and true for the most part. But thanks to your lovely boyfriend's powers, my cells are healing so fast, I don't even feel the effects of the kryptonite. All it's done has taken away those Kryptonian powers for a little while. But I've still got the speed." On cue, lightning flashed through his eyes, just like it had through Barry's.

Except now that he didn't have Kara's powers, he no longer had the strength to hold of Cadence. She was stronger than Barry was physically and during many of their sparing sessions she'd been able to overpower him. Now she had the advantage over Music Meister.

She couldn't waste any time, or wait for Deity's powers to return. The longer she waited, the stronger Music Meister got. Cadence charged forwards, making it a few steps before she teleported up above Music Meister. Then with the advantage of the height, Cadence unloaded a stream of fire down on the cosmic being. But instead of sending him flying backwards like she'd expected her stood his ground, the flames surrounding him while he bathed in them. Cadence frowned as she touched down before Music Meister, letting the flames in her hands die out. As they did so, the flames around Music Meister, and that was when Cadence saw it. He was vibrating, like Eobard did, his whole body a blur as sparks of yellow lightning popped up here and there.

He'd been absorbing her flames, using the familiar elements to charge himself. But how could he know how to do that? It had taken Barry and her almost a year just to get the basics of their power combo down and now Music Meister had it working for him without Cadence ever realizing. She stared in frustrated awe as Music Meister stopped vibrating, his ever present smug smile clearing.

"Thanks for the boost," he said pleasantly before then sending her flying with a burst of speed and a fast punch.

"Cade!" Deity shouted out as she watched her friend skid across the road, the air knocked out of her now. The teenager then turned her attention on Music Meister as she felt her powers return. Letting the familiar yellow light consume her fist she held it back and got ready to fly at him when sudden he was by her side, holding her fist in place.

"Careful, now little Deity. You could really hurt someone with that…oh, wait. You already have." Deity snarled at that remark and refused to give in to his mind games. She swung her other fist at him, but he caught it as easily as if it was a small bouncy ball.

With a grunt of effort, Deity tried to pull away, but Music Meister held on with his renewed Kryptonian strength while Deity's hands continued to shine from within his fists. Then a feeling hit Deity, a feeling she'd experience several times now and could identify in an instantly. The feeling she was charging up a Kryptonian. But it wasn't of her own free will, it was like the solar energy from within her was being pulled out, were as usually Deity felt like she was pushing it out. Furthermore, it was draining her like when she'd first used the ability. She couldn't stop and was giving Music Meister everything she had.

"What are you doing?" Deity asked as weakness took over and the golden glow she'd seen around Kara and others now appeared around Music Meister.

"I'm an all-powerful cosmic being. You really think I couldn't work out how to drain you myself," Music Meister said as Deity felt her legs weak and begin to shake.

She'd lost to much energy, she was going to fall. Or rather she would have had Music Meister not insisted on holding onto her while he continued to drain her dry. Then, her eyes lids began to flutter and before long she had passed out. Her body went limp and fell into Music Meister's arms, who gracefully caught her, now holding her in damsel in distress style. He smiled down as Deity's head tipped back, her long brunette hair dangling down as if she were Rapunzel, only paler as the color left her checks.

"Sweet dreams little Hybrid," Music Meister said smugly as he watched the teenager's chest rise and fall slowly. If he wanted to, he could kill her know, but he'd made his point. Now that he had the Flash and Supergirl's powers, as well as a top off thanks to their partners, there was no one who could stop him.

"Put her down!" The rough voice spiked Music Meister's intrigue and he turned around, smiling when he saw who'd joined the party.

"Well, if it isn't the hero with the school boy crush?" Music Meister teased as his eyes narrowed on Brady, who held his slingshot with ammunition already loaded in. "Mom and Dad finally let you out to play have they?" he mocked as he tilted his head to the side. His eyes started to become ringed with light once more. "Well, let's play."

A/N: Oooh, so what did you think? There's more to come with the next chapter. And let me tell you, writing the Music Meister is so unbelievably fun. I may make a story where he's a bigger character, lol. Don't forget, this crossover is co-written by me and PowerHero432 so if you want to see more with Kara/Supergirl and Deity, check out the stories on his profile.

Cheers,

-Riley

Review Replies

Ethan: So far, though this is going to be made a point in the next story, Flash and Flare aren't really treated as celebrities compared to the 'myth' of Central City. At some point it's going to bite them and they won't have a chance to ignore. Then Cade/Flare will get her hot chocolate drink at Jitters. Lol. Clark and Batman aren't going to be super huge figures in this series, but they do pop in and out every now and then. So since Batwoman will be part of the crossover for season 5, it'll have to work up to something.

yummers: Yeah, they do miss each other. And I'm aware Barry's pretty much acting like a jerk, but it'll stand to reason once the scene is shown.

PowerHero432: Yeah, I feel bad for both of them (despite writing it this way, lol) but I feel more for Barry, only because I know the reason why he's turning into a bit of a jerk about the whole thing.

DarkHelm142: Well, I hope the changes continue to keep things entertaining as they go on. Trust me, sometimes that can be equally the most difficult and rewarding part of all this.