"What the hell is that?" Caitlin asked as she stared at the creature trying to break out of the cell it was locked in.
"I call it a swamp monster purely because it smells just like a swamp." I said staring at the monster angrily attacking the walls.
"As good a name as any." Cisco said while looking at it.
Wells was staring at the creature in deep contemplation.
'What the hell are these things? I never heard about these in the future. Considering what Barry and Andrew recounted of their fight with these things, it definitely would have been documented. First, the anomaly that is Andrew, and now Conduits and swamp monsters. What's next, giant kaiju monsters tearing up the city' Wells thought to himself.
If Wells/Thawne knew what Andrew suspected about Bertrand, he'd be a lot more shocked.
Wells finally spoke up.
"Caitlin, we'll wait for the results of an autopsy from Barry. He said that one of these things was killed by the police so he'll hear back by tomorrow afternoon. Once we get the information, we can decide how we'll handle...this." Wells said gesturing to the now screaming and growling monster in the cell.
"No argument from me that thing's gross." Caitlin said as she was visibly disgusted and freaked out.
"Yeah you're telling me, not to mention freaky." Cisco said as he closed the door to the cell and walked out following Caitlin and Wells.
We all arrived in the Cortex and Wells spun around and looked at me.
"Mr. Anderson, can you tell us everything you remember about these things when you fought them?" Wells asked.
"Certainly." I replied fully willing to tell them all I knew excluding my meta knowledge as we'd have to be fighting a lot of them soon.
"Okay so firstly, they are strong, very strong. I got hit by one and was launched 20 feet and definitely would've had some broken bones and bruises were it not for my fast healing. They are also deceptively fast, I'd say faster, than a normal human if given time to get up to full speed." I explained.
"Can the Pipeline even hold them?" Questioned Caitlin.
"You don't have to worry about that, those cells are very strong besides I don't think Andrew meant they are strong enough to break out." Cisco explained.
"Yes, while they are strong, they don't know how to use that strength effectively and even a normal reinforced cell at Iron Heights could hold them but my guess is they will be kept separate from the prisoners." I continued.
"This is certainly unprecedented and we will have our work cut out for us in discovering everything about them. But for now, we'll wait for Barry." Wells said as he wheeled out of the room.
"What do you think they'll find from the autopsy?" I asked Caitlin.
"It's hard to say, we don't even know if these things are some science experiment gone wrong or aliens although I'm leaning towards the former." Caitlin explained.
"If they are aliens I'll be disappointed." Cisco said.
"Why?" I asked genuinely curious.
"I don't know, I guess I hoped if aliens existed and came down to earth, they'd be some advanced intelligent race with technology I could dissect and improve some of my own designs, but these guys are more like mindless beasts." Cisco replied
"I suppose being able to experiment with alien tech would be pretty cool." I admitted while remembering that the dominators would attack in the future so Cisco would get his wish.
As for me, I had been thinking about what they'd find from the autopsy. I don't know how the transformation they had undergone had changed their internal biology so it may simply be believed that they're some alien race with similar biology to humans.
I know Caitlin will probably be able to discover a lot more than some city medical examiner, being a bio-geneticist
While we were all discussing possibilities with the swamp monster and what it might mean for the city, Wells/Thawne was in the time vault.
"Gideon, show me the future." Wells said.
"Certainly Dr. Wells...The future remains unchanged." Gideon said showing the article that looked the same as Wells/Thawne remembered but he had to take into account what he had experienced lately.
"What do you mean it remains unchanged? First, there are some species called Conduits and now some swamp monsters are running around, how can the future be unchanged?" Wells asked again.
"The future remains unchanged." Gideon repeated.
Wells seemed frustrated until he seemed to have an epiphany.
"Gideon, show me the future factoring in what I have just told you and compare it to the current timeline." Wells said.
"Certainly.... minuscule changes detected in the timeline."
"So the future remains unchanged but the timeline is currently changing but at a very slow rate?" Wells asked to confirm.
"Yes, Dr. Wells." Gideon replied.
"Gideon, how long will it take for these changes to take effect?" Wells asked concerned about how long he had.
"Exact time unknown...Estimated time for the changes to affect the timeline if changes continue at the current rate is...30 years." Gideon answered.
"How long if major changes begin to occur?" Wells asked concerned about the possibility that his changing if the timeline is causing these changes.
"If changes exceed the current rate, time will be reduced significantly, the current time is unknown, more information about the current changes is needed." Gideon said.
"Thank you, Gideon." Wells said before turning her off.
"This isn't good, something is changing the timeline. Is it me? Have the changes I have made and my being here for the last 15 years been causing changes?
But what could I have done to cause such drastic changes? A few changes I could understand, but a new species of superhumans emerging, and now these monsters. I have to figure out what's going on, and fast." Wells said aloud as that's how worried he was.
** **
If Wells knew that there was some being watching the interaction and laughing his head off he wouldn't know how he'd feel.
The being that had sent our MC to this universe had made these changes for him and nothing could change it, even the forces in this universe, powerful they may be, couldn't reverse the changes he'd made.
** **
(Next day)
Barry had come back with the results and it'd confirmed what I'd already expected, they assumed it was some new creature maybe a failed experiment.
It was believed that the creature was a mutated reptile of some sort.
After Caitlin had the results of the autopsy she had me knock out the monster in the Pipeline and she took some samples to begin the tests.
After about 15 minutes, Caitlin came into the Cortex where Barry and the rest of team Flash were waiting with a blank look on her face.
Wells was particularly interested as he had to report more information to Gideon to get a clearer picture of the future.
"What is it, Caitlin?" I asked.
"It was human." She whispered with her head facing down and we couldn't hear.
"What was that?" Cisco asked.
"Caitlin, what's wrong?" Barry asked
Caitlin finally looked up at us.
"That "monster" in the Pipeline, it used to be human." Caitlin said.
Everyone's eyes widened in shock, my reaction being a doctored one.
"How is that possible?" Barry asked.
"Are you sure?" Cisco asked.
"I don't know, and yes, I triple checked the results to make sure. The autopsy already revealed it had human biology, but my tests revealed all the same genetic markers you'd find in a normal healthy woman in her 20s." Caitlin explained.
"That thing was a woman?" Cisco asked not meaning to be insensitive.
"Cisco!" Caitlin said sharply.
"Sorry, I'm just trying to come to terms with things." Cisco replied.
"Is there a way to cure it?"
I was the one to ask as there wasn't a cure for them in either ending If Cole used the RFI they died as they were considered Conduits after the experiments from Bertrand and if they lived till the end, they died when The Beast's transfer of his powers to Cole destroyed New Marais.
Caitlin's face was somber at my words which gave me my answer.
"No, as far as I can tell, whatever happened to them has bonded that hideous form to their genome. The only way we might be able to cure one would be if we found one half transformed or were able to stop whatever was doing it to them." Caitlin explained.
We all lowered our heads at the confirmation. And I was the first to recover.
"Alright then, there's only one thing we can do, put all the fully transformed ones out of their misery." I said as I smoke-dashed out planning to head to the monster in the Pipeline.
The rest of the group quickly followed me.
I opened the door separating the cell from view and I saw the beast attacking everything in an effort to escape.
The rest of team Flash was now behind me.
"Are you sure we have to?" Barry questioned as he stared at the creature in pity as opposed to disgust that he had before.
"I'm sorry, I just don't see any other way." I said.
"What if their soul or something is still in there?" Cisco asked.
"Then that's even more of a reason, how do you think they'd feel if they could see themselves right now, if they knew what they had done attacking and trying to eat other humans?" I explained.
"I-uh. You're right." Cisco relented and said with a sigh.
"Just do it." Barry said soberly.
"Okay." I said as I walked over to the cell.
I opened it and it instantly lunged at me only to get blown back by a charged cinder blast.
It looked disoriented and that's when I got closer my hands radiating heat and were glowing red
"I'm so sorry." I said as I grabbed either sides of their head and burned them to ashes from the head till their whole body blew away as ash.
"Okay, that was a lot harder than I expected it to be." I said as I started to walk past the group my head down.
As I passed Barry who had a frown on his face, I placed my hand on his shoulder but I had realized that I was actually trembling in sadness.
"It was the only way." I said getting choked up as I can't imagine what she went through before being turned into a monster.
I fully walked out and planned to head home to clear my head.
This isn't a game, this is real life. These people had loved ones, jobs, friends, and maybe a family of their own. They didn't deserve to be turned into monsters.
'Bertrand, if you exist, if you did this, I'm going to make you wish you were never born' I said to myself making a promise to make whoever did this suffer.