Chapter 17
The Rogues had been planning for a while, Barry knew, and now, they were finally ready. The only problem was Barry himself was not. He still had no idea how to utilize the lighzinium against them. His only hope was that he could take them on by himself. No, he needed to succeed. There was no room in his mind for a failure. He would succeed.
He quickly suited up, into his red and gold outfit, and ran to the location the Rogues were now terrorizing, meeting all of his old enemies face to face, plus a new one.
"It looks like we came at a bad moment, eh, Flash?" Captain Cold laughed. "I mean, with your girl leaving you and all. We just want to make sure this will be as painful for you as it can be."
"I don't know what games you're trying to play, Snart," Flash called out. "But it won't work."
"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Cold grinned. "Rogues, attack!"
Immediately, the weather around them became dark and stormy, with rain clouds forming above them. It was the indistinguishable work of the Weather Wizard, a criminal who specialized in controlling the weather around him. Flash went in to use his arms as propellers, to blow the clouds away, and maybe some Rogues by chance, but they must have had it all worked out, because he was shot by a cold blast, that he just saw coming before it hit him. The mist and fog weren't dissipating fast enough, and he almost paid for it.
Now came the physical attacks, and Heat Wave and Captain Cold combined their power to shoot at Flash from all sides. He began running circles around them, but he noticed there were too many civilians, so he quickly rushed to run them off the streets, and carry them away. The Rogues had anticipated this, however, and every building he entered set off what he believed to be a timer.
As he returned to the battlefield, Captain Cold explained to him what was going on.
"Flash," he said gleefully. "You didn't think the plan was to come out here and fight you head on, do you?"
"What are the timers for?" he asked, calmly.
"Those timers set off bombs, in different countries around the world," Captain Cold informed him. "Courtesy of Mirror Master."
"And what, you don't have the detonator on you?" Flash said, a smile forming on his face, as Cold realized what he meant by that.
Flash pretended to run at them, but in reality, he went around the world at his top speed, finding each bomb, and disarming it. The Rogues always failed to understand he could see the residue Weather Wizard left behind in other frequencies, and it was rather easy for him to destroy each of the bombs. Then, he returned to face the Rogues.
Quickly, the Blue Beetle set up a shield around them, and used the same nanomachines he had tried to use before, to now hit the Flash. They all missed when he redirected them, but they made considerably large explosions that might hurt civilians.
He had run back, sort of retreating for a moment, in order to think about what he should do. He needed to get rid of Golden Glider and Blue Beetle. The Glider had always been a problem, because she could become intangible, and like him, she could change the frequency in which she resided, which made it harder to match her. Beetle was a problem because he had the ability to shoot at anyone instantly, but he would be an easier challenge. The problem was, they were all together, and so the solution was to get them all apart.
As soon as Mirror Master shot a mirror blast, Flash avoided it, and thanks to the flash created by the blast, the Rogues lost him for a moment.
"Where is he?" yelled the Captain.
"He's gone," Captain Boomerang replied.
"Well, someone find him," Cold snarled.
The Golden Glider became intangible, and went out to find him. Becoming invisible was one of her favorite tricks, and it became more so when she was able to use it in a useful scenario.
"Our biggest player is out, gentlemen," Cold said. "It's up to us to defeat the Flash."
"And it's up to me to defeat all of you," Flash remarked, and they all heard a crunch, which they assumed to be the detonator being destroyed. When they looked around, they found no one.
Barry had returned to his apartment to collect the pin made of lighzinium, one of his failed ideas, to see if maybe it had an effect specifically on only the Rogues, but as he poked all of them at super speed, none of them reacted strangely.
"What did you do to us?" Heat Wave yelled out.
"A little test," Flash frowned. "You're lucky it didn't work. For now."
"What, were we supposed to burst like balloons?" Cold shouted. "It's going to take more than that to bring down the Rogues!"
With that, the Weather Wizard formed a small hailstorm, Captain Boomerang shot his explosive boomerangs, and Mirror Master, Captain Cold, along with Heat Wave, used their powers together to maximize possible damage. The Captain of the Cold shot his Cold Gun into a mirror pad on the Mirror Master's back, and Heat Wave added to that with his Heat Gun, shooting into the mirror as well.
Mirror Master had set up mirrors around the battlefield, including a puddle, a few shiny surfaces, and a literal mirror. That mirror however, if it was punched, would suck in the person who punched it.
So now, the Flash was being shot at from every direction, mirrors ablaze. He managed to avoid them all, however, by vibrating his molecules. He finally broke their ranks, and z took the leader, Captain Cold, about to interrogate him.
He ran to Central Park with Snart, and asked him angrily, "What's your plan, Cold? What have the Rogues been planning for all this time?"
But before he could get an answer, Flash felt a tap on his shoulder, and as he turned around in Flashtime, he saw it was the Golden Glider.
She was floating in front of him, with all of her golden ribbons, dancing around him.
"Hello, Flash," she smiled. Lisa Snart was nowhere near as fast as the Flash, but when she entered her astral form, she had the ability to speed herself up. Now, she was conversing with him at a faster speed than everything around them.
"Lisa," he grunted, as he put her brother, the Captain, down. "What, do the Rogues think you're going to stop me by distracting me? I can see all of your team, scattered out there."
"No," she said softly. "I came because I need to tell you something. This isn't part of the plan."
"Then what is it?"
"I'm not sure you'll believe me," she hesitated. "But, I think it's time I end my career with the Rogues."
"That's a surprise," he said, not expecting that from her. Her career had spun into a descent when her boyfriend, the Top, had been killed a year earlier, when she had fought against the Flash. She had never been able to exact her revenge, always being defeated by the scarlet speedster, but she had never surrendered. Never given up. Now, to hear she had finally gotten tired of a life of crime? He could see both sides of the coin, and he wasn't sure what to make of it, but he wasn't going to let himself tricked.
"It's just," she said, her voice full of regret, "Lenny always wants to take the Rogues to new heights. Places I don't want to go. I don't think I can keep up with what he wants anymore."
"Well," Flash said, shaking his head in disbelief, "Whatever your intentions are now, Glider, you need to pay for your crimes in the past."
And as he moved forward to apprehend her, and make sure she was down for the count, he felt his back being pierced by a very cold blast. He instantly went into vibrating mode, and as he looked around for Captain Cold, he couldn't find the ice themed villain anywhere, and he was genuinely confused.
While he was vibrating, the Glider had taken the chance to try and use the invisible syringe on him, but by now it was too late, as he was not tangible. Even she could not match him anymore, and she let out a snarl, in an outburst of anger.
However, as Flash gave up trying to find Cold in the distance, he went back to take Lisa down, and as he found out, she was holding a syringe, which was now visible with the ribbons holding it. He quickly disarmed her, and he discovered she was also holding a great number of needles. Once she was no longer a threat, he finally returned to normal time, to see if it would make some of the villains become brave enough to attack him.
By now, though, he could finally understand that something was wrong. He touched his back, trying to feel if there was any tear in his suit, or even maybe any blood. The last time he had been scathed by Captain Cold had been long ago, and he worried maybe the Cold Gun had been upgraded.
But there was nothing there, not even a mark on his suit, at least that he could feel. Which should have been impossible, because he was feeling woozy now, and he knew if he passed out there and then, there would be nothing stopping the Rogues from defeating him. So, as a last ditch measure, he ran back home. It was the first time he had ever run away from a fight, and he certainly hoped whatever had been brought into his system could be cured, or else the Earth would be in a lot of trouble.
"Elsa, did you hear that?" Anna asked, as she held her sister's hand in fear.
They had just asked for directions to the Central City Citizen, which they had done to save time, rather than looking for it on foot. But an explosion had just been set off somewhere in town, and they looked over to the side, to see if they could find its source.
There was no smoke anywhere in the distance, but the giant skyscrapers wouldn't let them see it if there was any.
"Come on, Elsa!" Anna yelled, as they both began running towards the center of the city.
They weaved through cars, which were now stuck in the streets, as people panicked and ran in the opposite direction the sisters were running in. Wherever people were running from, they went. Eventually, they reached a spot where they could hear the lightning from the Flash's running, and the blasts from every villain fighting, including the Blue Beetle, who they personally knew to be Hans. However, they could no longer move forward, because there were too many people watching and recording, and because of the barrier that was in between them which had been set up by the police.
"Flash!" Anna shouted as loud as she could, but it was no use. The sounds that were being created by the fight completely drowned out her cries.
"Anna, we shouldn't try to get his attention right now!" Elsa yelled to her, but Anna misunderstood it, and she began to jump over the barrier. Her sister tried to stop her, but because of the storm the Weather Wizard had created, she couldn't create a guard rail for her safely, and she definitely didn't want to miss.
"Anna!" Elsa yelled, but it was of no use. Anna had already jumped over it, and was trying her best to run at the Flash. It would prove to be futile, though, because all of a sudden, she disappeared. Elsa thought for a moment her sister had been vaporized, or hit by a Rogue, but she felt a tap on her shoulder, and saw Anna standing right next to her.
"What happened?" Elsa asked, as the storm and wind finally began to disappear.
"I think he carried me to safety," Anna said, feeling more determined than ever. "I was so close, Elsa!"
"I'm not letting you get closer," Elsa warned, which Anna ignored because the action began to shift. The Flash had taken the leader of the Rogues away, and the two sisters saw the crowd of people move down the street, towards Central Park. They began to move too, and gradually made their way to the scene of the confrontation between the Flash and the Golden Glider.
When they made it, Elsa and Anna watched as the two had a conversation, probably in Flash Time, but it didn't matter, because Anna noticed the ribbons of the Golden Glider 'flicker' from her vision.
"Elsa," Anna said, getting her attention. "Shoot the girl!"
"But-" Elsa tried to say.
"Just shoot her! She's going to hurt Barry!" Anna cried, begging to her sister. Elsa felt obliged to after hearing that, and she readied an icy blast. But the pressure of the moment she let it go made it more powerful than she intended for it to be. So when the Flash moved a bit, and then moved in front of the Glider, which blocked her from the shot, it left the Flash to be the victim of the blow. She didn't mean for it to happen, but it just did.
As soon as Anna saw what happened, she screamed out, "No!"
Fortunately for her heart, it didn't seem to affect him, and the two sighed a breath of relief.
"I don't think it hit his heart," Anna said, relieved.
But then, something had happened. He was stumbling around, looking as if he were about to fall to the ground, dead, and then, he disappeared. Vanished. Both sisters looked around, trying to spot him, but it was no use. He was gone.
Barry Allen was trying to figure out what was happening to him. He was feeling dizzy, but he couldn't figure out why. He had teleported himself to the Watchtower, and had been inspected in the medical bay by the scanning machines there. Nothing had been revealed. It was as if he were completely healthy. There was medically nothing wrong with him.
But he could feel himself slowly become colder. It had started with what he thought were just goosebumps, but now, they weren't going away. He needed to find Snart, to see what he had been shot with.
Except, when he returned, the Rogues had run off again. He was forced to ask the police officials that were trying to keep the civilians at bay, but none of them had a clear answer. He was sure there had to be someone around that had seen them escape, and he was about to keep asking, when he heard the voice of a familiar girl.
"Flash!" came the voice of Iris West. "Over here!"
"Please tell me you know where the Rogues are," he said to her, as he ran to her location.
"I don't," she shook her head, "But I do know that they escaped through mirrors."
"You saw them?" he questioned her, and she nodded.
"I did," she said, "But that's not why I needed to talk to you."
"Well, it better be important," he told her, "because I need to find the Rogues before they cause any more harm."
"Okay then," she said. "Do you know what happened to Hans?"
When he had spoken to her as Barry Allen, he couldn't tell her everything. But now, as the Flash, he could.
"I'm afraid not, ma'am," he informed her. "I will say this though; he's working completely off of his own free will."
"What do you mean?" she asked, confused. She had only told Allen the CSI about him being taken over by the scarab.
"I've heard rumors circulating the police department he's under some kind of mind control," he explained. "Unfortunately, it's just not true. He himself told me."
"What else did he tell you?" Iris asked, writing everything down, when another explosion could be heard. Flash excused himself, and ran off, hoping to find one of the Rogues.
He did find one, but it was the one he had least hoped to find.
"Hans!" Flash called, as the man in blue armor hovered in the sky.
"I need another chance at you," the Blue Beetle snarled. "Where the Rogues failed, I need to succeed."
"Never hurts to try your best," Flash commented, before he ran towards his opponent.
Barry had to move fast, and avoid every energy blast from the winged menace. He would get past them all, but most of the shots would be derailed, and would end up on their paths to buildings in the vicinity. Flash had to change his course from Hans to the blasts, in order to absorb them so they wouldn't cause any damage.
When Flash returned to face him, he took one massive leap, and went flying, with a perfect trajectory, on course to punch the Blue Beetle, but when he did, he realized it was just a façade. It was actually millions of nanomachines, formed to look like the man in the armor, but he went right through the illusion. Not before a really strong current ran through him though.
Flash fell to the ground, crashing on the street. Luckily for him, the streets had already been evacuated, but he knew there was still a risk, and he couldn't let more damage be done.
"You know this can't continue," Flash called out, and the real Hans emerged from behind a building.
"It will until I say it's over!" Blue Beetle roared, and the fighting continued.
But now, Flash wasn't fighting up to par, and he could feel it. It was as if his speed was being drained, and he was actually being struck by the Blue Beetle! Usually, he would let his enemy touch him, to give the enemy overconfidence, but right now, he was genuinely being hit.
He couldn't keep up with the hits, as his mind was still reeling from the crash he had when he flew through the decoy of the villain, and he knew he would have to retreat, again. It was very embarrassing, but he would lose if he didn't, and he couldn't risk that.
Barry had to make an escape, again, and while he was gone, Hans took the moment to make an announcement.
"Citizens of Central City," he announced. "For years, the Flash has 'protected' your city."
"But is he really the hero you want?" he proposed. "Is he who you still want 'protecting' you? A coward who runs from his fights?"
The crowd, who was still there, watching the two duel, was silent, even the sisters, until she decided to speak up.
"You're wrong!" she yelled at him, and he looked down, surprised when the scarab told him who it was.
"He's not a coward," she defended. "He sacrificed himself when the world needed him!"
"If he is so brave," he mocked, "then where is he now?"
"He can't fight all of his enemies at once, you know," Anna said, running out of ways to defend him. It was true; he had just randomly disappeared in the middle of the fight. And for what reason?
"I'll let you live, for you are much braver yourself than him," Hans admitted. "But do know this, people of Central City. I will hunt your so-called hero. And I will not rest until I bring him to his knees!"
Although he hadn't defeated Flash, Hans had just dealt a psychological blow to the city. Maybe it wouldn't matter in the end, and the people would probably forget it soon afterwards. One thing was as true as the sun rising, though. The newspapers would sell like crazy.
"Elsa, what are we going to do now?" Anna said, worried. They were walking to the Citizen, but they weren't feeling too confident about the plan anymore.
"We need to stick to the plan," Elsa said while she thought. "This reporter woman, all she does is track down people right? So if we ask her to find Barry, it should be a piece of cake for her, right?"
"I guess," Anna concurred. "I still think we should find Barry though. Did you see how close I was?"
It was then that the sisters saw the infamous Iris West, talking to the cameraman next to her. Anna's first instinct was to go up to her and yell at her for kissing her Barry, but she had to remember she needed information from her. She could wait another day to learn her lesson.
"Hey!" Elsa called out, as both sisters approached her. The cameraman assumed they were some of Iris' friends, and began packing up the equipment into the news van near them. "We need to talk to you!"
Iris turned around to see who was talking to her, and she noticed the two women who were in front of her.
"I'm sorry," Iris said, looking at her watch. "You caught me at a really bad time. I need to begin work on my new article."
"Weren't you just talking to your friend over there?" Elsa said, referring to the cameraman, who was waiting for Iris in the van.
"He was telling me that he heard the Flash is still suffering from heartbreak," Iris explained, which almost offended Anna. She knew the truth, and what Iris had just mentioned couldn't have been further from it.
"Please, we need your help finding-" Anna started.
"Sorry," Iris shrugged, as she ran to the passenger's seat. "Those articles won't write themselves!"
They left the sisters in the dust, leaving them confused. It was probably the era they lived in that they didn't understand.
"How rude!" Anna noticed. "It's like she didn't even want to hear what we had to say!"
"Wait," Elsa said suddenly. "What if we find the police in the city and ask for Barry there? He works in the police, right?"
"Yes!" Anna said. "He works as a CSI, the guys who, do something!"
"Really, Anna?" Elsa said, and Anna shrugged.
"I can tell you anything about his life as the Flash?" she said sheepishly.
"In any case," Elsa told her, "keep an eye out for any police officer. We need to ask one where the police department is."
Thankfully, it didn't take very long, since they were dispatched everywhere because of the recent battle, and the two sisters quickly were given directions to the precinct.
Once they arrived, they went inside, and asked the attendant at the front desk to help them locate Barry Allen, who Anna said was her boyfriend, but the attendant said she couldn't tell them that. They insisted on knowing but once again, the attendant refused them, and asked them to leave.
By now, the sisters had to comply, and they exited the building. Unfortunately for their efforts, Anna was on the border of tears.
"Why is it no one wants to help us Elsa?" Anna said as soon as they were out, feeling very dejected.
"I'm sure they do," Elsa assured her, "But people here seem to follow an order."
"But still, I-" Anna said, stopping mid sentence as her mouth dropped.
Walking into work was the man she had traveled an ocean for, the man who she had pushed away in her grief. There he was, and he walked by, as if his greatest love wasn't staring directly at him. He looked tired and sick, and there was nothing Anna wanted more than to take him home and heal him.
As Barry walked past those two women, he couldn't notice how both of them looked rather familiar. He couldn't exactly pinpoint where he had seen them, but he was sure…
Of course! The one that looked as if she were about to cry was the woman Hans had taken in Arendelle! The one who had known his secret! The same one who had tried to kiss him!
He picked up the pace of his strides, and he made it into the elevator at the backend of the building. As he turned around to press the buttons, sure enough, the redhead was running towards him. Thankfully, the doors closed before she reached him, but that was too close for him.
His first thought was that the League Building in Arendelle needed new staff. He remembered writing a note when he had brought those two women to the hub in Arendelle specifically detailing that one of them knew his secret identity, and now they were both in Central City? Had they already told the press?
His second thought was that maybe Hans hadn't sent them. Maybe there was some legitimacy behind their motives, whatever they may be. As he reached his floor, he decided he would give them a chance to speak with him, but all of a sudden, he felt the goosebumps becoming even stronger. Now, he needed to put on a jacket, because it was starting to feel colder. Whatever Captain Cold had done to him, it was working. He couldn't even feel his toes anymore!
It was obvious to him his condition was worsening, but the problem was, there was nothing that could be registered as a symptom in his system.
He left the lab to go to the bathroom, to clean himself up a bit more. As he washed his hands, however, he noticed a strand of his blonde hair had turned white.
That was odd. He was now worried the Speed Force was giving him speed in exchange for less time, but then it hit him.
He was slowly freezing to death. It made sense. He had been hit by a cold blast, but not just any. It was what the Rogues had been working on for so long. A slow, but painful death for him. How cruel and ironic.
If he hadn't known better, he would have assumed it was magic. With the Rogues, however, anything was possible. Even magic.
Shortly after this revelation, he returned to the lab, and after a few moments, his friend Forrest came in, knocking, and then entered, even without a response from Barry.
"Hey Barry," Forrest said. "We've got two girls down in the lobby trying to speak with you. And let me tell you, you could use more girls in your life."
"Ah, thanks Forrest," Barry said, putting a blanket around himself. "But tell them I'm working on something."
"Oh no, Barry," Forrest laughed. "I didn't come all the way up here just to tell you. You're coming, voluntarily or not."
"I'm not feeling too well," Barry informed him, as he finally turned to face Forrest, showing his condition.
"You should have led with that," Forrest said, as he took a look at Barry's face. "Did you dye your hair?"
"What happens when you work too many extra hours," Barry said, managing to give his friend a smile.
"No kidding," Forrest replied. "I'll tell them, then. Your loss."
"I'm sorry ladies," Forrest apologized. He had gone back down to inform them of the news. "But he's not feeling very well. The man's feeling cold in spring. Allergies or something."
Elsa and Anna both looked at each other and gulped. Now they knew for sure that Barry had been hit in his heart.
"Oh ok," Anna said nervously. "Thanks anyways."
Forrest nodded and left them, and they both left the building again.
"We need to stay here and wait for him," Anna said. "So he'll see us when he gets out of his work."
"He might be in there for a while," Elsa pointed out. "I remember you telling me he worked long hours all the time."
"I don't think he will if he's under the magic that I went through," Anna said, and then said, "No offense, Elsa."
"Are you sure?" Elsa said, doubting her sister's logic. It depended on a lot of things going right and wrong.
"He'll come," Anna said, full of hope. "And I'll be here, waiting for him."
They wouldn't be able to see him, however, because time was running out, and instead of leaving through the front door, Barry teleported himself directly to the Watchtower.
He had called in Zatanna, the Mistress of Magic, who had helped revive him, in order to see if she could find anything.
He had been waiting in the medical bay of the Watchtower, and he was glad it wasn't long after he called her she walked in.
"Hey Barry," she greeted, and then got to the point. "What is it you need?"
"I can't find anything visible on me," he muttered, growing colder. "I need you to work your skills and see if there's anything supernatural in me."
"I will," she said, and then asked him, "Mind if I take a look at your memories too?"
"Sure," he nodded, adding, "It can't hurt."
"Yeah, it's just that sometimes there's something in someone's mind I can use to-" she started explaining, but as she delved into his memories, she put the puzzle pieces together and understood what happened.
It was evident it was magic which was affecting him, because she could feel it in his mind, even if he couldn't see or test it.
But the magic had been put there by someone he knew, even if he didn't realize it. She had to go in deeper to know, but she was going to pass out if she went in any further. The strain on her mind was too much, so she returned back to reality.
"Well?" Barry said, worried. "What did you see?"
"It definitely wasn't Cold," she gasped, as her body returned to a normal state. "It's magic. And, you know who put it in your heart. Find her."
Zatanna had passed out afterwards, and he lay her on one of the beds, trying to figure out her enigmatic command.
Barry began thinking. Could it be Iris? The woman who he had once saved from the Blue Beetle? He didn't think it was her, because he didn't really know her. She was just a reporter woman, who had probably been reporting during the attack.
And then he suddenly realized who it might be. It had to be one of the two girls who had been following him to work earlier that day! The ones Forrest had probably been talking about. He didn't know why, but they seemed like the culprits behind everything. After all, one of them did know his true name, even though he was positive he had never mentioned it to anyone.
He needed to find them. They would be his last hope, before he would finally succumb to the magic.
