One of the battered doors left from the remains of Joe’s car flew dangerously near the speedster. The Flash had no doubt that the Weather Wizard intended for it to either distract or eventually hit him, but for Barry it was just what he needed.
As it came around, he slammed one foot on it. For anyone else, it would have been an impotent gesture, but for the Flash it was all the surface he required. He pushed himself forward, then got his other foot on and pushed again. The action gave him just enough momentum to reach what was left of a seat flying by, and he kicked off onto an upward trajectory.
He caught a board next, then leaped out. Landing hard on a rooftop, the Flash quickly spun around to look for Mardon.
The Weather Wizard stood at the far end of the street, eyes still on the whirlwind in which he had trapped his adversary. Taking a deep breath, the Flash located the roof’s maintenance ladder, then climbed down in less than the blink of an eye.
Unlike with the looters, the speedster knew that he couldn’t just take Mardon down, not until the Flash forced him to stop all his storm-related chaos. The Flash darted down to where the rogue still stood watching the whirlwind and reached out.
The Weather Wizard’s reaction to the speedster’s tight grip on his throat proved somewhat anticlimactic. In fact, Mardon seemed almost to have expected the Flash to strike as he had. The Weather Wizard let out a slight gasp at first, but otherwise simply stared expectantly at his foe. Mark Mardon’s eyes were sunken in as if he had not slept in a week. He looked strained, a vein in his neck visibly throbbing. His breathing was rapid and he looked as if he had lost at least fifteen pounds.
“Call it all off, Mardon,” the Flash warned as he tried to ignore his foe’s physical transformation. “Call it all off or I’ll take you on a speedy little trip that’ll have you begging to stand still again.”
“You’re really no good at threats, you know that?” the Weather Wizard rasped. “Just helping to kill people when their backs are turned.” He suddenly raised his voice to a shout. “Isn’t that right, Clyde?”
“‘Clyde’?” Utterly baffled by his adversary’s declaration, the Flash automatically turned in the direction Mardon looked. Part of him immediately berated himself for falling victim to such an old ruse. There could hardly be anyone there, especially the late, unlamented Clyde Mardon.
But there was someone on top of the nearest roof. Someone who, as before, the speedster couldn’t really make out… yet who, now that a name had been put to him, did have a stance and general frame that reminded him of Mark’s younger brother.
“Clyde?” the Flash blurted. “Clyde Mardon?”
Another wind tore him from the Weather Wizard and threw him toward the building directly across from the apartment complex. However, just before he would have hit, the wind abruptly pulled him back.
“No, not yet, Clyde! It’s not enough yet!” Mardon shouted to the figure, as if having heard something. “But, yeah, we can toss the cop around a bit more!”
As he spun around in the wind, the Flash tried to spot Joe. He could only hope that the detective had done as suggested and taken Iris and fled.
“Now, where do you suppose he might be hiding?” the Weather Wizard asked, this time to no one in particular. “Maybe he scurried into some hole to hide just like any other rat!” Mardon chuckled. “Or maybe he went back to that girl he dropped off over here—”
“Give it up, Mardon!” Joe shouted from somewhere. “Give it up or I’ll be forced to fire!”
The wind holding the Flash weakened as the Weather Wizard reacted to the unexpected command. Expression contorting, Mardon searched for where Joe was located. “Come on out, West! Doesn’t matter where you hide! The storm—my storm—is everywhere!”
“Don’t need to hide,” the detective returned. “Just need one shot. Just one.”
The Weather Wizard spun to face the spot where it now seemed Joe stood.
“Last chance, Mardon!”
The Weather Wizard started to point. “Yours… not mine, West! Yours—”
Joe fired.
The wind assaulting the Flash vanished… or rather redirected toward the shot. Barry dropped, hitting the street hard despite his padded outfit. He lay there stunned for a moment.
The Weather Wizard stood undaunted by the shot. Barry knew Joe’s marksmanship well enough to appreciate that if Mardon had not been hit, it was only due to the intense wind he had shifted toward the detective.
Joe turned the gun toward the roof where the shadowy form still stood. The Flash doubted that Joe meant to shoot, but whatever the reason for his decision, it had a profound effect on the Weather Wizard.
“Clyde! No!” the Weather Wizard shouted, his tone one of fear.
The wind shifted immediately, raising Mardon up into the air and toward the roof while also whipping up loose debris all around the area. Arm protecting his eyes, Joe stepped back. He tried to get a clear shot at the Weather Wizard but apparently couldn’t concentrate his aim well enough.
The Flash, meanwhile, finally recovered enough to get to his feet. As the Weather Wizard passed over the roof, the figure faded from the Flash’s view. Barry took a deep breath and started after him. Unfortunately, he had only gotten two blocks when he began to slow and stumble. His heart seemed to have trouble beating fast enough and his breathing became a struggle.
A buzzing arose in his ear. The Flash tried to make out what was being said but finally gave up. “Can’t understand you, Cisco! Can you repeat it?”
The buzzing increased, then subsided. Barry grimaced. Once again, fighting around the Weather Wizard—with Mardon’s unique mastery of the elements including lightning—had ruined the communication device.
He made one more attempt at a search, but could not locate the Weather Wizard’s trail. With some reluctance, the Flash returned to Joe West. Standing with him were several policemen who had clearly just arrived on the scene. For Barry, they all faded to the background the moment Iris herself descended from the apartment complex.
Barry hesitated, then headed to Joe.
“Couldn’t keep after Mardon,” he informed the detective.
“Yeah, understandable.” Joe sent the men he had been talking to away. They spread out to cover the scene. “No one can hear us now if you want to talk about anything more personal.”
“Speaking of personal, Iris is heading toward us.”
Joe didn’t turn in her direction. “She won’t get far. I left word that no one is to enter this area without my permission. Not even her.”
Indeed, at that moment, one of the uniformed officers stepped in front of Iris. An animated and not entirely friendly conversation ensued, with Iris constantly trying to catch either her father’s or Barry’s attention.
“Yeah, I don’t think that line of defense is going to hold long,” the Flash whispered. “This is Iris we’re talking about.”
“Long enough. By the way, thanks for showing up in time to save me from being scattered all over the place. I thought I was keeping a good eye out. More fool me.”
“If you hadn’t fired when you had, I might’ve been splattered against a wall too. We’re in together, Joe. Mardon wants both of us.”
Joe rubbed his chin. “Uh huh, that brings me to what I need to talk with you about right away. Did you hear what Mardon shouted up there? Or maybe actually to whom he thought he was talking to?”
The Flash nodded. “I heard it. He was talking to Clyde. His dead brother.”
“Yeah. The man I shot. You know what’s even worse?”
“No.”
The detective leaned closer. “Part of the reason I turned the gun so quickly from Mardon to the figure on the roof was because just for a moment… I swear just for a moment… I thought I did see Clyde Mardon up there.”
7
As Cisco waited for his latest adjustments to hopefully restore communications again, he took a surreptitious glance at where Caitlin usually sat. She had been in a fairly good mood when she had
first arrived, but a short time earlier, just after their dinner break, she had suddenly stepped away without a word.
Neither he nor H.R. had gone after her, both hoping, so Cisco suspected, that she would return shortly.
She had not. Now he was regretting that decision as well.
“What do you think?” H.R. asked.
“She should’ve been back long ago. One of us should have followed her. Just in case.”
“I was, uh, actually referring to your attempt to patch up communications, but yes, she should have. Do you want me to go check on her?”
Cisco returned his attention to his efforts. “Still a minute or two before I have any idea if it’ll work. Let’s leave her that much longer.”
“All right… but what does the device say?”
With the flick of a switch, Cisco brought up the data in question. His brow wrinkled as he digested the information streaming before him. “Well, that’s interesting…”
H.R. pulled up a chair and looked at the screen. After a moment of consideration, he admitted, “Yeah… Still means nothing to me. I’ll take your word as usual. What do you find so interesting?”
“The time things start to fluctuate is always recorded, as is the duration. According to this it began the same moment things got to their worst between Barry and the Weather Wizard.”
“You’re saying there’s a connection. I don’t like the sound of that.”
“I don’t either. It looks like the energy fluctuations that enable Mardon to control the weather are on a similar wavelength—for lack of a better word at the moment—as Caitlin’s. I’ve triple-checked. There’s no denying the data. It’s more than that though. I’m sure of it.”
H.R. rubbed his chin. “Well, her powers are also kind of weather-related. Could that be it? Could it be as simple as that?”
“Not sure. I’m going to have to research that further. From these readings, it looks like she should be okay now. Let her rest a little. I’ve still got problems with our communications with Barry. I need to get that taken care of immediately. Fortunately, his readings are showing exhaustion but calm right now, so the fight is over.”
“Where’d you say his location is?”
Cisco started reading it off to H.R., only to stop after the street address. “Talk about close to home…”
“Do you think he’s talking with Iris right now?”
“From these low readings, I doubt it. Each time they’ve been near enough to talking things out, Barry’s readings shoot up almost as much as when he’s been fighting the Weather Wizard.”
H.R. shook his head. “Isn’t love wonderful?”
* * *
“For the last time, officer, that is my father over there. Joe West. My name is Iris West. I just left him a few minutes ago! He is probably even in charge of this situation. You do know who you’re taking orders from, correct?”
The hapless police officer whom she had been harassing nodded sympathetically. “Yes, ma’am, and I knew who you were even before you introduced yourself. Seen you with him several times and read your byline in the newspaper more than once. You still can’t go to him. I’m really sorry. Those are my orders. No one gets through.”
“I don’t see why that includes me. You know I often cover the police.” She gestured in the direction of her father. “Now see, he can’t even make up his mind! Now he’s waving me to him!”
The officer glanced over his shoulder to check—and Iris raced past him.
“Ma’am! Please come back here right now! Ma’am!”
With the police officer on her heels, Iris ran toward her father. She knew she might not have been as quick as Barry or Wally, but she had never been slow. Iris managed to keep just enough distance between herself and her unfortunate pursuer until she finally caught up with her father.
Of course in the meantime Barry had simply vanished.
“You and I need to talk,” she muttered to Joe. “Right here and right now.”
“Yeah? I thought we just did.” Still, with reluctance he waved the officer away. “It’s fine, Perez. I’ll deal with her.”
“Yes, sir!” Perez saluted him, then spun on his heel and took off in the direction from which he had come.
“You will?” she asked, not at all pleased. The events of the last few minutes had erased all the good will she and her father had built up over their meal. Aware that no one could hear them, she angrily replied, “Well, I don’t want you to deal with me. Where’s Barry?”
“He was here a moment ago. You know how it is with him.”
“Too well. I’ll ask again. Where is he?”
Joe spread his hands. “Iris, I really don’t know—”
Before he could finish, she caught sight of a figure by the apartment complex. Barry… just Barry in civilian garb. Not the Flash. He stood by the steps looking as guilty as she thought he should be.
“Excuse me, Dad.” She brushed past her father, who made not even the slightest attempt to stop her.
Hands in his coat pockets, Barry quietly waited. His pitiful expression finally doused most of Iris’s anger. Most, not all.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” she started, trying to maintain her frustration with him. “You’ve been avoiding me for no good reason, Barry! That’s not how we treat each other!”
“I’m sorry, Iris. I really am.” He briefly looked down. “You’re the last person I’d want to avoid. You know that. You know how I feel… How I’ve always felt.”
She softened more, then glanced back at her home. The building had some superficial damage, but fortunately—or unfortunately—the focus of the attack had been on the Flash. “I know all that, of course, Barry, but this is different. Mardon came after my father, Barry. Just like I feared. From what I saw out here, he came pretty close to killing him too, didn’t he? Didn’t he?”
“I got there in time. You saw him. He’s fine. He’s already taking charge! Joe is just—”
“None of that is the point.”
“Listen. I did have a talk with him, I swear it. He will not accept being hidden away. Look at him!” He thrust a hand at the crime scene. “Look at him, Iris.”
She knew that she didn’t have to look, but she looked nonetheless. Sure enough, her father was directing matters with the usual thoroughness and energy that had garnered him so many accolades in the police department. The men around him moved with the confidence one had when able to trust in the competence of one’s commander. Iris had seen that before from the officers serving with her father. Her pride in him battled with her concerns.
“He’s only human, Barry,” Iris insisted, crossing her arms tight for emphasis.
“And Mardon and I are not.” Before she could try to rephrase it, he added, “It’s fine. I know what you mean, I know that, Iris. Everything changed that night, including how people like Joe need to do their jobs even with metahumans like me, the Weather Wizard, and the rest around.”
“I love you, Barry, but you can be so slow for someone so fast. It started out with me worried about Dad, but what you’ve just said only reminds me of who else I’m concerned for. Very concerned for.” She poked a finger in his chest. “You, you idiot. Every time you race out there to fight someone like Zoom, the Mirror Master, Captain Cold, or anyone of those other Cisco-named madmen, I fear I’m going to lose you just after I’ve found you!”
“Iris…”
“And now to top it all off, I have to worry about my brother as well! Ever since Wally gained his powers, I’ve had to pray that he won’t literally run headlong into danger without at least thinking it through first!”
“I’ve tried to impress upon Wally all the mistakes I made, so he could learn from them without repeating them. I’ve also tried to be as careful as I can be, Iris.” Barry took her hand. “I’d like to come back each time too.”
“I know. Barry, it’s just—”
Sirens went off. Barry and Iris turned to the direction from which the sound came. In the distance, th
ey made out speeding fire trucks.
Barry looked even guiltier. “Iris… sorry. I’ve got to follow after them. I’ve got to.”
“You—” It was too late. As had happened so many times before, she found herself speaking to empty space.
* * *
Cold. So cold. So very cold. Caitlin thought.
She suddenly smiled. How delightful…
* * *
Cisco tapped his mic. “Yo! Can you hear me now?”
There was a crackle, then, “I hear you! Is this going to work from now on?”
“Hope so! What happened with Mardon? The readings were all over the place!”
“You wouldn’t believe it. I’ll fill you in quickly. I’m heading after some fire trucks!”
“Got it.” Cisco listened as Barry quickly explained, then with a nod despite the fact that his friend couldn’t see it, added, “That confirms a lot of the data I saw.” Cisco leaned forward. “Where are you again?”
“Helping the fire department. I just finished removing potential victims from an electrical fire. Going to try to help put it out.”
“Well, listen. How are you feeling? Your vitals are way down.”
“Like I could really go to sleep now, even on the street. I’m just glad things seem to be calming down here. I’ll move on from here in just a minute.”
“Don’t worry about anywhere else,” Cisco returned. “Right now, everything seems to be being handled by the EMTs and law enforcement. You head back here. We need to check you out.”
“Will do. Just have to take care of one more thing…”
Cisco eyed the vitals again. “Do me a favor, take a little time with it. Pace yourself. You really need to get some rest when you get back too.”
“You have no idea. See you soon.”
Cisco cut the link, then typed in some more data. “H.R.? Hey, H.R.!”
“What?” blurted the older man from his chair. “Sorry. Dozed off.”
Inputting one last number, Cisco switched to another screen. “There she is. Caitlin hasn’t come back. She’s down the hall. According to the device, she must have dropped off to sleep like you. Maybe go and discreetly wake her. I could use her help on this problem with Barry’s growing exhaustion. It’s looking very odd. I don’t like it.”
The Flash Page 9
