Glass shattered across the lobby as Mirror Master stepped out of a wall-mounted mirror, a bag of stolen cash hanging from his shoulder. Sam Scudder glanced at the frightened bank employees huddled behind the counters, then turned toward Rosa Dillon, who was busy emptying another drawer.
"You know, Rosa, I think we're developing a reputation. Last week, a jewelry store. This week, a bank. At this rate, we'll have every cop in Central City dreaming about us."
Top barely looked at him. "I'd be happier if you'd stop talking and finish loading the money. I didn't come here to listen to you congratulate yourself."
A heavy impact shook the entrance.
Shazam landed in the middle of the lobby, his red suit catching the overhead lights. Golden lightning flickered across his chest before fading into the air. He straightened, his broad shoulders filling the space as he took in the broken glass, the stolen money, and the terrified civilians.
"Everybody away from the counters," he called to the bank employees. "Get behind something solid and stay there. We'll handle these two."
Sam turned, his expression shifting into an amused grin.
"Well, look at that. The Flash sent a replacement. I was beginning to think he'd forgotten about us."
"Flash has other things to deal with," Shazam replied, stepping between the criminals and the civilians. "But I'm sure he'll appreciate it if I keep you from making things worse."
Rosa gave him a dismissive look. "That's a lot of confidence for somebody who just walked into a room with two metahumans."
Shazam's expression remained steady. "I'm giving you a chance to walk away from this without hurting anybody. Put the money down and make the smart decision."
Sam laughed, backing toward the nearest mirror. "Sorry, big guy. We've already made our decision."
A yellow streak shot through the shattered entrance. Kid Flash skidded to a stop beside Shazam, straightened his suit, and gave the two criminals a confident grin.
"Sorry I'm late. Had to make sure a traffic accident didn't turn into a pileup. You're welcome, Central City."
Shazam glanced at him. "Glad you could make it. Try not to run off before we know what we're dealing with."
"Relax. I've handled criminals before." Wally turned toward Mirror Master. "Besides, how hard can it be to catch a guy who keeps hiding in glass?"
Sam smiled.
"Famous last words."
He vanished into the mirror.
Wally immediately accelerated, following Sam's reflection across the bank's windows. The villain appeared in one surface, disappeared, then emerged from another near the teller counters. Wally changed direction, determined to catch him before he could slip away again.
Meanwhile, Rosa focused on Shazam.
A sudden wave of dizziness struck him. The lobby seemed to tilt, throwing off his sense of balance. He planted his boots and steadied himself, but Rosa used the moment to dart toward the side entrance.
Shazam recovered quickly, moving to intercept her.
"You're not going anywhere."
He reached for her, but Rosa's power hit him again. His footing faltered, allowing her to slip past his grasp.
Across the lobby, Wally was having a worse time.
He accelerated toward Sam's latest reflection, only for Rosa to turn her attention toward him. The disorientation hit hard. Wally's feet tangled beneath him, and he crashed shoulder-first into a pillar.
Sam emerged from a mirror nearby, laughing.
"That's the problem with speedsters. Always in a hurry, never stopping to look where they're going."
Wally pushed himself upright, his face tightening with embarrassment. "Keep laughing. I'll catch you eventually."
He accelerated again, refusing to let the villain get under his skin. But his balance betrayed him, and he stumbled into a desk. Before he could recover, Mirror Master slipped away through another reflective surface.
Shazam watched Wally struggle, then turned toward Rosa. She had already moved closer to Sam, using the distraction to keep both heroes occupied.
Sam raised his hand. Reflected light gathered around Shazam, forming a shimmering cage of intersecting energy beams. The field tightened around his body, redirecting his attempts to break free.
Shazam pushed against the barrier, but the structure bent around his strength.
"Wally, I could use some help over here!"
"I'm working on it!" Wally called, still trying to regain his balance.
Sam stepped back, admiring his work. "You two should have coordinated your arrival. This is becoming embarrassing."
A circular portal suddenly opened near the bank's entrance.
Vibe stepped through, followed by Killer Frost. Cisco Ramon took in the scene, his expression shifting from surprise to immediate concern. Caitlin Snow followed his gaze toward Shazam's prison, then toward Kid Flash struggling to stand upright.
Cisco raised his hands. "Well, this is a mess. Caitlin, take Top. I'll get Billy out of that cage."
"Gladly," Caitlin replied, her hands frosting over.
Rosa noticed the ice spreading across the floor and tried to move away, but Caitlin thrust both hands forward. A wave of freezing energy raced beneath Top's feet, locking her shoes to the floor before climbing around her ankles.
Rosa struggled against the ice.
"You have got to be kidding me."
Caitlin approached, her expression cool. "You can keep complaining, or you can save your energy for when the police arrive. Personally, I'd recommend the first option. It seems to be the only thing you're good at right now."
Caitlin secured the area around Rosa, preventing her from reaching the others.
Cisco turned toward Shazam's cage. The intersecting beams pulsed in a repeating pattern, redirecting force through their reflections. Rather than attack the barrier directly, he opened a portal beside it, then created a second portal at a different angle.
"Billy, stop pushing against the field for a moment. It's redirecting your strength, and I need to interrupt the pattern holding it together."
Shazam eased his hands away from the barrier. "Take your time. I'm enjoying the view."
Cisco adjusted the portals. As the beams struck the first opening, their reflections broke apart. The energy cage flickered, its structure weakening.
Sam's grin disappeared. "Hey, Cisco, don't do that!"
"Sorry, Sam. I'm having a difficult time respecting your artistic vision."
Cisco shifted the second portal, disrupting the remaining beams.
"Billy, now!"
Shazam drew his arms inward and released a controlled burst of strength. The weakened cage shattered into harmless sparks, allowing him to step free.
"Thanks, Cisco."
"Anytime. Now let's finish this before somebody else gets trapped in a science experiment."
Sam immediately turned toward the nearest mirror. Cisco opened a portal directly in his path, forcing the villain to stumble back into the lobby instead of escaping. Shazam crossed the distance in a single bound and caught him before he could recover.
"Stay right there," Shazam said, securing his arms. "You've done enough damage for one afternoon."
Nearby, Wally finally regained control of his balance. He saw Rosa immobilized by ice, Sam restrained by Shazam, and Cisco standing beside the fading portal. The entire fight had turned against the criminals while he'd been struggling to prove he could handle everything alone.
He didn't like how that felt.
The Central City Police arrived through the bank's shattered entrance a few minutes later. With the villains secured and the civilians safe, the officers took custody of Mirror Master and Top. Cisco and Caitlin remained long enough to make sure nobody needed medical attention before returning to STAR Labs.
The robbery was over, but Wally carried the frustration with him.
STAR Labs was quiet when the team returned. Wally had changed out of his Kid Flash suit and stood near the Cortex railing while Cisco reviewed the bank's security footage. Caitlin sat at the main console, checking the incident report.
Wally watched the monitor replay his repeated attempts to catch Mirror Master.
"You don't have to keep showing that part," he said. "I remember what happened."
Cisco paused the footage. "Then you should remember why it happened. You knew Mirror Master could move through reflective surfaces, but you kept chasing every image you saw. When Top's power affected your balance, you doubled down instead of changing your approach."
"I was trying to stop them. I didn't exactly have time to stand around and think."
"You had time to pay attention," Cisco replied. "Shazam warned you not to rush ahead, and you ignored him. You wanted to catch Mirror Master so badly that you stopped looking at the whole situation. Billy was trapped, the civilians were still in danger, and you kept throwing yourself at the same problem."
Wally pushed away from the railing. "I can handle myself. I don't need everybody acting like I'm some amateur who can't be trusted in the field."
Caitlin turned toward him. "Nobody is saying you can't be a hero, Wally. But today, you let your pride make decisions for you. You had a chance to slow down, reassess the situation, and work with Shazam. Instead, you kept charging forward until you became another problem for the team to solve."
Wally's expression hardened. "I'm older than Billy. I've been doing this long enough to know what I'm doing. I should be giving orders, not taking them from someone who just showed up and got himself trapped."
Cisco faced him directly. "Shazam got trapped because Mirror Master caught him while Top was distracting everyone. Once we arrived, Billy listened, adapted, and worked with us. That's the difference. Leadership isn't about who is older or who has been wearing a suit the longest. It's about making the right decision when things go wrong."
Wally looked back at the monitor, where the footage showed him stumbling into the pillar.
"So you think I'm not ready to be Kid Flash."
"I think you have a lot to learn," Cisco answered. "You're fast, you're brave, and you've got real potential. But you can't keep treating every fight like a race you need to win. Sometimes you have to slow down, listen, and trust the people fighting beside you. If you can't do that, you're going to get yourself or somebody else hurt."
Wally stood silently for a moment, his frustration giving way to something harder to hide. He knew Cisco wasn't trying to humiliate him. That almost made it worse.
"I don't need a lecture every time I make a mistake."
"No, you need to learn from the mistakes before they become habits," Cisco replied. "Because one day, there might not be someone nearby who can pull you out of trouble."
Wally turned away from the monitor and walked toward the exit without another word.
Caitlin watched him leave. "He's not going to take that well."
Cisco returned to the footage. "He doesn't have to like hearing it. He just has to decide whether being a hero matters more to him than proving he's the fastest person in the room."
Wally disappeared down the corridor, carrying the weight of the conversation with him.
For the first time since Barry had left Central City, he felt as though everyone around him had started looking at him differently.
And he wasn't ready to accept that they might have a reason.