"Barry!" Iris screamed, now awake and back in the white room. She was strapped to a chair again, with the IV pumping more into her veins. She was still in the Marionette costume. Puppetmaster wasn't in the room. She looked around, frantically. A tear fell down her brown cheek. More tears fell, until she was sobbing. She tried to fight the straps. They ripped a little bit, but she ran out of strength. She dipped her head, defeated. Puppetmaster opened the door. Her head didn't raise. He pulled up a chair and sat a few feet away from her. He was in casual clothes again.
"Why are you doing this?" She asked silently. He smiled solemnly.
"Iris, do you remember anything that happened this morning?" He questioned. She raised her head. She looked at him, not remembering at first. But then it all came back to her in a rush. She remembered hiding in the wooden shield, being handed the cane, and then….And then stabbing her husband. Her lip quivered and she hung her head again.
"But why?"
"Because Iris, you remember! The Flash could not hurt you. And I need The Flash to not be accessible." Puppetmaster looked awkwardly off to the side.
"Why not just kill me?"
"I'm not the killer type." He confessed. "Besides, it's more fun this way."
"Why do you need Barr-The Flash to not be able to fight you anyway? I remember at the bank, you didn't want to steal any money. Thorn did, but not you."
"Well…. I don't really know." He whispered. She looked up at him, her face was puffy and red. Tears were still coming out of her eyes. "James, or Thorn, and I work as a team. He likes to steal things, and I guess I let him sometimes. This last fight with your husband was just to introduce him to the new you."
"But why use your powers for bad? You can change things, help us." Iris proposed. He shook his head.
"You really don't know me or my powers, do you? Mind control isn't really the best superpower for fighting crime. Neither is nature, to be quite honest."
"That's not true."
"Yes it is. I kidnap the people with my huge bodyguards, James mixes a concoction making people able to be exposed to my powers and pass out, then I control them. That's why we work as a team. The liquid also has small healing powers. You see, James used to be a botanist and he used to mix potions. There's also one for filling you up without eating any food, inducing labor during pregnancy, and many others. He's pretty talented in that department."
"What are you talented with? Who were you before you got your powers?"
"That's a pretty loaded question, Iris. I don't think we're there quite yet."
"Will we ever get there? It's pretty obvious that you won't release me anytime soon." She said. He shrugged and got up.
"Maybe someday." He promised. He opened the door and stepped out. Iris looked around the room wondering if she will see any of her friends ever again.