Flashpoint Mayhem

by TrueHorror88

Another victory for the team, yet someone was unable to celebrate that and chose to make a world-shaking decision. Barry saved his mother from death, changing his past and his present, but it also affected others without him knowing. Seth and his family are just as affected, maybe more. The team faces newer threats, but they're not new to the Lethal Protector. They're threats.

15. Chapter 15: Blood-stained Ice

Hey you all folks!

First of all, I'm really, really thankful and grateful to all love and support you've shown in either messages or reviews. Means a lot, thank you all.

Glad to see you're all still enjoying the story and the latest chapter, my heart's full.

Now to answer some reviews:

hunter41963801: Glad to hear. And regarding your question(s), the answers will reveal themselves in the coming chapters, further into the future, you might say.

Ultra-Ranger: Yeah, found out myself, really strange it's happening. But thanks for notifying me and glad you're enjoying the chapter. And thanks.

guest: Thanks, on both things.

Ka4tyna27: Unfortunately, no, the nightmares did not come from Liv or from Madame Web. The source… Who knows? The girl that Eliza healed, we'll see about her circumstances, or not, who knows? Unfortunately, we're gonna wait a bit for that showdown. This chapter's something non-canon.

Guest: Thanks for them, man. Means a lot. It's tough, but we're handling ourselves as much as we can. I've watched both, and really enjoyed them both. Haven't decided on if either of them are gonna make a cameo or not, my friend.

Guest: Already got an idea in the works, for a future chapter. I'll try and make it good.

Guest: That's our hero's future, maybe… And maybe he will be the one to pull the curtain on Thawne, who knows? Also, LOT is good, could be fun to make a cameo in that or not. Not exactly, but something else has happened to our hero, something I may have introduced or not.

Once again, sorry for the late update…

Also, spoiler: There is Anime-influence.

And now..

Without further ado…

ENJOY!

Chapter 15: Blood-stained Ice

Sitting by his desk by himself at his desk in the police precinct, Joe West kept going looking through the massive stack of cases that his captain had assigned to him. He couldn't believe how this all happened even under the eyes of the entire police force and the heroes that patrol and protect this city daily.

"Yo." Joe looked up, seeing Seth standing there. "New cases?"

"Yeah." Joe said with a sigh. "Apparently a string of break-ins. Thrift shops, tech stores, even a few offices at small companies."

"That's a lot of places? Was it a gang?" Seth inquired, looking over the detective's shoulder.

"Maybe… But one of these places does have a Rhino-sized hole in them." Joe pushed an open folder to the mutant, showing an image of a large hole on the side of a building. Seth examined it as a joke came from the detective. "You've got three guesses, and two of them don't count."

"Sinister Seven." Seth didn't even have to guess. The damage was too great for any ordinary human robbers to do this. Unlike robbers who'd only leave slight and small damage, this level of damage could have only been done by a coordinated group. "They attacked these small places."

"And not a single person was harmed, thankfully. But considering everything they've done in terms of damage, this is small-scale." Joe noted. "Barry's at the crime scenes of each place, combing them over with his science stuff."

Seth raised an eyebrow with a chuckle. "You should probably not call your son's CSI skills for "science stuff.""

"Well, that's how I understand it. And that's what I hear." Joe stood up, taking his coat. "You wanna come with me?"

"Where we going?" Seth asked.

"Joan Celia's." Joe shocked the mutant. "Spoke with her before, arranged a meeting with her at her place. Figured it was time to talk to her about Eliza."

"You don't seriously think she's involved?" Seth questioned him.

"They worked together, side by side no less. Right now, she's the closest thing to a friend that Eliza Harmon has." Seth couldn't argue with that logic as Joe noted. "You don't she is."

"From what you told me about what happened on Christmas, it sounds like JC wasn't involved and was just as shocked by Eliza's true colors as we were." Seth stated. "Really, I think chances of her being part of this… Things are slim, non-existent actually."

"Guess we'll find out." Joe said, tearing off a piece of paper from his notepad with JC's address. "Been meaning to ask, that girl that Eliza… Did whatever she did to our former junkie, you think she put a symbiote in her?"

"Way ahead of you, and no, she did not. Same tests that Cait and I ran on Ruby and Evelyn after them getting symbiotes, we ran them on the girl when she was in the hospital. She's got no symbiote, just a former junkie getting healing treatment and has been cleansed of all purities that drugs are well-known for." Seth stated.

"Sounds like she's done a civil duty, for now." Joe chuckled hollowly. "Let's go."

"After you, Josephine." Seth quipped.

X

"RAWR!" A loud enraged cry emitted, echoing throughout the entire hideout, as a large table was kicked off the ground and sent spiraling through the air before embedding into a wall.

Taking long, booming steps towards it, Rhino clenched a fist. In blinding rage, he smashed his fist into the table, further driving it into the wall. "Why?!" He roared out loud in the hideout.

With a sneer escaping his gritted teeth, Scorpion crushed the beer bottle in his hand. "Hey, you giant bastard, quit your damn tantrum already! It's getting on my nerves." He jumped off the table he was sitting on, landing on four and aimed his stinger at the rhinoceros-armored villain. "Scratch that, I'll take you down a notch right here and now!"

Aleksei snapped his head to him. "Oh yeah?!"

"Silence you ingrates!" Vulture shouted at them, flying over their heads. He got their attention. "This ruckus is needless and reckless. I know it's your usual pattern, but stop rampaging whenever you feel like it."

"Stop your damn chirping, Toomes." Shocker shouted, entering the area with both of his arms releasing vibrating energy. "This damn shouting is getting on my nerves!"

"BE QUIET ALL OF YOU!"

The four villains lowered their arms, turning their attention to the side where Otto Octavius gave them a sharp glare. The glare alone from their fearsome leader made them stand down. "Finally." He said in relief, returning his attention to the gauntlet-like device he's been modifying.

"Doc, what've you been working on this whole time?" Mac Gargan inquired, standing back on his two feet.

"Do you recall the parts I had you all individually acquire for me?" Otto started.

"Yes, the devices did surprise me though. They weren't of any high standard or anything of the sorts, they were low-maintenance." Adrian admitted, lowering himself to the ground again.

"Precisely, Mr. Toomes." Otto stated. "Due to their "averageness," no one would dare to think they could provide any value…" Having disassembled the phone and taken the glass screen off of it, he uses his mechanical arms to press it down on the device he's been making this entire time. "Unless they're in the hands of a genius, of course. Because of this, it is highly unlikely that it will be brought up to either Venom or the pesky speedsters attention."

"Small stuff is not worth much." Aleksei deduced with a deep chuckle. "But why we wait after work while speedy runs around?"

"While we all excel in our different areas, including survey and information gathering, Mr. Clariss' superior speed allows him to move swiftly. And if he moves smart, as instructed, he will go undetected." Dr. Octopus elaborated. "And Mr. Clariss should be back-"

WHOOSH

A gust of air hit the six faces of the Sinister Seven when the Rival returned. Taking off his cowl, Edward faced Otto. "Doc." He greeted their evil leader.

"Welcome back, Mr. Clariss." Otto said. "I take it your rounds went smoothly?"

"Smooth sailing. Best is, the speedsters, Venom and the others, they're all too busy with finding Scream." Edward said. "Bet they've forgotten about us for now."

"It would appear they've received quite an impression from you…" Otto used his mechanical arms, lifting him up from the desk and looking at the entrance that's cloaked by shadows. "Dr. Eliza Harmon."

Following the direction of their leader's eyes, the rest of the Sinister Seven widened their eyes when seeing Eliza Harmon step into their field of vision with Taskmaster. "What can I say? Girl's gotta make a big impression." She looked around, taking in the rusty dark interior of the hideout. "Cozy."

"It's not." Scorpion countered.

"I was being sarcastic." Eliza retorted. "Now, Tasky said you'd like to see me, Doc? What's up?"

"I believe the order you put in…" One of his mechanical arms went to the table, grabbing the gauntlet-like device. "Is finished."

"Perfect." Eliza said as the device was held up in front of her face, but not within arm's length for her to grab it. "It looks good. Calibrated to my specifications, I hope?"

"Of course." Otto said smugly, but wore an expression that showed offense. As if he'd ever fail to meet a requirement. "Now, what do you plan to do with this?"

"Control the remaining symbiotes in my possession." Eliza admitted.

Shocker looked shocked. "Seriously? That's the plan?"

"Well, sorta." Eliza admitted. Seeing the glares around her, pointing at her with impatience, she explained. "The plan is to see how two of these symbiotes adapt to hosts of my choosing, I gotta fatten them up first. But the two last ones… That's what I'm gonna use that device on."

"To fatten them up you say?" Adrian Toomes said suspiciously.

"Something wrong, Mr. Vulture?" Eliza said, narrowing her eyes at the tone he's using.

"Why would you fatten them up? For what purpose does that serve, Dr. Harmon?" Vulture inquired.

Eliza raised a hand, a mass of symbiote covering it and revealed a glass spherical container. A container with a green and light aqua colored symbiote that sloshed around within its confines. "According to the information I've received from both Savitar and Taskmaster, not to mention Dr. Octavius himself, if the hosts aren't compatible with the symbiotes then they die within a day's time. But even if they do end up being incompatible…"

"The knowledge that the hosts possess will then become the symbiotes'." Otto finished off her words. "You wanna give them enough knowledge that they'll be practically invincible."

"Knowledge is power." Eliza smirked, seeing that her plan was appearing to sink in. "And Doctor, in the meantime, I kinda need you to hold on to the device."

"You don't need it now?" Otto asked.

"Have to keep a promise to a friend." Eliza admitted vaguely.

"You got friends?" Taskmaster quipped.

Faking surprise Eliza faced him with a hurt look. "Your words hurt me so much, Tasky. Which is why you and Rival are gonna join me for a little shopping trip."

"Shopping trip?" The mercenary stated his confusion.

"And you want me onboard?" Edward asked in his own confusion.

Otto chuckled to himself, knowing better than his henchmen. "Enjoy your shopping trip, Dr. Harmon."

Eliza showed a sickly maniacal smirk at those words.

X

(Snow-Fury Residence)

Walking down the stairs from the second floor of her new home came Caitlin. She took off her jacket hanging off the rack on the near wall. After Seth went to work and their daughters went to school, she decided to stay behind for a bit to rummage through the files that Eliza worked on while working at Mercury Labs.

Her research into the files didn't amass much result, except for the fact that Eliza Harmon was truly a genius in her own way. The mountain of finished projects were a testament to her knowledge and her skills as a scientist.

She remembered when she worked there before last year, working there to stay away from S.T.A.R. Labs and working alongside Eliza. She was brilliant back then, but now… She's far surpassed her previous state, already at a place far, far ahead of most in her field.

But at the same time that buckled her mind with waves of seismic confusion.

Why would such a brilliant scientist, working for the goodness of others, turn down a dark path with blood at every inch of it?

Caitlin sighed to herself, she had a feeling that she and her team would find the answer to this question when facing off against Eliza. "Eliza, what made you into this?"

Her head snapped when hearing a ringing sound from her phone on the dinner table. Turning her eyes to it, she walked over to it and picked it up. This time her eyes widened in surprise, seeing that the caller was Samantha Arias.

"Ms. Arias?" Caitlin muttered to herself in surprise. Accepting the call, she placed it to her ear and answered. "This is Caitlin Snow speaking."

"Dr. Snow, hello. It's Samantha Arias, your daughters' homeroom teacher." She replied.

"Hi, Ms. Arias. What's on your mind?" Caitlin asked.

X

"This is where she lives?" Seth asked in shock.

Joe and Seth made their way to JC's place. But the sight shocked the mutant, because it was the same place that he lived in when he worked at her father's bar in the erased timeline that was erased due to Barry resetting the timeline.

The building, though closed off, was the same as before when it was a bar. Only difference this time is the entrance being on the outside of the building on top of a staircase that is placed beside the building.

"Address is right." Joe noted, seeing the notepad page with the address. Closing it, he turned his head to him. "Why, you know this place?"

"I lived here, yeah." Seth revealed, shocking his friend. "Back in the timeline before Flashpoint, and before I adopted Frankie, I was living on top of the bar that was once here."

"I remember there being a bar here. But nothing about you living or working here…" Joe stopped talking, seeing the saddened look on his friend's face. "Must have meant a lot for you to work here."

"Definitely." Seth admitted. "It meant a lot working here for Stan and with JC. Gave me a roof over my head, a place to sleep and… Well, the unlimited amount of booze wasn't something to sneeze at either." Slightly pulling away the cardboard covering the front window to peek into the dusty interior. "This place was always brimming with folks every night. Busy day in, day out. But Stan always had a big wide smile on his face…"

"Hey… Since I didn't live here in this timeline." Seth looked over his shoulder at the detective. "Does that mean that Stan and JC didn't get hurt by Carnage's attack on this place."

Reviewing his old notes from back then during that chaotic time, Joe found what he looked for. "Unfortunately, the damage done here still happened, but no one was harmed or hurt. That was fortunate."

"If you say so. Thankfully, no one was hurt, yeah. Remember, JC said she didn't work here." Seth recalled. "That's still so weird to say out loud. She loved this place more than anything in that other timeline. She worked side by side with her father."

"From what I can gather, the place was in good shape until the mess with the black hole. It tore the building into pieces. The owner had to let go and moved away from the city, and JC never worked here." Joe replied. "Timeline really has changed."

"Oh yeah." Seth agreed with hints of pain and hurt.

"Come on, can't keep JC waiting." Joe nodded to the staircase leading to the entrance. Seth nodded and followed. "Let's hope she's okay."

"Same." Seth agreed. Christina McGee did say that after the mess on Christmas JC tried to resign. She didn't want to work anymore there, most likely out of feeling responsible for everything that Eliza had done during Christmas. All the blood that her former co-worker shed, in her head, was on her hands. This was her way of repenting.

Though in all reality JC had nothing to repay for.

Reaching the top of the metal stairs, Joe knocked on the door two times. "Coming!" A voice said from the other side. A moment later, the door opened up. Joan Celia being the one to open it, wearing a white long-sleeved turtleneck and long baggy pants. Her hair's pulled into a ponytail as she looked at those on her doorstep. "Please come in." She stepped aside, allowing them entrance.

Following Joe, Seth entered the place and familiar surroundings met his eyes, unknowingly bringing a smile to his face. It was a big loft that JC lives in, but not just any big loft. It was the one he lived in when he worked here in the alternate timeline. Same exact kitchen connected to the living room. A much larger couch is in front of some small chairs. Same exact small hallway across from the entrance leading a bedroom. On the other side of the hallway is a small bathroom.

Joan closed the door, walking back up to the two lawmen. She glanced at Seth, seeing the smile on his face that confused her a bit. Noting his eyes traveling around her home, she asked. "Something about my place?"

Her words snapped Seth out of his mind, his eyes turning to her. "Oh, sorry. It's just… Reminds of a place I used to live in, made me nostalgic." He said with a chuckle.

"Hope it's good nostalgia, at least." Joan replied. Seth wouldn't have minded saying it was the best of nostalgia.

Joe got her attention. "Sorry if we came at a bad time." He apologized.

Joan shook her head. "Don't worry about that, Detective West. I expected you guys to come sooner or later. I've just been… Putting it off for this entire time." She weakly said, gesturing to the couch for them to sit on. "So, what do you want to know from me?" She asked as she took a seat herself.

"Before that…" Joe showed his intentions, closing his notepad and putting it on the table. "How are you holding up, Joan?"

JC inhaled sharply, trying to find a response to that question in her mind, before coming out with it. "Managing, I guess… Best as I can right now." She sighed heavily. "Honestly, I really don't know how to feel about this whole mess, or catastrophe feels more appropriate."

The detective said. "If you don't mind me saying… We visited Mercury Labs and Dr. McGee told us about… The purpose for your previous visits to the facility."

"You mean my attempts to resign." Joan chuckled hollowly. "Yeah."

"What Eliza did that night… That's not your fault, Joan." Seth told her, trying to assure her. "She made her choice, that has nothing to do with you, Joan."

"That may be so, but I worked with her. We were friends, colleagues, we started at Mercury Labs at the same time and worked together side-by-side every day." Joan inhaled deeply, feeling tears beginning to swell in her eyes. "She was my friend, someone… Someone I thought was gonna become something more to me."

"I'm so sorry this all happened to you, JC." Joe told her comfortably, hoping his words would be able to help her just a bit.

"It's… Not fine, but it's whatever it is." She sighed. "While I do appreciate the words and the care that you two show me, I'm sure you guys have to get on with your day. So whatever questions you have for me, please ask them."

"If you insist." Joe accepted, retaking his notepad and opened it. "How long have you known Eliza Harmon? From what we could gather you're the one who worked closest to her."

"For a long time, almost two years or so." Joan started. "She had a strange and abrupt sabbatical of sorts last year. Like, she didn't leave so much as a message and just returned back a week or so later. Don't know if that helps in anyway, though."

"Maybe, we'll look into it though." Joe stated.

Seth knew that was a lie. It was just a ruse to hide the truth behind Eliza's imprisonment in ice after her short-lived moments as the thieving speedster Trajectory.

"What kind of projects did you work on? From our last meeting, you told us the two of you walk different career paths." Joe asked.

"Yeah, Eliza's a highly-skilled and esteemed bioengineer. In a league of her own, actually." Joan said.

"You're not far behind yourself, at least in the field of mechanical engineering." Seth noted, recalling her career path from their last meeting. "Christina McGee couldn't stop talking about you back then during our first case."

"She's one with words, yeah." Joan said. "Think she put a lot of faith in me and Eliza after the mess with Brie Larvan and her killer bees." She shook her head, stopping herself from crying. "Eliza's address, did you get that from Dr. McGee?"

"We did, but our officers checked it out, but they couldn't find anything in there that resembled a house. It didn't seem like anyone's been living there for a while." Joe admitted. "They asked the neighbors, but they said no one was living there."

"Really?" Joan asked in shock.

"You never went home to her or anything?" Seth inquired.

"No, we usually hung out in the city, and we never visited each other's homes." Joan said.

Readying his pen to note down her answer, Joe asked. "JC, do you know of any places that Eliza frequents? Favorite spots, restaurants or parks, maybe."

"I think there's-"

JC was cut off when suddenly Seth's phone rang. "Oh, I'm sorry." He got up, stepping to the side to accept the call. "Hello?"

"Seth, it's me."

He immediately recognized Caitlin's voice. "Cait, what's up?"

"Can you come to the girls' school now? Their homeroom teacher wants to talk to the two of us." Caitlin replied.

"Really? She said why?" Seth asked.

"It's about the girls, but that's all she said." Caitlin answered.

"Wait a second." He covered his phone and looked back into the room, getting Joe's attention. "Joe." The detective looked up. "Can you maybe handle the rest here? Cait needs me."

"I'll be fine here, go ahead." Joe assured him.

"Thanks." Seth said, moving towards the exit. "On my way, Cait." He spoke into his phone.

"Thanks, see you there."

X

Landing on his feet in an alleyway close to the school, Seth looked around in case there were some students skipping class and hanging out around him before he retracted the symbiote around his form. "Hope nothing bad happened."

"Worrywart." Venom chuckled. "Bet the teachers are gonna complain about the girls' antics again. Maybe Ruby broke a boy's arm this time."

"Cause accidently breaking a boy's ankle wasn't enough." Seth sarcastically said. Ruby does need better self-control, so she doesn't end up going overboard and hurts a classmate too much. Thankfully, the teachers did show restraint and the boy healed up nicely after a week or so of rest.

But the teachers did tell her repeatedly to not let something like that happen again.

"Please, don't let it be something Ruby did." Seth muttered to himself as he walked up the staircase to the entrance. Opening the door, he entered the school and walked through the long hallway.

Glancing up ahead, Seth found Caitlin standing not far from where he's standing. As he walks towards her, he calls. "Cait."

His words made Caitlin snap her head in his direction. "Seth, you're here." The two shared a hug when coming close to one another. "Sorry for calling you in the middle of work."

"Don't worry about it." Seth assured his mate. "Not much you have to worry about on that end. Now… What have our daughters done today?"

"No idea." Caitlin shrugged her shoulders. "I was called today by Ms. Arias, asking if we could come by and talk with her."

"Why do I feel like we're gonna hear our daughters are gonna be expelled today?" Seth groaned with a hand rubbing the back of his head.

Caitlin slapped his shoulder. "Don't jinx it."

"Oh, you're both here." The two of them turned their heads, seeing Samantha Arias walk towards them. Strutting towards them in a dark-red pantsuit with a white blouse underneath. Their daughters' homeroom teacher stopped in front of them, holding out her hand. "It's a pleasure to see you both again."

"Likewise, Ms. Arias." Caitlin said, shaking hands with the teacher.

Seth shook hands with her after his mate. "It's been a while. Hope the family's well."

"Ruby's doing fine, so all is well." Her words brought a wave of confusion over Seth, who kept his face from showing his inner feelings. Samantha clicked her tongue. "But we're not here today to talk about my family, it's about yours."

Caitlin scratched her cheek sheepishly. "Hope our girls haven't done too much harm."

"Not exactly. Come with me." The teacher said, opening the door to the principal's office and entering it. The two parents followed. Both came to a halt when their eyes turned to the side, seeing two of the chairs occupied by two of their daughters.

Ruby and Evelyn's eyes expanded in shock at the sight of their parents standing before them. "Mom?" Ruby started.

"Dad?" Evelyn followed up.

"Ruby?" Caitlin said.

"Evelyn?" Seth said in surprise.

"Stop this awful sitcom scene now!" Venom shouted, hoping that a fifth person wasn't gonna jump in and suddenly continue this stupid chain reaction.

Blinking his eyes in shock, Seth looked between his daughters. "Should we be worried since we've been brought here?"

"Don't look at me, I've been on my best behavior." Ruby said defensively.

"Evie?" Caitlin asked her daughter, crossing her arms sternly as she awaited her daughter's response.

"I haven't done anything." Evelyn assured her mother and father.

Clearing her throat out loud, Samantha got the family's attention. "Perhaps while your daughters wait out here, we could sit in the office and talk in private." The parents agreed, following the teacher to an open room.

Entering the room, Seth and Caitlin saw that it was an empty room with a big white oval-shaped conference table in the middle of it, and numerous chairs around it. "Please take a seat." Samantha offered, gesturing to the two chairs at the edge of the table.

"Thank you." Caitlin said with a nod.

"Thanks." Seth and Caitlin each took a seat at the same time as their daughter's homeroom teacher. "And if you don't mind me being blunt, but I can't help but notice that whilst you were talking about our daughters… Not all of them were present out there."

"That's what I wanted to talk about actually, Dr. Fury." Samantha said, placing both arms on the table and interlocked her fingers. "As you've surmised this is about your daughters… One in particular."

"Frankie." Caitlin said. "Did something happen to her?"

"Did she do something?" Seth asked, but knowing that was unlikely.

"No, no, no." Samantha chanted, assuring the parents. "Don't worry, it's nothing like that." She restrained the urge to laugh when seeing them sigh in relief. "But… There is something to be concerned about, regarding Frankie. You see, for some time now Frankie's been absent from her classes."

"Absent?" Seth asked.

Samantha clarified. "Not just absent, she doesn't even come to school entirely every now and then."

"But that's impossible, I drive her to school, and she is always there when I pick her up. How come she's absent from her classes…" Caitlin questioned.

"You don't think she leaves after drop-off, do you?" Seth directed the question to both his mate and Samantha.

"I believe that's the most likely situation." The homeroom teacher admitted. "When Dr. Snow here turns an eye away, Frankie must find a way to slip away before anyone can notice it. I'm a teacher, I'm proud of all my students including your daughters. Frankie too, she's been such a great friend to my daughter, Ruby."

"Who is this Ruby she speaks of?" Seth wondered.

Samantha continued. "And as her teacher, I don't want to see Frankie's grades fall and more importantly, I don't want her to fail and drop out. She's such a bright kid with a brighter future… Then she starts skipping classes and becomes absent from school altogether. I don't like it, and it worries me."

"Which is why you brought us into the fold." Seth deduced.

"Yes, exactly." Samantha nodded. "I was wondering if maybe you guys knew if something happened to Frankie that made her this way. If something happened in her family life or perhaps her personal life. Maybe there was a boy."

"No way in hell is that possible." Venom scoffed.

An eerie feeling hit her, followed by a flood of awful memories and words that involved her daughter. Caitlin looked into the teacher's eyes. "I may know the reason for this sudden down-take in Frankie's behavior…" Samantha and Seth turned to her in shock and surprise. "But before I answer that question, can you answer one for me, Ms. Arias?"

"Of course." Samantha nodded.

"When did these sudden changes in Frankie's behavior start?" Caitlin inquired, though her look said she already knew the answer.

Opening the folder with the sheets of previous roll calls, she checks the attendance record of her students. "Let's see here…" She clicks her tongue as her eyes roam the sheets. "Here we go. Looks like it started before the alien invasion began… Still a weird thing to say out loud."

"Thought as much." Caitlin sighed, turning her eyes to her mate. "You piece it together?"

"Yeah, I have." Seth ran a hand down his face, not believing that this is why Frankie's been skipping. "We know why she's been skipping, Ms. Arias."

"Really?" Samantha asked. "What is it?"

"Um, it's kind of an extracurricular activity she's taken up in her free time." Caitlin unsurely said.

"An extracurricular activity?" Samantha questioned. "What kind of activity is it?"

"Um…" Caitlin looked even more unsure, the question throwing her for a loop.

Seeing the struggle she is dealing with, Seth jumped in. "It's kinda of a private hobby of hers and she's not a fan of us spilling it to people. Even to her favorite teacher."

Hearing and getting the lie coming out of his mouth, Caitlin played along. "Yeah, Frankie gave us the cold shoulder for a week because we spilled it to her uncle and aunt."

"That feeling I know all too well." Samantha chuckled, recalling the times her daughter gave her the cold shoulder. Clearing her throat, she returned to the matter at hand. "I'm worried right now that Frankie focuses too much of her time on this… "Extracurricular activity" of hers, and it might hurt her school progress so far."

"We understand, Ms. Arias. We'll make sure we have a serious, lengthy talk with Frankie." Seth assured the homeroom teacher.

"I know you will, for Frankie's sake." Samantha stood up, making her way to the exit.

As soon as she was out of the room, and the door closed behind her, Caitlin turned around in her chair to fully face Seth. "It was before the alien invasion, that means it was around the time when Frankie and the girls fought the Sinister Seven."

"And lost." Seth added grimly. "Frankie must have been skipping classes this entire time without us knowing-"

"To train by herself." Caitlin followed up. "Honestly thought she stopped acting like this after you and Liv talked to her."

"It got through to her, no doubt." Seth admitted. "But after the fight with Plunder from before, where she and her sisters struggled against a normal human, the feelings must have returned tenfold."

"More than Evelyn and Ruby, she felt that defeat was more humiliating and she felt weak." Caitlin stated their daughter's feelings. "Could she have been holding it in all this time?"

"Appears so, under our eyes even." Seth groaned. Looking over his shoulder, he saw through the glass behind them and looked at Ruby and Evelyn. "Think they knew about this?"

"One way to find out." Caitlin stated as she stood up. Seth followed her through the door. The two parents walked towards their daughters, both of whom stood up immediately.

Instantly, Ruby defended her and her sister. "Whatever Ms. Arias said. don't believe it. We're innocent."

"Calm down, criminal." Seth held up a hand to his daughters. "Same for you, Evie. Neither of you are in trouble." Evelyn exhaled in relief. "It's about your sister."

That did not ease the girls' worries, merely intensified them in one massive wave. "Did something happen to Frankie?" Evelyn asked in concern, ready to leave her studies to help her sister.

Caitlin put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, honey. We just learnt that your sister has been skipping school for some time now."

"Wait, really? Frankie, of all people?" Ruby asked skeptically. "Doesn't sound like her."

"You two didn't know about this did you?" Caitlin rather stated than asked.

"Nope, first we're hearing of it." Evelyn announced. "But it does explain why she's been acting weird lately, especially on missions."

"What do you mean, "weird"?" Caitlin asked.

Ruby answered, knowing what her sister would say. "When we've been on missions, Frankie has been more impatient and angrier when fighting villains. Not like she takes her frustration out on them like they're sparring dummies or anything, but she does get angry when struggling against foes like Plunder."

"Human foes that are nothing close to Sinister Seven." Seth deduced. "Frankie's been keeping her true feelings in all this time, and we've been blind to it all." He clenched his fists with a groan.

"But you know where she is now though?" Evelyn asked.

"No, we don't." Caitlin answered. "Which worries me a lot."

"Actually…" Seth got his family's attention. "I might have an idea of where she might be right now."

"Where?" Ruby questioned.

Seth answered. "When Frankie was adopted, she asked me to teach her how to use her symbiote powers. I couldn't do it at S.T.A.R. Labs or any place close to the public… Which is why I had to get creative and find another environment that's better suited for our training. After some research, help from Cisco and Matt and getting advice from Joe, I found a place at the edge of the city. Completely abandoned and perfect for offensive training which suited Frankie."

"Seth, are you talking about the abandoned construction site on the outskirts of Central City?" Caitlin shocked the mutant with the question.

His eyes blinked repeatedly. "How do you know about that, Cait? I never told you about that place, and it was before we got back together."

"Remember I was Frankie's sole parent for almost a year, I had to know everything that she was doing when I wasn't looking." Caitlin countered.

"Good point." Seth realized. "But that's honestly the best place for her to train alone and without interruptions."

"Let's go and make sure of it before we reach a conclusion." Caitlin stated the plan.

"Want us to join?" Ruby wondered with a raised eyebrow.

Both parents snapped their eyes at her and Evelyn, even though the latter hadn't said a single thing.

""No, stay in school! /No, stay in school!""

That was one thing they were absolutely adamant about.

X

A vast area on the outskirts of Central City, surrounded by two sides of pure green forestry.

A dusty large brick wall came undone by a single fist, one that tore it down immediately into pieces and sent pieces flying off in multiple directions.

Even the closest road to it is separated by a large green area, it's completely covered by green nature from all sides. The wide forestry around its sides made it incredibly difficult for it to be found or seen through.

A nearly completed house fell to pieces, pinkish tendrils withdrew themselves before swinging back down on the already-nearly demolished building.

Originally this wide area, secluded by forestry and tall trees, was supposed to be the foundation for a new shopping center.

Long outstretched claws were swung, cutting through trees with extreme ease. Splinters, bark and tree branches flew in various directions and thudded upon impact with the numerous objects around.

But the Particle Accelerator explosion put a hold on the progress of the place that would have been the newest and biggest attraction of Central City. Now it was just an array of half-finished buildings, looking like an abandoned ghost town.

A pair of fists swung with immense strength and blinding velocity, tearing down a single steel beam and breaking it in half. The pieces that were broken off didn't make it to the ground, an invisible force prevented that and hurled them around.

Huge piles of rusted steel beams were around the abandoned area. Pyramids of giant concrete pipes. Small mountains of dirt shocking everyone with their towering heights. Deep pits that had long since filled up with pitch-black, muddy water. The most towering thing in all of the ghost town is the humongous rusted, creaking construction crane that made every other thing pale in size.

Under the darkness of the night, this entire place is absolutely deserted, full of shadows and sounds that'd make the hair on the back of any humans' necks stand to no end. Under the sunlight of day like now, this entire unfinished and abandoned place is still full of mystery, and no one dares to even pass through such a dangerous and sketchy site.

But this abandoned construction site is perfect for Frankie Fury to use as her own personal training grounds, as she is doing now instead of going to school. And that was she thought when she backflipped, landing on the tall mast.

Performing another backflip, she jumped further up the metal mast and was closer to the jib now. Standing up straight on the mast, she looked down on the massive steel rusty beams at the bottom of the mask. "They should work for now."

"Calm down. Wait a minute. Take a beat. Hold your horses. Pump your brakes. Cool your jets." Magenta hurled all the different sayings at her host in a flurry. Thankfully, the barrage of words made her stop in her tracks and lower her hands.

"What's with you?" Frankie asked.

Magenta groaned her annoyance. "Contrary to what you believe, we don't have unlimited energy, fool. We've been running on fumes for some time now, practically killing ourselves. Let's take a break now, okay?"

"You're not asking, are you?" Frankie quipped.

"What do you think?" Magenta countered.

Frankie sighed, walking up the mast till she reached the jib. She jumped around it, till she sat on top of it. Reaching into her "other's" pocket dimension, she pulled out her ham and cheese sandwich wrapped in film and a chocolate bar. While tendrils unwrapped the candy bar, her own hands busied them with the sandwich.

Taking a bite of it, she asked. "How long have we been here?"

"Too long." Magenta groaned. "Look I feel the same as you, but you've gotta calm down a bit and relax. You still have school."

Frankie hesitated for a few moments. "Can't think about school now… Have to get stronger for them."

Something that even her parents or sisters didn't know was that whenever she closes her eyes, Frankie could still feel herself under the tremendous pressure of Dr. Octopus' sonic cannons. She remembered the feeling of how helpless she was under his onslaught, unable to escape the sound waves and couldn't even save her sisters from Anti-Venom's attacks.

Right now… Frankie was undoubtedly weak… Struggling against even weak villains like Plunder and even weaker against the truly evil forces of the Sinister Seven.

Quickly pushing the sandwich into her mouth, she forced it down with a huge gulp of water from her bottle. Wiping off the pieces of bread and drops of water from her mouth, she gave a determined look. "Let's go. We're training again."

Magenta groaned, knowing it was useless to try and argue with her host, especially when she's like this. "Alrighty, let's go."

Frankie's head became enveloped by the symbiote mass, engulfing it completely till her face was replaced with that of her "other's." She leapt off the jib, the sound of creaking echoing throughout the area from the force she put into her jump.

And with the force she put into her leap, she launched herself like a rocket and smashed a building with her fist morphed into a mallet.

X

"Wow." Caitlin let out in surprise.

Both the sound of the creaking metal and the destruction of a building reached her ears as she and Seth watched from the forest close to the construction site. It was almost booming like an explosion, reaching them both.

"Frankie's been going at this since she was dropped off." Caitlin said in shock, still amazed at the immense display of destruction done by her daughter's hands. "And she's not showing any signs of stopping." She noted when seeing the demolition continue.

"It's really impressive, yeah." Seth checked his wristwatch. "She's been at this for hours."

"Where does she get all this energy?" Unbeknownst to Caitlin, she began sounding like an old woman. "I'm more shocked that Frankie got here through the city without being spotted by anyone."

"Remember, it's Frankie, unlike Barry and Wally she's got training in more than a single field and knows how to apply what she's learnt in the actual field itself. And she knows how to not draw attention to herself in the open." Seth said.

"Guess that's to be expected, having been taught by three agents of SHIELD." Caitlin said. From her current position, she, for the third time today, took in the immensely big and abandoned construction site. "I'm still surprised you guys used this place for training."

"Best place we could find. Lot of metal for her to use her ferrokinetic powers and with lots of tall places like the crane, she was able to learn how to leap and jump and adapt to her symbiote powers like I have." Seth stated, leaning against a tree. "Good thing we're out of her range so she can't feel our presence, otherwise she'd run off now."

"What do we do, Seth? She can't be training herself to the bone like this every time, plus she's gonna keep skipping school at this rate." Caitlin asked.

"We're gonna talk with her, that's all we can do now. Tell her that she can't do this every time." Seth glanced at their daughter who effortlessly flung a steel beam at an unfinished house, demolishing it immediately. "Though… as her father… I'm not against her current level of powers. They're freaking amazing."

"You're the only father in the history of parents who'd be happy with their child's destructive prowess." Caitlin chuckled.

Seth didn't disagree with that, smiling to himself when thinking of how his daughter's destructive prowess will take her far in life… Well, one of her lives.

X

(Iron Heights Penitentiary)

Night has fallen over the entire city now, clouding every inch of the large town with darkness.

The lights from the various outdoor lamps around the prison exterior served as sources of light.

WHOOSH

However, those artificial lights will soon be joined by other sources of light.

The Rival released his hold on Eliza and Taskmaster, the latter examining the lights and the former dusting off her clothes.

"For a second I thought my clothes were gonna burn off." Eliza jokes. Neither of her companions reacted, making her groan in response. "Jesus, you guys are such a bore. Neither of you gonna be popular with the ladies at this rate."

"Like you're one to talk." Edward countered, reminding her of her new criminal status in the city.

"Touché." Eliza chuckles.

Without partaking in the conversation, Taskmaster looked up and retrieved his bow and arrows. Immediately, he took aim at the three security cameras and shot them down with three arrows. "Clariss, take out the cameras and lamps, we don't need the attention."

"Before that…" Eliza jumped in, halting the speedster's advances. "Get us into the metahuman ward first then you take down the cameras."

Taskmaster turned his head. "You want a meta?"

"Never said I wanted a meta." Eliza smirked like a hyena. "Just gotta get in there, drop off a package then we're set."

"What about your friend?" Rival asked.

"He'll be with us in a bit, don't you worry about that." Eliza said with a confident smile. "Now… Should we get going?"

"Remember I can only get you guys as far as I can, the dampeners in there will shut off my speed the second I pass by them." Edward said, putting a hand on his companions' shoulders.

"We know, Clariss. Get us into the meta ward." Taskmaster ordered.

He gave a nod.

WHOOSH

X

In an instant, the three of them sped into the prison, whooshing past the cameras and guards, before the black speedster let go of Taskmaster and Eliza. Without saying anything Edward rushed away to finish off the security system.

As though her hair was turned into a mess from yet another speedy trip, Eliza straightened her hair. "He is definitely not getting a five-star rating."

Looking around, Taskmaster saw that they were dropped off close to the metahuman ward entrance, around them are surprised prisoners banging on their cells. "Guess going in silently is off the table."

"Wasn't even in the dining room." She quipped, giving the shouting prisoners a small wave. "Bet you're not a fan of admirers."

"Waste of time and space." He countered.

"Freeze!"

Both Eliza and Taskmaster turned their heads, unsurprised to see a pair of prison guards pointing their firearms at them.

"Should probably have told Clariss to take care of the extras." The Klyntar-host mused.

"Why, too much for you?" The mercenary countered smugly.

"Hands up!" One of the guards said, cocking his gun to empathize.

Eliza glanced at the guard, smiling at the words he used. "Will these do?"

Her words confused the guard, but the confusion was immediately replaced by a sudden wave of fear and shock when a pair of yellowish-white arms sprouted from her shoulders. The claws on both hands flexed, the palms on them both pointed at the guards, each center of the hands sparking with lightning.

Thrusting them both forward, the two hands released blasts of lightning at the guards that hurled them across the hallway and into a wall.

The master combatant pulled out an arrow and put it on his bow. Seeing that Eliza asked. "Little late for that, isn't it?"

Letting his actions speak for him, Taskmaster snapped around and turned his bow and arrow on the lock. Releasing his arrow, it pierced into the mechanical lock and chimed as it shined with a blue light. The color on the lock itself turned from red to green, the doors to the metahuman wing opening immediately.

"Door's open, let's get to it." Taskmaster walked through the opened door.

As one of her additional hands scratched the top of her head, Eliza followed him with a sigh. "Never heard of "Ladies first"?" Her words didn't get a single reaction out of the mercenary who continued into the metahuman wing.

Retracting the additional arms, she hears a chuckle in the back of her head. "Something funny, Scream?"

"I'm curious as to how your friend will be once having this gift bestowed upon him." Her "other" stated. "He will lose his mind."

"And get his revenge." Eliza stated as she stepped past the threshold, walking up to Taskmaster's side in the middle of the wing where each side was filled with cells occupied with a metahuman that have terrorized the city with their powers.

In his cell, she saw Kyle Nimbus walking closer to the cell door and looked at the newcomers. She knew of his criminal acts that brought him here. The gas metahuman's revenge plans to gas the detective, witnesses and judge that put him here were foiled by Venom and Flash. While they didn't work together openly back then, their cooperation did result in his capture.

Close to his cell are the cells with Sam Scudder and Rosa Dillon in them each. Neither of them looked happy to see Taskmaster again if their snarls were any indication. Their attempts to be the new king and queen of Central City's criminal empire came to a quick end thanks to the heroes' efforts.

Banging on his cell door is Adam Fells. The man who bears the name of Geomancer, the metahuman tearing down a building with his earthquake-like powers. But thankfully, Joe West stopped him and brought him into the metahuman wing with a power-dampening collar around his neck, putting a stop to all of his future plans of wrecking the city.

Next to his cell is the one that Mark Mardon occupies. Weather Wizard himself scoffed at the eyes pointing at him, feeling like an animal more suited and that's better liked in its cage. Seeing as how his atmokinetic powers could have torn the city to pieces with lightning striking like raindrops or pour shards of hail down on every citizen like speeding bullets.

Another cell was occupied by an unknown metahuman, someone bearing the of Shade. The metahuman who possesses the powers to become one with shadows. Or at least give the appearance of being a shadow, which he achieves from his ability to vibrate at high frequency. Allowing him to vary the size and shape of his shadowy form, as well as enhancing his strength to effortlessly pick up humans and snap them like twigs.

"Hella of a candy store, right?" Eliza mused.

… A pair of ears perked up from the voice he heard… His head followed quickly, turning upwards to see who it was…

"I can see a bunch of metas, that's not what you wanted was it?" Taskmaster asked skeptically, wondering what she had in store.

"Oh, it's not." Eliza walked to the middle of the ward.

"Hey!" Taskmaster heard someone bang on a door, turning his head to see Mirror Master give him another snarl. "You're that masted bastard who captured me and my girl. What do you want now? Came to finish the job?"

The mercenary passively looked at him. "Never a job to catch you. Just needed a pawn or two. You two fit the bill."

"Bastard!" Top punched the door at his words, not liking his description of her and her boyfriend.

"Okay, let's get to it." Eliza tapped her chin bemusedly, knowing a special someone was listening. "Eenie…" She looked to the right. "Meenie…" She faced the back. "Miney…" She faced the front.

"Ellie?"

Eliza smirked, turning her face to the left and looked into a specific cell. "And there's moe." The mercenary followed the symbiote host to the cell. When coming to a stop in front of it, Taskmaster looked into the cell and narrowed his eyes behind his mask.

Sitting on the floor in a cross-legged position like a monk. The brown-skinned man with a muscular build formed a smile on his face. Standing up to his full height, the lamp shined light on his bare torso and illuminated the scars around it. His legs are clad in baggy light brown pants as he steps closer to the door. The mercenary noted that, unlike the rest of the inmates, his forearms are wrapped in filthy ragged bandages. His dark eyes looked up, expressing surprise at Eliza's presence.

Taskmaster himself held back some surprise when seeing that the words that are spelled in black on the back of each of the man's fingers.

On the back of his right hand are the words, "DEATH."

On the back of his left hand are the words, "COUNT."

"Hiya, Raj." Eliza greeted her old friend through the cell bars.

Rajeet Kumar laughed at the nickname, leaning against the door. "Long time no see, Ellie. I missed your letters."

"Well, what can I say? I've been a busy bee." Eliza shrugged.

"He's not a meta." Taskmaster noted. "Why's he in here?"

"Gen pop couldn't handle him, he kept killing off the other inmates or the guards." Eliza noted. "You know how boys are when they throw a temper tantrum."

"You really have a way with words, Ellie." Rajeet noted. "Guess this is the time?"

"Oh yeah." She said, symbiote mass forming around her palm before expanding, revealing a glass sphere with a liquid-like mass with green and light-aqua colors. The mass moved and sloshed around within the sphere.

Rajeet examined the sphere with a large smile on his face. "Is that what you promised me?"

"You'll be released early on good behavior, so rejoice!" Eliza smiled. "Ready to feel what real power is like? To feel that no dampener or tech will stop you?"

"Hell yeah." Rajeet's smile turned dark, showing an inhumanely intent to kill. "I'm ready to rock and roll. I'm guessing, this means I'm not gonna get an easy escape?"

"You're gonna have to work a little. Consider it… A test drive." Eliza said. Just as she finished uttering her sentence, the alarms over their heads began blaring loudly, revolving red lights began shining over them and lightning up the entire prison wing. "Ready?"

"Always." Rajeet smirked.

Sticking her hand through the gap between some of the bars, Eliza tilted her hand and the glass sphere rolled out of her palm. As though time itself slowed for them, the three of them watched as the sphere fell onto the floor…

A single crack…

SHATTER

… Was all it took for it to shatter right open…

Rajeet barely got a moment to take in the sound before the symbiote mass jumped at him, tackling him to the ground. He groaned as his eyes were involved by the emerald and blue mass, forcing its way into his body.

"Nice. Let's go." Eliza walked towards the exit.

"You're not gonna bring your friend along?" Taskmaster asked her, but followed her nonetheless.

"He needs to settle in." Eliza said, moving out of the ward. "I'll find you when you've finished your business, Raj."

"Deal…" A monstrous voice accepted from within his cell.

The corners of a non-existent mouth curled up…

X

(Iron Heights)

The next day, the mutant got out of Joe's car. "What do you mean, a complete mess Joe?" Seth asked the detective who drove him and Barry to Iron Heights.

Joe didn't say anything as he led them past the officers already canvassing the area. "Joe." Barry stopped him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "What happened?"

Exhaling his dismay, Joe continued walking but started answering the questions. "Singh called me and told me to bring you both to Iron Heights. Julian's waiting for us in the metahuman wing. Apparently, someone there broke out."

"A metahuman broke out? How? Wouldn't the dampeners have shut down their powers?" Barry asked.

The detective shrugged his shoulders, walking down a hallway with the powered men. "Didn't get all the details, the captain's trying to get them from the ward as we speak. But whoever they got out of there, worries me."

"That doesn't explain the "complete mess" you added in the car, Joe." Seth said, noting that he hasn't said anything in regard to that.

"It was just…" Joe trailed off when they reached the hallway leading to the metahuman wing.

Barry's eyes expanded immediately, as did Seth's as he took in damage meeting them. The hallway was riddled with large icicles embedded in the walls, blood coating them. Bodies of prison guards were on the ground, and much like the walls around them, they too were impaled with sharp icicles.

"Jesus, what happened here?" Barry asked himself, crouching down to see the body of a female guard with several icicles through her body.

"Usually our question to answer, Allen." Julian pitched in, joining the conversation. "Welcome, gentlemen." He greeted them. "I take it you've seen the damage, unfortunately extensive damage at that."

Seth chuckled hollowly. "Like this can't be seen. What happened here?"

"Apparently, someone broke out of the metahuman wing." Julian announced.

Examining the body with his eyes running over it repeatedly, Barry stated his assessment. "Judging by the ice, and the water around us, it looks like Weather Wizard's the responsible one for this."

"My initial assessment as well, until…" Julian waved his colleagues over, having them follow him into the metahuman ward. "I saw this." He pointed to a cell, where Mark Mardon himself is in. The metahuman with atmokinetic powers giving them a mock wave and a fake smile from behind bars.

"He's still here, behind bars." Seth noted. "Means someone else did this."

"And this." Joe got their attention, seeing that a cell was torn to pieces from the inside out. Much like the hallway they've passed through, the cell is filled with massive ice shards pierced into the walls. The door even had frost and brittle around it. "Who could have done this?"

"And with the metahuman dampers on." Barry saw that the power-dampeners are still active. "What kind of a meta can do this?"

"Not a metahuman." The four of them turned their heads to the entrance, seeing Captain David Singh walk into the metahuman ward. "Just spoke with the warden, and he told us about the one and only human in the metahuman ward that escaped last night after a visit."

"A human?" Barry questioned.

"Visit?" Seth raised an eyebrow.

"Joe you're not gonna like this." David faced his detective. "Its Rajeet Kumar."

"What?!" Joe bellowed out in surprise.

The shock in his voice was overwhelmingly large, confusing the heroes and everyone else that heard his exclaim. Whoever this Rajeet is, he clearly brings out darkness with him.

But Seth recognized the name… Worried inwardly if this meant Orion would show his face on this Earth again.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

Everyone was brought into the fold, all standing around Joe in the Cortex, waiting for him to reveal everything. And though they have a new mission at hand, Caitlin and Seth couldn't help but glance at Frankie every second they waited.

They hadn't worked up the courage to confront their daughter yesterday, something they hoped to remedy today while taking care of the latest threat.

"Joe, you know this Rajeet?" Seth asked.

"Sounds like you do too." Joe noted the hints of familiarity in his tone.

"Met his doppelganger on Earth-2, Orion." The mutant started. "Powerful telekinetic, no joke and was ridiculously strong."

"And really not a people person." Cisco stated. "God if Matt wasn't there last year, me and Barry would have been turned into mincemeat." He shivered at the memory and the feeling of when Orion used his immense telekinetic powers to stop them, or rather to crush them.

Seth turned to him. "Matt's used to dealing with psychics and similarly-powered mutants, heroes and villains alike. He's a walking arsenal."

"Can't believe you guys fought Orion and survived still." Evelyn admitted with a shiver, hugging herself tightly.

Caitlin put her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Are you okay, honey?"

"You look like you've seen a ghost, Sis." Ruby noted.

"Ghosts fear this guy on Earth-2, trust me." Evelyn started. "He was a known enforcer, working for anyone who could pay him. Like, Dollmaker did. He worked for a gangster who called himself Goldface. People feared him only because of Orion."

""Called" and "feared" sounds like he's not amongst the living." Julian noted.

"He's not. From what I heard, Goldface threw a comment in his face and Orion didn't like that." Evelyn noted.

Wally glanced at him. "You mean, he killed him."

"No, that's too simple. Orion crushed his head with his powers, never laying a single finger on him. While the rest of his hang watched the entire thing." Evelyn admitted.

"He's terrifying. But this Rajeet is definitely up his alleyway." Joe admitted. "Cisco, bring up Rajeet Kumar's arrest record and his files from CCPD."

"Already on it." Cisco admitted, typing away. "Bada boom!" He pressed one key, pointing a hand to the screen.

Everyone faced the screen, seeing a mugshot of the criminal Rajeet Kumar. To those that have met Orion, they were shocked to see his Earth-1 doppelganger didn't have stitches across his mouth nor a slender physique. But this one has a muscular body build and has a malicious smirk on his mugshot.

"He's different from what was expected…" Seth trailed off, shocked by the man on the screen.

"Wait a second." Iris faced her father. "You said he was a human, not a metahuman."

"And he still was, and they had him locked up in the meta ward." Caitlin followed up.

Joe sighed. "Long story on why that is, something I understood as soon as I heard that Kumar broke out." He started. The team looked at him patiently awaiting the story. Nodding his understanding, the detective started. "Before I made detective, the CCPD dealt with lots of dangerous criminals before metahumans like Weather Wizard or Mirror Master. One of the worst ones we dealt with was Rajeet Kumar."

"AKA. Deathcount." Cisco revealed to his teammates. "That's a sinister name…"

"And fit the bill, trust me." Joe admitted. "Check the other photo."

Cisco obliged, switching out the mugshot photo with another one of Rajeet's hands. The tattoos on the backs of his fingers surprised them all. Barry looked at them, eyes wide. "DEATH… COUNT…"

"That was the name he was given by both cops and others. He's had run-ins with the cops a lot, but always managed to slip out." Joe said. "He was given this name because he remembered the number of people he had killed."

"He kept a number?" Seth asked.

Joe nodded. "Twenty-nine people. That many people he killed, all by himself. Now, with the latest, it's up to thirty-five." He said grimly.

"Joe…" Seth got his attention. "There's something more to this, aren't there?"

"It's… It's nothing. Just took a toll on the department and city last time this bastard was running around, was a mayhem." Joe admitted. Seth narrowed his eyes skeptically, not liking the words his friend said nor the tone he used.

"Wait a second." Caitlin looked over the viber's shoulder, checking Rajeet's information from the prison. "It says here, this wasn't his first time getting out of his cell. But it's the first time getting out of his metahuman cell and prison."

"Now that you mention it, Mom, why was a human placed in a metahuman cell?" Frankie asked.

"That's related to what your Mom just said, Frankie." Joe started before elaborating. "The six people he killed last night in prison weren't the first guards he killed while in prison. Before last night, he killed seven guards in total."

"Wait how? He didn't have powers or anything." Frankie asked.

"He used outside materials." Seth deduced.

Joe nodded. "He managed to get keys to his cell and get out multiple times. Three times he used his utensils to kill one guard each, increasing the number of kills. Two times later, he used shoelaces to kill two guards. One was strangled, the other he broke her neck. Two times later, he used his bare fists to snap the necks of two guards."

"And he was captured every time?" Ruby scoffed. "Pretty poor for a killer with a kill count."

Seth, quickly studying his best friend's expression, deduced. "He let himself get caught, didn't he?" Joe nodded; the deduction shocked everyone. "He proved to the cops, guards and the prison itself he could get out whenever he wanted to and he couldn't be stopped. Which is why he let himself get captured again and again."

"Precisely, but then the warden decided to change things up with the addition of the metahuman ward and the more durable power-dampening cells. Thinking that they could hold back crazy villains with powers, Warden Wolfe thought it'd be best to put Kumar in there." The detective revealed.

"Load of good that did. Deathcount still got out." Ruby noted.

"Yeah." Joe noted.

Seeing the worry on his face, Wally pitched in confidently. "Dad, don't worry, we'll be speeding into action in a heartbeat and take this guy in a flash!"

"NO!" Joe bellowed, his exclamation snapping everyone's heads to him in surprise. "Wally, I don't want you nor Barry near this guy. Not now, not ever. He's dangerous, you heard the number of kills he's got right now, right? He's out of your league. Neither of you are going up against him." Panting to himself as though sudden exhaustion and fatigue hit him, the detective finalized. "I gotta be going, see you later."

He immediately made a beeline for the exit.

"Someone's in a hurry." Caitlin noted.

When he was sure the detective was out of hearing distance, Seth faced Ruby and Evelyn. Seeing the look aimed at them, the gravity manipulator asked. "Want us to trail Uncle Joe?"

"Got it in one." Seth smiled.

"Got it, Dad. Leave it to us." Evelyn admitted, wrapping a tendril around her sister's waist before shadowporting out of there.

"You're gonna have my Dad tailed?" Iris asked.

"Don't tell me you didn't find your old man's behavior too suspicious?" He looked at the two speedsters. "Barry, Wally, for now I think you two should stick with reconnaissance and wait."

"What, why?" Wally complained. "We're fast as hell; we can take him."

"Have you really been listening to anything that's been said, Wallace?" Seth asked him with a serious gaze. The stern look made the fledgling speedster form a look of confusion. Sighing at that, the mutant glanced at his daughter. "Frankie, you got most of it, didn't you?"

Nodding her head, Frankie stated. "From what we learnt from Barry, Julian, Uncle Joe and Dad's examination of the crime scene, we learnt that a non-metahuman was put in a metahuman cell. More importantly, he managed to escape a cell meant to stop powers… with powers."

"I get that." Wally declared.

"Even if you do, we don't get how he has powers and used them to kill several prison guards especially since no powers should be able to take down a metahuman cell with power-dampening tech." Seth stated. "Unless we figure out that question, we're gonna have you two do recon for now."

"Not to mention, he's using ice powers." Caitlin chimed in. "If you fought him head-on, it might end up backfiring badly and your healing would be slowed down from his ice attacks, leaving you vulnerable."

"So, we gotta wait." Julian noted, standing back up. "Suppose I'll make myself useful with information gathering as well."

"Gonna hit up CCPD and review old cases?" Barry asked.

"If what Detective West said about Kumar being a such menacing foe, there's bound to be case files about his previous acts." Julian revealed. "Until later, folks." He said, bidding his farewells before leaving.

"Me and Wally will recon then." Barry admitted. Tapping Wally's shoulder, the two of them sped away in a flash.

"Guess I'm alone." Cisco dramatically sighed.

Iris chuckled. "I'll check with CCPN, maybe some of the veterans know something about where this guy might hold up." She informed them before walking out.

"What about you, Cisco? Did you finish going through those computer parts we gave you last time?" Seth inquired.

"Still going through it." Cisco embarrassedly. "I'll see how it's going again in a bit. But first…" He stood back up from his chair. "I gotta check on how H.R. is doing, more specifically what he's doing." He said with a groan, fearing that the Earth-19 native would try and mess with either his tech or his workshop. He left the Cortex, leaving the last three behind.

"So, what about me?" Frankie asked her parents. "Want me to join Ruby and the others?"

"No, not yet honey." Caitlin said, stepping around the console till she stood in front of her daughter. Seth joined her, both parents facing their daughter with a stern but concerned look.

Seeing the look on their faces, her eyes going between them both, Frankie asked. "What's this about? Don't think I've done anything bad lately."

"Think again, honey." Caitlin said. "We were called to your school yesterday, by your teacher Ms. Arias."

"What?" Frankie's eyes expanded. "You went to my school."

"And what your teacher told us shocked us a bit… That you haven't been to school for a while now." Seth revealed. Frankie gulped. "More than that, we know what you've been up to for a while now."

"What?" Frankie widened her mouth in shock.

Caitlin added. "The abandoned construction site on the outskirts of the city. You've been training out there by yourself, not even your sisters knew about it."

"Crap." Frankie said under her breath. "It's just…. I had to, I'm just… I'm weak."

"Frankie." Caitlin muttered.

"Mom, it's true. It's just, I can't keep on being weak and let others get hurt. Not again." Frankie clenched her fists, something that didn't go unnoticed by her parents. "My family and friends are important to me; I can't just let them keep getting hurt. I'm not gonna apologize for training by myself."

"Frankie, the training is okay, but you're overdoing it and prioritizing that over your schoolwork and school in general." Seth stated. "Your desire to protect your family, your friends and city is admirable. But you can't go about and forget school altogether."

"Honey, it's your future, you can't just let go of it like this. It's not good, nor is it a good thing." Caitlin added.

"I know!" Frankie shouted in frustration. "But this is more… I'm gonna go on patrol too. Call me if something happens."

"Frankie!" Caitlin's exclamation fell on deaf ears as her daughter leaped out of the skylight, shooting into the open air outside the facility. "Hey!" She called out, rushing over till she stood under the skylight.

"That girl of ours… Of the three of them, I honestly thought Ruby was the stubborn one." Seth ran a hand through his hair. "How the hell do we handle this one?"

"Good question." Caitlin chuckled to herself. "But I'm really worried about her, especially at the rate she's going." She faced Seth, telling him. "You saw her hands and feet, right? Or rather, her entire body, she was tired and exhausted and had bruises from overworking. The sight of her immediately going to sleep because of exhaustion is a hard one to forget. It's not good for her to work herself to the bone like this every morning."

"I know. God, where did our daughter get this from exactly?" Seth asked out loud.

Suddenly a dark, but bemused laughter echoed throughout his entire head, making the mutant lift eyes in surprise. "Why are you laughing?"

"Because…" His "other" trailed off purposefully, a tendril shooting out of his stomach and the tip of it spiraled around. A face formed, and along the length of the tendril a spine-like structure formed till it reached the head, where the skull-like mask formed over the face. Showing a toothy smile, Venom looked at his host with his crimson-red eyes. "Frankie's just like you."

The temporary shock that came with Venom's sudden appearance had vanished now, and Caitlin turned to the symbiote with confusion. "What do you mean, Venom?"

Venom faced her. "Your mate was exactly like this at her age, unbelievably stubborn and pushing himself beyond the limit and hurt himself in the process more than several times. He surpassed the meaning of "stubbornness" and gave it a whole new one." He chuckled.

"What's that supposed to mean? I wasn't like that." Seth noted, his eye twitching with slight rage from his partner's laughter.

"Oh yeah?" Venom raised an eye at his host's words. "What about in SHIELD Academy when you'd sneak out yourself every night, train outside and try and break down walls of their so-called indestructible facilities. Or when you'd sneak into the training rooms, tear down dozens of their LMDs all on your own. Or when you and Matt would skip field trips and fight each other in the forest, over the ocean, in abandoned sites or-"

"Okay, calm down. No need to list off my bad habits from so long ago." Seth told his partner. "But you really think that's the case?"

"Yeah, it's like looking at the past when we see Frankie acting like this." Venom mused. "She's exactly like her father."

Caitlin chuckled. "Considering you, I guess it's because of how you wanted to grow up faster and protect your sister. Your history points to that." She noted.

Seth scratched his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, and now our daughter has my bad habit. What should we do?"

"What happened when it was with you, Seth? What made you… Less stubborn?" She asked for a lack of a better word.

"With time, he stopped being stubborn and lessened the burdens on his shoulders." Venom simply said.

"Let's hope time is all that'll help our daughter get out of this phase she's in." Caitlin said in hope.

Thinking of his daughter, Seth recalled her school and the people she knows. "Cait." He got her attention. "Where is Rueben?" The name made confusion spread over her face. "Rueben Arias, Samantha Arias' son?"

The name didn't ring any bells in her mind, making her form an even more confused expression. "Seth, who are you talking about?"

That brought a new level of horror over both Venom and Seth…

X

"P-Please… We're sorry…"

The man said… Or rather he managed to say through his shivers, his entire body covered in ice that kept him frozen to the alleyway wall.

The alleyway here leads to a hideout that was said to hold the few remnants of the Darbinyan crime family. This was a well-known crime syndicate in Central City, but they were thought to be eradicated by Kyle Nimbus when resurfaced to the land of the living again as a metahuman this time.

Much like Kyle Nimbus did when he enacted his revenge, Rajeet Kumar was intent on getting his own vengeance as this crime syndicate, back in their glory days, turned against him and testified against him in court.

"P-Please… We're really sorry…" The gangster pleaded tearfully, more ice spreading over his entire body, nearing his throat and the rest of his head.

Rajeet smirked, a hand tightening around his throat. "Number… Thirty-Nine…" He slowly declared, ice emitting from his hand in a flash and put an end to the gangster's whimpers. He removed his right hand from the lump of ice he had created. "These are nice."

As he admired the icy mist coming out from his fingers, Deathcount barely paid the other three frozen bodies of the other crime family members any attention. "Rats should learn how to hide better."

"Why, aren't you grumpy for someone who's finally out for a stroll?"

Smirking at the voice, the escaped criminal swung his head around and looked up at the top of the alleyway wall. Clapping his hands, he walked closer and closer to the wall that Eliza's sitting on, her legs hanging off the ledge. "Ellie, Ellie, you're a sight for sore eyes and a blessing in disguise."

"Not the words I've heard lately, to be honest." Eliza chuckled. "You've been a busy bee, haven't you?"

"Well, had some loose ends and thick necks to tie up." Rajeet chuckled.

Jumping off the ledge and landing on the ground, Eliza walked over to him. "Less tying and more putting them on permanent ice. So freedom doing you well?"

"Better than well." A strange symbiote mass with green and aqua-blue colors spread over his hand. "These powers are incredible. Never knew ice could prove this useful in a fight."

"I do know a good choice when I see it." Eliza leant against the alleyway wall. "You ready to work?"

"Still got two more names to cross off before I'm done. Then I'm all yours, Ellie." Rajeet assured the user.

"Then you better get going, cause I got big plans for you Raj." The lightning user quipped. "I won't get anywhere without you."

Raj walked towards the alleyway exit. "You really know how to make a guy feel special, Ellie. See you in a few days, Ellie." Showing off his adaptive learning of his newfound abilities, the escaped criminal jumped onto the wall on the left and jumped between walls. He leaped onto the rooftop, running away.

"What is the plan in giving that man a symbiote?" Scream inquired.

"Like I said before, I wanna test their compatibility with human hosts of my choice." She revealed. "I wanna see if these non-sentient symbiotes will react poorly to human hosts and devour them…"

"Or grant them strengths beyond their humanly reach. Perfect guinea pigs." The Klyntar chuckled.

"Only perfect if they survive." Eliza chuckled to herself, wondering if her actions would bring her pen pal great power or absolute demise.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

Sitting by the main console in the Cortex, Caitlin held her head with both hands, a mix of horror and pain covering her face. "Seth… You mean, our daughter, in the original timeline before Flashpoint, had a boyfriend that was Samantha Arias' son, Rueben Arias?"

"Yeah." Seth sighed from beside her. "They were really close. Rueben is our daughter's first boyfriend, someone who helped her and cared about her in the original timeline. And she cared for him, greatly."

Caitlin ran her hands through her brown locks. She felt awful, her daughter's been going through so many horrible things all by herself and she didn't know a single thing about it. This was another cost of the timeline manipulation that Barry brought upon them.

"Frankie suffered all of this … On her own." Caitlin sighed, her head hanging low and her regret coating every single word. "I honestly thought that the worst thing that happened to her and our daughters were them being plucked out of the timeline and into an endless interdimensional element of lightning that's across time and space. I thought them getting this strange, uncomfortable powerup… I thought that was the end of it. Now, we learn that our daughter's first love… It never happened."

"It did happen." Seth grabbed her hand, his fingers interlocking with hers. "Frankie remembers this, probably. And still feels the pain. Add that to the pain of her being unable to save her family from the Sinister Seven… It's enough pain for her to overcome the physical pain she feels from overworking herself every morning."

"Those girls have gone through so much lately… It's impressive they've managed to go through all this and still continue at this pace without taking a break. But it's scary how much they're growing up… and what they've gotta deal with." Seth stated.

"What do we do?" Caitlin asked, her head shaking left and right trying to make sense of the mess her daughter's in. "Talk with Frankie again? Bring up the subject of her… boyfriend not existing anywhere and how it's affecting her?"

Nodding his head, Seth started. "I think so, yeah-"

"Hey!"

SCREAMS

Both Seth and Caitlin leaped out of their chairs with bellowing screams, springing back to their feet in shock when Evelyn shadowported out of the blue, landing on the console railing. Ruby was with her who jumped onto the ceiling.

"Evie, stop doing that!" Caitlin exclaimed at her daughter, who couldn't help laughing at the words and her reactions. "One of these days, you're gonna give us a heart attack."

"That's probably the last way I'd expect either of you to go, Mom." Ruby chuckled.

"We came to report back, something strange happened." Evelyn declared.

Seth raised his eyes. "What? Something happen to Joe?"

"No, it's what he did. He checked out an abandoned slaughterhouse." Ruby announced.

"A slaughterhouse?" Caitlin looked up; her eyes widened with confusion at her child's words.

"Yeah, surprised us too." Evelyn nodded.

Taking her seat again, Caitlin inquired. "Where's the slaughterhouse again?"

"Middle of the city, pretty sketchy part of it anyways. It was called "Branden's Butchers"." Ruby replied, recalling the sign on the warehouse.

Caitlin typed in the name and brought up the information she needed. ""Branden's Butchers," yeah, I got it. It looks like the owner, Cobb Branden, moved here from Smallville long ago and settled down. He brought a lot of his farm animals over here, and started Branden's Butchers. He sent his products to other cities but biggest profit came from Central City."

"What happened? Did it tank or something?" Seth asked.

"No, Branden's wife was… Looked like she died, but it was from unknown circumstances." Caitlin said, bringing up the articles with Cobb's wife's name and the obituary that was written for her. "Wonder why."

"Recent?" Ruby asked, releasing from the ceiling.

Looking over his mate's shoulder, Seth skimmed through the article. "No, it was pretty far back… Way before the particle accelerator. Maybe Joe would know something about this, should have happened while he's a detective or on the beat."

Thinking back to his best friend, Seth asked his daughters. "Girls, did Joe walk into the slaughterhouse or did he just scope it out?"

"Scoped it out, he didn't enter the place or anything." Ruby said. "Should we check it out again?"

"Hmmmm." Seth hums to himself, thinking back to the detective's strange behavior.

Seeing his look, Caitlin asked. "You wanna talk to Joe himself, don't you?"

"Think that'd be the smart choice, yeah." Seth nodded. "Problem is, he'd be busy with the case and would be cagey maybe."

"Wait, wasn't there a single person who may have seen what happened in the prison?" Evelyn asked skeptically, surprised if the answer was one.

"Actually…" Caitlin smiled, recalling where the crime took place. "There might be several witnesses."

"Who?" Seth raised an eyebrow.

Caitlin had a feeling that this one idea wouldn't be a favorite of her mate's.

X

(Iron Heights Penitentiary)

And true to Caitlin's instincts, Seth wasn't a particular fan of the idea… As they waited for the warden to come and meet them both.

Caitlin and Seth realized that the crime took place in the metahuman ward. And just like the cell that Rajeet broke out of, the other cells are occupied with powerful criminals as well. Meaning that there were several witnesses who saw the crime unfold.

"You think the warden will be able to convince them to answer our questions?" Seth asked his mate who came up with this idea. "They're not gonna just answer our questions without some kind of reward?"

"I'm sure they'll be compliant." Caitlin weighed her thoughts, tilting her head back and forth. "But if not, I'm sure you're gonna scare them till compliance."

"I'm that predictable?" The mutant questioned.

"Yes. Yes, you are, honey." Caitlin quipped. "You think it'll be a good idea for Ruby and Evelyn to join Frankie and patrol?"

"I trust Frankie, of course, but I'm concerned she might overwork herself again." Seth admitted. "Best choice was to have Ruby and Evelyn keep an eye on her. Plus, if they encounter that guy, they'll have the numbers on their side."

"Good idea. I just hope this works and we get more information so we can stop Kumar, or figure out how he broke out." Caitlin stated.

The door to the room opened up and Warden Gregory Wolfe entered. "Sorry for the wait, Doctors." He apologized to the two doctors.

"It's fine, Warden Wolfe." Seth assured him.

Caitlin followed, returning to business. "Warden Wolfe, about our request, is it doable?"

"Yes, it is Dr. Snow. Follow me." The warden said, gesturing for them to follow him. "Now, due to the urgency of your request and the current circumstances it proved difficult to secure an interrogation room for questioning, unfortunately. So, you and your partner here will have to question them in the metahuman ward itself."

"That's alright, Warden. We believe it'll be easier to ask our questions with them in the ward." Seth stated.

"Surprised it's still open, though. Figured with the damage, it'd be closed off completely." Caitlin asked.

"Which, normally, would be the case, Dr. Snow. But…" The warden scratched his forehead sheepishly. "The metahuman ward is the only area in the prison with power-dampeners, which are the only things that keeps the metahumans' powers under check. Moving them could spell disastrous consequences. We couldn't take the chance."

"Understandable." Caitlin nodded.

Gregory placed his ID card on the repaired scanner, which chimed with a green shine on the screen when registering the warden's credits. "Be careful with them, please. Don't let their words get to you, they're known criminals with silver tongues."

Seth chuckled. "Sounds like fun."

The warden faced them again. "Unfortunately, due to other errands I'm not able to stay beside you two, you're gonna have to do the questioning alone."

Caitlin nodded. "Alright." She said.

The doors opened and the two doctors stepped into the metahuman ward. Their presence immediately got the attention of all the inmates, each of them turning their gaze to them with confusion. "Who are you clowns?" Mark Mardon asked.

"Guess manners ain't part of the prison rehabilitation program." Seth quipped. "I'm Dr. Seth Fury, police consultant to the Central City Police Department."

Gesturing to herself, Caitlin introduced. "And I'm Dr. Caitlin Snow, S.T.A.R. Labs scientist."

Sam Scudder scoffed. "What brings such important people to our neck of the wood? Came to throw treats our way?"

"Forgot my biscuits, sorry for that. I'll throw you a few pieces your way next time I pay a visit." Seth countered, the metahuman growling in anger. "We came here to talk about the event that took place here." He pointed a finger to the closed off cell, ice still stuck to the torn doors.

"Yeah, someone broke out. Put a few pigs on ice." Adam Fells laughed. "Enough for you or what?"

"We were hoping for something else… Something more about Rajeet Kumar." Seth stated.

The two doctors heard strange cackling coming from their side, both turning to the direction of it and saw Kyle Nimbus step closer to his cell door. Looking through the bars, the gas metahuman started. "That's a tough subject, tougher nut to crack before it cracks you."

"Troublesome customer, is he?" Caitlin asked.

"One way to put it." Kyle scoffed. "Unlike the rest of us here, with the exception of me, he's the only one to have killed a large number of people without powers."

"But that changed last night." Caitlin noted. "For someone who's not a human, he managed to kill a staggering and baffling number of people. It even got him into this place, under lock and key."

"And now somehow… He got powers." Seth noted. "Don't tell me he had those powers the entire time he was in prison? Did he trick the entire city and the prison?"

"Nah, if that was the case, he'd have been weak as a kitten the moment he stepped in here." Kyle answered, gesturing to the ward they're standing in.

Caitlin added. "Yeah, he was placed here due to the stronger cells."

Tapping the bars of his own cell, Kyle replied. "Load of good that did. He escaped pretty easily… with some help."

"You seem to know a lot about this guy, Nimbus." Seth commented.

Kyle chuckled. "Well, I've had run-ins with that guy, not a nice guy. But he's easy to figure out."

"What do you mean? And why are you so compliant, Mr. Nimbus?" Caitlin questioned.

Laughing again, the gas metahuman said. "What can I say? He might be able to do what I was unable to do."

"And what was that?" Seth asked.

Kyle smirked like an evil hyena, as though his smile depicted the future, a dark future that would be coming and hit the city harder than anyone.

"Revenge's best served cold."

X

"Alright, honey. I know, I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise." A woman said, speaking into her phone as she paced back and forth on her front porch. She was wearing a blue robe over her half-blue and half-white clothes. Two officers stood beside her, awaiting her confirmation. "I'm sorry again, honey. Talk to you soon." She told her daughter, finalizing her speech.

Wiping off a trailing tear from her cheek, she turned to the two officers on her porch. "Can you guarantee my daughter's safety?"

"We have her placed in a secure location, that only a select few of the force knows about." The officer told Judge Theresa Howard.

"Your child is gonna be safe." The other officer assured her.

The judge exhaled. "I hope so. With Kumar out there again, I worry for her safety endlessly."

"Judge Howard, we promise that your child will be safe. So will your ex-husband." The first officer followed up.

Despite her situation, Theresa couldn't help but laugh. "So much for… "Not wanting to part of your work again."" She recited her ex-husband's words at the finalization of their divorce. "I think it's time to hit the hay, if it's possible to get any sleep."

"Understood, ma'am." The second officer nodded. "Our car is stationed outside your home; we'll be here the whole night and ready at a moment's notice. Any trouble, we're here. We promise you that."

"Thank you. Good night, officers." Theresa told the officers who walked towards their vehicle.

She couldn't feel worried in this situation.

As soon as word got out that Rajeet Kumar, Theresa immediately went to the police captain of the local police department and asked for help. Captain Singh assured her she'd be safe with the help of the police force.

What she demanded more than her own protection was her daughter and ex-husband's safety. They immediately went into action, pulling the daughter out of school and the husband out of work and put them in a safe house that only CCPD knew about.

They wanted her there… But she convinced them to let her spend one night in her own house.

The judge has had a bad feeling raging inside of her the entire day and she didn't want her family to worry any more than they already are.

Theresa wiped off another tear. "Better get back inside." She moved to her door and entered her home. Closing and locking the entrance behind her, she walked into her living room that also functions as her office.

She has an office desk close to the fireplace and with sofas around it. In the corner of the living room is a recliner, completely covered by darkness and shadows. Turning her attention to the desk again, she walked over to it and looked at the open case folder.

"RAJEET KUMAR: DEATHCOUNT"

She read the case name out loud as though others could hear her words, but thankfully that wasn't the case. While waiting for the department to place a security detail on her house Theresa went through her old files, relieving the memories of her final case with the heinous killer who keeps a score of his kills.

It was like yesterday when she sentenced him to life in prison. She remembers it clearly. The witnesses cried both out of sadness and fear when facing Kumar from the stand. The jury shivering every second as though they've experienced chills and nothing but that. The evidence she examined herself, the images of those he's killed…

The time when Rajeet was asked of the exact number of people he had killed. And, as though he was asked for his favorite drink, the criminal casually replied, with a proud smile nonetheless, the number of victims.

"Thirty-five victims." She muttered.

"Thirty-nine."

Hearing the correcting voice, Theresa snapped her eyes to the corner of her living room. Her eyes expanded in surprise when seeing the recliner, once completely covered in shadows and darkness, now alit with light from her lamp and revealed Rajeet Kumar sitting in it.

A cocky smile spread across his face. "Sorry to interrupt your evening, Judge Howard."

"K-K-Kumar?!" Theresa shouted, staggering backwards.

"Don't bother screaming for help, Your Honor." Kumar stood up. "Blinds are closed." Theresa glanced at her blinds, seeing to her shock they're closed, something she hadn't done. "Cops aren't gonna check on someone they've just left."

"What do you mean… Thirty-nine?" Theresa questioned, her eyes snapping around to take in her surroundings… Looking for something to help defend herself against the evil killer.

"Paid a little visit to those witnesses you so needed back then." He said slowly, alluding to the day of his trial where members of the Darbinyan family took the stand and testified against them. "Careful bringing criminals like them in front of me, I don't forget faces. Plus, in Iron Heights, you've got nothing but time to think and all that baloney."

"You… You…" Theresa found herself unable to speak properly, her words faltering on their way out of her mouth.

Picking up a photo, Rajeet examined the framed photo. "Your daughter's prom night, right?" He asked, turning the photo around to show the photo of the judge standing with her daughter on the night of her prom. Both smiling in the photo. "You thought I'd go after her and your ex, right?"

"That's what you said last time we met, wasn't it?" She reminded him.

"Well, I remember saying, "I want you to suffer more than anything, fear something worse than a death sentence… Know that your final words to me are the last you'll ever hear."" Rajeet coldly replied, getting closer to the woman who sentenced him to life in prison.

"I… I'm sorry, but you-"

"No, no, don't go and defend yourself, Your Honor." He inched closer to her, the judge's wall hitting the fireplace. "You were well within your right to sentence me to life in prison, even put me in that "special" cage for metas. I've been a naughty boy, for sure. But I'm here… To make good on my promise. My words are the last ones you'll ever hear."

"No." Theresa reached out, grabbing onto a firepole.

Before he could see it, the judge swung the firepole with a mighty swing and at almost blinding speed.

BREAK

But to her shock…. The firepole broke in two upon impact with his face, the other piece flying away and sticking into the wall behind the escaped criminal. Theresa's eyes widened in pure shock and dread at the sight.

Half of Rajeet's face, the area she aimed for, was covered by a thick layer of ice. The thickness strong enough to break metal in two. The ice had even come up to cover his eye and half of his lips.

"Surprised?" Rajeet's smirk widened… And something else spread across his form. "Wait till you see the real surprise."

Theresa's grip loosened on the firepole, her eyes drifting up… as the criminal she sentenced… Got taller.

"May God have mercy on your soul."

X

The next day…

The police force had arrived at the judge's house, entering the house slowly and with fear, the sight completely shocking them when passing the threshold. Joe and Seth meet the sight when entering the judge's house.

"Oh God." Joe said in horror. The fireplace itself was covered… Covered by the dead body of Judge Theresa Howard. Her arms and legs freezed to the fireplace, a number of four icicles pierced into her body. Dried blood splattered all around her neck, the origin of the once fresh and warm wet blood coming from the slit across her throat.

Barry, having entered the house beforehand with Julian, walked over to them. "It's Judge-"

"Judge Theresa Howard, I know." Joe cut his son off. "So should you guys, you two saved her from-"

"Nimbus." This time, Seth cut off the detective. "Two years ago, she was targeted by the Mist for revenge."

"You saved her from being gassed, she got to go home to her daughter again." Barry noted with a gulp.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case anymore, the judge had met her end. A daughter was now without her mother…

Joe clenched his fists again; the sound of his knuckles cracking reached the heroes' ears. "This was Kumar, without a doubt."

"You think so?" Julian asked.

Nodding his head wildly, Joe asked. "How did she die? Did she suffer?"

The tone wasn't that of an inquiring one, it was a demanding one. Julian accepted the tone and gave the answer. "After examining the body, it appears her throat was slit and while in pain she was frozen to the ceiling."

"The blades, they come during or after her throat slitting?" Seth asked, his eyes roaming the dead body in surprise.

Barry answered this time. "Looks like it happened post-mortem."

Walking past the speedster, Seth discreetly reached out to the nearest ice in his reach. With his hand inches away from it, his fingers turned into the claws of his alter-ego, which then turned red with flames. Using his claws, he quickly cut off a small piece of ice and put it inside of his body.

"You shouldn't be tampering with evidence, Dr. Fury." Julian told the elemental.

"Think we both know the equipment at S.T.A.R. Labs will be able to test the ice quicker than what you and Barr have in your lab in the precinct." Seth countered. "We can get an accurate scan in less than an hour, compared to yours at the precinct."

Noting the lack of words coming from Joe, Seth turned his head and looked at the detective. "Joe?" He got his attention. "You doing okay there?"

"It's the tenth body this psycho has dropped." Joe sighed, turning around to think to himself, diving into his mind by himself.

"Tenth? How?" Seth questioned.

"Bodies of the last remaining Darbinyan family members were found last night." Julian revealed.

"Darbinyan? Some big-time family I've failed to hear about?" Seth questioned, unclear as to who this family is.

"Right, you didn't go in depth with that case." Barry realized. "Nimbus tried to get revenge on everyone who got him on death row. When it failed, he went after the Darbinyan crime family and killed them off in a restaurant. After that, he tried to go after the judge, which failed. Lastly, he tried to go after Joe, which failed thankfully."

"Is this what he meant?" Seth mused to himself.

"Possibly… Too many similarities to be a coincidence." His "other" admitted.

"Who meant?" Julian asked, hearing the elemental mutter.

Facing him and Barry, he revealed. "Paid a little visit to Iron Heights, checked in with the metahumans in the ward."

"The witnesses." Julian deduced.

"Precisely, they witnessed the crime and I figured one of them could spill the beans on what happened there." Seth noted. "One of them said something, and it was the same one who went after our departed judge and the Darbinyan family."

"He knew about this guy?" Barry questioned.

"Oh yeah. Said he was big trouble…" Seth narrowed his eyes, thinking back to the conversation he had with the gas metahuman. "He said Deathcount could maybe finish what he couldn't. Joe was the detective on Nimbus' case. Who was the detective on Kumar's?"

"Unclear at the moment." Julian replied.

"Joe, do you-" Seth halted himself, his head facing the spot where Joe is… Or was…

"Where'd he…?" Barry looked around in surprise.

Julian saw an officer walking past them. "Officer Korber?" She faced him. "Happen to see where Detective West went off to?"

"Yeah, he walked past me a few minutes ago. Sped away in his car like he was late for work." She quipped.

Facing Barry and Julian again, Seth questioned. "That sound like Joe at all to you guys?" Both of the CSI scientists shook their heads, agreeing that that did not sound like the detective they know. "Thought so. I'll go after him."

"You know where he's going?" Barry inquired.

"Got a hunch." Seth nodded. "I'll call back." He walked out of the crime scene, stepping out onto the porch. As he walked down from it, he looked around to make sure no one saw him run off to a corner where no humans were.

From that same corner, Venom jumped out and into the open air without anyone seeing him. Tendrils shot out of his wrists, using them to swing towards the area where Joe West might be.

And he really, really hoped that Joe wouldn't do anything dangerous.

X

(Branden's Butchers)

BREAK

With the back of his Remington 870 Shotgun, Joe West broke the lock that kept him out of Branden's Butchers. His eyes with almost a manic look of rage and worry mixed together in a whirlpool in his mind. The detective pushed the fences apart, rushing through the gap to go to the warehouse.

The warehouse also functioned as the headquarters of the butchery, a fact that Joe knew better than anyone on the force. Tightening his hold on the shotgun he got out of the police armory, he made his way to the warehouse gate. Stopping at the gate, he examined it worriedly. Wasn't the only thing he checked, his eyes explored the gravel-covered grounds and his gloved hands roamed the surface of the door.

He didn't know why, but Joe expected that the door to be… wet.

Whether it was a relief or not when discovering that it wasn't he didn't know… Nor did he care right now.

Stepping back from the door, Joe let out a grunt when lashing out his right kick and kicked the door open. The hinges creaked as the door swung open, a sound that hit the detective's ears hard, making him grit his teeth in pain.

But he pushed the pain aside and entered the warehouse, the insides hadn't changed at all from the last time he had passed the threshold into this establishment. The slaughterhouse was completely empty, sharp instruments meant for dismembering scattered across the floor. Metal tables and tiled floors, each and every single surface was stained with dried blood. Every blade within the field of vision is in the same state, stained with dry blood. The same went for the metal hooks and chains that are hanging from the metal support beams.

A hideous smell of decay emitted from the half-open refrigerator door to the side, tainted and very expired meat stuck in the locker. Joe grimaced, the awful smell traveling into his nostrils. "Gotta find that guy."

"Makes two of us."

Snapping around, Joe aimed his shotgun at…. Seth Fury, who stood with crossed arms and gave his partner a cocky smile. "Easy there, killer. I'm friendly. Well, sometimes, at least."

"Seth?!" Joe snarled in a whisper, as though they weren't alone. Lowering his shotgun, he told his partner. "What are you doing here? And how'd you find me, anyway?"

"I'm a special agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Josephine, I can track. Plus, the way you were driving you were like a bat flying out of hell and leaving burn marks all over the road made it impossible for anyone to miss it." Seth said, stepping forward and looking around to take in their surroundings. "What's going on here? Why are you here, Joe? Cause, I'm guessing you're not looking for additional space."

With a sigh from his mouth, Joe tightened his hold on his firearm and confessed. "I know who Kumar's going after next." Seth looked over his shoulder, giving his partner an awaiting look. "It's me."

"Had a feeling, explains why you've been acting on edge lately." Seth admitted. "Mind explaining? You didn't feel like sharing with the rest of the class back at S.T.A.R. Labs, but it's just you and me right now."

Staying silent for a few minutes, Joe let out another sigh, one of reluctance. "You've never asked this but I made detective for a reason, Chyre and me actually." Seth listened closely whilst keeping his "other's" senses spread to their limits. "Kumar, AKA Deathcount, made his first strike here in Central City."

"Cobb Branden's wife." Seth shocked his friend with the quick statement.

"Yeah. It's not official, but that was his first victim here in the city." Joe releases one of his hands from the barrel of the shotgun, reaching into his pocket and pulls out a flashlight. "He made it known there." Turning on the light, he aims it at a metal wall with dried stains. "Branden's wife had a slit throat, her body hung on that wall with hooks stuck in her body."

"Why'd he go after her?" Seth asked. While he didn't know anything about Deathcount, considering his recent victims it seemed strange for him to go after the wife of a butcher.

"Unclear, but it may have had something to do with this locale." Joe gestured to their surroundings. "But what Kumar really wanted was revenge and to show that no one could stop him. This was before you and Barry became heroes, so the cops couldn't catch up to him."

"But someone did." Seth pieced together.

"Not someone, some people." Joe clarifies. "Chyre and I were cops back then, and we heard about this bastard and what he did to Branden's wife. We snapped and, for the first time back then, we worked without supervision or orders, without the knowledge of our captain. We went solo and tracked down Kumar."

"How?"

"He has similar ties to the crime syndicate that Kyle Nimbus worked for, another merc. We followed the trails, questioned some members we could reach and got the name of this guy. Our leads all lead back to one place…" Joe stomped his foot on the ground a few times. "This place here."

"He held out here?" Seth asked.

"Yeah." Joe walked up to him. "There's a secret room under the floor up there. Don't know if he's a creature of habit, but he could be here. Seemed like the best place to find out where he is. It's where he got his name from."

"What do you mean?" Seth asked curiously.

"We caught up to him in that room, called for backup before confronting him, and we caught him right in his little lair. Chyre saw his tattoos, something no one living had ever seen, and blurted out what they said and a journalist heard it. And the rest is history, as they say." Joe quipped. "I know he's after me, he's after revenge. I'm afraid he's gonna go after Iris, Barry and Wally next."

"So he went after the last remaining witnesses that testified against him in court, the judge that sentenced him…"

Joe continued the mutant's words. "And the cops that caught him. Singh knows this, too and wants me off the case. But I caught him once, I can get him again."

"You might be okay with gambling with your life on the line, Joe. But I ain't." Seth cracked his fists. "You're not alone on this, I'll help you."

Nodding his gratitude, Joe grabbed his firearm again with both hands. "This way." He walked in front of the mutant. "It's not far from here."

"Wait!" Seth whispered loudly. The words made the detective stop in his tracks but also cock his weapon. Slowly turning his head, without moving his body, the elemental looked over his shoulder and up at the support beams over their heads.

His eyes focused on the hooks and chains hanging from the beams, a few of them swinging slowly from side to side. Narrowing his eyes on the chains closest to the swinging ones, Seth watches as the chains swing again. A groan escaped his mouth when seeing that.

"Frankie, get down here."

"Frankie?" Joe questioned his friend when hearing that sudden statement.

"What?" Much to the detective's surprise a familiar demonic voice let out an exclaim of surprise. His surprise intensified when seeing Magenta appear out of thin air, letting go of the beam over their heads and landing on the ground. She faced her father with shock. "You knew I was here?"

"Not a single open window in here, and I closed the door when I followed your Uncle inside of here. So, there's no entry point for a breeze to come in, so the only way that chain could have shaken was if someone was passing through them." Seth explained.

Scoffing at the logic, Frankie admitted. "Should've accounted for that."

"You followed us…" Seth gave her a stern look.

"Dad, putting everything else you and Mom said before aside, I'm here to help. I wanna stop this guy, I wanna-"

"Become stronger, I know." Seth finished his daughter's sentence.

Seeing that, Joe decided to change the subject. "It might be good with Frankie here too, the more manpower the better." He reasoned with his friend and his daughter. "We're close to the area."

"Where is it exactly?" Frankie questioned her uncle.

"It's underground, under one of the floor panels." Joe declared, stomping on the floor.

It was abundantly clear that Joe had been here before, his feet stomping the ground for a hollow sound making it clear as day. The detective didn't recall the exact area of where the area is, but his scouring and searching feet were enough to see that he remembered the method he used to find it the first time.

"Still… Joe, you think Kumar went after Branden's wife because of something relating to the syndicate?" Seth questioned his friend, his "other" keeping an eye on Frankie per his host's request.

"I'm not sure." Joe came to a stop, facing the father and daughter duo. "For a long time, I kept thinking back to this case, to why Cobb's poor wife was killed in this building. Why was this place significant to someone like him? It didn't make any sense. Maybe it was on a whim."

"A whim?"

For the first time in a long time, Frankie and Seth saw fear plaster on Joe's face. The detective snapped his head around, aiming his shotgun in the direction of the large open space that's ahead of the trio.

Sitting on the floor, a torn and broken panel beside him, in a black tank-top is Rajeet Kumar. His legs that are clad in baggy light brown pants are hanging down through an open hole in the floor. Much like how Joe remembered the criminal, his forearms are wrapped in filthy ragged bandages, appearing even filthier than he remembered with the red stains on them.

Seth saw the words on the back of his fingers, DEATH and COUNT.

Rajeet Kumar cracked his neck with a twist of his head. "A whim? Not exactly, right, Joey." He laughed.

Cocking his shotgun again, Joe took aim at the escaped criminal. "Been a long time, Rajeet."

"Likewise, Joe. Heard you made detective, even put Nimbus' worthless ass in jail." Rajeet crossed his legs. "Congrats on that. Shame about what happened to your old partner, Chyre. Mardon's dead bro put him in the ground, right?" A flash of rage came over Joe, his finger threatening to pull the trigger at those mocking, taunting words.

"You killed Judge Theresa Howard." Joe growled.

Both Seth and Frankie could see that even if they were to try and calm the detective down, neither of their words would be able to penetrate the cloud of rage that surrounds him now.

"Bingo." Rajeet chuckled, giving him two thumbs-ups. "That's a detective for you, good job, Joe. But half of that credit goes to me, I mean I did off that chatterbox."

Seeing that Joe was too blinded by rage, on the verge of ventilating the criminal on the spot, Seth stated. "You're under arrest, Rajeet Kumar. Come quietly."

Rajeet faced the mutant, giving him a sharp look. Seth returned the glare with his own stabbing gaze. "This guy is completely different from the one we fought before." He noted, the air around the criminal was so different from his Earth-2 counterpart. Unlike the telekinetic doppelganger from Earth-2, this one seemed more adapted to close-combat.

"Then we gotta be careful. And remember…" Venom snarled, ready for a combat situation himself. "This one's got more up his sleeves."

"He hasn't shown his entire hand." Seth agreed, knowing that the criminal got an arsenal in him.

"So, you're Joey's new partner, huh?" Rajeet noted.

"Got a problem with that, pal?" Seth said stoically, his expression matching his tone.

"Not really." Rajeet admitted, turning his attention back to the detective who put him behind bars. "But from what I've heard, Joey, your luck with partners is as shitty as a clogged up toilet. I mean, Chyre bit the dust."

"Keep my partner's name out of your mouth." Joe snarled.

Magenta watched the criminal form a toothy grin, relishing and enjoying the turmoil he's putting the detective through. "Anymore he says it's gonna cause trouble for us all."

WHOOSH

Whether or not it was fortunate, they didn't know what conclusion to reach when they suddenly turned their heads to the side and saw Kid Flash slide to a halt in the old warehouse.

"Kid Flash?" Joe asked.

The criminal laughed. "Kid Flash? Really? "Baby Flash" already taken?"

"The name's Kid Flash, pal." Wally gestured to himself. "Don't wear it out." He coughed, accidently sniffing the foul air. "Otherwise, it'd end up like this place."

"Too late for that, kid. Get going, the adults are talking." Rajeet chuckled, waving his hand in the direction of the exit.

A vein popped on Wally's forehead, behind his mask. "Oh yeah, how about I just take you down here and now?"

"Kid Flash." Joe tried to get his son's attention, hoping it would calm him down.

Wagging a finger, Rajeet smirked. "Put your words where your mouth is, kid."

"Don't do it." Seth told the fledgling speedster.

But Wally didn't listen and sped towards the criminal. Time slowed down, the speedster using that space of time to swerve around and attack from behind Rajeet. He wasn't gonna put Barry's teachings to waste, all the training he was put through wasn't in vain.

And he was gonna prove that here and now.

However… Even if time had slowed down…

Rajeet Kumar was still able to slowly form… A smirk.

A geyser of white mist burst out from his back…

Time returned to normal and the symbiote-bears and the detective watched in shock as Wally stopped…

…

Just in time before he came head to head with the multitudes of ice spikes that looked akin to blades that are protruding from his back.

"The hell?" Seth asked with widened eyes.

"No way." Joe stated. "You really were the one who killed the guards at Iron Heights."

"Just a test drive. Had to get a feel of my upgrades." Deathcount quipped. "Also, Kid Flash, wasn't it?" He turned his head, facing the speedster who stayed clear of the ice blades. Mist emitted from his mouth; half of his face glazed with a layer of frostbite. "If you really wanna catch someone, make sure you've got the resolve to do whatever it takes to do exactly that."

Wally looked into the criminal's eyes, and was met with unbridled bloodlust and ice-cold manic.

"Kid Flash, stay away!" Joe exclaimed, ordering his son to get out of harm's way before he pulled the trigger and unleashed a scattershot, multiple bullets flying out of the barrel and making their way towards the criminal.

The words from his father snapped the speedster out of his trance, allowing him the opportunity to jump backwards and out of the bullets' trajectory.

But the yellow speedster wasn't the only one to see the bullets. So did Rajeet who stood up and kicked the metal panel up. Grabbing it, he used it as a shield to block away the incoming bullets. The bullets dented the shield, but that didn't faze the criminal at all.

"Shoot first and ask questions later? That's a new approach, Joey." Rajeet said, getting down to business himself. Reaching behind him, he grabbed one of the massive sharp spikes on his back and tore it off. "Can't say I don't like it, but…" Corners of his metal shield were shot off, bullets and metal shards falling around his feet. "It's fucking annoying."

Like it was a javelin, he reeled his ice lance back and then hurled it towards the detective.

Seeing the flying ice weapon traveling through the air, Seth saw an opportunity and jumped into action. "Joe!" The mutant practically tackled his partner to the ground, and out of the way. The result ended up as he wanted, and the ice lance pierced his side. "Argh!"

"Seth?!" Joe screamed when he hit the ground and saw Seth fall to the ground, the large ice spear embedded in his body.

"Nice job, Joe's new partner. Real camaraderie." Rajeet admitted, tearing off more ice spears from his back.

Magenta, with flashing magenta eyes brimming rage, jumped in front of her downed father and clenched her fist. The metal panel in front of them tore up and stood up in front of them like a barricade, blocking the barrage of icicle weapons.

As they kept coming, Frankie looked down at her father. "Why'd you take that attack, Dad?"

Fighting back the pain, Seth told his child. "I need to change, but without that guy seeing me. I'm not happy about you following us into this situation, but it's a good thing you did. You need to hold him off for a bit on your own while Wally gets me and Joe out."

"I'm not leaving." Joe admitted, hiding behind the barricade and reloading his weapon.

"Yes, you are. Kid Flash." Seth got his attention, the speedster speeding towards him. "Get Joe and yourself out of here, take me with you."

"I'm not running." Wally countered.

"You need to." Seth pushed himself up. "You're the only one who can get people outside to safety in case this battle escalates." Wally couldn't deny his logic. "Do it!"

WHOOSH

Without saying a single word, Wally snatched both his father and the mutant and sped them out of the warehouse.

Seeing that they were out of the way, Magenta turned her attention back to the shield that's getting continuously pierced by the rain of ice spikes. "Time to work." Frankie snarled, crossing her arms over her torso. Letting out a cry, she uncrosses arms and, with an invisible force from her ferrokinetic powers, she launches the barricade after the criminal.

Deathcount saw it flying his way, and formed a smile. He jumped to the side, avoiding the barricade projectile. "Not bad. Magenta, right? Magenta-suited kid with a thing for maces, right?" He asked while forming curved ice blades on his shoulders, both of which he plucked off.

Not one to disappoint people, Frankie morphed both of her hands into spiked maces. "You're gonna hate maces now!" She charged the criminal who crossed his ice blades and ran towards her.

When coming close enough to him, Frankie swung her mace. To her surprise, the criminal used both of his ice blades to manage and block the symbiotic weapon. Reeling back her other hand, she swung her mace for his head, delivering a strike to the side of his face.

The attack pushed him back, but he still managed to stay on his feet. But something else caught Frankie's attention, something that confused her. "Ice?" She noted as pieces of ice fell off his face, scattering and breaking upon impact with the floor. Seeing the ice pieces stuck between the spikes on her mace, she pieced it together. "You can produce your ice from anywhere on your body."

Turning his head back to her, Rajeet showed a half smirk. The other half of his face was covered by a thick layer of ice. "Bingo. Pretty neat ability." Letting go of the ice blade in his right hand, he raised his hand to the ice-covered side of his face. "I was rotting in a prison cell when I began hearing of the so-called…Demonic Warrior and the Streak." Digging his fingers into the ice, he pulled it off and held it in his hand. "I heard he could do the same trick."

"He's better at it than you are." Magenta said, feeling a tingling of fear come over her. The small sensation made her shake on the spot.

"Course he is." To her shock, Rajeet displayed great strength when he easily crushed his ice mask with his bare hand. "He's a veteran, but I have a nasty habit of opposing those that are better than me, makes me a nasty piece of work." He turned his ice-cold eyes back to the ferrokinetic. "Maybe if I toy with you for a bit… Venom will show his mug."

As he uttered the words, ice began spreading from his right forearm at a rapid pace. With the ice rapidly spreading, he formed a large and long gauntlet-like sculpture. "Bear with me for a while!" Rajeet shouted, leaping towards her with great force as though he was launched off the ground.

"Look out!" Frankie heard her "other" exclaim. At the same time the words rang throughout her head, Magenta took matters into her own hands and spouted pinkish tendrils from her host's back. The tendrils stuck to the floor and pulled both of them away from Rajeet who swung his ice gauntleted arm like a hammer, tearing a hole in the floor with ease.

"Thanks." Frankie told her partner in gratitude for the quick save before straightening herself, landing on the floor on all four. Like an animal with its eyes set on its prey, she snarled at the criminal. Rajeet watched with shock as the young hero released an array of pink tendrils from her back.

"Neat trick!" Rajeet exclaimed, using his left hand to spread ice from his ice blade and forming an ice shield. Using the shield and the large gauntlet, he once again charges towards her. With the shield in his left hand, he is able to take the tendrils, but his shield quickly begins shattering. But he paid little mind to his breaking barricade and thrust his right fist towards her.

Eyes widening in shock, Frankie instinctively reacted and crossed her arms over her body and blocked the incoming ice gauntleted fist. But the amount of force he put into it was enough to push her off the ground and sent rolling on the metal floor.

Pushing herself back up to a crouch, Frankie looked up at the villain with surprise. Her surprise was replaced with pain and a groan as she felt her arms sting from the attack she was forced to take. "What kind of power does this guy have?"

Rajeet smirked with delight. "You're still standing? Good. Makes it more fun to-"

ROAR

Hearing the roar that suddenly interrupted him, Rajeet turned his eyes in the direction of where it came from. Frankie followed his gaze and saw Venom enter with a snarl and an angrier expression. "Stay… Away from her!" He bellowed out a roar, loud enough to make the criminal jump away from Magenta.

"So you're Venom." Rajeet noted with a widening smile.

Not paying attention to the criminal, Venom turned his gaze to Frankie. "Are you okay?"

"Fine!" She snarled, getting back on her feet.

"Must be quite a foe to actually make a dent on Frankie and leave her in this state." Seth couldn't help but think.

"Seth. See his arms." Venom told his host. The mutant saw the ice constructs around the criminal's arms.

"Hate it when I'm right." Seth said, gritting his teeth in anger and hate.

WHOOSH

Following Seth's arrival, The Flash joined the fray in a flash of lightning that brought along a gust of air that hit the other heroes and the gleeful criminal. While the smile on his face threw him off, Barry regained his composure shortly after. "Sorry I'm late."

"Not the first time." Seth quipped. Flexing his back, he had the handle of his crystal sword pop out of his shoulder blade. Reaching behind him, he grabbed the handle and pulled his sword out. "Stay on your toes. This guy's trouble."

"Heh." The three heroes heard the chuckle, turning their faces to the criminal. "Heh. Hah. Hahahaha!" In a matter of seconds, Deathcount went from chuckling to cackling to bursting into immediate laughter. His laughs echoing throughout the entire warehouse.

Flash glanced at the mutant. "How hard did you punch him?"

"Haven't even touched the guy yet." Seth clarified.

"This… This is perfect!" Rajeet roared in absolute joy. "Flash! Venom! Magenta! Such a star cast. Your deaths…" He faced them with a sick smile. "Will be worth thousands!" His declaration made the heroes narrow their eyes and shiver slightly. "But I'm gonna have to…"

Something changed about the criminal… His skin and clothes began releasing strange, ominous green and light-aqua blue miasma. Seth and Frankie recognized the miasma as a symbiotic biomass, confirming the former's worst fears…

Rajeet had become a symbiote-host.

The miasma spread over his entire form rapidly, changing his body. He grew taller as the green and light-aqua mass covered him. His fingers began claws, long razor-sharp claws that'd make jigsaws look like petty knives. His feet changed too. Instead of becoming large feet like Venom's, they became slim feet with two toes. Black veins spread over his form, traveling over his body like snakes. The last part of his body that was swarmed by the symbiote mass is his head, enveloping it entirely into a green face with flame-shaped white eyes. His mouth was nowhere to be found on his face, but his cold-eyes spoke more than he could say with his voice.

From his back, six tendrils spouted out like savage serpents. The tips of them grew colder and colder until ice formed on them. The ice-tipped tendrils flail around in the air, striking the air around the newly-revealed symbiote-bearer. White icy cold air came out of Rajeet's non-existent mouth.

"Take this game up a notch." Deathcount admitted.

"This is now how we expected to meet Deathcount." Barry admitted.

"From now on and always, I will be keeping a death count. The number of victims I take from this world, I will remember them all. But…. Deathcount has evolved. I am… Lasher!" He bellowed, his voice echoing throughout the warehouse and making it seem like the metal's quaking at the sound of his roar.

"Another symbiote-user?" Flash questioned.

"Just figured that out?" Venom sarcastically asked.

Placing both of his hands on the ground and pushing back both feet, Lasher froze all of his appendages to the ground and constructed a hold for himself. Showing a mouthless smirk, he lashes out with all six of his ice-bladed tendrils at the heroes.

Jumping in front of Frankie and Barry, the mutant launched his sword at the criminal like a javelin. But it didn't even come close to hitting him, only leaving him confused rather than hurt. The confusion ended when Venom wrapped both of his hands around the six tendrils, pulling on them tightly and neutralizing his attacks.

Seeing the opportunity Barry sped towards him. He ran around Lasher in a circle of bright yellow lightning, disorienting him with its bright light. Lasher's eyes looked left and right, trying to get a grasp on the speedster's location.

Lasher, quickly getting tired of the flashing lights, turned to omnidirectional attacks and formed ice spikes around his body. "Let's really put your speed to the test, Flash!" He exclaimed with laughter and ejected the spikes in a barrage.

Time slowed down and Barry was able to see the incoming ice spikes, allowing him an opening to dodge the ones within his field of vision. But one came for his feet, piercing into it and he ran into it, causing him to trip and fall. Time returned to normal and he grunted with each painful roll he took on the ground.

His grunts stopped when he felt a hand wrap around his ankle, lifting him off the ground. Lasher swung Barry around in the air. "Magenta, catch!" He shouted, hurling the speedster after the pink symbiote-user. Frankie was hurled off of the ground, the speedster slamming into her with full force.

The force of which is so great it sent both heroes flying out of the warehouse and out into the city.

Venom turned to face them, worry and concern crossing his face from seeing his daughter and friend getting hurt. "Look out!" Seth's attention turned back to the criminal who had grabbed his sword with his hands. His eyes widened in surprise the moment the sword crashed into his face.

Rajeet retracted his six back tendrils, each of which were released from Seth's hold. But that didn't shock him. What shocked him was the crystal sword he threw into the owner's face… Was easily caught… Between his adamantium fangs.

"Heard of a strong grip, but a strong bite? That's a new one." Rajeet admitted as he let go of the Lethal Protector's sword.

Releasing his sword from his mouth, the mutant grabbed it and held it in one hand. "Where did you get that symbiote from?"

"Who knows." Lasher quipped. "Maybe I just found it, maybe I made it… Or maybe someone gave it to me. Or maybe I bought it on eBay." Venom narrowed his eyes. "So many possibilities. But now that's not important." He stood up, standing in his full height and cracked his neck. "Your number… It's gonna be added to my collection!"

Venom watched in surprise and disbelief when Lasher flexed his entire body and released cold thick white mist from every pore of his body. Seth narrowed his eyes behind his mask. "According to Caitlin, when she turned into Killer Frost before Christmas, she could produce ice cold mist herself."

"Skill-wise, this guy seems to be able to do the same." Venom followed up. "But the added ability of a symbiote allows him to produce and use his new powers from around his entire body. It'll make him troublesome. But the one and only advantage to this…"

"We know his powers inside-out." Venom stated, releasing lightning from his entire body and igniting his crystal blade with bright red flames.

"Let's dance!" The long claws on his fingers became enveloped with ice before Lasher rushed towards the elemental.

As though he was in a frenzy, he swung long claws to try and sever Seth's limbs, but the elemental countered with his flaming sword blocking and melting the elongated ice claws. When seeing an opening, converging lightning into his other hand, Venom struck Lasher with his lightning-clad fist.

The blow to his head sent the criminal into the air. But using the momentum to his advantage, he spun around, landing back on the ground on all four. "This place is stuffy." Snarling through a non-existent mouth, Lasher rushed towards the mutant.

Enveloping his crystal blade with his abyssal black flames, Seth raised his weapon and swung it down, aiming for the incoming criminal's head. But to his surprise, Lasher froze the floor with a layer of ice, using it to his advantage and spinning out of the sword's way. Using his increased speed, Rajeet jumped out of the warehouse. "Come and get me, hero!"

Snarling in anger, Seth followed him in a jump. Surrounding himself in wind and lightning, he increased his own speed and quickly gained on the criminal. The mutant clenched his fist, turning his entire arm into adamantium and swung it down.

But the six tendrils on Rajeet's back wrapped around Seth's metal and hurled him, sending him flying into the air and into the streets. He landed on a sports car, the hood and the doors flying off immediately. Hearing the sound of crackling, he lifted his head, but barely got a chance to counter when suddenly a wave of ice came over him, forming a misty ice path that connected to him and froze him to the trashed sports car.

"This is…" Recalling his own technique, Venom looked to the villain and saw Lasher remove both of his fists from the ground. "This guy can even do what we could do back then? How?"

"Damn whatever's happening to this city." His "other" admitted, not liking this at all.

Standing back in his full height, Lasher lowered his hands… His trembling hands. "That's what I like. This was a great fight, Venom. But, looks like I'm-"

"STAY AWAY FROM HIM!"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Lasher had to dodge a large jagged symbiote sword that came after his face. He jumped away to the side, allowing Magenta to take a protective stance in front of her father. "I'm gonna take you down here and right now!"

"Think you mean we're!"

Thankfully, Genysis arrived, shooting down like a meteor, and taking a stance beside her sister. She stood ready with her blade. "Cold feet, Venom?" She quipped at her frost-bound father.

"Someone got humor." Seth countered hollowly, his eyes examining Frankie's shivering body. Granted she was standing on the same cold ice path that Rajeet had created but, through his "other's" help, he could feel that it wasn't the cold causing her to tremble. It was something else entirely.

A smog of shadows erupted on top of the car and Seth looked up to see Eclipse crouching down by his side. "You okay, Venom?" She asked her father in concern.

"Fine." Seth said, using flames and adamantium to force his way out of the ice prison. "Give up, Lasher."

"No." He replied simply with a shake of his head. "I've got business to take care of and a promise to keep, Venom. We're gonna continue this later."

The six tendrils dug into the ground, releasing a burst of icy mist that's quickly becoming a thick and obscuring fog that envelopes him. The symbiote heroes covered their eyes when the mist came their way. It practically enveloped and covered the entire street.

X

Despite the immense fog, from on top of a nearby skyscraper, Taskmaster was able to see the geyser-like burst of mist. Removing his high-tech binoculars from his eye lenses, he spoke.

"Think that hothead will actually be worth anything?"

Eliza Harmon, sitting on the ledge with her back against a wall, chuckled. "Did you seriously make a joke?"

"Answer me." The mercenary demanded.

"Demanding, aren't you?" Eliza chuckled. "Why do you care about it? Not like you'd give a damn whether or not he lives."

Taskmaster, holstering his binoculars, stated. "Sounds like I'm not the only one who thinks along those lines."

Smirking, Eliza finally answered. "I keep my promise and let him run amok and get his revenge, he keeps his promise and joins us."

"How'd you know he's gonna keep his word?" Taskmaster asked.

With a chuckle, Eliza confessed. "He got captured because he did exactly that. He kept his word."

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

"Sorry you didn't get much time to shine out there, Wally." Seth told the fledgling hero. The heroes returned to the facility a while back and were given a check-up by Caitlin. She gave a brief look over to both Wally and Barry, her focus turning to her daughters immediately afterwards. She was thankful that none of them were harmed in any way.

But she did send Frankie a worrisome and slightly disappointing look all the while they moved out of the medbay.

And while Seth did have some of his own words for Wally, Joe had even more to tell his son. "Wally, didn't I tell you you're not to go anywhere near this guy!" He reaffirmed his words he told him before. "He was dangerous before, now he's absolutely worse! And the first thing you do is jump into the frying pan and try and fight him!"

"Dad, calm down!" Iris told his father, trying to calm down his enraged father, something she doesn't see often. "One good thing did come out of this."

Barry nodded his agreement, following up on her words. "We learnt that Rajeet really does have powers, ice at that, and he has a symbiote as well, plus he practically confessed to killing Judge Howard."

"And…" Julian jumped in, sitting by the main console. "It appears that this particular criminal has incredible mastery of his newfound powers. Judging from the extensive damage he caused to the street and our unfriendly elemental."

Seth raised an eyebrow. "Like you're one to call others "unfriendly," Albert."

"No, we don't all think that." H.R. chimed in, gesturing to the rest of the team with a drumstick.

Ruby gave him a dry look. "No, we all think that. Absolutely."

"Let's shelf that discussion for another rainy day, okay?" Cisco said, sitting on the console and pressed a key on the keyboard. The biggest monitor on the wall turned on, showing footage from the fight that erupted from the warehouse and into the open streets of Central City. "Wow, Deathcount really got a makeover." He quipped when seeing the new symbiotic form he is donning.

Evelyn faced him. "Actually, he called himself Lasher."

"What?" Cisco faced her with absolute shock. "Seriously? Another villain with a self-appointed name. When does the horror end?"

"In this city? I wouldn't expect the horror show to end anytime soon." Evelyn bluntly said.

Caitlin faced Seth. "You think Eliza had something to do with this?"

"Considering Joe told us he saw Eliza with four separate symbiotes on Christmas Eve, it's the only thing that makes sense." Seth answered.

"Great, another symbiote-maniac running amok in our streets." Joe said, a little too loudly for the others.

Caitlin didn't seem to like that and was about to say something in retaliation. But Seth put a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head to tell her she shouldn't do it.

Wally returned to the matter. "Dad, I know I may have been a little… Impatient."

"Hotheaded is more like it." Joe argued.

"But I wanted to help you and Seth. That's all. I just-"

Joe cut off his son. "That could've been the last thing you'd have ever done."

"Joe." Seth put a hand on his friend's chest. "Yes, Wally might have been a little brash and head-dived into danger, which is a pattern with your kids, sure, but he's doing it to learn." Joe sighed. "Besides, means he's got a good heart." Glancing at the senior speedster, he added. "Just needs better training, then he's good to go."

"For real?" Barry asked.

"More importantly." Frankie got the team's attention. "From what we know, we know this guy's got a connection to Eliza."

"That's just an assumption, Frankie. We don't know for certain." Harrison pitched in.

"I don't think so, it is the only likely outcome that could've allowed Rajeet to get a symbiote with element powers." Seth argued. He faced Julian. "If you guys aren't sure, maybe Albert can shed some light on the matter."

Taking over the keyboard, Julian pressed a key and announced. "Per Dr. Fury's request, I examined and analyzed two samples of ice he had retrieved from the crime scene of the departed judge's home. And thanks to the S.T.A.R. Labs computers, it finished in a jiffy." He brought up two analysis charts.

Looking at the two charts, Barry frowned with surprise. "Weird."

"What's wrong?" Iris asked.

"Normally, ice, it's like a fountain of knowledge. A single ice sample collects a lot of aerosol and even the contents of the atmosphere. From an ice core, you'd be able to determine the temperature of the air, the dust, the aerosol and other impurities in the air." Barry answered.

"So, it's like a collection of air, in a frozen box." Evelyn interpreted.

"Basically, yeah." Seth said, turning to the screens. "But these charts show that there's little to no air content at all. But they have something else in them."

"Yes, something that's peculiar and unprecedented to be within ice." Julian admitted.

"DNA in the form of blood." Seth said, completely and utterly confident of himself. That announcement made the metahuman expert lift his head in a hurry. "Wanna ask your second question, Albert?"

"Second question?" Joe asked in confusion.

Interlocking his fingers, Julian asked. "Allen and I, along with you Detective, were at the crime scene unlike the rest of the team. As you dealt with the shock of the poor judge's murder, Dr. Fury retrieved a sample of the ice that was frozen around her body. But he only took off a single shard of ice, yet he handed me two shards to examine."

"The reason being…" Wally asked.

"I wanted the ice compared to my own." Seth finalized, shocking the entire team. "And judging from Albert's analysis, it shows there's no difference at all. Meaning that the symbiote with the ice abilities comes from one of the four symbiotes that Eliza has, which she created from my Venom symbiote with elemental powers. My powers." He clenched his fists, not liking that the source of this murder was his powers.

"Yes, yes, I agree, S.F. I think we should focus on Lash's powers next." H.R. stated, the others giving him another wave of incredulous looks. "Something about his power's been bugging me for a while."

Barry looked confused. "The fact that he has powers?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of what he can do with those powers." H.R. skeptically said.

Realizing what he was alluding to, Seth chuckled to himself. "Just like Eliza can do with her lightning, Rajeet is able use his new ice element to a greater degree than I can right now." Harrison gave a wide smile as the mutant pieced together his point. "But that's something that's confusing me, actually. The symbiotes have shown signs of having an element, but once bonded to a host, they can release it to a greater extent."

"Maybe symbiosis?" Julian inquired, having learnt a fair bit about the Klyntar species last night. "The interaction that requires a host to be perfectly paired to the parasite its introduced to."

Hearing his "other" growl at being called a parasite, Seth warned the metahuman expert. "You might wanna not call our partners for parasites, they absolutely hate that."

"And quickly they turn murderous." Ruby bluntly added, making it sound like another threat.

"Well…." Harrison got the team's attention again, scratching his head.

Caitlin chuckled. "H.R." She got his attention, halting him as he scratches his head. "Something you wanna share with the class?"

"Rather, a question for the class: What is the difference between Rajeet and Eliza if you compare them to our dear temperamental colleague, Seth?" He asked the entire team, gesturing to the elemental with both of his drumsticks.

"Mind getting to the point, H.R.?" Said an impatient Cisco.

Seth jumped in. "Except for me being a muta-" He stopped himself, realizing where the Earth-19 native was going. "I'm a mutant with different elements inside of me, each one I can use as I wish. But because Rajeet only has one element, he can do what I can't do anymore."

"Discharge elements in long-range combat." Caitlin stated.

"Precisely." H.R. admitted. "Our dear Seth has a magnitude of elements, which may or may not have shortened his temper…" A vein popped on Seth's forehead at that slight snipe, his mind briefly filling up with images of displaying his proclaimed "short-temper." "And like the not-so lovely Eliza Harmon, Kumar has only one element."

"So due to those two only possessing one element through their symbiotes, both of them have more extensive usage of their respective elements, thus allowing more capabilities than Dr. Fury." Julian surmised.

"Seems like the likely conclusion, yeah." Barry agreed with his colleague's conclusion.

"So, with that in mind, Seth…" Cisco faced the elemental. "With you being our one and only expert on elements and symbiotes, wanna tell us some good countermeasures against ice wielders?"

Seth leant back against one of the computers and interlocked his fingers. "Ice is a troublesome element in all of its forms. As mist, it can cover a loud area and be used as a smokescreen. At the same time, it can be used as a long-range attack, blowing the targets away. In solid form, it can be used as either a weapon or as armor. In a matter of seconds, he was able to do both of these methods masterfully, and he expertly incorporated the uses of his symbiote into the mix, allowing him to use ice in an omnidirectional manner."

"Offense and defenses, ice is a good element for both areas." Frankie added. "I swung my sword for his face, he blocked it with ice armor. There wasn't a single scratch on his face. His powers are really good. We need to find out where he's gonna strike next."

"Easier said than done, honey." Joe stated, agreeing with his niece's words. His phone rang and he looked at it, seeing the message. With wide eyes, he quickly announced after pocketing his cellular device. "I'm gonna go and check out with the precinct, see if anyone on the force may know something. My captain might." He said, walking towards the exit. "Barry, Wally, you two aren't to go anywhere near this guy. He's an absolute maniac and out for blood and only that. Stay away." He finalized before finally walking past the threshold.

After making sure the detective's out of hearing range thanks to her "other's" powers. "Well, we agree that we know better than Uncle Joe, right?" Ruby chimed in, getting confused looks from the others.

"The headlines from the future." Seth groaned, clenching his fists in self-hate. Those very headlines were the only things that'd show the team how to prevent Iris' death, a death he'd hoped to spare Joe of.

"Hey." He felt a hand over one of his, making him look and see Caitlin was the one coming up to him. "Don't take what Joe said to heart, okay? He's just…"

"He's not wrong." Seth admitted. "I was careless in my fight against Taskmaster, because of that, he got a sample of me and Peter, which led to the births of these new symbiotes. It's my fault this happened." Shaking his head. "But back to the matter, Ruby's right. We can use the headlines to figure out his next target."

"It's the precinct." Evelyn said, remembering the headlines they wrote on the blackboard. "We could have them evacuate the building?"

"Doing so would entail telling Joe about everything we're dealing with, including what Savitar intends to do." Caitlin told her daughter.

"Now, I think we should survey the precinct, maybe Kumar will show his face if we wait." Seth turned around, facing Ruby and Evelyn. "Evie, Rubs, go to the precinct and keep an eye on it. Call us the second you see something suspicious, okay?"

"Fine, fine. But don't blame us if we end up fighting and knocking that guy out before you show up." Ruby quipped.

"Confident as always." Seth chuckled.

"I'm going with." Frankie declared.

"No, Frankie. Wait." Caitlin told her daughter. "Girls, go on ahead. We need to have some words with your sister." She told Ruby and Evelyn. Both nodded their heads, the metahuman shadowporting her and her sister away.

"I will be taking my leave as well." Julian admitted, getting up from the console and walking out as well.

"Wally, with me." Barry told the other speedster. "We're gonna go and patrol ourselves. We've got the speed after all." With a single nod from Wally, the two speedsters sped out of the facility.

Facing Cisco, Seth asked. "Cisco, you remember those bombs we made to capture Eliza in the past?"

"You mean, the blueprints for the Blizzard Bombs? I know the entire, "fight fire with fire," but pretty sure fighting ice with ice will just give us an elaborate ice sculpture." Cisco quipped.

"Not my point." Seth stated.

"Ahhhh!" Harrison realized, turning to the viber. "I believe S.F. wants to repurpose those lovely contraptions into something more… suited for our predicament."

"You wanna make them into some kind of Heat Bombs?" Cisco smiled, liking the name he came up with without any thoughts to it. "I will make that happen."

"I will help." H.R. said, following the viber who walks towards his workshop.

"No, you will not!" Cisco exclaimed, knowing that the Earth-19 native's help would be nothing bothersome.

"I will check out with CCPN, maybe they know something we could use." Iris declared, feeling as though the mother and father had something to say to their daughter, meaning they needed some privacy for that. She immediately left the Cortex.

"Now that we're alone…" Seth turned his head to face his daughter, Frankie.

With a sigh, Frankie told her parents. "Guys if this is about me following Dad, I'm not gonna apologize. I helped out, after all."

"It's not about that, honey." Caitlin started. "You went off on your own again, even if it was to help your father and Uncle Joe. You can't keep doing that. You're supposed to work with your sisters and your team if you wanna go out there."

"It's one of the conditions for you and your sisters to go out there." Seth reminded her.

"I know that!" Frankie shouted, tired of getting lectured all the time. "I can't handle all the lectures, Mom, Dad. They or the agreements we made together aren't gonna help us out there. Not against villains like Lasher, Taskmaster, The Sinister Seven or Scream! They're just meaningless now… Just as I am powerless."

"Frankie, you can't possibly think that." Caitlin asked in hurt and pain, the words uttered by her daughter hurting her heart.

"Mom, I couldn't do anything against Octavius and Rival, I watched as my sisters were poisoned by Anti-Venom. I mean, we struggled against that bozo with the eyepatch Plunder and we're still struggling against Lasher…. All the lectures, all the speeches, all the training in the world… None of it's gonna make a difference for me. I'm too weak, and I have to change that no matter what. Any and all of my limits, I will break them down to dust and become stronger. Otherwise… I can't…" Frankie's hands clenched, so powerfully the sounds of her bones and knuckles cracking could be heard. Both parents actually feared she was breaking the skin.

"I'm gonna go and patrol too. Alone." Frankie stated sharply, her eyes shining briefly with a magenta light before she leaped out of the skylight.

"Frankie…" Caitlin looked at her mate. "What do we do, Seth?"

Seth bit his lower lip. "I blame for the turmoil our daughter's going through, honestly Cait. If I hadn't been knocked down by Anti-Venom back then, I could have saved them all from Anti-Venom and Sinister Seven."

Though it was a serious conversation they were having, Caitlin couldn't help but laugh at the similarities the father and daughter are showing. "I see where our daughter's got her desire to protect from, and it appears she got some other things as well." Referring to their common denominator of wanting to surpass their own limits.

"Yeah…" Seth looked up and through the skylight. "I really wish Frankie would have realized her own powers and capabilities by now."

"What do you mean?" Caitlin asked.

"Frankie fought against Carnage, and she practically would have won if he hadn't knocked her out." Seth declared. "And she showed much skill in that fight… She just needs to remember that fight and then she'd be able to use her strength beyond their limits."

"I hope so…" Caitlin muttered. Cause if so, she'd finally have an answer to the question that's been confusing her the most since her daughters returned from the Speed Force that held them captive while their father did transdimensional element's bidding.

Inhaling deeply, she declared. "I think it's best if we turn to the mission at hand, otherwise more bodies will pile up."

"Good point." Seth agreed. "I'll go and talk to Joan Celia again, maybe she can shed some light on whatever the relationship between Eliza and Rajeet is. It doesn't make sense to me, but she's the best person to ask."

"Dr. McGee may have been Eliza's boss, but she didn't work side-by-side with Eliza like Joan did." Caitlin realized the mutant's thoughts.

"Exactly." Seth nodded. "What about you?"

"I'm gonna go and help Cisco and H.R. with the Heat Bombs." Caitlin quickly added. "In case one of them literally blows up the lab, or engulfs them in flames or worse."

"I mean, I've tried both, but they're not living up to the hype, you know." Seth quipped.

Slapping his arm, Caitlin reminded him. "Not everyone's built like you are, babe." She finalized before walking out of the Cortex.

Going with his plan, Seth jumped out of the skylight and went to Joan Celia's home.

X

"What's on your mind?"

Seth, having been enveloped by his "other," stuck to the nearest building wall and sighed. "You're part of my brain, we share the same thoughts and life. Shouldn't you just know what's going on in my noggin without asking?"

"We do." Venom nodded. "But talking about this kind of thing is a human thing which works sometimes."

"Emphasis on "sometimes."" The mutant quipped. "But you know what I'm thinking: Frankie."

Venom gave a mental shrug. "Understandably so, but she'll be fine. Trust that."

Resuming his travels, Seth jumped through the air and onto another building. "Aren't you worried about Frankie overworking herself and Magenta?"

"Course we are, we're parents above all else after all." Venom admitted. "Which is why we also have to accept that our daughter can fight and take on whatever stands in her path."

While running across a rooftop on all four like an animal, Seth understood his partner's words but still couldn't help but feel responsible for the tremendous weight Frankie's putting on her shoulders. "You may feel responsible, but it's Frankie's choice. She will see the light soon enough."

"You sound confident?" Seth noted as he came to stand over an empty alleyway.

"She's like you, you bounced back and opened your eyes after all. Frankie's smarter than you, she'll be back." Venom assured his host.

"Hope she does it sooner than I did." Seth told himself, jumping down into the alleyway and retracted the symbiote mass.

"Like we said, she's actually got some brains in her nogging. She's gonna a-okay." Venom joked.

"Fuck you." Seth muttered under his breath as he stepped out of the alleyway. Crossing the streets and walking towards the house. Briefly giving the building of where he worked once, he turned his attention to the stairs leading up to JC's home.

Like he did yesterday, he walked up the metal stairs and hoped that he'd get some answer to whatever mess could have brought Eliza and Rajeet together. Only one way to find out, and that way was on the other side of the door that Seth's facing. Knocking on the door a few times, he waited for a response.

"Coming!" Joan shouted from the doors. The door opened and Joan stepped out, sticking her head out. "Oh, Dr. Fury." She stepped out and faced the civilian consultant. "What brings you to my neck of the neighborhood?"

"It's about some of the work you and Eliza have done. I was wondering if either of you may have worked with Iron Heights, because of a Mercury Labs assignment, maybe?" Seth asked, leaning against the railing.

"You're talking about the entire mess with Rajeet Kumar showing his mug outside of a prison cell under heavy lockup?" Rather than asking she stated her question. Seth responded with a nod. With a sigh, she answered. "You remember when Mercury Labs turned into a pile of rubble from that chick with a deadly voice in black leather?"

"Yeah, Black Siren demolished the entire facility." Seth recalled.

Joan ran a hand through her hair. "Well, City Hall and the Mayor of Central City, they were skeptical about our work and what we were able to do after that disaster. So, Dr. McGee came up with this idea of helping rehabilitate prisoners. Strangely enough, until recently, I never understood why Eliza was the only one who accepted this idea and went along with it."

"She was the only one?" Seth asked in surprise.

"Yeah. I really thought she wanted to help the assigned prisoners, but she… She must have used that assignment to get close and get in contact with Rajeet." Joan stated. "I wasn't a fan of her doing this, but once she gets something on her mind, she dives right into it. Just thought it was because she cared about this assignment, but now… I know better."

"It's not your fault, nor is it your work's." Seth told her. "The woman I love, some close friends of mine, they work at S.T.A.R. Labs, and a few years back, their facility was responsible for the particle accelerator explosion. They blamed themselves a lot too."

"I know what you're about to say, you're gonna say it's not your fault nor should we blame ourselves for whatever Eliza's doing. I know…. But it's all I can think of to be honest." She admitted. Shaking her head, she faced him again. "Dr. McGee had the best intentions at heart for this assignment, rehabilitating prisoners with our help and letting them reenter society. I can't believe Eliza turned it around and used it for her own maniac plans."

"Me and the force are gonna find her and put a stop to it." Seth told her.

"I have some of the files that were used on this assignment. I'll hand them over to you." She told the consultant, returning back into her home. Seth followed her into the house.

X

From afar, standing on top of a building, Eliza looked with narrowed eyes as Seth stepped out through the door with files under his arm. Her eyes softened at the sight of seeing Joan stepping out afterwards. She couldn't hear them from her position far from them, but she knew they're both talking about her and the work she did at Mercury Labs.

"Why not visit her?" Scream questioned her host, feeling her emotions rise at the sight of her former worker. "You care about her."

"I go down there; she'll be dragged into my world of madness. She'll be branded as a criminal and go down with me." Eliza spoke out loud, watching as the elemental's left down the stairs to JC's home.

"But you care about her." Scream restated

"Which is why she's better off without me." Eliza told her host.

"Fascinating." Scream admitted.

"Ellie." Looking over her shoulder, Eliza saw Rajeet staggering towards her. Narrowing her eyes, she watched as he wobbled on his feet and fell on a single knee. He smiled with a toothy grin. "These powers… Are the best."

"You okay?" Eliza asked, turning around to fully face him. She saw something on the side of his neck… Showing almost ice-like pale skin. "You look like you're about to break down."

"Nah, I'm fine." He stood back up. "Just my legs being wobbly from sitting on my ass for so long."

"Is he not healing?" Eliza asked herself in confusion, remembering that regeneration is one of the benefits of a symbiote bonding to a host.

"You know, Iron Heights ain't much into letting their real inmates move round and about." Rajeet said, trembling as he made his way over to Eliza. "This is great."

"Satisfied?" Eliza questioned, her eyes switching from his trembling body to his face.

Rajeet gave a look like she said something absurd. "Not even close. I still got one name to cross off, gotta get that number up. Venom and Flash are bound to get in my way though, that's gonna make things interesting. Their numbers are gonna be in the hundreds." He said, raising a shaking hand and emitted ice from it.

"So, what are you gonna do now?" Eliza asked, her eyes remaining narrowed and placed on his trembling form. "Gonna finish your errands?"

"Yeah." Rajeet admitted sickly, breathing out cold mist. "Otherwise, I won't amount to anything when I finally join you, Ellie." He admitted, rushing towards the edge of the rooftop and easily leaped over the streets and onto the adjacent building.

"Well, well… Looks like I'm gonna have to do some research now." Eliza looked to the side. "Dr. Octavius, I'm guessing you're here to reprimand me for stealing Taskmaster."

Stepping out from behind a rooftop doorway, Dr. Otto Octavius revealed himself and walked over to the native scientist. His four mechanical arms hold him as he looks down on her. "At first, that was my intention indeed. But after viewing your conversation with your "associate," I believe that conversation will be held another time."

"Fine with me." Eliza looked up at the scientist with mechanical arms. "But I have a question for you."

"You'd like to know the extent of my knowledge on Venom and his powers." He lowered himself to the ground again. "Specifically, the powers of the host's elemental powers."

"Correct." Eliza faced the direction that Rajeet took. "I thought I knew everything and all there is about Venom, but that was only the symbiote part. But what makes Venom Venom is more than just Klyntar parts, it's also the elements he uses. I've only focused on part of the equation, the other half I turned a blind eye to. I need to remedy that mistake."

"You require my knowledge?" Otto asked, already knowing the answer.

"Knowledge is power. I will hone my knowledge and use it to strengthen myself and the weapons I possess." Eliza started. "In my possession, I hold three other symbiotes that're all capable of using an element. But I've neglected to grasp the scope of their elemental properties, which is my mistake."

"Knowledge will indeed allow that to happen. I will help you broaden the scope of your knowledge." He stepped closer to the other scientist. "But for you to get that knowledge, you also have to give me some knowledge." She looked confused.

"Tell me more about… Anti-Venom."

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

"And now San Francisco, wielding his mighty tools, completes another marvelous technical achievement. One that helps Team Flash protect their beloved home. Help the heroes in the upcoming fights against another menace, one with ferocious powers of ice. His next marvel will truly unleash a scorching, red-hot and hellish inferno upon its completio-"

"Could you cut out the narrating?" Cisco told the Earth-19 who's been nonstop narrating and recording himself talking for his latest novel ever since he began working on the weapons in the workshop. He lowered his "mighty tools" of pliers and tweezers. He managed to finish the weapon before he faced H.R. with a look of annoyance.

Right now, it was just one bomb he had made as a prototype. A crimson-metal plated sphere made with a dark flame-shaped engraving on them. Utilizing the same tech he used on the Heat Gun, he applied it to his new constructions.

With the first prototype made, he had to make another one. The spear had been prepared, next came the shield.

Closing his recording device that's similar to a pen, H.R. put his feet on the table. "Okay. I will stop narrating."

"I will believe that when you actually stop." Cisco admitted. He briefly wished he had added that H.R. had to be quiet whilst he's working. "I need to finish the other prototype for the other idea that Seth gave me."

"Yes indeed." H.R. smiled. "The Heat Bombs, offense weapons meant to deliver and release a blaze upon our foes, and THE Steam Bombs, defense weapons meant to release a massive cloud of scolding hot air. The use of the last one I'm still struggling to find."

"Probably for the best." Cisco said, fearing the possible uses the Earth-19 native might find for his creations.

"Hey, guys." Caitlin greeted them as she entered the workshop. "How's it going with the bombs?"

"Great. Marvelous. Couldn't be better." H.R. rapidly fired off.

"Yeah, until he starts talking." Cisco stated.

"Play nice, Cisco." Caitlin tapped his shoulder.

Harrison faced the bioengineer. "Caito." He got her attention. "How'd the talk with your daughter go? I assume it went well."

"That's the hope, isn't it?" Caitlin chuckled. "But honestly I doubt our words got through to her."

"Well, I'm sure your words made a crack, Caitlin." Harrison started. "Now you just… Gotta keep talking to her, words coming like a drill and making that hole bigger. Sooner or later, those words are bound to get through to your child. Cause at the end of the day, stubbornness is but a wall waiting to be taken down."

Scoffing at the words, Caitlin quipped. "Know if words can be a sledgehammer?"

"With the right ones, words can be anything the heart desires. Each, with the potential to demolish walls, warm hearts, end wars and make everyone join hands." He stated.

Cisco looked over his shoulder. "Did you make that up for your novel?"

"No, just off the top of my head." He tapped his hat-covered head. "Why? Think it'll be good in the novel?"

"No." Cisco countered. "But I'm sure Frankie will be alright." Handing her a pair of pliers, the viber asked. "Wanna join me? Could use an actual set of useful pair of hands for some help."

"What are you talking about, San Francisco? I'm here!" H.R. gestured to himself with his recording device.

The viber giving him incredulous dry looks.

X

(CCPD)

DING

The elevators chimed and Joe entered the lobby of his precinct. He rubbed his forehead as he made his way through the threshold and towards his desk. But he came to a stop when seeing Captain David Singh at his desk, wearing a look of disapproval.

Joe walked up to him. "Captain?" He greeted him.

"Detective West, I'd like to know why you decided to chase down old leads on your own. Not to mention, why you decided to try and face off against Rajeet Kumar, AKA Deathcount, who apparently broke out his metahuman cell after laying an amount of frost on it." The captain asked.

"First of all, he calls himself Lasher now." Joe started off. "Second, he's got ice powers now."

"He's a metahuman?" David asked in confusion, not understanding how a metahuman would be able to use his powers inside of a ward with technology that was designed to dampen his powers.

"Third, he's not a metahuman, but he's got something like Venom's powers. Including the goo that's sticking to him." Joe finalized his clarification.

David widened his eyes. "So Deathcount, not just got a whole new name, he's gotten himself an upgrade. I'm guessing we should expect another Christmas-like event?" He hated that he had to ask such a question.

"Unfortunately, yeah." Joe answered with as much dislike as his captain. "But Venom and Flash said they'd take care of him." That seemed to relieve his captain.

But that relief was replaced with a look of terror when realization dawned on him. "But I'm guessing neither Venom nor Flash know Rajeet's next target, do they?" Joe didn't answer, biting his mouth. "You're not going anywhere without protection; you're staying right here."

"Captain, that can't happen." Joe argued, getting up close to him.

David put a hand on his chest, giving him a serious deadpan look. "I'm not losing any more of my friends."

"Then I can't stay here." Joe said, pushing the hand off his chest. "Rajeet's after me for putting him behind bars all those years ago with Chyre. He was an absolute maniac back then, without powers. Now, he's got powers and he could just tear this place to pieces after turning it into an oversized igloo. I won't let that happen."

"I assigned you on that case long ago." David reminded him with a light slap to his chest. "No one else is gonna be put in harm's way, which is why I'm gonna stick to you until we've put Rajeet behind bars again." Joe opened his mouth, but a stern and determined look from the captain stopped him. "Wait in the lobby, I'll get my jacket then we're leaving."

Joe knew that wasn't a statement, it was an order. He turned around and walked back into the lobby. Each step he took, he felt his head swirl with horrendous thoughts of whoever Rajeet would kill next. He could imagine their bodies ending up.

Each vision forming in his mind ended up showing them in the same slaughterhouse as Cobb Branden's wife. Soul-wrenching visions formed next, forcing the detective to see images of his own children being the next ones to face Rajeet's unlimited wrath and bloodlust.

Joe couldn't deny that possibility, he was the target after all. He was the officer who put Rajeet in prison, the criminal's rage and aim would extend far beyond the two of them. No. It'd reach so far, it'd include Barry, Wally and Iris. Two of them may be heroes with powers, but that does not mean they're invincible and without weaknesses.

And the thought of Rajeet using his newly-acquired ice powers to take down any of his children scared him to no end. The criminal was gonna be taken down, preferably by him. Only person who should take him down is the detective himself.

He walked up to the table in the middle of the lobby, looking up at the mural again. Despite walking past it numerous times, he still loved the sight of it.

"Gets boring looking at it, doesn't it?"

That voice made the detective snap his head in the direction of the elevator, the doors closing behind Rajeet Kumar who's walking towards Joe. Glancing at the mural, scoffing at it, he looked back to the man who put him behind bars. "You still looking for little ol' me, Joey?"

"What are you doing here, Rajeet? You've got some balls, waltzing in here." Joe sneered.

Rajeet, gesturing to his crotch, admitted in a quip. "Just the two, actually. And waltz lessons weren't exactly offered in prison." He walked up to the table, staggering and swaying with each step.

Joe blinked his eyes, seeing some white cracking on his face. "You're here?"

"Figured I'd check out the rest of the force, maybe get a scope of the ones hunting my fancy little ass." He said, holding onto the table with both hands to keep him up. "And I'm sure… Only…" He sighed, releasing cold air. "One cop here is happy to see, ain't that right, Joe?"

Putting his hands on his end of the table, Joe gritted his teeth. "Why the hell would I be happy to see you?"

"Come on, Joey. We're too close to begin lying to each other now, you know that." He chuckled. "But here's a hint: Branden's wife Misty Branden."

"That's a closed case. Just like the cell you should be rotting in by now." Joe countered.

"Closed doesn't mean solved. Like… You never figured out why I offed her." Rajeet stated, knowing that the detective's gears were turning nonstop when reminded of the case that involved the death of that poor woman. "You never found out why I did it, and you can't stop thinking about it now."

"So enlighten me, once and for all, Rajeet." Joe asked, leaning over the table and his face inching closer to the criminal's. "Why did you kill Cobb's wife?"

Leaning even closer to the detective's face, he admitted the truth of the case that's been bothering him for years on end.

"I didn't."

Those two simple words perplexed the detective, his eyes widening in shock and disbelief. "What?"

"Like I said, I didn't kill Cobb's wife." Rajeet gave a long fake sigh of relief. "Wow, confessions from the heart really makes it lighter. Like really, it makes it easier and weighs like a feather." He sighed again, letting out a wave of ice.

"What do you mean, you didn't kill her?" Joe asked.

"I didn't kill her, simple as that." Rajeet admitted. "The Darbinyan family offed her, I got framed for it."

"How do I know that's not just another pack of BS?" Joe asked.

Pointing fingers to his, Rajeet reminded him. "You've known me long enough, Joey, to know that I take credit for my own kills." The confusion on his face was evident. "You're wondering why she was killed in the first place?"

"Yeah, why?"

"While the Darbinyans were making a deal in that old warehouse of Brandens,' Misty went through the back entrance when forgetting to lock it up. She interrupted their negotiations, and the Darbinyan crime family, being as nice they were, killed her."

"That's why she hung on meat hooks like she was. You never had a method of killing like that, not something that complicated." Joe stated. "You killed with your bare hands, or with unconventional weapons. Until your makeover."

"Yes, praise me some more. Guys like it when their ego's being stroked. I killed the Darbinyans because they had the gall to frame me for a murder I hadn't committed. I take pride in my killings. Not gonna lie, them testifying against me in court wasn't exactly their smartest play either." Rajeet chuckled with a smirk.

With reflexes and speed of what was akin to lightning, Joe pulled out his firearm and took aim at the criminal. Hearing guns cock around him, including the one in the detective's hands, Rajeet turned his gaze around. He looked unsurprised as every single cop and the captain himself had their guns trained on him.

"Your plan worked perfectly, Captain." Joe admitted, stepping backwards from the table. "Works as a confession?"

"Absolutely." David assured his detective.

Rajeet faced the detective again. "You knew I would be coming?"

"Like you said, I know you too well after all these years of trying to figure out your messed up mind." Joe stated, both concerned and worried that the criminal was so calm and unfazed by the guns trained on his head. But this way, they had the advantage in numbers. The last message he received from David revealed a detailed plan on how to get the drop on the newly-Klyntar empowered criminal.

"I'm honored, Joey. Means we're in a good place in our relationship…" Rajeet clutched the table, ice spreading from his digits like a rampant virus, freezing the wooden board. "But I don't like it when you bring others into our meeting like this. You're gonna regret that!"

But a burst of thick shadow-like smog erupted between Joe and the ice-wielder, causing the latter to jump away. Through the smog, a long serpentine tongue shot out and wrapped around the singular stem. Lifting it up, the tongue swung it around before smashing it into the criminal's body. The strike sent him rolling on the ground.

Rajeet slammed his fist into the floor, halting his roll and pushed himself up to a knee. He started with a scowl, but it disappeared immediately and was replaced with an open mouth from grunting as a light-enveloped arrow emerged from the smog in a flash and pierced his shoulder.

The smog dissipated and Genysis and Eclipse revealed themselves.

"Genysis… And Eclipse… Right?!" Rajeet grunted, removing the hot light-enveloped arrow from his shoulder.

"That's right." Eclipse declared. "Lasher, right?"

Seeing the symbiote-clad heroes, he couldn't help but say out loud. "So many of us have the same powers in this city… Seems redundant. Maybe we should fix that." He admitted icy cold mist from his entire body. "But don't worry, I'll remember you and your numb-"

"Oh, can it!"

Abruptly, Ruby put a stop to his chattering with a powerful and destructive gravitational wave from a swing of her arm. The powerful invisible wave, traveling through the air, cracked and tore up the floor before finally connecting with the criminal and sending him flying once more. This time, he was sent into the wall which broke down upon impact. Rajeet screamed when he was sent flying out of the building.

"Now that's what I call an exit." Ruby smirked.

Evelyn lowered her arrow and bow. "First of all, you could have done that without tearing up the lobby." Ruby looked unconcerned. "And second, you could have at least let the guy finish talking. Might have said something important, maybe."

Giving her sister a raised eyebrow, Ruby told her. "What, you wanna do what Flash and the others do and wait for the bad guys to finish their damn monologue? They pull more words out of their asses than a malfunctioned vending machine shitting cans. Let's go, before that guy gets back on his feet!"

With that said, Genysis rushed out of the hole she just made with the criminal's body. When she jumped out of it, Joe faced her sister. "She's in a mood."

"Like that's anything new." Evelyn quipped.

"Heard that!" Genysis shouted.

With a chuckle, Eclipse followed her sister's example and jumped out of the hole. Her wings extended, hooking onto the wall and pulling on them. She shot towards it and stood on the wall surface beside her sister. The two of them are looking down at the thrashed car from Rajeet who fell down on it.

Spiraling off the car roof, the criminal looked up and faced the two heroes. His entire body was enveloped by his "other" and he looked at them as Lasher.

"That's weird."

Ruby lifted her head at the words her "other" stated. "What do you mean?"

Reap mentally narrowed her eyes. "Something's off about that symbiote he's wearing. Can't put my finger on it."

"Be careful with this guy." Ruby told her sister. "Something's off about him."

"Dusk told me the same." Eclipse replied, hearing the same words from her "other."

"You two…" Lasher said in a snarl. "I'm gonna put you on ice!" As he shouted, ice spikes erupted from his back, each spike looking and shining like a polished blade.

"Looks like a hedgehog. Let's take him down." The metahuman said, forming more arrows and putting them on her bow. "Be careful up-close."

"Got it!" Genysis said, jumping off the wall and landing on the ground to face the ice-spiked villain.

Roaring at the hero, Lasher pulled off two spikes and hurled them at the gravity manipulator. The number of hurled projectiles increased tenfold as tendrils joined his hands, launching numerous spears after the hero. The number of ice blades were cut down quickly as arrows from above shattered them. The ones coming closer to Ruby she either dodged or smashed with her Vibranium blade.

Jumping to the side and into a roll, Genysis clenched her free fist and thrust it out. The action projected a gravitational blast in a linear line. Using his tendrils and hands he used them to grab more of his ice blades, stabbing the ground and using them as anchors to keep secured. The gravitational blast hit him, shattering the ice weaponry on his back.

The ones in the ground, the ones keeping him secured, were kept intact. But the ground around him was tearing up from the gravity blast. Lasher pulled the ice blades out of the ground, standing up in his full height and spreading ice from his hands and over the small blades. In a second, the blades turned into swords.

Lasher charged towards the gravity manipulator, swinging his icicle swords and his tendrils.

Eclipse saw the criminal rushing towards her sister. Cupping her hands together, she formed a light sphere between palms. She thrust her hands out, throwing at him. Lasher barely got a glance of the shining orb when it collided with his body, exploding in a burst of pure bright light. He crossed his arms and swords of his eyes that felt like they were searing from the immense light.

Using that opening, Ruby threw the Chakram blade after him and it pushed him back. The blade bounced off of his crossed arms, spinning into the air and Genysis grabbed it. With gravitational force converging to her feet, she spun around in the and delivered an axe kick to his face that's blocked by ice swords.

The immense force behind her strike shattered both of the criminal's blades and sent his head straight into the ground. Genysis pierced the asphalt with her tongue after strengthening it, she pulled him out of the ground and slammed her knee into his face.

But Lasher retaliated, grabbing her by her tongue extending from her collar and pulling on it, swinging around before throwing her away and towards a bus stop. Thankfully, she didn't come into contact with it when Eclipse shadowported and grabbed her sister out of the air.

Shadowporting away, she reappeared on the ground and lashed out two of her serpentine wings. The tips on the upper ones split open, revealing fanged mouths. Ruby got up to her feet. "No lights, civilians in the back." She reminded her sister when seeing the scattering civilians behind the criminal.

"Got it." Eclipse nodded, and surprised her sister with her new technique. Before she tends to use either light or a combination of both light and darkness. Now she's relying on her darkness, each mouth in her wings forming a swirling mass of darkness. "Why go for pierce when you can knock out?"

From each of the mounts on her wings, blasts of shadow-like darkness shot out of them. Lashing thrust out all of his tendrils on his back, each one of them quickly covering themselves with ice after overlapping over each other. After making his makeshift ice shield, he blocked the darkness blasts.

"Damn brats." He noted his shield is breaking apart from the immensely powerful darkness blast.

"What's the plan now?" Evelyn asked as her darkness blasts continuing to break apart the criminal's shield.

"We take him down… With some help." She noted when feeling the ground rumble under her feet.

WHOOSH

True to her words, flashes of yellow lightning appeared as Flash and Kid Flash appeared. Both of them reeling back azure-blue metal plated spheres with the strange engraving of a cloud. Pressing the cloud engraving, the sphere shined with blue energy. The two speedsters threw the orbs after the make-shift ice barrier.

The orbs stuck to the barrier before they exploded, releasing a massive scolding-hot mist of steam over it. Rajeet jumped backwards, avoiding the ever-expanding steam cloud.

"Guess we made it in time." Kid Flash confidently said with a smirk.

"You guys okay?" Barry asked.

"We're fine. But what the heck did you throw at him?" Ruby asked them.

Evelyn narrowed her eyes on the growing fog. "That's… Is that steam?" She asked when seeing and feeling heat from the cloud.

"That is correct, Eclipse!" Cisco screamed in their comms devices, making all four heroes hold their ears. "Say hello to the cool, one-of-a-kind Steam Bombs!"

"Lame." Ruby immediately showed her dislike of the name. Cisco, while they couldn't see it, looked like he was dealt a fatal blow to his vitals. "What's it for?"

"You see, it's for letting out steam." H.R. quipped from the facility.

"Huh?" Evelyn asked, not getting his meaning at all.

Barry explained. "It's a bomb that releases highly pressurized steam. When in contact with ice, the sudden burst of heat that comes with the steam melts it. We made it so it'd melt any ice he leaves behind in case it hits civilians."

"Which is why we threw two of them." Wally added. "The more we use, the bigger the steam cloud becomes."

"Smart." Evelyn admitted. "But defense won't help us out forever." She noted, seeing the villain's silhouette through the transparent hot steam.

Ruby pointed her blade at the crimson metal-plated spheres in the speedsters' hands. "Those look different."

"They're the Heat Bombs." Cisco told them. "Same principle as the Steam Bombs, but instead of steam, they release concentrated combustible liquid that ignites on contact with air."

"One's for defensive purposes, the other's for offensive." Ruby noted. "Keep those handy."

"So what's the plan?" Wally asked.

"Keep him at bay from four angles." Ruby said, taking charge immediately. "Speedsters, run around in a tight circle and disorient him, keep him trapped for a bit. Eclipse, shoot him with arrows only, no light or darkness. I'll get up close and attack him."

"Why not take just the bombs now?" Wally said, raising one of the Heat Bombs.

Ruby wrapped her tongue around his wrist, facing him with a glare. "If those things are anything like the Heat Gun that Dad and Frankie told us about, we can't use those in public. Same with arrows flying at the speed of light or something close to him."

Wally nodded his understanding, lowering his hand. "Good point. Then let's run!" He sped ahead, running through the steam.

"Follow him!" Ruby ordered the Flash who jumped into action, speeding through the steam himself and joined his protégé in disorienting the villain, running around him in a tight circle of pure lightning. The two speedsters ran in opposite directions, their lightning running in different directions made Rajeet swing his head left and right.

"That was quick how they followed your orders." Evelyn noted, forming arrows and putting them on her bow. "But you think this will work?"

"Until Dad gets here, yeah." Ruby declared.

Evelyn connected the dots together. "Dad's got flames on his side, ones that he can use as much as he can in close-range combat. The bombs we have are limited, two Heat Bombs. Your powers break everything around us, my arrows might pass him and hit the civilians in the back. It's best to wait then."

"Exactly." Ruby said. She ran forward, jumping onto the side of the building to her right and ran on it. She locked her eyes on the criminal who rapidly looked around for an exit. Leaping off the wall, Genysis crossed her arms and lashed them out in a quick motion, leading to tendrils shooting out from her back and striking down from above for the criminal.

Lasher, while looking for an exit from the twister of lightning he's entrapped in, saw moving shadows on the ground. Looking up, he saw tendrils coming after him from Genysis. "Cocky brats." He scowled at them, shooting out tendrils with ice blades at their tips.

The opposing tendrils collided, the ones armed with ice striking and slashing the opposing ones from Genysis. But her tendrils had the numbers advantage and they managed to find their way through small openings. Lasher tried to dodge them, but some of her tendrils pierced his shoulders and his hands.

With more tendrils sprouting out of his body, Rajeet went to try and slash off Genysis' tendrils. However, arrows of symbiote-hardened mass cut them off. About to snarl in retaliation at the arrows, more arrow headed projectiles came flying and pierced his side. More came his way, but Lasher was able to see Eclipse shoot more arrows after him.

"Hey!" Genysis shouted, getting the criminal's attention, who turned his gaze upwards. He only got a glimpse before his vision was covered by a fist that slammed down on his face.

The gravitational force that Ruby put into her fist traveled through her arm and into the villain's head, releasing like a shockwave and pushed his entire body into the ground, causing it crack and fissure. The force practically embedded him in the ground.

"Flash, Kid Flash! Heat Bombs! NOW!" Genysis shouted, tendrils shooting out of her back and latched onto the wall behind her, pulling her back and out of the way.

Barry, for him alone time slowed down, the lightning he's been gathering pass over his entire body, converging to his arm. With a cry, he swung his right arm and hurled his gathered lightning like a spear of thunder. It traveled through the air and finally hit the downed criminal, the Speed Force lightning making him scream in absolute pain.

Wally, from his side of the criminal, pressed down on the two Heat Bombs before hurling them at Rajeet. The two spheres flew through the air, coming into contact with the electrocuted criminal's body. Upon impact with his body, each sphere exploded in a bright red flash, releasing eruptions of crimson flames that completely enveloped Rajeet's body.

"Wow, that's bigger than I expected." Wally admitted as the criminal screamed while red flames and yellow lightning engulfed him.

"Much bigger." Barry agreed.

"Think it's time we admit it." Ruby jumped down on the ground, crossing her arms. "Cisco's fucking crazy. Downright diabolical."

"Considering the fireworks we're seeing, I'm not gonna argue with that." Evelyn said, covering her eyes.

"Don't know how I feel about being called crazy by a cannibal." Cisco stated his true thoughts.

Ruby pressed her earpiece. "Get your facts straight, Vibe: I haven't eaten anyone yet."

"Yet?/ Yet?/Yet?/Yet?"

Cisco, Barry, Wally, and Evelyn exclaimed in horror at her clarification, each one of them horrified of what she might do next…. But one thing was clear…

She's definitely gonna eat someone.

"…Aren't you guys feeling chatty?"

The heroes turned their faces back to the blazing inferno. Though it was faint and hard to see due to the raging flames, they could see someone standing up within the flames. The form crossed his arms over his chest, lashing them out in violent, swift motion.

Whatever raging fire that surrounded him was pushed away by the blizzard-like icy wind that he emitted. No. His blizzard didn't push the flames away, it extinguished them completely with the force of the wind.

"The hell?" Wally asked in absolute shock at the sight of the villain. Just like him, the other heroes got a good look at Rajeet.

Stepping forward shakingly, Rajeet's feet touched the heated, scolding asphalt and cracked the ice on his feet. The same ice that's clad to his entire body like armor falling off of his body. The ice from his face fell off, cracking and shattering on the ground. Whatever ice that remained stuck on his body began to melt, slowly trailing down his entire body.

"Figured experts like you should know better when your prey's truly down for the count." Rajeet cackled, coughing out cold icy mist while in the process. "Think such a weak teamplay could put me in the ground. I'm insulted. You either kill me or I kill you all. That's it."

Despite his confident words, he fell down to a knee again and coughed.

"Big words, but it doesn't look like you can back them up." Ruby taunted him.

"You really wanna corner this animal further into a corner?" Evelyn asked. Any animal backed into a corner will no doubt retaliate with all of their remaining strength, fighting to the bitter end and doing everything in its power to tear into the throat of its hunter.

And that tactic could very easily reverse the roles of the two.

"He survived that immense blaze with ice alone?" Barry couldn't believe his own words, even though the proof was staring right at them with unbridled bloodlust.

"That's not possible…" Wally said, the murderous glare from the criminal making the speedster step back.

"It's possible!" Rajeet exclaimed, smashing both of his hands down on the ground. His fists released a powerful and cracking wave of ice that's traveling at rapid speeds, making its way towards the four heroes. Seeing that the heroes readied themselves to jump out of the way.

But the ice came to a halt when a column of black flames erupted from above and instantly melted the ice path to a puddle of water. The laser-like column of abyssal flames were swung forward, inching closer to the criminal who removed his hands from the ground. He leaped backwards, avoiding the flames from touching him.

When he landed on the ground, he was forced to fall down on a knee again.

The same time his feet touched the asphalt, Venom landed in front of his comrades and family. "Sorry, we're late." He told the other heroes before looking forward again, seeing the villain on his knee. That confused him.

To his and the other heroes' confusion, Lasher shook his head. "Not now, Venom. We're not gonna fight yet." Thrusting his head downwards, he released an icy breath at his feet, forming a smokescreen of mist that completely enveloped him. When it disappeared, as had Rajeet.

"Seriously?" Ruby asked.

That confused the heroes, why would the villain suddenly run off like that with his tail between his legs?

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

"That was pretty extreme, Rubs." Joe told the gravity manipulator who exited the medbay with Evelyn after being checked over by their mother.

Ruby, acting innocent, shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever are you talking about, Uncle Joe?"

Joe, and the rest of the team, wondered if she got her "faking-innocence" from HYDRA or from Seth's influence. The detective reminded her. "Honey, you tore down a wall."

With an eye roll and a heavy sigh, Ruby countered. "Fine. Next time we deal with a villain inside of the precinct I will wait until he turns some of the cops into popsicles then I will tear down a wall and throw him out."

Caitlin pulled on her daughter's ear, making her groan and flinch. "We both know Uncle Joe wants you to stop tearing down and damaging public property, especially if it belongs to law enforcement."

Evelyn chuckled. "Someone's in trouble." She teased. Her snickering came to an abrupt halt when Ruby was released from her mother's grip and gave her sister a death glare with black miasma coming over her eyes.

"Stop glaring at your sister." Caitlin scolded Ruby, patting her head.

"It's a pain when Evie starts shadowporting out of fear all the time." Seth said, rubbing his eyes. "But Rubs, you really need to stop damaging the precinct, I'm beginning to feel bad for them."

"Like you're one to talk." Joe stated as he remembers a certain elemental blatantly tearing down a wall when Clock King took him and others hostage at the police precinct a few years ago. "Like father, like daughter."

H.R. sighed in dismay. "I still can't believe that the bombs San Francisco and I created didn't work."

Cisco, giving the Earth-19 native a glare, reminded him. "You didn't create them, Caitlin and I did."

Harrison looked unfazed. Barry jumped in. "But H.R.'s right. I mean, despite the flames that came out of those bombs, they didn't even seem faze the guy."

"For a guy who likes the cold, he sure can take the heat." Wally quipped.

"That's bad, Wally." Evelyn told him bluntly. "But seriously, is his ice really that strong enough to take on two freaking flame blasts like that?"

Seth faced his daughter. "If thick enough even ice can overcome a sword. And so on, in the right hands, ice can become thicker than armor and protect one from flames. It's incredible to think that of someone who's basically new to his powers."

"Then why was he acting so weird before?" Ruby asked.

"Weird how?" Caitlin wondered.

Her daughter answered. "He fell to his knees a few times and practically struggled on his feet when moving. It was like he couldn't even walk straight. It was strange."

"Kinda like that ice he had on his face." Joe admitted.

"What ice?" Seth asked, not recalling any ice on the ice-user's face.

Joe explained. "Before Ruby and Evelyn came storming into the precinct, Rajeet came in and told me something important regarding the old case I had with him and the Brandens. But that wasn't all, I noticed that while he was in his human form he had ice stuck to his face."

Narrowing his eyes, Seth inquired. "Did it really look like ice, Joe?"

"Why you asking me?" Joe asked back.

"Something about that sounds fishy." Seth answered.

Thinking back to the strange ice-like substance stuck on Rajeet's face, Joe answered honestly. "Now that I think about it, it looked more like frostbite."

"Frostbite?" The mutant muttered, his eyes widening in sudden realization. "He doesn't have a counter element."

"Counter element?" Wally asked, he and his father forming the same confused looks from that single sentence.

Seth looked up, facing the entire team who're making their own confused expressions with open mouths. "If an element runs rampant in an environment, like an animal going crazy, it'll no doubt destroy its surroundings."

"Like starting a fire in a forest." Ruby added, getting his analogy.

"Exactly." Seth nodded. "If the environment isn't strong or adapted to the element's sudden invasion, it will be reduced to cinders in a heartbeat. It's the same with Rajeet's and my body. If both aren't adapted to the element, they will be affected by it, spreading through the body or, in his case, overusing the element."

"Okay, so that element is affecting him now." Caitlin understood.

"I had the same problem with my body back when I was a kid, it was back when my powers had just manifested and I absorbed a flame from a matchstick. My body was covered in burn marks and charred from suddenly combusting into flames." Seth explained. "Same thing's happening to Rajeet."

"Okay, so his body isn't used to his new element, sure we get that now. But what does that have to do with a counter element?" Cisco asked.

Barry, realizing what the elemental was talking about, continued. "There's no other element in Rajeet's body that can counteract the effects of overusing his singular ice element. I'm guessing that's the case it was in the beginning for Seth, too."

"You're not wrong, Barr." Seth confirmed. "If any element user, preferably one with more elements inside of them like me, doesn't alternate between the use of the different elements, then they're only gonna harm themselves. In my case, if I use fire too much, I'd end up heating myself up too much, which means I'd have to cool myself down with ice.

Evelyn followed her father's train of thought. "Means, in Rajeet's case, without an element to heat himself up after creating and using the huge amount of ice he's been using, he'll end up getting frostbite over his entire body."

H.R. chimed in. "Kinda like overworking your body."

"Precisely. Powers are nothing more than extensions of yourself and your body, acting like an additional powered muscle. If you overuse your muscles, the muscle fibers tear, and it's the same if you keep running, you'll run out of breath." Seth explained.

"Like me when I run." Barry nodded his understanding.

Nodding his head, Seth continued. "He may have gotten the ice element through a symbiote, but anything happening to the symbiote happens to Rajeet. His powers are now part of his physical abilities. They have limits too."

"So, he was trembling and covered in frostbite from his first dance with you and Frankie back at the warehouse?" Joe realized.

Caitlin narrowed her eyes, looking around in search.

"So, we know there's a limit to how much cold his body can take, okay. But what? We just overwork him until he turns into a popsicle?" Joe asked, though the plan sounded absolutely absurd saying it out loud. "I mean, would it even work?"

"Joe, you saw it yourself. His movements had gotten slower and staggering, like he could barely stand. It's because frost fell on his body. Sooner or later, it will spread over his entire body. Each time he uses his powers, he's just gonna be poisoning himself and spreading the disease." Seth said.

Cisco ran his fingers through his hair. "That means when we bombarded that guy with our bombs before, it actually helped him."

"Yeah, the flames and steam heated him up." Seth smirked. "But that does not mean we can't find him."

Caitlin smiled to herself. "You wanna use the same plan you guys used to find me on Rajeet?"

"We search for ultraviolet cold signatures, then." Cisco accepted, pressing keys on the keyboard. He brought up a map of the city.

"Yo, Dad, did you get anything from Joan?" Ruby directed to her father.

"I did, and yeah, it's as we expected: Eliza's behind this mess." Seth started. "Apparently as a way to regain the city's trust after their facility was destroyed last year by Black Siren, Mercury Labs decided to try and rehabilitate the prisoners of Iron Height. But only one employee decided to accept this assignment."

"Eliza." Evelyn deduced.

"And she was assigned to Rajeet. That's how they've been in communication this whole time." Joe pieced together.

"Don't worry guys, we'll find Rajeet for sure." Cisco confidently said.

"Seth?" Caitlin got her mate's attention. "We're missing someone. Where's Frankie?"

"Frankie?!" Seth looked around in a frenzy. When seeing she was nowhere to be found, he let out. "The fuck?! Where is she?"

"Out there." Caitlin looked out through the skylight. "Friday, access the city cameras and find Frankie. And her tracker."

"On it, Boss Lady." Friday said, the monitors on the wall turned up and showed a virtual map of the Central City. Some of the monitors showed live footage from the street cameras. "Looks like your girl knows how to hide from Big Brother."

"Considering she's been taught by Seth; she knows how to stay hidden." Caitlin noted.

Sighing to himself, Seth declared. "I'll go out and look for her." He turned to Evelyn and Ruby. "You two were just out in the field, but are you two able to join me?"

"Definitely." Ruby said, her form immediately engulfed by her "other."

"Same here." Evelyn added, her own form enveloped by Dusk and formed her suit. "Plus, Frankie's in a mess because of everything that happened with Anti-Venom. Because we got our asses handed to us, we need to be the ones to pull Frankie out of this mess."

"Even by force." Ruby showed a villainous smile behind her mask.

"Not that much force." Caitlin reminded her daughter. "But you gotta be careful, Lasher's still out there. If you three run into him… Or worse, he runs into Frankie-"

"I'll stop him." Seth stated immediately. "I'm not letting our daughters face another villain like this again. Never again." He said, moving till he stood under the skylight. "I'm not letting Frankie get into more trouble…" He said, his form instantly engulfed by his "other." In an instant, he jumped out of the skylight.

Genysis tapped Eclipse's head with her tongue. "Let's go, sis. Giddy up!"

"I'm not a horse, sis. Next time you treat me like that, I'm gonna shadowport you into a volcano." Evelyn countered, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"No girls- And they're gone." Caitlin failed to stop her children before they shadowported. With another sigh, she rubbed her eyes. "Joe, you wouldn't know how to keep your children from threatening one another all the time, would you? Cause I feel like one of these days, they might just make good on their threats."

"My kids never had that problem." Joe started with a chortle. "I would suggest a shrink, but considering their father, no amount of therapy would get them to stop mimicking their father's behavior. But they're good… For now."

"Yeah, for now." Caitlin said. The question only served to distract her as she couldn't help but fear for Frankie's well-being. The way she was going was akin to a raging bull with a single desire, her daughter would do everything in her power to stop Rajeet…

Even if it cost her life… That was her way of redeeming herself for failing to protect her sisters against Anti-Venom…

X

"Where is he?"

Frankie asked herself, looking down from the side of the skyscraper.

After exiting the facility before, Frankie immediately began to search for Lasher. She heard the fight erupting between her sisters, the speedsters and the new ice-user. She made her way to the precinct, only to find that Rajeet had been plunged into a blazing inferno thanks to Cisco's latest inventions.

But that proved to be useless against Rajeet who extinguished the flames that engulfed him with a blizzard. He survived the intense blaze with a dense and thick armor made with ice. Thankfully, when he tried to attack her sisters and the speedsters, she was about to join the fight, but Venom prevented his attack with his abyssal and ominous black flames.

Facing five heroes would have been too much for even Rajeet, a villain fueled by a lust for blood and disaster, leading him to disappear with a mist.

When Frankie saw that she immediately gave chase, trying to follow the villain. She stuck to tall buildings, trying to get a better vantage point to try and find him. However, no matter how many times she changed her vantage point she was still unable to find the criminal.

Clenching her fist and gritting her teeth in anger, Frankie asked herself. "If I was that bastard, where'd I go and hide?"

"Probably forget everything that happened with Eliza and just go into my own little corner and cry and regret everything." Magenta said to lighten the mood, hoping to reduce the anger from her host that's affecting her as well.

"Doubt we're ever gonna get that lucky." Frankie admitted, jumping off the building and shooting out a tendril from her right hand. It connected to a building, the ferrokinetic swinging through the air. She retracted her tendril, spinning in the air and landed on the rooftop of a building. "But we need to find that guy, and quickly!" She shouted as she jumped onto another building.

"Sounds like you wanna have all the fun to yourself."

The voice made her halt her run, sliding to an abrupt stop. Frankie looked behind her and saw Evelyn standing there, waving at her sister. "What are you doing here, Evie? How'd you find me, anyway?"

"How'd we find you?" Frankie turned her head to the side, finding Ruby was the one to correct her. "We're smart ourselves; you should know that by now, sis."

"Whatever, we can cover more ground if we're more." The ferrokinetic stated, about to walk off the ledge.

"Hang on, Frankie." Ruby stopped her sister, her tongue shooting out and wrapping around her sister's wrist. "I like going solo as much as the next hero, specifically against a maniac like Rajeet, but think it's about time you stop doing that to yourself."

"We know you're feeling like crap after all that mess with Anti-Venom." Evelyn walked up to her sister who had her back facing them. "But you're not the only one who lost to Anti-Venom back then, so did we."

Knowing that those words aren't doing much to get through their sister, Ruby reminded Frankie. "We fought the Sinister Seven and we lost. So, stop being so hard on yourself."

Frankie clenched her fist, using her other hand to pry the tongue off her wrist. "Look I know what you're going to say, but it doesn't matter! I'm weak! That's the end of it, so stop spouting the same words as Mom and Dad. I can't… I can't handle it." This time she faced her sisters with her face.

"If you're weak then that means we're all just as weak, sis." Evelyn said, trying to reason with her sister. "So please… Instead of blaming yourself like this, try and lean on us for a bit. We're sisters, family, after all."

"I know… But…" Frankie trailed off.

"Sisters, huh?"

That demonic voice made the three sisters turn their heads, only to meet massive ice spheres flying towards each of them. With the orbs flying at them so fast, they were unable to dodge them and they were hit by them.

They let out grunts of pain when the spiked ice orbs hit them and knocked them off the rooftop. They fell through the air, but their vision was focused on what's in front of them: Lasher.

The new ice wielder stood there on all four, six tendrils flailing on his back with ice blades on their tips. "Thanks for the tip. Sisters that fight together, die together." Putting all of his might into his arms and legs, Lasher jumped off the rooftop with tremendous power.

While descending the criminal thrust out his tendrils, each one of them wrapping around the stomachs of the heroes. Forming a gleeful smile with his non-existent mouth, he saw a large scrapyard ahead of them and then hurled the three heroes into it.

Frankie gathered her bearings and spun around, landing on her feet on the ground. "Genysis, Eclipse!" She shouted to her sisters.

"We're okay!" Eclipse shouted, landing on top a stack of rusty cars.

Genysis used her gravitational powers, sending out a small gravity blast that cushioned her fall, allowing her to land safely on the ground. "That guy's gonna regret that."

The rooftop of a very rusty old bus was caved in after Rajeet landed on it, ice instantly emitting from his arms and legs. The three sisters watched as ice completely spread and covered the scrapped bus. "Regret? I'm gonna show that I do not know that word! Your numbers…"

The blades on his tendrils extended, forming long swords.

"Will make excellent additions to my collection."

Her eyes widened in shock when hearing the criminal's words. Eclipse took aim at Lasher with her arrow and bow. "Wait a second… Did he just…"

"What?" Ruby asked her sister, her eyes trained on the villain.

"He just quoted General Grievous!" Eclipse announced.

At those words, both sisters gave her incredulous looks like she just chose the wrong time and place to spout absurd stuff.

"Really? NOW is the time you wanna talk about Star Wars?" Frankie asked.

"And why do you even know that?" Ruby followed up.

Shrugging her shoulders, Evelyn chuckled nervously. "He's my favorite character."

Why was it no surprise that Evelyn liked someone who steals from others?

Lasher snarled, his ice-bladed tendrils shooting out after the girls. Each of them glaring at the tendrils before retaliating in their own ways.

Eclipse jumped out of the way with shadowportation, avoiding the two coming her way. When reappearing again, she pulled back an arrow. Her light imbued her arrow headed projectile before she released it. The symbiote-hardened weapon pierced and took down a tendril. The remaining opposing tendril shot through the air, traveling like a dragon through the air to strike down the hero. The metahuman lashed out her hand, light converging in her palm before forming into a broadsword. Her darkness wrapped around the blade, strengthening it. Swinging the blade, she not only shattered the ice sword but also the tendril that's holding it.

Genysis stepped back, jumping into the air and spun away from an incoming tendril. She slammed her foot down on the tendril, pinning it down and keeping it from escaping. Reeling back her Chakram blade, she cut off the tendril with a single powerful strike. The other tendril attacked from behind, swinging violently and manically for her head. But the tongue extending from her collar spiraled around her body and intercepted the opposing tendril. Spiraling around, Ruby grabbed the ice-bladed tendril. Gravitational force converged to her foot and she lifted it up before slamming it down on the tendril, tearing it off immediately.

Magenta faced off against two tendrils with ice swords. Facing against swords of ice like that, she chose to rely on her own swords. She morphed her arms into jagged swords and countered the incoming ice swords, her blades clashing with the opposing ones. Pushing them back, she jumped into the air and delivered a downward strike that shattered the ice blade and the tendril with ease. The other tendril went to stab her, but she avoided it with a spin, dodging the incoming attack. Much like the ones that attacked her sisters, this remaining one didn't live long when Frankie crossed her arms over her chest and lashed them out, slashing the tendril to pieces.

"Got anything better than that?!" Genysis shouted at the villain.

But during his attack on them, none of the three heroes saw that Rajeet had disappeared from on top of the bus.

"Did he turn invisible?" Evelyn asked.

"Not quite!" A muffled voice said. Eclipse looked down at the ground, feeling the voice coming from down there. With eyes widening in realization, she jumped into the air but failed to dodge the numerous tendrils shooting out of the ground and wrapped around her body.

"Eclipse!" Frankie shouted as the tendrils swung her around before throwing her into the frozen rust bucket that was once a school bus. Due to its density decreasing from the ice that Lasher released over it, the vehicle practically shattered and Evelyn was sent through it.

Ruby narrowed her eyes, seeing through the hole that Evelyn made when hurled through the rusty vehicle. She saw a hole in the ground behind where the bus once stood. "He dug a hole in the ground." She looked down at the foundation under her feet. "Time to shake things up, then. Magenta get away!" She exclaimed to her sister before she slammed her fist on the ground.

Hearing the warning, Frankie jumped into the air and used tendrils to hold up suspended in the air. Seeing her sister out of her harm's way, Ruby was able to finally release all the gravitational force she withheld in her arm and projected into the ground. The force from the gravity caused the very foundation to shake and fissure, tearing it open with immense strength.

But to her and her sister's surprise, no matter how much the ground began tearing up due to the invisible and powerful force, neither of them could see Lasher anywhere.

"Looking for me?"

From the ground behind Ruby Lasher appeared again, wrapping his tendrils around the gravity manipulator and swung her around. In the next moment, she was hurled through the air, and she was slammed into the frozen bus.

Eclipse woke up again, seeing her sister beside her on the damaged transport vehicle. "Geny-" Neither of the sisters barely got a chance to say another word when they were both immediately enveloped by a sudden quick wave of ice. "Damn!" She said, the ice reached up to her throat and completely encased her in an iceberg.

"Shit!" Genysis said, the ice reaching up to her neck and encasing her in an iceberg-like prison.

"Guys!" Frankie said, running towards them as quickly as she could.

But she was stopped by a tendrils that slammed into her stomach, making her throw up bile, before she was hurled into a stack of cars. The sudden force of the impact caused all the cars to fall on top of her, completely burying her in rusty old cars.

"Magenta!" Evelyn shouted, hoping her voice was reaching her sister's ears under the cover of discarded vehicles.

"Bastard, you're gonna regret that." Ruby said, twisting and turning her body to force her way out of the iceberg that kept her prisoner. The iceberg shook and began to crack.

But her efforts didn't go unnoticed by the criminal who immediately sent out another wave of cold ice that further strengthened the restraints around them both. "Sorry ladies, but before you get your turn, I'm gonna add your sister to my collection of numbers."

The pile of abandoned cars shook…

"Stay away from her!" Ruby shouted, her entire body shaking, trembling and quaking with the immense gravity force she's emitting from her body. But the additional wave of ice from the criminal made it nigh impossible for her to move even a muscle. "Eclipse, do something!"

"Can't." Eclipse was shocked herself. The iceberg-like prison had kept her completely immobilized, even preventing her from shadowporting.

"You're not going anywhere." Lasher said, getting the girls' attention. Both of them saw that half of his face had been covered in a thin layer of ice.

"Good…" An even more demonic and sinister voice stated. The three of them turned their heads, facing the direction of where the voice came from. They saw the massive pile of beat-up abandoned cars shaking and trembling, as though the cars themselves were experiencing a level of fear that was impossible for humans to comprehend.

Suddenly all of the cars were lifted up by an invisible force, but none of them were shot far. They merely lifted themselves up and began orbiting in the air, circling around… Magenta who stepped forward. The cars and other metals continued to follow her.

The ferrokinetic lifted her head, eyes brimming with magenta shine as though flames of the same color were raging inside of each eyeball. "Cause then they'll be able to see your head crack open when I'm done with you."

Seeing that sight terrified Evelyn and she did the only thing she was able to do. A tendril formed, digging through the ice as much as possible and pressed her phone, which somehow remained active, sending an alert to their team.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

"Seth?" Caitlin screamed into the mics, connecting with her mate through the comms device, speaking to all of the heroes. "You, Barry and Wally need to go to the scrapyard on 7th."

"Rajeet's there?" Seth questioned.

"Yeah, with our daughters." Caitlin added.

"What?!" Seth bellowed out.

"We'll be there." Barry confidently stated.

"Let's hurry!" Wally said.

Knowing right now that the three heroes are making their way to the scrapyard, she prayed that nothing awful or terrifying befalls her daughters as they face off against this powerful new foe.

X

Clenching her hands, Frankie compresses some of the cars orbiting around her. With a deafening snarl, she launched two of the compressed metal spheres, firing them off with incredible speed.

Lasher formed ice barricades in front of him, making six of them in total. But not even all six of them stood a chance against the steel meteorites that tore them down in an instant. Rajeet jumped out of the way, avoiding the balls from coming in contact with him.

But he couldn't say the same for the spiraling rusty cars that Frankie sent after him with a single swipe of her arm. The first one hit him, knocking him back into the ground. The other one came flying down, but he avoided it with a roll. The last one came next, spiraling at rapid speeds and looking like a shuriken.

Rajeet jumped into the air, shooting all six of his back tendrils into it from above. The tendrils pushed it all the way down, a wave of ice emitting from them all and freezing it completely. Landing on it, Rajeet split open his mouth and released a blast of freezing cold mist from his mouth.

Barely forming an expression of either shock or fear, Magenta merely clapped her hands together. In response to her gesture, the remaining metal she places themselves in front of her, overlapping one another to block the mist attack.

"Adding us to your collection?" Though her voice was normally demonic when engulfed by her "other," now her voice sounds distortive. "What a joke. You may have his powers, but you're not Venom. You're pathetic."

But to her shock Rajeet wrapped his tendrils around the frozen metal plates she used as a shield. Separating them, Lasher countered. "Pathetic? Big words coming from the girl who couldn't even keep her sisters from getting turned into ice pops."

The words made Frankie's determination and conviction waver, her eyes flickering in resonance to it. Seeing that, Rajeet hurled the frozen metal blades after her.

"Frankie, get your shit together!" Magenta shouted at her host from within, the Klyntar seeing the frozen metal plates coming after them.

The shout from within her mind made the ferrokinetic snap out of her trance, her eyes returning to their normal blue colors. Morphing her arms into maces, she jumped backwards and allowed her to swing and smash the closest metal plate. Much like the frozen car, its density had decreased considerably thanks to the ice, and it shattered completely after a single blow. With a swing from her other mace, she shattered the remaining ones.

Shards of frozen metal filled her vision, her focus diverting between each fragment. Due to her wandering focus, she failed to notice the tendrils wrapping around her body. "Crap!" Magenta shouted as she was yanked forward and into quickly forming an ice-mallet.

SHATTER

The icy mallet completely shattered when connecting with the girl, knocking her out. She fell to the ground when the tendrils unwrapped from her body.

"Guess Venom's partners aren't up to much." Lasher said, shocking the captured girls with his next action when he kicked Magenta into an abandoned cargo, the side of it caving in when the ferrokinetic was slammed into it.

"Magenta!" Eclipse exclaimed, the ice around her body cracking as she emits waves of darkness from every pore in her body. Each darkness released from her pulsated, making the cracks wider.

"You fucking bastard!" Genysis shouted, snarling in rage like an animal watching its family being hunted and toyed with. Like her sister she's releasing enormous amounts of gravity waves to try and break her icicle cage.

Lasher, showing annoyance on his face, released another powerful wave of ice from his legs and arms, one that immediately wrapped around the cages of Eclipse and Genysis. It even extended all the way to Magenta, freezing her to the rusty cargo. All three of them had ice wrapped around them, all the way up to their necks.

"I'm getting tired of you brats, running your damn mouths." Lashed stood up, stretching out his arms and covering them with ice, forming long sharp blades. He walked towards them, but fell on his knee again, panting heavily. Each heavy breath that he took pained his lungs and let out small ice fragments. "I'm gonna tear you… No… I'm gonna kill you all!"

That single change in his sentence made Frankie stiffen, freeze in place in a way that not even sheer cold could make stop in her tracks.

"After I'm done with you, brats., next comes that detective and then Venom." Lasher promised the heroes, the deaths of those mentioned will be on their heads.

"…What…" Frankie muttered under her breath, her voice not reaching either her sisters or the criminal they're fighting. Her thoughts, going crazy from the various images of either her dead father, sisters or her uncle, filled her head. Every image was different than the rest, popping up like lava shooting out of an active volcano. Her eyes flashing between blue and magenta, even more violently than ever.

Even though they were covered in ice… She managed to curl her fingers…. Faint, almost invisible sparks going off in response around her digits…

The fear that came with these images were each different, one more horrifying than the other. But as when registering what that criminal said, the fear from each image was quickly replaced with anger and rage, each one raging like a tsunami…

No. The anger and rage roared and raged in ways that not even a natural disaster could hope to come close to. They pale in comparison to what the ferrokinetic is feeling right now.

"I'm gonna put them all on ice…" Lasher hissed threateningly, his words coming out demonically.

"No."

Eclipse and Genysis lifted their heads, turning their eyes to Frankie again. Their sister's head still held down and her eyes looking away from everyone. But the two of them caught the sight of what's emitting around her hands, managing to shine from even within the layer of ice.

"Is that…" Evelyn narrowed her eyes on what's generating from her sister's hands.

"Lightning?" Ruby saw the same, completely baffled by what's generated from her sister.

She wasn't the one to use elements like that in their family.

"What was that?" Lasher faced the girl, seeing the same strange purplish sparks generating around her hands.

With her head lifting, she pointed her completely shining magenta eyes at the criminal, her thoughts warped with fear, rage, and anger. Thoughts of how she was unable to protect her sisters from Anti-Venom now resurfaced, tenfold.

And then thoughts of how this icicle bastard would hurt and kill her sisters and her family and her uncle… How he'd kill the most important people in her family without a care in the world, and that killing could lead all the way to her mother…

Thoughts…. Brought forth a volcanic and murderous fury…

With ease, the ferrokinetic shattered the ice around her right arm and tore off the ice from her left side. She jumped off the cargo and snarled at the criminal, completely oblivious to the purple almost-electrical sparks generating around her entire body.

"You… are not going to hurt… ANYONE!" Frankie bellowed out in a distorted roar with murder in it.

"Time to work." Magenta told her host, mentally sticking out a tongue and licking her teeth.

Venom, Flash and Kid Flash appeared, the elemental tearing down a wall with a tackle and allowing them entrance. The three heroes came to a halt when they saw Magenta generate purple lightning.

"Is that Frankie?" Wally asked. Barry wondered the same, facing the elemental for answers.

"Our daughter…" Seth asked in surprise when seeing the lightning around.

ROAR

Frankie roared, her voice bellowing out and reaching even the far ends of the city.

Throwing her right arm upwards, stretching her fingers and generating a violent current of purple electricity, one that seemed like a blast of purple lightning that emitted across the entire ground and spreading across the entire scrapyard… Calling out to what she needs.

Metal pieces broke off of larger objects. Cars tore into pieces. Engines broke in half. Pipes, buried long ago after spending ages in the junkyard, rose from the ground and saw the light again. Crowbars flew into the air, as though they were possessed by spirits. Large empty pots shot into the air, as though they were catapulted. Gears and cogs shook on the ground, but flew into the air next. Cable chains jumped into the air, traveling like serpents who learnt the art of flying. Even something as large as steel beams flew towards the ferrokinetic.

The purple electricity generated and converged into Frankie's right arm. "You're gonna die!" The swarm of metal orbiting over her head converged on her arm that split into tendrils. Every single piece of metal was enveloped by her tendrils. Some of the metal combined, merging together before attaching to her tendrils. All the metallic pieces converged on her and attached to her arm…

Rajeet shivers in his feet, not from the ice that's affecting his body, but because of the sensation he's experiencing at the sight of the massive makeshift arm Magenta's wielding. And it continued to grow bigger as more and more metal were attracted, adding onto her already massive metallic arm. The arm brought a humongous shadow over them all, each one of the metallic fingers is the size of a human.

And Magenta wielded that arm effortlessly.

Frankie snarled; a pulsating energy erupted throughout the arm. The tendrils she used to bring forth the arm, erupting and popping out of the sides of the makeshift arm, looking like ominous symbiotic veins shining with purple electricity. The knuckles had been adorned with car doors, acting as brass knuckles. Pipes and beams had come together to hold the makeshift arm together.

Lowering the massive arm to the ground, which shook upon impact from the heavy weight, Frankie showed a lust for murder with her dangerous fanged smile. "Die already!" Flexing her right limb, she curled the fingers of her mechanical arm into a fist before thrusting it out.

Lasher, seeing that he couldn't move away in time, quickly covered his entire body with ice to defend himself against the enormous strike that's making its way to him. Every inch of flesh on his body were quickly enveloped by ice-

PUNCH

But no matter how thick ice he had made to protect himself, it did absolutely nothing against Magenta's massive metal arm that struck him with force greater than any rampant truck. The massive blow sent a shockwave throughout his entire body, tearing off his ice defenses and scattered the fragments everywhere.

More importantly, the strike sent Rajeet flying and into a salvage cantilever storage rack, the cars it held fell over him.

"That's one way to go heavy-metal." Eclipse quipped.

Hearing her sister's voice, Frankie faced her and Genysis. Releasing another pulse of purple electricity, this time from her left arm, she attracted another wave of metal from her surroundings to her arm. This time, with surprisingly precision and control, she disassembled and reformed numerous metals of various sizes.

Genysis couldn't believe it when her sister began forming harpoons and what appeared to be a barrel. "Is she gonna…?"

The barrel attached to Frankie's left arm, and pipes connected it to her symbiotic flesh. The tendrils she used to hold it together pulsated, popping out around it. Each tendril, appearing similar to a vein, shining with purple sparks of electricity. The harpoons popped into the barrel, which she aimed at her sisters.

"Oh yeah, she is." Ruby heard her "other" casually admit.

Frankie, despite aiming weapons at her own sisters, smirked before flexing her arm and released an array of harpoons at them.

"Wow! Wow!" Ruby shouted in retaliation as the harpoons dug into the ice around her and Evelyn's body. Each harpoon embedded in their ice prisons spread cracks, and thankfully the projectiles were nowhere near their bodies. Something the gravity manipulator thanked her lucky stars for. "Good thing you're a terrible shot! What are you, crazy?"

"Should she really be complaining to the one who just powered up and has a gigantic arm made of metal?" Dusk asked her host, questioning Ruby's choices.

"Like that'd even stop Ruby from venting out her frustrations." Evelyn stated. Turning back to their situation, the metahuman corrected her sister. "Genysis, that's not what she meant." The gravity manipulator faced her sister with confusion.

Rather than explaining it, Evelyn showed it by taking advantage of the ice's fragile and damaged stage as she, after some efforts, tore it off and freed her left arm. "She didn't mean to hit us, just damage the ice enough so we could break free on our own." She explained while forming a light blade and cut the rest of the ice off.

"Oh, that's what she did." Ruby understood with a sigh before releasing a gravity wave from her entire body, one that completely shattered and pushed off the ice. "But seriously… What the hell's going on?"

Before any of the three sisters could say anything, the cars that had piled on top of Rajeet Kumar were sent flying, tendrils pushing them off violently. The three sisters watched as a foot stepped out from the remaining mess, a symbiotic foot that froze the ground when touching it. "I'm not dead yet, brats." Lasher declared, revealing his full form.

"Persistent bastard." Frankie growled, clenching the fingers of her makeshift metal arm.

"Doesn't know when to stay down." Eclipse stated, forming arrows and putting them on her bow.

"We'll make him then." Ruby stated, her fists clenching and ready to deliver another wave of hurt to him.

"You two…" Frankie got their attention. "I need more metal, cause I know one more whack will knock him out. Especially when he's like that." She said, referring to the criminal's current state where he's almost encased in ice himself. "One more strike, he's down."

"Sounds like your part of the plan." Ruby smirked. "I'll disorient him up-close and personal. Evie, you fire off arrows from above. Distract him."

"Got it." Evelyn said, shadowporting out of the way.

"Damn…" Rajeet muttered, launching ice blades from his tendrils and after Genysis and Magenta. Seeing that coming, Frankie used her makeshift arm to shield them from the incoming ice barrage.

"Thanks. Go, get more metal." Ruby said, jumping over the metal arm and charging the criminal.

"I should thank you guys." Frankie told herself. Her eyes shining with a color magenta as she unconsciously brought out another wave of purple electricity, forcing more metal from her surroundings to come to her arm. More metal orbited around it, adding onto the already massive arm.

Shadowporting into the air, Evelyn pulled back two arrows. Light imbued both of them before she launched them, each arrow shooting down at the speed of light and piercing into Lasher's feet, pinning them to the ground.

The ice wielder cried in pain. His cry was cut short when Evelyn delivered a downward strike with her bow, heading his head, making him jolt down. Genysis swung her tongue around his neck, pulling on it and making him look straight up.

Pulling back her fist, Ruby delivered an immediate strike to his torso, making him hunch over. The tendrils on his back tried to attack her, but Genysis dodged. Showing expert acrobatic skills, she jumped off his left knee and onto his back. Grabbing hold of all six of his tendrils, three in each hand, she delivered another kick to the back of his head.

"You're not gonna need these." Ruby exclaimed, tearing off the back tendrils with all of her might, pouring gravitational force into her muscles. She struck the back of his head again and jumped off his back. "Magenta, now!"

Bellowing out another roar, Magenta swung her colossal makeshift arm. Lasher looked up, only for his vision to be filled with the immense metal fist that he was unable to dodge. Bile and ice came out of his mouth, the force it struck with was unable and it hit every single bone in his body. The force that the fist struck with, made it feel like every single bone in his body.

"Ellie… This was not what I expected!"

This time, he wasn't just launched through the air. This time, he was launched through the back entrance to the junkyard, the doors flying off the hinges and sending Rajeet into the open street and into the building wall on the other side.

Barry gulped. "Seth, it's official: I'm terrified of your entire family."

"That makes two of us." Wally admitted as the ferrokinetic detached the harpoon gun and the makeshift arm.

As his daughters jumped out of the junkyard, following their target, Venom smiled. "We're both proud of them… But also confused and scared as hell." He admitted in all honesty before following his daughters. When jumping out of the gateway that Frankie made, Seth narrowed his eyes.

A crowd had gathered, one that his daughters had to ask to stay back as Lasher's unconscious body fell off the wall and landed on the ground.

"Not bad, you three." Venom got their attention. "Good teamwork."

Ruby jabbed his side. "Thanks for the help. Not!"

"Yeah, bit mean being the audience, you know." Evelyn agreed with a joke.

"You handled yourselves well." Seth stated, nodding to Frankie who fell to the ground, landing on a knee. "Magenta!" He rushed towards her, crouching beside her. "Are you okay?"

Panting heavily and facing her father with exhaustion, she admitted. "I'm completely spent. Can't move a muscle." She said, her head hanging down and her breathing getting heavier with each exhale.

"Looks like, unlike with her regular ferrokinetic prowess, she can't pull off that mechanical contraption technique whenever she wants to." Venom noted.

"Even if that wasn't the case, she'd have burnt herself out just from a single use." Seth stated, taking in the level of exhaustion his daughter's feeling. "Powerful attacks tend to come with even more bothersome side-effects."

Looking at Rajeet, who still remained downed and knocked out, Venom patted his daughter's head and proudly told her. "You did incredibly well, Magenta. We're proud of you." Frankie smiled at those words.

""Well" doesn't even describe what she just did."

That voice made the heroes turn their heads up. Their eyes widened when seeing Eliza Harmon slowly walk down the side building. Casually, she jumped down from the wall and landed near her knocked out accomplice. "You did way, way, way more than just "Well.""

The crowd that had gathered around them, ran away in screams, the sight of the thunder-bringer scared them to no end and had them running away immediately.

Seeing that only the heroes and herself were alone now, Eliza chuckled. "You did marvelous, Frankie. Taking down Rajeet, and awakening a new power? That's incredible."

"Aunt Eliza…" Frankie muttered, her sisters jumping in front of her protectively.

"Came to turn yourself in? Or fight?" Venom said, readying himself for a fight.

Eliza shook her head, her hair enveloped by symbiote mass and stretched out. Several hair strands wrapped around Rajeet, lifting him up like baggage. "Not yet, Venom. Our fight will come soon. The day when heroes and villains will meet in a war. But for each war…."

Seth couldn't stop himself from gulping. "You need an army."

"Let's see whose army surpasses who. Mine… Or yours."

In a second, Eliza formed additional symbiote arms extending from her shoulders. The fists clenched, charging and releasing powerful lightning flashes. The heroes, speedsters and Klyntar-hosts alike, all covered their eyes as they were almost blinded by the intense and bright light.

When it died down… the heroes opened their eyes again, seeing that Scream had disappeared and had taken Rajeet away before they could apprehend them.

X

"Honeys, I'm home!" Eliza joked with a greeting of mock care and love as she entered the Sinister Seven's secret hideout. The seven evil supervillains turned their gazes at her as she uncaringly threw Rajeet's almost completely frozen body to the ground.

Shocker glanced at the frozen ice wielder. "Pretty sure you're supposed to take the trash out."

Eliza faked a laugh. "Someone found his funny bone. But had to pick him up before Venom and the rest got a hold on him." She pointed a finger to the ice wielder.

Scorpion, crawling on the walls, cackled. "Looks like he bit the dust already. Should have left him in the dump."

"No, he just need a little pick-up." Eliza lashed out her hand, unceremoniously releasing a singular bolt of lightning at her companion. The lightning connected with Rajeet, making him twist and turn on the metal floor. The lightning bolt made him writhe in pain, screaming in pain.

"Why the little man screaming?" Rhino asked, he, Taskmaster and Otto Octavius entering to watch Eliza mercilessly shocking her companion with her own lightning.

"Thought you wanted to use him? Did it run out already?" Taskmaster wondered of the native scientist.

Otto scoffed at the lack of intelligence that his companions are showing off. "What Eliza is doing is jump-starting his system which is on the verge of severe hypothermia from overusing his own powers. By introducing an electrical current into his system, his heart rate is increased to increase the blood flow."

"Why's that necessary?" Shocker asked.

Eliza answered, just as steam began to emit from Rajeet's writhing body and melt the thin layer of ice on his body. "Heat is carried by the blood to the skin, and it's that ability to transfer heat from the body core to the skin, dissipating the ice. Physiological changes caused by electrical stimulation does include an increase in blood flow."

"So what, you're using an extreme method of taking care of a cold?" Mac Gargan asked as he lowered himself from the ground.

Flying over their heads, Vulture added. "This is no mere cold, Gargan. It's so much, much more."

"Yeah." Eliza agreed, watching as Rajeet's eyes opened up and he twisted his head. "And operation is complete." She said, stopping the electrical bolt she aimed at him.

"Wow." Rajeet said, getting back on his feet. His body heals as he does so. "That was wild, Ellie. But you never told me that purple girl could freaking rip-off the Iron Giant and freaking grow his arm too."

"I had no idea she could do this, trust me." Eliza chuckled, hiding how proud she was of the young hero being able to overcome her obstacles and reach a new stage in her evolutionary chain. "She's impressive."

"And her number skyrocketed." Rajeet got her attention again, his left hand with the COUNT tattoo clenching. "Her number is bigger than that of either Flash or Venom combined, I'm gonna enjoy taking her down."

"You gonna go out and kill her?" Eliza asked, masking worry with intrigue.

"Yeah, but not now. I don't stand a chance against them right now." Rajeet looked over his shoulder with a vicious smirk. "But with your army that you mentioned, I'm sure I can put Magenta in the ground."

"Oh, you heard that? Good. Guess that means you're satisfied and ready to work." Eliza questioned.

"Yup. I'm all yours, Ellie." Rajeet faced the other master criminals behind him. "And I'll happily consider you colleagues, Sinister Seven."

"Delighted to have you onboard, Mr. Kumar." Otto quipped.

Rajeet faced Eliza again. "I may have someone in mind for one of those other gooey bastards."

"Oh yeah?" Eliza became intrigued. Though she never expected to be taking applicants like this.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

In the Cortex of the facility, the entire team watched with undivided attention. Every single pair of eyes looking directly into the middle of the Cortex…

Well, almost every pair of eyes.

"Still don't get why you had to come along; we didn't ask for you!" Seth practically shouted in Matt Stark's face, the other mutant getting up in his face.

Veins popping up around his face, Matt countered. "Probably because my wife came and you're done cleaning up whatever shit's going on here. Maybe they thought they could use a knight instead of a useless parasite!"

"What was that, scrap-for-brains?!" Seth said, his entire body releasing lightning and fire.

"Come again, you rotten environment?!" Matt shouted, forming a long blade in his right arm.

Julian gave the two mutants a strange look. "It's only been three minutes since we invited Fury's sister and her husband to our Earth, and those two just immediately got into it. Is that normal?"

Cisco patted the metahuman expert's shoulder. "Oh yeah, totally normal. Just wait, these two will pull out all the stops and just tear into each other's throats." Julian wondered if he was referring to the sightings of last year when Venom and Iron Knight battled one another over this very facility.

After the fight with Rajeet, and Frankie's incredible new power, Caitlin and Seth called over Matt and Olivia, hoping that the latter is able to shed some light on the matter after a psychic head-dive into the ferrokinetic's head.

"Guys!" Olivia Fury-Stark got their attention, her hands still remaining on the sides of Frankie's head. Both of her hands are lightning up and enwrapped in psychic energy. Her unique energy flowing into her niece's mind, her psychic powers acting as extensions to her senses and marking everything they're finding in her mind. "I'm literally diving into my niece's mind here, mind shutting your mouths for a bit so I can work. And no, it was no question. I'm telling you both!"

Both male mutants stepped away from one another, but not without giving each other glares.

"Best I should expect." Olivia admitted, returning to her work.

Iris faced Caitlin. "Caitlin, I'm not sure what exactly is the point of this? Why did you call for Matt and Liv?"

"It's about Frankie and something that seemed different about her, unlike with Evie and Rubs." Caitlin vaguely answered.

"What do you mean?" Joe questioned, having the same thoughts of confusion as his daughter.

"It's related to the question she gave me after the entire Dominator invasion." Olivia answered, continuing her search and diving.

"What question?" Seth inquired.

Caitlin, facing her mate, answered honestly. "I thought something was weird, off even, when our girls came out of the Speed Force after all those months. Especially Frankie."

"Except for the fact that each of them got a massive power-up?" Wally inquired.

"Yeah, but that's it. I kept thinking, in comparison to Evie and Ruby, Frankie's increase in power was smaller." Caitlin admitted.

While continuing her procedure, Olivia added. "Caity brought that to my attention, and we talked about it for a bit after the Dominator invasion and at your old place. And it kinda made sense when she said it."

"What?" Seth asked, directing it to his mate.

Caitlin answered. "What were the differences between our three daughters going out into the Speed Force?" Instead of waiting for an answer from her team, she answered her own question. "Frankie, from the beginning, was a metahuman as well as a Klyntar host. While the scale of her power-up was incredible, it was small-scale than what you'd expect."

"What was your hypothesis?" Seth asked, already knowing that she has one in mind otherwise she wouldn't have brought it to Olivia.

"That… Maybe Magenta had something to do with the lack of power-up on Frankie's part." Caitlin asks, referring to the split-personality that manifested from her suppressed anger for the abuse she endured during her years in foster care.

"What's that got to do with Frankie having less power?" Ruby inquired. "Also, Frankie did tear a hole the street, not like she's weaker after getting out of the Speed Force."

"She's referring to the levels of skill that Frankie and her split-personality each has, thinking that the latter got the more attuned handle of the power-up than the former." Seth clarified.

"What?" Joe asked.

Olivia explained, not halting her procedure. "Joe, it's like this:" She formed two spheres of psychic energy in the middle of the Cortex, starting her presentation. "With split-personalities, it's not wrong to say that there's two brains in one person's body. But they can only be accessed by their respective owner. So, Frankie can only access her brain, that includes the skills she's learnt, the knowledge and also the memories." She lifted one of the spheres, making smaller spheres within it. "She can access that. Magenta, her split-personality, can only access her own set." She said, lifting up the other sphere, making it shine with another layer of her powers. After adding spheres into it, the psychic continued. "Think of it like that."

"I was thinking that maybe Magenta had gotten the better knowledge of how she could use the power-up, and I'm guessing that's why Frankie pulled an Iron Giant." Caitlin explained.

"You mean, Magenta took over back there?" Seth inquired.

"Actually… It's not quite like that." Olivia announced, removing her hands from her niece's temples.

Frankie's eyes snapped open, she slouched in her chair and put a hand to her chest. "I thought these treatments took only a few minutes. That went on for longer." She stated, checking the clock and seeing that almost twenty minutes have passed since her aunt took over. "What's the conclusion? Did Magenta resurface?"

"Now that I think about it…" Barry thought back to last year and the events that happened during that time. "Didn't Magenta show up only last year?"

"Yeah, no events with her this year." Caitlin stated.

"Good reason for that." Olivia said, getting the attention from the entire team. "It's like… Magenta's there, but not there as well."

"What?" Frankie asked, turning in her chair.

"What do you mean, Aunt Liv?" Evelyn asked.

"It's like…" Olivia stopped, feeling for the first time in her life she's unable to find the right words for this explanation and returned to the two psychic spheres she constructed. "This is how Frankie's mind was before, two separate… databases, would be the appropriate term. But now…"

Crossing her arms over one another, the two spheres followed her actions and collided into one another, a faint light enveloping them completely before fading away. When completely gone, the team was able to see that a new sphere had taken its place. One that possesses the same form and color as the first sphere, but it also contains traits that belonged to the second sphere.

Seeing that Caitlin widened her eyes. "They merged together." She concluded when seeing that.

"Yeah." Olivia nodded. "It's completely Frankie's mind, but there are now traits, knowledge and skills that definitely belonged to Magenta before, and only to her. After this little scuffle with Rajeet, the parts with Magenta's added knowledge and memories, they're shining like Christmas lights. They're completely merged with Frankie's."

"So, how'd it happen? And how do we know it wasn't always like this?" Joe asked.

"I believe the answer to that question lies in young Frankie's memories." H.R. noted.

Olivia faced the new Wells with a confused and dry look. "Not gonna lie, "Happy Wells" is still something I need to get used to. But better than "Evil Wells" and "Stubborn Wells" … I think." She hesitantly said, and none of the team members argued with her. "But yeah, for example:"

The psychic walked around till she stood in front of her niece. "Frankie, did Carnage attack your foster family back when he entered your home before you were adopted?"

"Yeah, he did." Frankie answered easily.

"Did you maul or dismember him?" Olivia asked with narrowed eyes.

"What kind of question is that to ask your own niece?" Barry questioned, not even police interrogation questions would go that far.

"Yeah, I cut off his arm." Frankie's own answer surprised even her. "How did I know that? I didn't know that-"

"Before you were in the Speed Force. You only had flashes of that memory after our treatments." Olivia finished her sentence. Facing the team again, she explained. "As lot of you know, two years ago, Frankie, while in foster care, was attacked by Carnage, the same guy who later skewered my dear elder brother in the middle of the city." Stroking the hair of her niece, the psychic continued. "Now, Frankie doesn't remember the fight she had with Carnage from back then. Not until our weekly treatments."

"She didn't?" Cisco asked, seeing the same look of confusion on the rest of the team except for Seth and Caitlin.

"No, she didn't. Like I said before, that information was only available to Magenta, the split-personality, who took control, making it impossible for Frankie to know about. She knows about him invading her home, the attack on her foster folks, but after that her mind went blank and Magenta took control. She only had flashes of that fight. It was harder for her to even remember because she was also knocked out by Carnage's sleep gas." Olivia explained. "I checked that out myself when I spoke and checked on Frankie's mind after the entire ordeal."

"I remember that back then, we spoke and you asked questions you already had answers to, about my fight as Magenta against Carnage, but… I didn't know anything. I couldn't answer them." Frankie recalled those days that felt like a lifetime ago. Now, if she were to describe the events of that tragic day in order, she'd be able to do so perfectly. "I can remember that fight completely."

"It's not surprising, meaning Magenta and your mind is completely one. Medically and psychologically speaking, you no longer suffer from dissociative identity disorder." Olivia stated officially.

"Wow." Frankie asked, still in shock.

"How could this have happened, did you do that, Liv?" Barry asked, essentially asking the same question Joe inquired before.

"No way in hell, man." Olivia shook her head. "That's beyond my powers. Even if I attempted to do that, it'd surely end up causing harm to the patient."

Matt stroked his chin. "Considering the time they spent in it, the only logical conclusion to where and what could have done this, it must have been the Speed Force's doing."

"Agreed." Seth stated. "Not just that, along with that, the Magenta part of her life must have been suppressed till now."

"Why?" Julian inquired.

"Probably because of the fight with Anti-Venom." Olivia answered, the memory returning in Frankie's mind. "Frankie, with the exception of her father, felt like hell after that entire event. Like she was to blame for not being able to help her family. Am I getting warmer, Frankie?" She asked her niece with a quip.

"You know you are." Frankie countered.

Ruffling her niece's hair, Olivia reminded her. "We're not blaming you, it's understandable that such a harsh fight would be the only thing on your mind, suppressing the Magenta side of your life unknowingly. It's normal to be fixated on one thing and that alone. In this case… It worked out for you, sweetie."

"Frankie… Awakened?" Evelyn asked in lack of a better word.

"Yeah, sounds about right." Olivia nodded.

Caitlin chuckled to herself. "Seems like you were right, Seth. Frankie had to remember her origins, no matter how horrible they are."

"Remembering those, allowed her to overcome any limits she had and awakened a new power." Seth smiled widely. "It's incredible Frankie. It really is. You did good."

"Thanks Dad." Frankie returned with a wide smile herself. "And Dad… I'm sorry for being such a pain lately, being stubborn and acting out. You too, Mom. It wasn't right." Caitlin kissed her cheek, happy that her hurdles were over.

"It's normal, sweetie. We were just worried about you. We're family, after all. We wanna protect you just as much as you wanna protect us." Seth told her.

"… I know. But Dad, I have to become better sooner or later…" Frankie smirked. "If I'm gonna be the next Lethal Protector."

That declaration shocked the entire team, leaving them with gaping mouths. Seth chuckled at her confession, asking for assurance. "You wanna become like me, honey? The next Lethal Protector?"

"Yeah, I do." Frankie's smile remained on her face, never faltering for a second. "Cause when I was in foster care, it was the Lethal Protector who gave a damn about me, and no one else. I wanna be like you, Dad."

"Frankie…" Seth couldn't help but feel the warmth of love spreading from his heart and throughout his entire body as he let those words settle in. His daughter's confession drove him to tears, several of them sliding down his face as her words kept going in his head.

"I doubt that." Ruby said casually, her words making her sister snap her head in her direction. "I think I might be the next Protector."

"Like hell?! You're too weak!" Frankie exclaimed, shooting up from the chair.

"What was that?!" Ruby said, getting up in her sister's face.

Much to the team's worries, and annoyance, the two sisters' powers began to shake the entire facility. The lights over their heads flickering, the ground shaking and metal began shaking. And to the team's surprise as well, they were shocked to see Frankie emit purple sparks of electricity from her hands.

"Okay, that's enough from both of you!" Seth shouted, stopping them with tendrils shooting out of his shoulders and wrapping around his daughters' waists. He had them both face him. "I love you both to the moon, but no using your powers here, it might actually tear down the facility." Both sisters agreed and were released. "Wonder where you two got this habit of fighting from."

"It's weird, I gotta admit. Someone's a bad influence." Matt said obliviously. The other team members gave the two male mutants incredulous looks.

Frankie perked her head up, realizing she forgot something. "Oh yeah, thank you for not, like, punishing me for skipping school."

Caitlin raised an eyebrow. "What made you think you're off the hook?"

Seth shook his head. "Yeah, you're definitely getting punished, young lady."

"Wait, I am?!" Frankie asked, absolutely horrified by the thought of being scolded in front of their friends and family.

"Yeah, you are." Caitlin nodded. Frankie gulped as her mother started explaining. "From now on, I'm gonna drive you to school, drop you off myself and embarrass you in front of your classmates." The ferrokinetic widened her mouth, but that wasn't even close to the end of her punishment. "Also, your father has agreed to check on you, in school, without anyone knowing about it, twice a day." She added, showing two fingers.

"Dad's gonna sneak into school to check on me?" Frankie questioned.

"Yes, I am." Seth smirked. "But if you think that's a bad idea, honey, I could get a job as your teacher there, grade your performance and even sit with you at lunch."

Once again, Frankie gulped. "Yeah, stick to sneaking and being invisible, Dad."

"Furthermore…" Caitlin gestured between herself and her mate. "You're gonna spend an hour with either your father or me or both of us, and we're gonna help you with your homework. For an entire month."

"Seriously?" Frankie looked like she had lost all hope.

"Also, no friends after school, plus patrol is done as a group." Seth added for good measure.

Frankie looked completely hollow, like she had lost all life. Ruby was even surprised by this. "Wow, no mercy, not even to your own child, Mom, Dad."

Caitlin gave her daughter a deadly glare. "Wanna join your sister in punishment?"

"What? No!" Ruby shook her head.

Evelyn looked at her mother. "I can join along for the car rides to school, right?" Caitlin nodded immediately.

"Unfortunately, Rajeet is still out there, now with Eliza Harmon again." Joe said. but then he turned to Frankie with a smile. "But now, thanks to Magenta, he's gonna think twice about attacking anyone in this city."

"You betcha!" Olivia agreed, hugging her little niece tightly. "Well, since we're done here, how about we skedaddle Matty?"

"Sure, unless you guys need something else." Matt looked between the members of the team.

Seth and Caitlin shared a look, both of them having the same idea. "Actually, there might be…"

Now every single member on the team looked surprised and wondered what the two had in store for them.

Cisco's attention turned downwards to his screen, finally getting results from an analysis he had to wait oh so long for. The results of which surprised him, his eyes wide as saucers.

X

(Snow-Fury Residence)

Caitlin checked the oven and looked behind her, seeing her daughters and mate ready their new home for the house-warming get-together with the Team Flash members and Matt and Olivia. The family of five had changed into finer and newer clothes, appropriate for their event.

After checking the state of the appetizers, she closed the oven and lowered the heat. "Okay, the bruschetta are done, they're just getting some extra minutes in the oven to stay warm."

"Good. And the pasta carbonara is also done, including the garlic bread in the oven." Seth added, having checked the status on the pasta dish himself.

"And… are we forgetting anything?" Caitlin asked nervously. "Okay, status report. Drinks?"

"Beer and wine in the fridge, along with sodas and fruity drinks in case our kids get thirsty." Seth asked, not able to withhold the laughter he's experiencing when hearing her act like a commanding officer.

"Candles?" She continued, smiling to herself.

Frankie answered. "Lit and on the table."

"Ice?" Caitlin asked.

"Threw it in the freezer after I bought it." Evelyn chimed in, her tendrils straightening the lamps and chandelier.

"Should I ask if you really bought it?" Seth questioned worrisomely.

"Receipt, young lady." Caitlin demanded, holding out a hand. Evelyn rolled her eyes, one of the tendrils dropping off a receipt in her hand. "Thank you, young lady. Oh right!" She snapped her fingers. "Girls, did you put away your weapons?"

Ruby answered. "They're in our bedrooms, under lock and key."

"Good…" Caitlin sighed, pressing a hand over her beating heart.

Seth, taking her hand, smiled at her. "Cait, it's fine. We're just hosting a house-warming party. That's all, it's not like we're planning a prison raid here."

"True." Caitlin nodded, smiling to herself. "It's just nerve-wracking… I've never done this kind of thing before."

"Same." Seth answered honestly, stroking her hand with his fingers. "But at least we're in it together."

"You two are too serious about this." Ruby noted, her parents giving her dry looks.

DING DING

The door clock chimed a couple of times and the two parents split up, moving towards the door. Seth opened the door, seeing Joe standing there with his family. All four of them showed wide smiles as they entered. "Wests and one Allen, your names are on the list. Come on in."

"Funny, busboy." Joe playfully slapped the mutant's shoulder.

Wally clapped his hands as he greeted. "Hey, sorry we didn't bring any plants. You don't seem like the plant-loving types."

"We're not." Ruby bluntly stated.

"Instead…" Iris showed a bottle of wine. "We brought this instead."

"That is acceptable. Thank you." Seth accepts the bottle. He gave Barry a stern glare. "But if any of you give my daughters alcohol, I go berserk."

"Wh- Why? Why are you looking at me?" Barry asked.

"Seth, be nice and on your best behavior?" Caitlin told her mate.

"This is my best behavior." Seth defensively said after welcoming Barry in. He was about to close the door, but then saw Cisco and H.R. walking up the porch. "Cisco, H.R. Welcome!"

"Hi! This place is really nice!" Cisco said as he admired the interior.

"Thank yoooou…" Seth trailed off when seeing the Earth-19 native holding a terrarium. "H.R., is that what I think it is?"

"Yes, it is." Harrison said, holding out the terrarium with a turtle inside of it. "Meet McFury, the turtle. I thought about giving you a lizard, but a turtle is more friendly."

"Feels like a snipe." Frankie joked. "But we happily accept the turtle." She said, taking the terrarium out of his hands and walked away.

"Definitely not a snipe." H.R. assured the elemental before walking into the household, admiring its awe-dropping beauty.

"Hey, didn't we invite Matt and Olivia?" Caitlin asked.

"Yes, you did, and we're here!" Olivia announced, entering the room. "And we brought flowers!" She said holding up two bouquets of flowers.

"And muffins." Matt said, showing a tray with muffins.

"Impressive, thank you, guys." Caitlin said.

Seth smirked. "I hope those are marble cake muffins."

"Course they are." Matt stated.

"Didn't you guys also invite Julian?" Joe asked the hosts.

Caitlin looked at the detective, placing the tray with bruschetta with filling on the table. "Yeah, we did."

"I'm here. Hello, hello!" Julian called out, walking into the household. "Sorry I'm late."

"You're not, trust me, man." Seth said, shaking hands with the metahuman expert and accepting the wine bottle he had in his hand. "Thank you, Albert. Get some drinks and food."

"Thank you very much." Julian said, walking towards the tray and talking with the others.

"Seth?" Cisco got his attention.

"What's up, Cisco? You not gonna drop off a reptile on me too, are you?" Seth nodded to H.R. "Though, I'm sure H.R. has other traditions you could mimic."

"Don't say that any louder, man. He's bound to end us all with what he brings to the table." Cisco quipped. He looked serious, facing the elemental again. "But that's not why I came to you. I got the results from that search I did on that wrecked laptop you brought me."

"You mean the one from the gas station?" Seth asked. Cisco nodded, drinking whiskey from a tumbler. "Well, tell me then, why did Anti-Venom do a deep-dive into the World Wide Web? Did he make a Reddit post?"

"No, more like… deep-dive search." Cisco vaguely stated. The statement made the elemental turn his head in confusion. "Somehow, he hacked into the computer, used it and… Searched for…"

Seth waited for the viber to finalize the statement, but he stopped mid-sentence. Cisco finished his sentence with actions rather than words, as he turned his head around. Following the direction of his eyes, the mutant saw him nod in a specific direction.

Worryingly, he followed that direction as well and his eyes widened when seeing that he was pointing his eyes on the smiling and laughing form of Caitlin who was mingling with Olivia and Iris. "Cait? He searched for Caitlin. Why?"

"I don't know, man." Cisco answered. "But he did."

"Does she know?" Seth asked.

"No, not yet. Figured with your daughters fighting an ice maniac and Frankie getting a new power was enough surprises for one day." Cisco stated.

"Agreed, and thank you for that, man." Seth expressed. "I'll tell her in a bit. After figuring out what this means, if she's got a target on her back now or something else."

"She did attack Anti-Venom, might have something to do with that." Cisco recalled his and her first encounter with the wretched titan.

"Nothing's gonna happen to her." Seth stated. "Thanks, Cisco."

"Course, man." Cisco said, walking away to rejoin the others.

"So, our wretched friend wants to try something, huh?" Venom questioned.

"He's gonna die trying so." Seth said back, completely devoted to stopping the Vile Destroyer… Whatever it will take.

Raising his glass of wine, H.R. clanged it with his drumsticks. "Hi, guys. I asked myself, what would be the best words to say on this occasion?" Most of the guests took a seat and listened as he continued, Seth and Caitlin stood and listened. "This is the second home of these…" He nodded to the Snow-Fury family. "That these wonderful five people have shared. And you've shown that… It doesn't take stacks of brick, mortar, murals, wood or even… a turtle to make a house a home. It takes… It takes a family to make a home… A real home. It's a collection of… Love, care… Hope… Joy."

"Seth… Caitlin… You two… you have wonderful daughters." The hosts smiled as are their daughters. "Frankie… Ruby… Evelyn, you three have wonderful parents, that'd give their lives for you." Their smiles widened. "I'm sure the future, from onwards, will be… There will be trials… ones that'll be painful… Ones that will make you stronger… Ones that will help you overcome your limits… Ones that will require you to stand as a family."

"I have no fear for your family, as I'm sure you will stand strong and with a brave heart, stand together. I have no doubt that your family will have a bright and fruitful future." H.R. raised his glass. "To the Snow-Fury family."

"To the Snow-Fury family." Joe started.

"Snow-Fury family." Iris started.

Everyone chanted the same, and the hosts made eye contact and shared a kiss. They had already made their home official. But, with their friends surrounding them and their family close now…

They were truly… Happy.

X

In an empty and utterly garbage-filled alleyway…

…

A breach burst into existence… Ejecting a person through it…

…

It closed immediately after that person fell out.

The person looked up again, her hair flipping back down her back as she stood up in her full height. Moonlight shining down on her body, illuminating the black suit she has that's adorned with ripple patterns. Her dark brown eyes and her black hair bouncing off the radiant moonlight.

Raising her hand, she unclenched it. The device in her hand shined, showing a hologram… and showing the face of one…

… H.R. Wells…

Closing her fist, she had her mind set on one thing… Her target.

To be continued…

And that's a chapter, peeps!

Rajeet Kumar of Earth-1 has been introduced, previously known as Deathcount and now hails the name of Lasher after becoming the second elemental Klyntar knight in Eliza's army. This knight intended to exact his revenge, doing what Kyle Nimbus couldn't do, but his path of vengeance caused something else to happen to Frankie and Magenta.

Now our young ferrokinetic no longer suffers from dissociative identity disorder, and her mind and Magenta's have finally become one. With that realization, came an awakening that granted Frankie a much more powerful ability, allowing her to make a makeshift mechanical arm that'll devastate anyone it strikes.

But that was not the only shock that come over the team. The Snow-Fury family, while hosting a housewarming party, was also filled with shock when Cisco told Seth that Anti-Venom did research on Caitlin Snow herself on the laptop that he hacked into on Christmas Eve.

Changes are bound to come, armies will rise. Who will win? Those fighting under the Sinister Seven's banner? Or those fighting for their city?

Only time will tell, and if you ask me, the future's looking interesting.

Stay tuned and until next time, peeps!