On the surface, the Reverse-Flash looked calm. Inside, a storm raged.
He found Harrison Wells's corpse. Once they run tests, my identity is finished. How does this bastard know so much? Even if he's a time traveler like me, he couldn't possibly have this level of detail.
Unless he's bluffing.
The Reverse-Flash studied Jack Kadere's expression—that infuriating half-smile—then glanced at Caitlin Snow. She wouldn't meet his eyes.
That settled it. Jack wasn't bluffing. Caitlin had already verified the corpse.
Damn it.
In the wheelchair, the Reverse-Flash slowly removed his glasses. The mild, professorial affect fell away, and something cold and sharp took its place. Then, under the stunned gazes of everyone in the room, he stood up.
"Doctor Wells, you—"
Cisco Ramon and Barry Allen stared at Harrison Wells rising from the wheelchair as if lightning had struck them both. His legs worked. They'd always worked. He'd been faking it this entire time.
The Reverse-Flash brought his hands together in a slow, deliberate clap. His voice dropped low.
"I never regret what I do. But I genuinely regret crossing paths with you." His eyes locked onto Jack Kadere. "I'm very curious—what exactly are you?"
"Does it matter?" Jack grinned.
"No. It doesn't. Because anyone who stands between me and home is my enemy."
The Reverse-Flash's gaze shifted to Barry Allen, still frozen in shock.
"I've had countless chances to kill you, Barry. Instead, I saved you. Helped you. Made you faster." His tone was almost conversational. "Everything was going according to plan. I was going to go home—leave this timeline full of dead people behind—and you were going to get everything you wanted. But now..."
He drew a ring from his pocket and slid it onto his finger. Red light flickered in his eyes—the Speed Force igniting.
Fwsshh!
A yellow suit erupted from the ring, and the Reverse-Flash was wearing it before the fabric even finished unfurling—a blur of motion too fast to track.
"Why?" Barry's voice cracked. "Why did you kill my mother?"
"I didn't mean to kill her." The Reverse-Flash shook his head. "I came to kill you."
Barry went pale. The words hit him like a physical blow.
"Our game..." The Reverse-Flash turned back to Jack Kadere, a cold smile spreading beneath the cowl. "...has begun."
"I'll admit—I don't know who you are. I don't know why you have the Speed Force or why you're so fast. But it doesn't matter." He spread his hands. "You're going to help me get home."
"I don't think so." Jack's grin didn't waver.
"You seem confident. Got another card up your sleeve?"
"Trust me—I've thought of everything."
The floor shook. A deep, rhythmic tremor, like something massive approaching through the corridors.
Jack felt it an instant before it hit—a psychic force slamming against his mind. Mind control. Crude, powerful, unmistakable.
So this is the backup plan. Gorilla Grodd.
His ability activated on instinct. Copy. Stack. Push back—fivefold.
The mental connection inverted. Suddenly Jack wasn't the target anymore. He was the one holding the leash. He could feel another body now, another set of limbs responding to his will. Like controlling a character in a video game—every movement, every action, his to command.
Reverse-Flash, you beautiful idiot. You just handed me mind control on a silver platter.
Jack kept his expression neutral while he directed his new puppet forward.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The footsteps were deafening. The floor shuddered with each impact. Caitlin, Cisco, and Barry all turned toward the doorway, faces drawn with fear.
A shape filled the frame—massive, dark-furred, shoulders brushing both sides of the entrance. A gorilla the size of a small truck.
"Caitlin. Cisco." The Reverse-Flash's smugness was back in full force. "You remember Gorilla Grodd, don't you?"
"Grodd?" Cisco's voice pitched high. "That's Grodd?"
"What the hell is Gorilla Grodd?" Barry stared at the creature, horror plain on his face.
"Before the particle accelerator, the lab partnered with General Wade Eiling on a military project—developing psychic abilities for interrogation purposes." Caitlin spoke quickly, the words tumbling out. "Grodd was one of the test subjects. Doctor Wells—the real one—shut it down because the experiments were too cruel. Grodd disappeared the night the accelerator exploded. I never thought... he's enormous now. The dark matter must have affected him."
"I knew it would." The Reverse-Flash clasped his hands behind his back. "I saved Grodd. Kept him in the accelerator's path deliberately, so the explosion would give him psychic powers. My original plan was to have him control Barry—force him to open a path home for me." He turned, walking slowly toward Jack Kadere. "But now I have a better option."
He stopped directly in front of Jack. "He's my best choice."
The Reverse-Flash raised his voice, addressing the room. "Cisco—you're building me a time machine. Materials and blueprints are already prepared. Get started." Red lightning flickered, and several glowing blue cylinders appeared in his hands—future technology, dense with energy. He tossed them toward Barry. "Put these in the accelerator's base. I'm restarting it."
He paused, tilting his head as if remembering something.
"Oh—one more thing. Mercury Labs has been researching tachyons. I'll need those." He looked pointedly at Jack. "You're going to retrieve them for me."
Jack didn't move.
The Reverse-Flash frowned. "Grodd?"
Grodd took three slow steps forward—then pivoted and swung one massive arm directly at the Reverse-Flash.
CRACK.
The blow caught him completely off guard. The Reverse-Flash flew backward, slammed into the wall hard enough to crater it, and crumpled to the floor with a groan. He pushed himself up, disbelief twisting his features.
"Grodd! What are you doing?" His voice rose. "I'm your father!"
Jack laughed—a short, genuine sound.
"You know, I was going to make you kneel and call me daddy. But apparently you've already got a thing for being a gorilla's father, so maybe that's too vanilla for your tastes."
The room had gone dead silent. Caitlin, Cisco, and Barry stared at the scene—the Reverse-Flash's trump card had just backhanded him across the lab. And Jack Kadere stood exactly where he'd been, completely uncontrolled, with Gorilla Grodd now waiting at his shoulder like an obedient dog.
Barry's mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
Jack cracked his knuckles and smiled at the Reverse-Flash, still picking himself up from the rubble.