A new day began.
The sky hung low and overcast, dark clouds smothering the sun.
Barry Allen stepped out of his house, planning to check in at the police station first and then head to S.T.A.R. Labs to keep training if nothing came up.
After weeks of dedicated work, his speed had more than doubled since he'd first gained his powers. Even if he ran into Jack Kadere again, he was confident he wouldn't be toyed with so easily this time.
The moment he walked into the station, Barry could tell something was wrong. Everyone was moving fast, voices clipped, faces tight.
"Barry."
Joe West crossed the floor toward him. "You came at the right time. We need you."
"Where? What case?" Barry asked.
Joe shook his head. "I don't need CSI Barry right now. I need the one who runs."
Barry glanced around the bullpen and lowered his voice. "Metahumans?"
"More than one." Joe's expression was grim. "They've been hitting targets back to back. First they broke someone out of Iron Heights, then killed every core member of the Darbinyan crime family and a judge. We just got word that their next target is Simon Stagg."
"Simon Stagg—the one who won the innovation award for organ cloning? Joe, how do you know they're metas?"
"It's not just me. Half the city probably knows by now. They weren't hiding their powers at all."
Joe set a hand on Barry's shoulder. "I never wanted you out there risking your life playing hero. But right now... you're the only one who can stop this."
"I know."
Barry gave a firm nod and vanished.
---
S.T.A.R. Labs.
When Barry arrived, Harrison Wells, Cisco Ramon, and Caitlin Snow were already deep in it—screens lit up with data, identities pulled, patterns mapped.
Cisco ran Barry through everything they'd found. Four metahumans, acting in coordination, each settling personal scores. Organized, deliberate revenge.
"Is there a connection between them?" Barry asked. "It can't be a coincidence that they all know each other and all have powers."
Cisco's smile was thin and humorless. "You're not going to like this. Before all of this, these four had nothing to do with each other. But they have one thing in common." He tapped his keyboard. "From Multiplex to Peek-a-boo—every single one of them was originally captured by the same person. You can't see his face in the footage, but I think you'll recognize him."
Photos appeared on the monitor, one after another. Each frame carried the same telltale blur of red.
"Jack Kadere," Barry said immediately.
"That's right. He's been quiet for a while—probably putting this together the whole time. On the surface it looks like the four of them are just settling their own grudges, but if Jack's behind it, there's no way it's that simple."
Cisco paused. "Caitlin tried reaching Jack but couldn't get through, so—"
"So I suggest you stay out of it." Harrison Wells rolled his wheelchair forward, his voice heavy. "Barry, you're faster than you were, but you have no experience handling multiple opponents. Four metahumans at once, each with serious abilities—this is beyond what you can manage right now."
"You know I can't just stand there and watch." Barry met his eyes. "And I know you'll have my back. You'll help me beat them."
Before Wells could say another word, Barry blurred into the red suit and was gone.
"Damn it!" Wells slammed his hand against the armrest.
Barry would die. Four metahumans at once—he would die. And if he died, everything Wells had spent years building toward would collapse.
He'd tipped off the Birds of Prey specifically to keep Jack Kadere occupied. Why hadn't they acted? Useless—all of them.
Wells buried the fury behind his usual composure and called Cisco and Caitlin to their stations. Whatever happened next, they had to keep Barry alive.
---
"He actually came."
When The Flash arrived at Stagg Industries, the four-person squad was already in position, waiting.
Multiplex split instantly—dozens, then hundreds of duplicates flooding the perimeter until the space around the building was packed wall to wall with copies. Girder's skin rippled and hardened to solid steel as he wound up and threw a fist straight at The Flash. The Mist dissolved into a column of green vapor, drifting upward toward the executive floors where Simon Stagg was holed up. Peek-a-boo hung back, watching, ready to move.
Barry froze.
The sheer scale of it locked him up for half a second—duplicates everywhere, a steel giant swinging, poison crawling up the building. Girder's fist came at him and Barry dodged on instinct, throwing a counter-punch of his own.
Crack.
Bad start. Pain shot up his arm the instant his knuckles connected with Girder's steel jaw. His wrist shattered on impact.
Girder grinned and threw another punch. Barry could only dodge.
But there was nowhere to go. Multiplex's clones had filled the surrounding area so densely that every direction Barry turned, another wall of bodies blocked his path. He weaved through one layer, then another, vibrating through gaps barely wide enough—
Fwip.
Peek-a-boo blinked into existence directly in front of him and drove a kick into his chest, launching him backward.
Barry crashed through a cluster of Multiplex clones and they swarmed him instantly. Fists and boots came from every angle—no technique, no coordination, just sheer overwhelming numbers. One man could handle five. Not fifty.
He struggled, broke free—
Girder's steel fist was already waiting.
BANG.
The punch connected flush. Barry hit the ground, let out a choked groan, and went still.
"Is... that it?" Girder looked down at him, unimpressed. "Thought he'd put up more of a fight. Guess not."
Girder cracked his knuckles, raised his fist over the unconscious Flash, and brought it down.
Whoooosh.
A streak of yellow lightning tore through the entrance. Before Girder could even register the blur, a fist smashed into his face with enough force to lift all two hundred and sixty pounds of living steel off the ground.
Girder flew backward. His body reverted from metal to flesh mid-flight.
THUD.
He slammed into the concrete floor. A figure in a yellow suit—face vibrating too fast to make out any features—stood over him, drove a vibrating hand straight through his ribcage, and punctured his heart.
Girder convulsed twice and went limp.
Dead.
Multiplex and Peek-a-boo stood frozen. This new speedster in yellow—he clearly wasn't the one who'd captured them. He was something else entirely. They traded a glance but neither moved.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Slow applause echoed from the far end of the corridor. Jack Kadere stepped into view, smiling.
"The Reverse-Flash. Killing someone like Girder without breaking a sweat—exactly what I expected." Jack tilted his head. "But here's what I'm curious about. You're stretched pretty thin right now, aren't you? At this distance, at your current speed, you can't be in two places at once. So in order to save Barry, you just burned through a cover you've maintained for years."
Jack let the silence settle, his grin widening.
---