Kapitel 17: Catching

For a second there was silence, it looked like Barry might try to say something more, but Iris didn't give him the chance. She shook her head, turned on her heel, and walked away. The door clicked shut behind her, leaving Barry standing there, his thoughts spinning. He glanced at me, a frown forming as he clearly fought with what to say.

"Give her time," I said, keeping it simple. There wasn't much else to say about it. He'd have to work that out on his own.

Barry sighed, looking like he wanted to say more, but the comms buzzed before he could. Cisco's voice crackled through the line.

"Hey, guys. We've got a situation. Another gold heist. This one's... well, you'll see when you get there."

Barry shook his head slightly, refocusing. "Let's go."

The scene was as weird as Cisco had hinted. The truck was parked on the side of the road, gold hidden in ice cream cartons that had spilled across the ground. But the real action was happening a few feet away. Joe and the masked figure, guns aimed at each other.

I kept a low profile behind Barry, not that anyone was paying attention to me. This was between Joe and the masked man with a gun that looked like a hade from Cod.

Barry didn't waste time. In a blink, he knocked the gun from the dude's hand and dropped him to the ground, fast and efficient. The man was out cold before he even knew what hit him.

As we moved in closer, Joe motioned for us to help. He pulled off the mask, revealing Eiling's face beneath it.

"General Eiling?" Joe asked, clearly surprised. "What the hell?"

Barry crouched down, frowning as he looked at the unconscious man. "Yeah. Him."

Joe holstered his gun, shaking his head. "This makes no sense. Why would he be doing this?"

"We need to get him back to Star Labs," Barry finally said.

Joe nodded, still frowning. "Agreed."

…

Back at Star Labs, Caitlin ran a scan on Eiling. He was still unconscious, his body still, but there was something off about him.

"I'm not getting any weird vibes from his vitals, but there's definitely something going on here," Caitlin said, scratching her head as she looked at the monitors.

"He's been through a lot. When i was taking the bullet out of his arm, there was no response, and that was painful"

Barry crossed his arms, looking more frustrated than anything. "So he didn't even flinch."

Cisco leaned back in his chair, arms behind his head. "Maybe he's a metahuman now? Or just really good at ignoring pain?"

Barry shook his head. "We're missing something. We need to figure out what."

As we continued to speculate, Iris walked into the Cortex, She was still processing everything, but she was composed.

"I can help," Iris said, stepping closer to the monitors. "Let me know what you need."

Barry glanced at her, appreciating the offer. "Thanks. We're just trying to figure out what Eiling's deal is."

Before anyone could respond, the alarms in the Cortex blared. Cisco checked the monitors. "Guys... I'm picking up some weird seismic activity. Under the city."

Barry's expression darkened. "Seismic activity? In Central City?"

I folded my arms, watching them put the pieces together. Something clicked for Barry. "We need to check the sewers."

Joe frowned. "You think...?"

"Let's just go," Barry said, already moving toward the exit. He paused for a second, glancing at me. "Stay back at Star Labs, just in case."

I gave a nod. He didn't need me down there yet. Plus I was perfectly fine not going into the stinky smelly sewers, thank you very much

In the sewers, things went from bad to worse. Joe, Barry, and Cisco descended into the tunnels, the air thick and oppressive.

Then after a few minutes of exploring, out of nowhere Grodd came out, grabbing Joe before anyone could react. His massive frame moved fast, dragging Joe deeper into the tunnels. Barry tried to fight back, but it was no use. Cisco scrambled to keep up, but Grodd disappeared into the shadows with Joe.

Barry and Cisco barely made it out alive, stumbling back to the surface, shocked and exhausted.

Back at Star Labs, I watched as Barry tried to explain what had happened.

"It was a gorilla," Barry said, pacing the Cortex. "A giant gorilla."

Cisco rubbed his temples. "You're saying we're up against... a super-strong, super-smart, mind-controlling gorilla?"

Barry nodded, clearly still trying to process it himself. "Yeah. And he's got Joe."

"I think I know," said Gorilla, "and his name is Grodd. I was digging in some files and found files on him. The General was doing experiments on him and Dr Wells shut down the program, but he disappeared after the particle accelerator explosion."

After I explained this, Caitlin Explained the whole story better.

…

"We'll need something to block his telepathy," I said, keeping my voice steady.

Cisco nodded. "Yeah. I'll work on it. If we can block his mind control, we might have a shot."

After a few hours of work, we had the device ready. Cisco handed it to Barry, who suited up again. "It should protect you from Grodd's psychic attacks," Cisco said.

Barry gave a tight nod. "Let's hope so."

As he sped off to face Grodd again, I stayed behind, just like before. But this time, I was more prepared. If things went sideways, I'd be there in a flash.

The fight with Grodd didn't go as planned. Barry tried the supersonic punch, but Grodd knocked him down effortlessly. His helmet flew off, leaving Barry vulnerable to Grodd's psychic assault.

I didn't wait for things to get worse. In an instant, I was down in the sewers, skidding to a stop next to Barry.

Grodd turned his attention to me, and as he tried to use the mental abilities on me, all I could feel was a slight tingle, as I had a mental manipulation resistance skill, which had levelled up to level 3, but thanks to Grodds constant attacks I also developed 2 more skills. [Telepathy Lv1] [Psychic energy manipulation lv1]

"Nice try," I muttered, blasting him with cold energy from my new suit and a bolt of lightning in quick succession. Grodd roared, stumbling backward as the force hit him.

Just as Barry began to regain his footing, Grodd lunged again, but his attention was pulled away as a train screeched down the tracks. Barry dodged just in time, and Grodd was sent flying by the impact.

…

Later, back at Star Labs, we sat around the Cortex, piecing together everything we'd learned. Joe was safe, but the atmosphere was tense.

"Grodd's still out there," Caitlin said, her voice tight with worry.

"Yeah, and now we've got another problem," Cisco added, staring at the monitors. "The particle accelerator... it's been reactivated."

The room fell silent as the implications sank in.

Barry stood up, already knowing what this meant. "He's been here the whole time."

I have been searching the city for so long, and it has been right under my nose. But I wasn't going to dwell on that. We had to act.

Barry, Cisco, and Joe decided to check out the particle accelerator. We knew something was off, but none of us expected what happened next.

As soon as they opened the door, the Reverse Flash blasted past them, moving so fast that it knocked Cisco and Joe out cold. Barry didn't waste a second—he was already speeding after him.

I stayed behind, but only for a moment. A sharp noise caught my attention, and I turned just in time to see one of the metas that had been trapped in the pipeline slip out. It was Shawna Baez—Peek-a-Boo, the teleporter.

Before she could even react, I was in front of her. "You've gotta be kidding me."

She barely managed to blink before I threw a punch, knocking her off balance. Before she could teleport away, I followed up with another hit, and she was out. I didn't waste time dragging her back to her cell and locking it up tight.

…

Back at the Cortex, things were tense. We didn't know what to do with the metas, and it was clear that Barry was going to make a decision that wasn't going to end well. I could see it coming from a mile away. But it wasn't my place to stop him. Sometimes people need to learn the hard way.

Barry's plan to let the metas go, even with the risk, was a mistake. I knew it, but he had to figure it out himself. I didn't stop him, but that didn't mean I was going to sit back and do nothing. When the metas made their move, I got a few good punches in—especially on Snart—but in the end, Barry's trust was misplaced, and they got away.

I didn't rub it in. He'd figure it out eventually.

…

We were catching our breath when Cisco called out, his voice tight with urgency.

"Guys, you need to see this."

We all crowded around the monitor, and there he was. Harrison Wells, standing right at the front gate like he owned the place.

Joe was quick to react, telling Barry not to go out there. But Barry wasn't having it.

"I can handle this," he said, his face set with determination.

He sped outside, ready for a fight, but he wasn't alone for long. Oliver showed up, fully suited as the Green Arrow, and Ronnie wasn't far behind, lighting up as Firestorm.

I stayed back, though it was easy to see they'd forgotten I was even there. Fine by me. Being underestimated has its advantages.

…

The fight didn't go exactly as planned. Firestorm ended up flying off, more or less useless. Oliver got in a good shot, using an arrow filled with nanites to disable Thawne's speed, but it didn't last long. The Reverse Flash vibrated them right out of his system and went back to his usual blur of red lightning.

That's when I stepped in.

Thawne didn't see me coming. He'd forgotten I was even there. Big mistake.

I swept his legs out from under him before he could react, and as he hit the ground, I grabbed one of Oliver's arrows and stabbed it right into him, disrupting his speed again. He was dazed, but not for long. I didn't wait for him to recover.

A quick punch, and Thawne was out cold.

I stood up, brushing off the dirt, while Oliver and Barry stared for a second. They weren't expecting me to take Thawne down, but that was the thing about me—they always forget until it's too late.

"Let's get him in the pipeline," I said, already moving.