The Watcher looked down at Central City and saw that it had become around the time of Halloween. "Haloween. The time for monsters. The time for scares. The time for spooks... but also the time when the world is introduced to the supernatural side of their world. But are these supernatural events the work of science, or are they truly... supernatural?"
Peter was making his way around school while the students were all decked in costumes. He saw several people were decked out in their own Spider-Man suits, some looking well furnished while the others were homemade and could easily tell. What was weirder was there were a few of the popular girls dressed in a more...seductive Spider-Man suit. It was weird, to say the least, that they were even school-appropriate.
"Hey, Pete." Gwen came out wearing a Red Riding Hood costume. "What, didn't come in your costume?"
"I spend enough time in my spandex outside of school," Peter proclaimed. "You wouldn't believe how hot that suit gets."
"Well, good thing heat isn't an issue for our friend." Gwen joked, looking over towards Bobby who was dressed as Captain America. "I can't tell if that is stupid or funny."
"Hey, guys," Bobby greeted his friends, walking over to his friends. "What do you think?"
"I think you knew what you were doing when you dressed like that," Peter stated.
"Me?" Bobby asked, looking behind them. "You're the one stuck looking at that all day."
"Looking at wha...?" Peter turned around and froze when he saw MJ.
MJ strolled down the school corridors, her vampire costume turning heads. The black dress she wore was tattered to perfection, evoking an air of ancient mystique. A voluminous cloak trailed behind her, its collar so high it nearly swallowed her head. Completing the ensemble were high-heeled boots and a choker adorned with a bat, adding to her gothic allure. Catching sight of her friends, she approached them to flaunt her Halloween attire.
"Hey, guys." MJ greeted them. "What do you think?"
Gwen laughed when she saw Peter's reaction. "I think you broke our Spider."
"I will take that as a compliment," MJ said as she pecked Peter's cheek. "What? No costume?"
"One day without being in tights is what I ask," Peter stated.
"Speak for yourself, bro," Jessica declared, striding ahead in a Wonder Woman costume so elaborate it could be mistaken for the genuine article. "I adore Halloween."
"I like it, too. But the last few Halloweens haven't exactly been something to write about." Peter reminded her.
At STAR Labs, Cisco and Caitlin are working on ways to stop these husks when HR comes in with a whiteboard. They didn't want to address him, but they felt that he was not going to give them a choice.
"We have a problem," HR tells them.
"Yeah, we do. He's still here." Cisco says, not much of a fan of HR.
"Cisco, comedy of the obvious," HR says laughing and taking another drink of his coffee. "I made a pact to justify my presence on your earth and I think I got something."
"We're all ears," Cisco says as he and Caitlin look at him and the board.
"I read every news report I can get my hands on. And I have come to the conclusion that this very operation is a ticking time bomb." HR tells them and now they're confused.
"What do you mean?" Caitlin asks, seeing they've been working well so far.
"You can't spend all your time working on...whatever this is," HR says holding the meta-cuffs.
"This is a very delicate set of power-dampening cuffs," Cisco tells him while he takes them out of his hands. "We need them to stop the metahumans. And also to try and trust Norman not to kill us."
"My point exactly. It's not gonna be long before people start putting the pieces together and figuring out what you're doing here." HR states. "You're working with the Flash."
"Okay, and what's your idea?" Caitlin asks.
"The perfect disguise. We reopen this laboratory and I become the face of the new Star Labs museum." HR says and pulls off the drape to reveal his plans.
"There's only one problem with that," Cisco tells him. "It's your face. You're kind of a known murderer around these parts. You see, the evil Wells, not to be confused with the dick-ish but not evil Wells, he confessed to killing Barry's mother."
"So basically, if you step foot outside this lab, you'll be arrested," Caitlin explains to him.
"Welcome to the club," Norman stated as he walked in with fresh coffee. "Why do you think I have been hanging here?"
"So we can keep eyes on you and make sure you aren't going to blow up the city," Cisco stated.
"You're just telling me this now, you rascals? What about the cryptogram? The message. Come to this earth. Get a fresh start." HR reminds them.
"What about your resume as a world-renowned genius scientist?" Cisco asks back.
HR takes that in and realizes he's right. "That's a good point. I guess we're even." He admits. "If a string is in a knot, patience will untie it. Patience can do lots of things. Have you ever tried it? My dear ma used to say that to me all the time any time I had a problem. Now I have a problem. I guess I'm gonna use that adage to figure it out." HR says and walks out while asking them to think about the museum thing.
"You think everyone on Earth-19 is missing crayons in their box, or just him?" Cisco asks Caitlin who seems to be staring off into space. "Hey, paging Dr. Snow?"
"Sorry." Caitlin snapped out of it. "I just haven't been sleeping lately."
"Coffee?" Cisco offered.
"Perfect." Caitlin smiled as Cisco walked off to get some, and as she watched him leave, she looked over to the power-dampening meta-cuffs.
Gwen Stacy had been eagerly waiting for the school dance, and finally, she had made her way to the dance room. As she entered, she scanned the room, looking for her friend Peter Allen. The room was filled with students, and the air was filled with excitement and anticipation. Gwen spotted a few members of her band and gave them a friendly wave. She wondered if Peter was also there, but he was nowhere to be seen. Gwen had been a little late herself, thanks to her encounter with her enemy Morbius, the Living Vampire, which had forced her to take a detour. She checked her phone for any messages from Peter, but there were none. As she continued looking around the room, she couldn't help but wonder where Peter could be and why he was late.
Gwen called out quietly to find her friend. "Peter?" She was starting to worry a little. "Where are you?"
As she was looking around, her spider senses alerted her of the danger that was approaching. She looked around the room as she wondered what the problem was at her dance. All of a sudden, it was like the roof of the gym was starting to cave in. She was starting to worry that the roof was about to cave in and everyone started to move away from the area. When the roof finally did cave in, what came crashing down looked to be a gigantic lizard.
Everyone started to evacuate the area as Gwen knew she needed to act fast and was actually glad she didn't need to worry about Peter being there. He would be in too much danger for her to care about anyone else, and she quickly ran off to get changed. As she was changing, the lizard seemed to be searching for a certain someone amongst the crowd. When it spotted Flash, it raced over apparently to tear him apart. That was where Gwen stepped in and shot several strands of webbing to cause the Lizard to trip and slam into the ground.
Gwen then swung into the middle of the scene as she picked up Flash and got him out of danger. Even though she had to admit, watching the kid that would always torment Peter getting spooked and attacked by a giant reptile brought a smug to her face. But she also knew that this wasn't the time for that, and she needed to defend them from the creature.
Gwen's heart raced as she swung into action, landing gracefully amidst the pulsating beats of the school dance. The Lizard creature, towering over her, hissed menacingly, ready to strike. With a swift flip, Gwen launched herself towards the Lizard, her agile moves matching the rhythm of the music. She weaved through his powerful strikes, relying on her acrobatics to keep her out of harm's way. Her Spider-Sense tingled, guiding her every move.
As the Lizard lunged, Gwen somersaulted over him, her web-shooters releasing a volley of adhesive webs that temporarily immobilized his massive limbs. Seizing the opportunity, she delivered a series of lightning-fast kicks, landing precise blows on the Lizard's scaly hide.
But the Lizard was relentless. Breaking free from the webs, he swung his tail, narrowly missing Gwen. She responded with a flurry of webbing, ensnaring his tail and yanking him off balance. As he stumbled, she spun a web cocoon, trapping him momentarily.
However, the Lizard's strength surged, and with a mighty roar, he shattered the webbing, lunging towards Gwen once again.
Gwen gasped as she woke up and found herself in class. She looked around and was confused about what happened and even felt her heart rate. She felt like she really did experience that moment.
"Hey," Peter whispered, getting Gwen to look over at him. "You okay?"
Gwen looked down and saw her hands still shaking. "Yeah, just a strange dream. I'll tell you later."
Peter was worried for his friend but decided to put that on hold so he could talk about it later.
Turns out that it wasn't just Gwen having these dreams as Joe was getting worried when Wally came to him, saying how he has been having dreams of becoming a Speedster. Worried that he might become another Quake or one of the many husk Metahumans,
"So I did have powers? I was Kid Flash?" Wally asks.
"In Flashpoint, yes," Barry confirmed.
"I knew that this was happening," Wally stated, believing his dreams were from his life in Flashpoint. "Why didn't you tell me before?"
"Because..."
"Because why?"
"All right, fine, Wally, it... look in that timeline, you were fighting The Rival." Barry tried to explain what happened.
"Edward Clariss?" Iris asks.
"Edward Clariss, yeah," Barry confirmed. "You couldn't stop him. There was no STAR Labs. There was no team to help you. It was just you and Iris. The two of you were a brother-sister superhero crime-fighting team."
"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Iris asks.
"You didn't want to know about your Flashpoint lives," Barry reminded them. "But look, listen to me, you got hurt, all right? You got hurt bad."
"So what? That's that me, it's not this me. And I want to be a speedster." Wally stated. "I- I want to be a Flash."
"No, no, no, you don't," Joe stated.
"Yes, I do," Wally stated.
"You're not hearing what he's saying," Joe stated. "He's telling us it's not safe. "
"Who cares what Barry's saying? How do we even know he's telling the truth?" Wally questioned, getting sick of everyone telling him this.
"Wally, come on, this isn't because of the particle accelerator, it's because of Dr. Alchemy," Iris said. "It's the same thing that happened to Quake."
"You don't know that," Wally said.
"Yes, we do," Joe said. "And we need to try to keep it from happening."
"Why don't we just say what this is really about? You're okay with Barry having powers; you're okay with Barry running into danger, fighting all these metas." Wally recapped. "He can screw up over and over again You're okay with all of it because he's Barry. But you won't give me the same amount of leeway because at the end of the day, you just don't trust me."
"You know that's not true, Wally," Barry said.
"I don't need you fighting my dad's battles for him," Wally said. "Say it, Joe. You don't trust me, do you?"
"Wally..." Joe couldn't explain it.
"That's what I thought" Joe scoffed, walking off.
Gwen was on her way home, walking solo, when Peter made a sudden appearance. He swung in and startled her by crashing into the wall next to her, dressed in his everyday clothes. He had chosen this method to avoid the risk of being seen as Spider-Man engaging with a civilian. It was his safest bet for a conversation.
"Hey!" Peter greeted her.
"Don't sneak up on me like that!" Gwen laughed as she calmed down. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I mean, I am a little bruised, but I'll live," Peter promised. "Look, I wanted to talk to you about that dream you had."
"Why?" Gwen asks. "It was just a weird dream. Nothing more."
"Was it?" Peter asks. "It looked like some Freddy Kreuger thing going on."
"I promise you, there is no dream Meatahuman out there," Gwen laughed when she froze in terror. "That's not a thing, right?"
"Not as I know," Peter promised. "Look, what was going on?"
Gwen sighed. "Okay, look, it wasn't much, but... it was like a weird dream where I had spider powers."
Peter froze when he heard that, remembering the conversation with Skye and how all Metas from Dr. Alchemy always had their dreams. "Dreams with powers?"
"See? This is why I didn't wanna mention it," Gwen stated, seeing Peter was thinking what she was thinking. "Because you would think that this is some weird Dr. Alchemy thing. It was just a dream."
"Have you been having other dreams like that?" Peter asks.
Gwen shrugged. "No, they were mostly just us in school. I mean, you had glasses, but that's nothing new. Before the spider, you used to wear glasses all the time."
Peter nodded but didn't believe that these dreams meant nothing. "Okay, as long as you believe they're nothing." He said, backing off a little. "Alright, well, I will see you later. I promised to meet May at FEAST."
"Great, see you later," Gwen said as she walked off.
Peter however was beginning to wonder if that was true and quickly made a phone call. "Hey, Barry, can we talk?"
Making his way to FEAST, Peter made his way inside where he quickly greeted the people inside. He started to roam around the hallway and made his way to the larger opening where he started to see around and was greeting some of the people. He walked up to an elderly couple who was playing a game of chess.
"Hey, Peter." Cam greeted him.
"Hey guys, how's the game going?" Peter asks.
"How's it look like it's going? I'm winning." Cam stated in glee.
Eileen chuckled. "Get this guy checked for dementia, Pete. I'm crushing him."
"Well, the important thing is having fun," Peter tells them.
"I have a lot of fun whooping his ass," Eileen stated with a chuckle.
"In your dreams, crazy lady," Cam stated. "Want a game, Pete? We play for peanuts."
"Too rich for my blood, I'll leave you to it," Peter said as he walked off, making his way off to the kitchen.
"Hey, Peter, what's up?" Ernie asked.
"Just dropping in," Peter said.
"Peter!" Martin Li called, getting Peter to spin around. "Wasn't expecting to see you today."
"Yeah, I thought I would stop by after school before meeting my brother here."
"Your sister gonna stop by?" Li asked.
Li was one of the few people that was aware of Peter's situation since he and May were very close friends ever since he and Ben met. Ben would always direct homeless people that he would find on patrol toward this shelter it meant so much to them.
"Which one?" Peter asked as a joke. "Nah, Teresa is studying for an exam coming up. Wanda is stuck at work. When a giant hologram monster terrorizes the streets, it seems a lot of people wanna know their future. And Jessica is... actually, I don't know."
"Well, we are always happy to have you," Li said as he seemed to be busy. "Uh, sorry, we have to cut this short. I have to check something out."
"Sure, I was just here to see May," Peter said as he walked off towards the kitchen. "Hey, May."
"Peter!" May was happy to see him. "This is a nice surprise."
"Well, I was in the area, and I thought I would stop by before Barry showed up." Peter shrugged as he quickly got to work on helping with the dishes.
"You know, I really don't get how your brother could be the fastest man alive, yet still take forever to get places," May commented.
"Well, it is hard to get away from his job," Peter defended his brother.
"Alright fair enough. So what is so important?" May wonders.
Peter wondered if he should share the dreams Gwen had been having. "It's a little personal."
"Oh, okay," May said with a slight concern in her voice. "MJ isn't pregnant is she?"
Peter squeezed the sprayer on the sink, sending water flying when he heard that. "MAY!" He cried, turning over towards his aunt. "What the hell?"
"I am just asking," May almost laughed at how embarrassed at the question he was. "I mean, you two have-"
"May!" Peter was begging her to shut up. "Please... no more talking," Then he felt a rush of wind and he knew Barry arrived. "Sorry, May, I gotta go check something out. And I don't wanna be around you right now."
May laughed as Peter left the room to find his brother. He walked into the halls and saw Barry standing there. "Peter, hey."
"Barry, thank god you came when you did," Peter said with relief.
"What? Is something going on?" Barry asked in concern.
"Uh, no, May was just being extra creepy." Peter quickly explained. "I wanted to talk to you about something Gwen said. Her life in Flashpoint... did she have powers?"
Barry was starting to grow concerned when he heard that question. "She's been having dreams?"
"Yeah, of being some hero with spider powers." Peter recapped. "So... did she?"
Barry sighed as he wondered if he should explain everything. "If she is having these dreams, then this is something she should hear."
As the night enveloped the research facility in darkness, Anton Miguel Rodriguez, a DNA sequencing and Bio-engineering engineer, stepped out into the cool air, his mind still buzzing with the day's discoveries. He adjusted the briefcase cuffed tightly to his wrist, a necessary precaution for the sensitive materials it contained. Engrossed in a heated phone conversation, he barely noticed the lurking figure nearby.
In the shadows, a menacing green silhouette stood still, its two oversized, pointed ears sharply contrasting against the moonlit surroundings. Clad only in tattered blue jeans that hung loosely from its sinewy frame, the creature resembled a jackal—its wild energy palpable as it watched Anton with piercing eyes, ready to make its presence known.
"Look, sir, I promise, the experiments are going as planned," Anton promises his benefactor. "Mr. Renz, I assure you, that these experiments are thriving. Give me a few more months, and we can finally clone anything and even edit the genetic sequences. We can finally-"
That was when the Jackal flew in and landed right in front of Anton, causing him to jump backward in terror. He fell backward and the surrounding people screamed in terror and ran away from the scene. Jackal laughed as he reached over, grabbing Anton by the hand and raising him into the air.
Anton screamed in terror as the Jackal grabbed him by the waist and he seemed to have put together what was going to come next. Jackal yanked, and RIPPED Anton in two, taking his arm and leaving the rest of him to bleed out in pain.
Jackal seized the briefcase and propelled himself into the air, distancing himself swiftly from the chaos he had just left behind. He landed with a quiet thud in a shadowy alley nestled in the city's core, where only the soft, silvery glow of the moon pierced through the darkness. The atmosphere was thick with palpable tension, and the acrid scent of danger hung in the air, wrapping around him like a shroud.
With a low, satisfied chuckle, he unsheathed his claw-like finger and sliced through the robust lock on the suitcase, the metal snapping open with a satisfying click. As he lifted the lid, his heart raced at the sight of a small canister pulsating with a viscous red ooze, shimmering in the dim light. This substance was essential, a key to igniting the next phase of his grand ambitions for his experiments.
Since reclaiming his powers and memories in the chaos of Flashpoint, Jackal had vowed to see his vision through to the end—to sculpt a new iteration of humanity. With every ounce of determination coursing through him, he envisioned nothing less than the creation of a perfect life form, transcending the limitations of those who came before.
As he was staring at the suitcase with a large grin on his face, a crescent dart flew in and almost hit him. Jackal looked up and saw none other than Moon Knight, clad in his white cloak that glimmers like the moonlight itself, he stands atop a rooftop to the connecting alley. His eyes scan the shadows, vigilant and ready. Below him, the Jackal prowls, a menacing figure with a twisted grin, his wolf-like features accentuated by the dim light.
Moon Knight raced in and leaped down from the rooftop, using his cape to slow down his descent. He landed and stared down Jackal. "You've been haunting this city long enough, Jackal." He stated, reaching to his chest crescent moon and drawing a few more darts in his hands. "Time to put an end to your games."
The Jackal snarled, revealing sharp teeth within his mouth. "Oh, you think you can stop me? I am not a monster, I am merely a scientist. I am even more than that! I... AM... A GOD!"
With a burst of speed, the Jackal tossed the suitcase aside to keep it safe as he lunged at Moon Knight, claws extended. Moon Knight counters with a swift motion, dodging to the side and retaliating with a crescent dart that strikes the Jackal's shoulder. The creature howls in pain but quickly recovers, his eyes burning with fury as Mark watches his wounds heal in shock.
"You'll have to do better than that!"
The Jackal charges again, this time using the momentum to leap into the air, attempting to land on Moon Knight. But Moon Knight anticipates the move, rolling away and planting his feet firmly on the ground. He shifted into the likes of Stephen Grant, his second personality, AKA, Mr. Knight, as he reached for his truncheon, swinging it with precision to catch the Jackal off guard.
"You're fast, but I've got the skills to match," Stephen promised.
The truncheon connects with the Jackal's side, sending him crashing against a stack of crates. The Jackal snarls, quickly flipping back to his feet, and lunges again. This time, he feints left, but Moon Knight, quickly taking back control, ever the tactician, reads the move and sidesteps, delivering a powerful kick that sends the Jackal tumbling backward.
The Jackal began panting, his eyes narrowing. "You think you can outsmart instinct? You're just a man in a costume!"
"And you're just a monster in the shadows." Mark mocked.
The two clash again, exchanging blows in a rapid flurry. Moon Knight's martial arts training shines through as he employs a variety of strikes and evasive maneuvers, while the Jackal relies on brute strength and animalistic agility. The alley echoes with the sounds of their combat—the thud of fists, the crash of bodies against walls.
Suddenly, Moon Knight grabs a nearby pipe, using it to block a vicious swipe from the Jackal. He spins around, leveraging the momentum to strike the Jackal in the gut, followed by an uppercut that sends him reeling.
The Jackal gagged from the sudden strike. "You can't keep this up forever!"
"Neither can you," Mark stated. "Tell me where I can find Alchemy!"
"Over my dead corpse!" Jackal cried.
With a final surge of energy, Moon Knight channels the power of Khonshu, feeling the god's presence fuel his strength. He darts forward, delivering a series of devastating strikes that leave the Jackal staggering.
In a dramatic finish, Moon Knight leaps into the air, twisting and delivering a spinning kick that connects squarely with the Jackal's jaw. The creature crashes to the ground, dazed and defeated.
Mark was standing over the fallen Jackal. "It's over. You belong in the dark, where you can't hurt anyone else."
That was when the Jackal grabbed Mark by the foot, getting him to flinch, and gave the Jackal all the time he needed to then quickly throw Mark down the alley and into the trash. Mark groaned as he quickly tried to crawl his way out of the trash where he saw Jackal manage to slip away.
"That did not go as planned," Kohnshu commented, suddenly appearing out of nowhere.
"Yeah, you think?" Marc asked sarcastically. "He was our only lead to where Alchemy was hiding the stone."
"I fear that this world cannot take another Metahuman from the time forgotten," Kohnshu warned Marc. "We know that he is building up the army for Savitar. If he reaches this world-"
"Yes, we know," Marc sighed. "There has to be something to help us find him..."
The next day, the call was made regarding the body, and to say that they were disgusted by the sight would be an understatement. The sight of a man with a missing arm, dying with his own blood surrounding him after everyone ran off and left him to die.
"Petechiae around the eye, the crushed larynx." Julian took notice. This poor chap has got fingerprints all around his neck. He's clearly been amputated." He commented, looking over to the missing arm.
"I heard multiple witnesses say the man was attacked by a jackal," Barry commented.
"Huh," Julian commented. "So a meta from Egypt has made the trip to Central City... Fabulous."
"So far there's no forensic evidence that there was an assailant," Barry commented. "No laceration marks. Only the claw marks that aren't exactly traceable, and there is no DNA evidence underneath the fingernails."
"There's always something," Julian said as he stood up. "Bag the body up and I'll meet you back at the lab."
"Yeah." Barry sighed.
"See ya," Julian said as he began to walk off.
Barry however tried to get on his good side. "Oh, and Julian, um, I'm going to that movie in the park thing with my brother, Joe, my girlfriend and... and some other friends and family. Uh, if you feel like going, it starts at 8:00. We're all a bunch of nerds, so you'll fit right in."
"Well, that's a very enticing offer, Allen, but I'm actually seeing my girlfriend tonight, so..." Julian tells him.
"Oh, you have a girlfriend? I didn't know that." Barry said.
"I'm sure there's lots about me that you don't know," Julian said as he walked off. "Cheerio."
"Albert." Joe greeted, walking over towards Barry.
"Detective." Julian greeted, walking past.
"Hey." Joe greeted Barry. "Anything?"
"With the uh, nothing yet, at least," Barry said, looking down at the body. "This is kind of a weird one."
"Have you seen Wally this morning?" Joe asked him.
"No," Barry said. "Why?"
"He left the house in a huff," Joe explained. "He won't answer my calls. Iris is out there looking for him right now."
"Did you want me to run around the city?" Barry offered.
Maybe if I can't get ahold of him." Joe said. "What Wally said, it's partially true. I didn't answer his question because I... I don't trust him with these powers the same way I trust you with them."
"You got to talk to him about that," Barry said. "You know, tell him why, especially now."
"I will, I mean, just gotta find him first," Joe stated, seeing his phone wasn't going off. "Look, I'll just keep calling him. He's got to answer at some point, right?"
"Man, I feel bad, too," Barry said. "It's your first date with Cecile and you got to worry about this."
"Don't worry about that," Joe stated. "That's one part of my life I can control."
Back at Star Labs, Cisco is wandering around the speed lab where he sees Caitlin. She was looking over some data on her powers when she saw him enter and seemed to be wandering around aimlessly.
"Yes?" Caitlin asks.
"Have you seen HR?" Cisco asks her.
"Maybe he's meditating in his room." Caitlin guesses.
"No, he's not there," Cisco says and goes to the microphone. "HR, you're needed in the Speed lab, now."
"He could be doing inversion stretches in the intake." Caitlin guesses.
"You also saw that, huh?" Cisco asks.
"He's possibly brewing another cup of coffee." Caitlin shrugged.
"Not that either," Cisco says as he looks around the speed lab thinking he's hiding in here.
"Why do you need him so badly?" Caitlin asks him.
"He's going through my stuff, but now...he's just being stupid about it," Cisco informs them.
"Stupid about what?" Someone says and they turn to see someone who they've never met before.
"God, I swear I fixed the security system," Cisco promises as he runs around the computers. "Who the hell are you?"
"HR." He tells them and notices their confused looks. "Oh, right." He then pulls out a pen-shaped device that he places against his face and what looks like a hologram comes off of his face revealing HR to them. "See? What you've just been witness to was my partner's likeness, Randolph Morgan."
Then he saw their confused faces still there.
"Okay, I see what's going on here. You don't have facial transmogrification on this planet, do you?" HR asks.
"No, we do not," Caitlin tells him.
"Well, it's a good thing I found this contraption in my satchel. Forgot I brought it. It's so fun." HR says and Cisco takes the pen.
"So fun. How does this work?" Cisco asked as he walked over and picked up the pen.
"Light refraction technology," HR tells them.
"Light refraction?" Caitlin questioned.
"I think. Randolph, my business partner, is more in tune with the science. But this little sucker is gonna go a long way to solve my Harrison Wells facial issues." HR explains to them.
"I'm gonna hang onto this until I get my power cuffs back," Cisco says and pockets the device.
"Wait, your power cuffs?" HR asks, not understanding what he's talking about. "The metahuman power dampening cuffs?"
"Those very ones, the ones that are missing all of a sudden," Cisco states.
"What, you think I took them? Why would I need cuffs for?" HR asks, not following him. "I just got to this earth. I came alone. I haven't met anyone yet; it's gonna take a while, even when I do meet them, to get to the cuff stage."
"Hey, guys? I need you in the cortex." The voice of Barry fills the labs.
"Killed by a Jackal?" Gwen asks in shock. "Man, what is going on with this city?"
"I know, right?" Harry asks.
"I mean..." Norman muttered, recalling he was the Green Goblin, taking a drink of coffee.
"Could this be the thing that killed Edward Clariss?" Peter asks Barry.
"Clariss was a metahuman. This victim appears to be normal." Barry tells him.
"Do we know if this meta is from the particle accelerator or Dr. Alchemy?" MJ asks.
"We actually haven't found much evidence to process," Barry admits to them.
"If only we had a way, Francisco, to see what happened," HR says and Cisco understands him.
"Where was the crime scene located?" Cisco asks Barry.
"In Chubbuck, Andru, and Conway, around 11 last night," Barry says.
Cisco pulls up the footage and sees exactly as described, a giant Jackal killed the man. This triggered a memory in Barry, recalling the time in Flashpoint when he saw a case of something similar.
"Oh, no..." Barry said in worry.
"That look is giving me the thought that this has something to do with Flashpoint?" Peter asks in worry.
"Yeah," Barry confirmed with a sigh. "I wasn't exactly there for the reign, I just happened to show up in Flashpoint around the time he showed up." He explained what he did know. "From what I recall, he was a meta known as the Jackal."
"Jackal?" HR asked with a spooky tone. "The Jackal. Ooh, that is a spooky name."
"It looks like he is a mutate," Norman commented. "He seems to have created a similar formula that turned me into the Goblin."
"You saying that is a costume?" Jessica asks.
"No, no, I was fused with the formula since the accelerator exploded," Norman explained. "The original formula was supposed to transform me on a molecular level similar to this guy."
"Wow," Gwen scoffed. "So, did this guy come from OsCorp?"
"No, all trace of my dad's work died with him," Harry promised. "Excluding Hobgoblin." Then he eyed his father. "You know, the first time."
"But I am getting similar traces," Cisco said, showing them what he was picking up from the camera. "Giving off the same aurora on top of itself ten times over."
"This guy is ten times stronger than Goblin?" Peter asked in concern.
"How do you stop a guy like that?" Bobby asks.
"Well, my formula wasn't able to function well under extremely cold temperatures," Norman informed them.
"That would have been useful information when fighting you," Bobby commented.
Norman scoffed. "Like I would have let you get the chance back then."
"Okay, the takeaway of this is we just have to figure out a way to keep them slowed down, and that should be enough to grab him," Gwen commented, trying to keep them from causing a feud.
"All right, can you get started?" Barry asked them.
"Okay, but, like, right this minute?" Bobby asks.
"Yeah, I'm sure we just have to stop this guy fast so we can focus on Alchemy," Barry said with a sigh. "Wally has been having dreams about being a speedster... Alchemy dreams."
Gwen was shocked and worried to hear that. "How does this work?"
"We don't really know," Barry said. "And Peter told me, Gwen. You were also having dreams."
"What?" MJ asked, looking towards Gwen.
"Gwen and Wally both had powers in Flashpoint?" Cisco asked in shock. "Is anyone else going to have powers we should know about?"
That comment caused Caitlin to look away in fear, messing with her sleeves to hide something underneath them. Her actions went un noticed since everyone was focusing on Barry.
"Alright, I'm gonna work on a possible serum that can freeze his blood to get us a chance to catch him," Norman offered.
"I will find out some sort of way to track this guy," Cisco said as he walked off.
"I will supervise," HR offered.
"You are going to find my cuffs," Cisco stated.
"I will find your cuffs," HR stated, going off to do just that.
"So, in Flashpoint, I am Ghost-Spider?" Gwen asks Barry as she is being filled in on her life.
"Yeah." Barry nodded, the two of them alone because he wanted to tell her everything. "And... when Peter was supposed to get his powers supposedly you got them instead."
"Was I any good?" Gwen wondered how she was with spider powers.
"You were pretty good," Barry nodded. "For the short time I saw, you were a good hero."
"Then why do I sense that you are not telling me everything?" Gwen wonders.
"Because..." Barry sighed. "A lot of bad stuff did happen."
"Like what?" Gwen asks.
Barry sighed. "Peter got hurt."
Gwen was shocked to hear that. "How?"
"He... became the Lizard," Barry explained.
"What?" Gwen asked in horror. "He... he became the Lizard?"
"Yeah," Barry confirmed. "You thought that he was kidnapped by the creature, and fought him. Then you..."
"I killed him?" Gwen asked in shock and horror.
"You didn't know it was Peter," Barry assured her. "But if you are having these dreams, it means that you could turn into one of Alchemy's palms. When did they start?"
"Just around last night," Gwen shrugged.
Barry sighed as he knew that meant that she wasn't as far ahead as Wally was. But that still meant that she could be targeted. They still weren't aware of how Alchemy turned people, so they just needed to watch over them.
"Okay, this is good. We still have time to stop Alchemy before he targets you." Barry promises. "We just need to keep our eyes on you two."
Caitlin enters Cisco's labs where she sees he is hard at work. "Hey, Cisco," Caitlin called out as she entered into the labs.
"Yes?" Cisco says to focus on the computers.
"I took your cuffs," Caitlin admits and takes the metahuman cuffs off.
"Why?" Cisco asks, confused as he stops working.
"Because I need them," Caitlin tells him.
"Is this some sorta new lovers thing?" He asks as she grabs his water. "Because if so, I don't need to know. Because you're not a meta.." he was saying when he sees Caitlin freeze his water. "...human."
"Surprise," Caitlin says, and hands the cup to him, showing that she froze it solid. "It started a few months ago."
"So that's why you went to see your Mom, to see if she could help you." Cisco realizes.
"But she can't," Caitlin tells him. "I've run multiple tests, and there's nothing anyone can do. I need a favor. I need you to vibe me in the future. Because I need to know if I become...her."
"You're not gonna become her," Cisco tells her with a little of a sigh. "Just because you have these powers doesn't mean you're gonna turn into Killer Frost. Look at Bobby-"
"I think I might," Caitlin says, her voice showing she was afraid. "Please, I just need to know for sure. I need to know if I became evil because I don't want to hurt anyone. Because if I do, I need to leave and never come back."
Cisco now understands and hopes for the best as he takes her hand and starts getting a vibe.
He sees a forest covered in snow and he sees himself dressed as Vibe fighting Killer Frost... but the vibe also changes to replace him with Bobby. Then it once again changes to Jessica. Then again to Barry. Once again to Peter. All of them were however going with the same outcome.
It begins with Caitlin as Killer Frost attacking someone, and the other person fights her. It was like the timeline was jumping and glitching with itself. Choosing what timeline it wants.
He exits his vibe and sees Caitlin waiting for an answer.
"Well?" Caitlin asks in fear.
Cisco tells her, not wanting to tell her the truth. "I didn't see anything. You're fine."
"Oh, thank you," Caitlin says and engulfs him in a hug.
"But please don't tell anyone about this, not yet," Caitlin asks of him.
"Of course," Cisco said, watching her leave.
But the future was now haunting his thoughts. It seemed like no matter what path they took from here on out, they were going to end with them fighting Killer Frost.
Joe brings Wally in from the CCPD as his dreams are becoming more real. To the point where he is feeling the pain of the memories in Flashpoint. But considering that he died in Flashpoint, they needed to find a way to stop this. Everyone came down to see him and Gwen got worried about if this was what was in store for her.
"According to this, all your vitals are fine, Wally," Caitlin tells him.
"Wally, what did you see?" Barry asks.
"I was Kid Flash again, but this time it wasn't a good dream," Wally explained. "I was fighting The Rival at some abandoned sawmill."
"That's what happened in Flashpoint before you got hurt," Barry explained. "It's where..." He looked over to Gwen and saw that she seemed to get the hint. "... a lot of stuff went down. They're not just dreams, they must be memories of that life."
"More and more people are getting powers," Cisco said, still holding onto Caitlin's secret.
"Okay, so how do we stop this?" Jessica wonders.
"I mean, is there any way of stopping it?" Peter asks. "If Alchemy could reach you at CCPD, he could probably reach you from anywhere, right? And we still don't even know how he transfers people."
"I have a suggestion. Why don't we throw Wallace in the pipeline until we figure the situation out?" HR asks them.
"You want to lock him up?" Joe asks him, not cool with the plan.
"Actually, it's not a half-bad plan," Norman admits, getting them to look over at him. "Do I still not get a vote?"
"You are still on sabbatical," Peter tells him.
"Well, he does have a point." Gwen shrugged. "If we put him in the pipeline, it can stop Alchemy from reaching him. While he's in the pipeline, he can't get hurt, can't get touched, and we know he's secure. Right?"
"Theoretically," Harry shrugged. "Unless Alchemy can become a ghost."
"As much as I don't like it, Dad, maybe they're not wrong," Wally admits to Joe.
"But only till we figure out a better way to make you safe," Joe says.
"I'm gonna cancel this movie with Cecile," Joe says.
"Whoa, whoa, wait, wait. You've got a date with Cecile?" Iris asks.
"Yeah, I was gonna bring her to the movie in the park tonight," Joe tells them.
"Well, then go," Wally states. "You've put your life on hold for us long enough."
"Yeah, go be Joe West. You're always dad." Iris tells him.
"I am still not allowed to leave, so I guess I can stay here and keep working on the cure for our Jackel." Norman offered. "If something comes up, I can summon you."
"Do we trust leaving him here alone?" Joe asks.
"There are cameras everywhere, any tampering and we get an alert." Peter shrugged. "Let's see how well he does on his own."
"I told her all of you were coming with me. Am I gonna be the only one that shows up?" Joe asks.
"I would love to see a movie," Cisco says, ready to get out of the labs away from Caitlin. "What movie is this?"
"The Shining," Peter informs him. "May set it up with F.E.A.S.T., so she is gonna be there and we were gonna meet up with her to help set up."
"We were?" Bobby asks.
"Right, we forgot to tell you," Jessica said with a smile, patting his shoulder.
"The Shining, I love that movie," Cisco states.
"What? That movie always freaks you out. You never made it up to when the Grady twins arrived." Barry reminds his friend.
"That's-that's-that was-I was younger," Cisco informs him.
"Seriously?" MJ asks. "I have been watching movies like that since I was able to sneak Halloween into my room with my sister."
"Seriously?" Peter asks.
"Yeah, I even went as Freddy for a Halloween party," MJ admitted. "And there was that one incident with the... Ghostface."
"Huh?" Gwen asks.
"I might have spooked one of my classmates... in class," MJ confessed. She then chuckled. "I was suspended for about two weeks."
"You seriously scare me," Bobby commented.
"Why don't I go?" Caitlin asks.
"You sure you don't want to stay?" Cisco asks her.
"No, I'm good," Caitlin says.
"I... I guess I can stay here with Norman and Wally," Barry offered.
"You sure?" Caitlin asks.
"Yeah, I can stay here with him," Iris offered. "You guys have fun."
"Okay, see you later," Caitlin said, giving Barry a kiss on the cheek.
"Either way, the more the merrier," Joe tells them.
"Let's do it. Hell, this will be great fodder for my novel." HR says.
"Hold on, you guys didn't tell him?" Joe asks, referring to HR's face.
"Joe, no. They told me, finally. The Little Rascals. But I think that I've worked my way around that little problem. Watch..." HR says and uses his device to change his face.
Then he changes it to a flash of light that blurs their vision and they see HR changed back to normal.
"What did you do?" Barry asks.
"Did you just neuralyze us?" Cisco asks, referencing Men in Black.
"No, I gave you a neural adjustment so all of you can see me, HR, while the rest of the world sees Randolph Morgan," HR explains and they see his reflection is different from his face. "Joe, I promise, I'll be so quiet. You won't even know I'm there."
"All right," Joe says, agreeing to let him come. "Wally, keep me posted."
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Wally promised. "Just go have fun."
"That's great," HR said, walking away with Joe.
The team made it to the park while the kids were helping with the setup with May. That left the adults to find them their seats and the kids were helping finish up the set up with Martin Li.
"All right, we want to be 2/3 to the back, right in the middle," Cisco tells the group.
"That's a very small screen." HR comments on the screen. "Like, I don't know if we're gonna be able to see from-"
"HR, the screen is perfect, Okay? We'll be able to see fine." Cisco informs him. "That's where the engineer sits when he mixes the sound, all right? Why don't you worry about the snacks? We'll worry about the seats."
"Great idea," HR says and doesn't move.
"Any time now," Cisco says, seeing he was still standing there.
"Oh, I don't...I'm pretty sure they're not gonna take the money from my Earth," HR says and pulls out random metal shapes.
"What is this?" Cisco asks, picking one up.
"That's a helbing," HR says.
Cisco sighed as he pulled out some money. "Alright, go get us some food. Some drinks. Go."
"Alright, I'm on it," HR said, walking off with the money.
"You okay, Cisco?" Caitlin asks him, seeing he is avoiding her.
"Yeah, you know. Just trying to deal with HR." Cisco says.
"Yeah, 'cause you've been on edge ever since you vibed me," Caitlin tells him. "Are you gonna tell me what you really saw?"
"I told you what I saw." Cisco reminds her.
"I can tell when you're not being honest with me." Caitlin reminds Cisco. "Am I her?"
Cisco knows he can't hide it anymore. "Yeah. You're her. I saw you, me fighting. Like a full-on Vibe versus Killer Frost. Well... it was more like a fight with everyone. It was like time was still in flux."
Now Caitlin is afraid, hearing in a possible timeline that she might actually be fighting the people she held closest to her. "Well, have you vibed anything that didn't happen?"
"Just Earth-2 shattering," Cisco shrugged. "But it doesn't mean that it might not still happen. Caitlin, we have to tell the team. We have to figure out what is going on."
"No. It's too late," Caitlin stated. "Nobody else needs to know." She then walked off, leaving Cisco behind.
Teresa walked up to one of the stands where she saw Peter finishing the setup. "Hey there." She said, getting Peter to turn and was surprised to see his sister dressed up like Kim Possible (her favorite show) in an amazing costume. "What do you think?"
"Whoa, look at you." Peter complimented. "Pretty good. Your friends here?"
"Yeah, you'll find Al dressed like Ant-Man, and Kyle dressed like Iron Man," Teresa answered as she waved off to her friends. "How is everything?"
"Well... Gwen is now worried she will become like Wally." Peter caught her up. "Wally is currently locked up to keep Alchemy away from him."
"I leave for thirty minutes..." Teresa scoffed. Then she saw someone else. "Who is that?"
Peter looked over to HR. "Oh, right, HR didn't realize that Wells is wanted and a murderer here." He explained as he plugged in the snow cone machine, setting the stall up and walking off. "I will have to have you, and May will get flashed so you don't see his disguise."
"Wait, what?" Teresa asked as she followed him.
At STAR Labs, Norman and Barry were sitting at the controls while Iris was giving Wally some food. They were watching Wally as he bumped his head trying to pass the time. Barry kept looking over at Norman every now and then. He didn't blame him. He had a troubled past with everything, but he was trying to change.
"You stayed behind to keep eyes on me," Norman told Barry.
"Do you blame me?" Barry asks. "You hurt people."
"I know." Norman nodded. "And that is something that I am going to have to live with. I didn't want to be this. I created the Globulin Green to save lives. But... the serum and the accelerator twisted my mind. Everywhere I look around here, I can guess that people are wondering what I am planning. Wondering when I am going to turn back to the Green Goblin."
"We know you want to put the Goblin behind, but it isn't going to be that simple," Barry said with a sigh as he leaned back. "We want to believe you. But... you hurt a lot of us. You kidnapped MJ. You kidnapped Caitlin. You hurt Peter more times than we can count. It's just that second chances, in your case, are rare both ways. You were brought back from the dead, and seem to be better for it. We are just trying to be safe if you were to be lying."
"I understand." Norman nodded. "And I promise you, I have no more ill intendants. Without the serum, I am just Norman Osborn. And I will not ruin this second chance I have with my son."
Barry nodded as he laid back. "We will have to see. Your actions will speak louder than words."
Back at the group, Joe approached the seats as he finally showed up with his date, Cecile. He approached as Peter and Bobby were putting their jackets down.
"Hey, you okay?" Joe asks, seeing Cisco's look of fear.
"Yeah, fine," Cisco sighed.
"Hi, I'm Caitlin." Caitlin introduces herself to Cecile while shaking her hand.
"Hi. Cecile. And you must be Cisco." Cecile guesses recognizing him from CCPD.
"That's me," Cisco said, shaking her hand.
"You're Barry's brother, right?" Cecile asks Peter.
"Yeah, that's me. My sister Teresa. My friends, Bobby, Gwen, and Harry." Peter introduced his friend group.
"Hey, there," Harry greeted.
"Wanda," Wanda greeted.
"Where is your aunt?" Joe wonders.
"Oh, here I am!" May cried as she ran over. "Sorry, Mr. Li seems to have vanished on me. I had to finish up on the preparations." She said as she greeted Cecile. "Hi, I'm May."
"Cecile," Cecile greeted her.
"Don't forget about me!" HR tried as he ran over and looked over to May. "Hello... I'm HR. HR Randolf. Amazing to meet you."
"Oh, hello, it is good to finally meet you," May said as she shook his hand.
Peter wasn't sure what he was looking at as he looked over to Bobby. "What the hell is happening?"
Later on, everybody was all sitting down and waiting for the film to begin while Joe was shooting a text to Barry, wondering if Wally was okay. While that was going on, the kids were in the row ahead of the adults and Peter kept on turning to watch as HR was talking with May, making him a little uncomfortable.
"And so then then she says to me, "Oh, so you are hot chocolate from another land." I said, "Okay, easy, now." Then she, "Wait a minute. Do you speak a foreign language?"
"What did you say?" May wonders,
"Well, I said, "Sure"." HR said in a European accent. "As long as I know the words."
May then laughs, getting MJ to see Peter is watching them. "You okay?"
"I don't know," Peter admitted. "I feel disgusted and a little creeped out."
"And...?" MJ knew there was more to that.
"And..." Peter remembered how only May had been since Ben's passing. "She deserves to be happy. I am not going to... condemn her from dating, but... I don't know how I feel."
MJ smiled as she reached over and pulled Peter closer. "Still thinking about Ben?"
"All the time."
"Would Ben want her to be happy? To move on and find love again?" MJ asked him.
"But is it too soon?" Peter wonders,
"I think that is for her to decide. It's been four years. I think it's long enough." MJ admitted.
"Yeeze, now I need to make sure I don't die for longer than ten years." Peter joked.
MJ scoffed as she smacked him on the shoulder. "Come on, it's starting."
They watched as the screen began to play, showing the movie was about to begin. That was when a shadow appeared over the screen projecting the movie. Peter then felt his senses go off, as did Jessica as she and Peter stood up. That was when the video screen was ripped open and the Jackal laughed, causing everyone to jump and run away in fear.
Peter and Jessica both ran off to get into their superhero attire. Bobby used the crowd as a distraction to morph into his Iceman form. As they were doing that, Joe was directing the crowd off to get them away. Cisco quickly summoned Barry, hoping that he would get here in time.
While they were getting ready for a fight, Jackal was chasing after someone in the crowd. He seemed to be chasing someone. He leaped and slammed in front of a man. He whimpered and fell backwards in fear when he saw the giant skinny creature stand above him.
"Samuel Fox. I finally found you!" Jackal stated, getting his claws ready to kill the man.
But before he could, several strands of webbing stuck out and grabbed his hands. Jackal looked over and saw the webbing come from Spider-Man and Spider-Woman. They were hanging onto the webbing to keep him from running.
"Go!" They yelled at the man.
Samuel then ran off, running as fast as he could.
"NO!" Jackal cried as he yanked their webs, showing he was stronger than them. "No matter." He then marched over towards the two of them. "I can use you two as my subjects!"
"Subjects?" Jessica asks.
"Great, this guy is a doctor?" Jessica asks.
"Most maniacs are," Peter stated with a groan.
Before Jackal could attack them with his claws, a flash of lightning came and saved them. Barry then showed up, revealing he had arrived in his Flash attire. He came to a stop right in front of Jackal with Peter and Jessica. Caitlin, Cisco, and HR made it to the STAR Labs van they brought with them and hacked into the cameras.
"So, you are the Jackal?" Barry asks. "Guys, you here?"
"Yeah, we're in the van," Cisco said. "Where's Bobby?"
Bobby then shot Jackal with a blast of mist, sending him flying and slamming into the seats. "Sorry that it took me a minute." He said as he walked over towards Barry. "Had to take a pit-stop."
"Told you to go before the movie," Peter told his friend.
"And I told you-"
"Can we argue about this later?" Jessica asks them. "We've gotta deal with-" Then she looked over and saw Jackal was gone. "Where'd he go?"
Barry quickly spun around where he saw Jackal standing and then backhanded him, sending Barry flying and slamming into a tree. Peter and Jessica quickly got to work, shooting webs to try and contain Jackal. Jackal only laughed as he ripped through the webbing easily and kicked Bobby before he could summon the mist again. Peter got his attention off of Jackal to shoot a web to save Bobby.
Bobby was latched right before he slammed into a tree and was yanked backward. But that didn't exactly work out in their favor when Jackal grabbed Peter while he was distracted.
"I know the neighborhood is going green, but this is a step too faaaaaaaaaaar!" Peter cried as he was thrown towards Bobby, smacking them into one another.
"Man, this guy does not go down," HR commented.
Caitlin then got an idea when she looked down at the meta cuffs and quickly took them off. "What are you doing?" Cisco asks.
"They are going to need these," Caitlin said as she left the van.
HR was focusing on that she had the cuffs. "She took the cuffs?"
"She took the cuffs!" Cisco confirmed. "Can we focus?"
Jackal then charged towards Jessica as she leaped over and kicked him in the face. "Whoa! Dude, you seriously need to cool it! What do you even want from these guys?"
"My goals are way beyond your understanding, you insignificant child!" Jackal cried.
"If I had a nickel for every time I have heard that," Jessica stated as she webbed his face, running over to her friends as he tried to remove it. "Come on, guys, I need some help here!"
Bobby groaned as he got back up. "That hurt." He then looked over and kicked Peter. "Hey, wake up!"
"What?" Peter groaned and saw the Jackal. "Right, this guy."
"Okay, I'll handle the feet, you guys hold down the legs, and Bobby get ready to blast him," Barry said as he got back up.
"On it," Bobby said.
"Let's do it!" Peter said.
Peter went at Jackal from the left and Jessica went at the right as they leaped upward and swung at Jackal, shooting two webs that latched onto his arms and then swapped locations. Peter went right while Jessica went left to cross his arms. Barry then grabbed some rope from the areas and wrapped them around his legs. Bobby then quickly shot him with ice, trying to keep him down.
"Flash!" Caitlin cried, tossing the cuffs.
Barry sped over and grabbed them, running and cuffing the Jackal. They were shocked however when the Jackal fell unconscious and transformed into someone they all recognized: Miles Warren.
"Gwen's uncle?" Peter asked in shock.
MJ was bringing Harry and Gwen as far away from the chaos as she felt something was wrong. Gwen groaned as she took a stumble, falling to the ground as new memories flooded in.
. Gwen tackled the lizard by the snout and webbed his mouth so she could ride him like a bull. The creature tried to fight back and shake her off of him, but it wasn't enough to loosen her hold on him.
"Where is he?!" Gwen cried out in anger towards the lizard. "Where's Peter?!"
Lizard managed to shake Gwen off and sent her flying into the wall. Once there, the lizard tried to eat her, but she managed to keep his jaws off of her. Licking the lizard back, he was sent scurrying and quickly crawled back up to his feet. Gwen knew this was a life or death situation, and if this creature had any answers to find Peter...she was gonna make sure she found them.
Utilizing her resourcefulness, Gwen utilized her web-shooters to create a crude makeshift weapon. Crafted from various sharp items found in the junkyard, she only hoped it would be enough to pierce its thick skin. With a single, powerful swing, she struck the Lizard with a stunning blow, sending him crashing into a towering pile of scrap metal. The shockwave seemed to be enough to shake the ground surrounding them and set the speedsters off balance. Barry managed to speed over, then sucker punched the Rival in the face.
It was then, in that fleeting moment of triumph, that she noticed something peculiar about her fallen adversary. The Lizard's transformation began to reverse, revealing the face of her best friend, Peter.
A gasp escaped Gwen's lips as she stared in disbelief. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Peter, her loyal friend, had somehow transformed into this monstrous creature. The shock and guilt washed over her, threatening to consume her.
"What?" Gwen asks as she runs over in terror. She watched the transformation reverse and her best friend was injured. She had pierced his stomach with that weapon, and now he was bleeding out. "No, no, what did I do?" She looked at Peter and took his hand, wondering why he would do this. "What did you do?"
Peter groaned as he felt the pain in his stomach was too much for him to bear. "I just...I wanted to be special. Like you." He reached up and grabbed her face. "Gwen."
Gwen almost gasped when she heard that he knew who she was. "Gwen?" She didn't know why she was even trying. "Who's Gwen?"
"Don't worry," Peter told him. "Everything's going to be okay."
Gwen screamed as she fell down, clutching her head as she felt like she was hearing nails scratch on glass.
"Peter?"
"Then you know what you have to do."
"Gwen Stacy." Alchemy began to summon her. "Come find me!"
"Gwen, what is going on?" MJ asked, running over to her friend, seeing she was in pain.
"A-Alchemy!" Gwen cried in terror. "He's calling me!"
MJ worked fast, and she did all she could think of: Slap her best friend in the face.
It became clear that Gwen was not the sole individual called upon by Alchemy. The more Wally delayed his search for Alchemy, the more his condition deteriorated. To prevent him from clawing his way out of confinement, Norman resorted to gassing his cell in the pipeline.
"It was like nothing I have ever seen before," Norman informed them. "It was almost like watching the Goblin from someone else's perspective."
"I knew I shouldn't have left," Joe states.
"It's okay, nothing happened," Barry tells him.
"He's not okay, Barry. This thing is coming after him, and...and there ain't a damn thing we can do?" Joe asks them.
"Well, we got Jackal, so now we can focus on Alchemy," Barry tells him. "All right?"
"Unless Alchemy sends another meta to attack," Jessica says.
"You think Jackal was a distraction?" Iris asks her.
"I think the attack on Wally and the attack by Jackal didn't coincidentally happen at the same time," Jessica explained her thought. "As well as the fact a few minutes later, Gwen gets a stronger vision..."
"If that's so, Alchemy is gonna be sending another meta pretty soon," Joe says.
"We don't know that," Barry replied.
"Barry, we have found about six husks so far," Joe stated. "And aside from Quake, Rival, and Jackal, there are about three more out there that we know of."
"If they come, we'll face them," Barry replies. "But Alchemy can't get to Wally if he stays in the cell."
"Do we know that for sure?" Peter asks. "I mean, this dude has managed to appear and disappear pretty easily. We don't know if he can just come and go as he pleases."
"And if this is anything like I dealt with when the Goblin was in my mind, he will never stop," Norman warned, using his experience as an example. "He will only get louder until you finally comply. And now with Gwen, it seems he is forcing it to happen a lot faster. He wants them for something big."
"Ignoring the problem does not get rid of it," Cisco says and looks to Caitlin. "You have to face it. Don't we?"
That got everyone confused as they looked between the two of them. "Uh.. did we miss something?" Bobby wonders. "It feels like we missed something."
"It's nothing," Caitlin tells him.
"Come on, Caitlin," Cisco tells her.
"Not right now, Cisco," Caitlin replies.
"I just- I can't just keep this in. You have to tell them." Cisco states, only raising more questions.
"Tell us what?" Joe asks
Caitlin sees that she can't keep this a secret and just removes the cuffs again. "I have powers."
That shocked everyone as they looked at her in surprise. "You... you have powers?" Harry asks.
"You have powers?" Wanda asked in shock.
"What kind of powers?" Teresa asks.
Caitlin then raised her hands, releasing a vat of mist that came from her palms. "The cold kind."
That came as a surprise as everyone looked shocked to see that she indeed had powers.
"Happy now?"
"So, what, we're just gonna keep secrets from each other?" Cisco asked her.
"Well, this wasn't your secret to tell, was it, Cisco?" Caitlin stated.
"I did it because I care about you," Cisco tells her.
"If you cared about me, then you would have let me tell them all when I was ready. Because this is happening to me, not you." Caitlin reminds him with fear in her voice. "I'm the one turning evil. I'm the one who's gonna have to leave soon." She states before leaving the room.
"Wait, what?" Bobby asked in shock.
"I vibed us fighting her in the future," Cisco tells them all. "She was Killer Frost. It was hard to tell who exactly she was fighting. It was like it was still in flux."
"I'll go talk to her," Bobby says.
"No, wait, I've got this one," Barry said as he walked off to find her.
Caitlin was in her labs, placing the cuffs back on when Barry entered and sat down in the second chair. The two stared at one another, taking a few moments to take in the (ironically) cold air of the room.
"How long have you known?" Barry finally got the courage to ask her.
"A few months. First, I didn't want to accept what was happening to me. And then I had to." Caitlin tells him. "And then I tried to suppress my powers. But there's no suppressing these powers."
"I just don't understand, why didn't you tell me?" Barry asks, confused as to why she would keep something like this.
"I think because...things were finally going well between us, I didn't want things to change," Caitlin explains to him. "I didn't want to leave you, Bobby, or the team. "I just can't believe this is my life."
"It shouldn't be." Barry breathed, rubbing his forehead. "None of this should be. I should have noticed something was up- I should have helped you through this. What kind of a husband am I going to be if I don't even notice that you have powers and are scared about something?"
Caitlin shook her head, wiping a couple of unbidden tears away from her eyes with the back of her hand. "It's not...It's my fault. I should have- I should have told you when I discovered I had powers- I was just so- so.." She broke off, smothering a sob. "I was so scared, and I don't want to leave the Team and I- I don't want to leave you, I don't want to leave Bobby, especially after all he has been through, but I don't want to hurt anyone-"
"I might have done something," Barry admitted with a sigh. "I mean... Dr. Alchemy, Norman, you getting powers, all of this is because of me and Flashpoint." He sighed as he considered all the changes. "Teresa, Wanda, a lot of these changes because of my mistake. Even Dante is dead... I mean, some of these changes, they are... fine. Wanda is sweet, and it has been nice, Teresa is a good kid. But... all of this is because of my one mistake. And it is like no matter what I do now, everything is going to be different."
"So none of this happened before?" Caitlin asked in shock.
"I'm sorry, Caitlin," Barry said as he reached over and pulled her in close.
As they were having their moment, the door opened and Bobby knocked. "Hey, sorry, but Gwen and Wally are awake."
"Okay," Barry said as he looked over to Caitlin. "How are you feeling now?"
"A lot better, I suppose." Caitlin shrugged. "Let's go check on them."
Gwen woke up and groaned as she rubbed her head where MJ slapped her. "Man, girl, you hit hard."
"Sorry about that," MJ said.
"No, that was a compliment," Gwen promised. "But maybe try to be softer next time. Save that energy for the enemy."
"What do we do? We got to come up with something." Joe tells them
Gwen then got an idea. "What if you use us?"
"What?" Peter asks. "Use you?"
"Follow us to Alchemy," Gwen explains. "We can finally put an end to this. This guy already turned my uncle into a freak, what else can I lose?"
"Your life for starters," Teresa stated.
"No, no, hell no," Joe stated. "We are not putting the two of you in danger.
"Alchemy's calling for us to go to him." Wally defended. "Like she said, follow us wherever he is, and we can stop him."
"And that is not all," Norman said, showing them brain scans. "I saw something similar when the Goblin was a part of me. These are signs of permanent brain damage coming in. Whatever this guy is doing, he is going to either get it or damage Gwen and Wally."
"That sounds like we don't really have a choice on the matter now," May commented. "We might have to do what they want."
Joe sighed as he wasn't a fan of this. "We don't have a choice. We have to do what they wanted; we have to use him to find Alchemy."
"No, we're not, it's too dangerous," Barry said.
"So is doing nothing," Peter stated, not willing to risk his friend/ex-girlfriend. "We need to do something."
"Need I remind everyone that Dr. Alchemy has a rock that shoots lasers, so who knows what he has up his sleeve?" Cisco asks.
"Cisco's right." MJ agreed. "What if we're walking into a trap?"
"You guys aren't walking into anything," Joe stated. "You guys are gonna stay here. If we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it right."
"Then we better bring some tricks of our own," Peter stated as he looked at Harry. "Think my toys are ready?"
Harry was shocked to hear he wanted to try them out. "You really wanna do it?"
"Let's do it," Peter stated.
"What are you two talking about?" Wanda asks.
"We might have been playing around with the idea of... changing my suit," Peter explained. "Adding some new features."
"Like what?" Joe asks.
"Oh, you'll see," Peter said with a grin. "If my friend is going into danger, then I am going to do all I can do to protect her."
Joe was rallying a full team for departure at the CCPD, having received Singh's approval to assemble the Metahuman Task Force. Their mission was to safeguard Wally and Gwen. Despite having the likes of Spider-Woman, Flash, Spider-Man, and Iceman on guard, Joe knew better than to proceed without ample backup. Amidst the preparations, Layla observed from an overhead balcony. Her true purpose was to face Alchemy, yet he remained elusive.
She sneaked off and quickly made a call to her husband. "Hey, they might actually have something."
They follow Wally and Gwen to some strange subway off in an abandoned street. It gave them a strange feeling, especially those with Spider base powers.
"You getting a strange feeling here?" Jessica asked Peter.
"Yeah, it's weird," Peter muttered. "Last time I felt like this, I was traveling to Earth-2."
"Remember, when you get in there, we're not gonna have eyes," Cisco warns them.
"Roger that," Peter confirms as they make their way down.
Wally and Gwen's condition were worsening as they get closer to Alchemy. "You okay?" Jessica asked, catching her before she fell. "You alright?"
"I am fine." Gwen whispered, wondering if she really wanted this to fail.
Did she really want powers?"
"I'm picking up heat signatures," Peter informs them using his mask to see through the walls. "I read maybe eight in there with the leader, most likely Alchemy."
"Those were your upgrades?" Barry asks.
"One of them," Peter stated with a grin under his mask.
They get ready as Gwen and Wally go in to lead Alchemy into the trap and they see several people bowing down to a figure with a hood and mask on. They were bowing towards what appeared to be a stone of sorts.
"Hello, Wallace." Alchemy greets him. "Hello, Gwendolyn."
"Never heard someone call me by my first name in a long time," Gwen muttered.
"Are you him? Are you the voice I've been hearing inside my head?" Wally asks him while walking forward.
"I am Alchemy." He confirms to them.
"I've been having visions of another life. Where-where I have speed, where, I'm the Flash." Wally says as he stands in front of Alchemy.
"So have I. I can jump as high as a tall building. Climb walls. I was a hero. Spider-Woman," Gwen confirmed.
"I can give you both that back, should you desire it," Alchemy tells them both.
"I just want the pain to stop," Wally asks him.
"It will, child. Whatever you desire, I will see it so." Alchemy assures him. "Now tell me, do you wish for the life that was taken from you to return? To return to you your powers?"
"What I wish for...is all of you gone," Wally says as all of the followers pull out blades.
"IT'S A TRAP!"
That was when Peter came in, his fist glowing with electricity as he punched the ground, sending dozens of the followers flying around the room. Barry runs in to take the blades as Jessica leaped into the room and shot several strands to web the followers.
Peter goes for the stone when Alchemy pulls it towards him and uses it to send Peter and Barry flying across the room. They groaned as he fell and slammed into the dirt. Jessica shot a few webs, but they scorched when they hit the stone.
"What the hell?" Jessica asks.
"These two have been chosen, Spider-Woman," Alchemy states and starts blasting at her. "And you will not stand before what must be-" he gets interrupted by the sudden attack by a crescent moon dart that impaled him in the back. "GAH!"
That was when everyone then turned around and saw that it was the Moon Knight who had come to their rescue. He pulled two more moon darts from his chest and tossed them towards Alchemy.
"The Avatar of Khonshu!" Alchemy scoffed when he saw Moon Knight. "Did you think that I wouldn't be prepared for your arrival?!"
"I have been waiting for this day for a good while, Alchemy!" Marc stated as he ran over and punched Alchemy in the face.
"Guys, are you seeing this?" Jessica asked them.
"Yeah, just having a hard time believing it," Peter stated. "Bobby? You're up."
Bobby then came forth and shot a giant blast of mist into the room, freezing everyone and everything in sight. Alchemy fell to the ground, the cold air practically freezing their lungs, causing them to have trouble breathing. To their surprise, there was no sign of the Moon Knight when the dust settled.
"Get on your knees, now!" Joe says and Alchemy drops the stone and it goes sliding across the room where Wally sees it.
"That was a grave mistake," Alchemy tells them.
"It's over, you will no longer threaten our world," Peter stated.
"Over? You have no idea what's about to begin." Alchemy says when they hear rumbling from the building Barry looks as a white blur runs around the room.
"Did you guys see that?" Barry asks.
"See what?" Bobby asks,
"You don't see it?" Peter asked, confused when his senses were constantly going off in different areas.
Suddenly, all of the swat members are getting attacked by something apparently invisible and Barry tries chasing it when Peter gets smacked by the invisible thing and Wally hears voices coming from the stone.
"Get them out of here!" Peter tells Jessica and Bobby.
"Come on!" They lead Gwen out of the chaos.
At that moment, Barry is assaulted and hurled towards the ceiling. Peter and Joe rise to find Barry mysteriously healing, as if by invisible forces—this is what Joe perceives, at least.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Peter cried in terror.
"Who are you!?" Barry asks as he sees a giant, metal speedster in front of him.
"Savitar. The god of speed." The metal speedster says and pulls a blade from his arm.
Meanwhile, there was the transport truck that was leading the Jackal to Iron Heights to await his trial. As he was being dragged off, they thought that he was sedated. But Jackal then opened his eyes with a grin. The guards weren't any the wiser when all of a sudden the restraints holding him back were ripped off and all anyone outside the truck could see was the rumbling and chaos as the car crashed into the wall.
Jackal then pushed open the doors and took in a deep breath. "Ah... fresh air... and a new dawn approaches."
The Watcher saw all of this chaos and sighed. "It's too late. Things have been set into motion that are going to change the course of their entire universe forever. They don't even know what is approaching them. The Jackal is loose... and so is the God of Speed. But I sense a change in the timeline. Not everything is as it seems."