“He will. You recommended him, after all.”
The waitress brought Caitlin’s new coffee. “Thank you.” Cradling the steaming cup, Caitlin said to Iris, “I know. I’d rather it just snowed then or something.”
“Be careful! With the Weather Wizard, we may get that yet! We’ve certainly had enough hail.”
“My car has more than a dozen dings in it. I thought of taking it in, but I didn’t see the point until Mardon was captured.”
Iris tapped the table. “If he ever is! Why is he so powerful? This is worse than last time!”
Caitlin pressed her palms against the hot cup. “Cisco and I are still looking into it—” She winced. “—n-nothing definitive right now.”
“Are you all right?”
“Just a headache. I blame that on the weather too.”
“I can understand—careful! You’ll burn your hands!”
Glancing down, Caitlin saw her hands. “It’s all right. The coffee’s not that hot.”
“Really?” Iris touched her own cup. “Mine’s still like lava! I thought with the steam rising from yours that it had to be at least as bad.”
“No. Not really.” Caitlin winced a second time. She immediately took a strong swallow of coffee.
Iris blanched. “Are you sure that’s cooled down enough?”
“It’s fine!” Caitlin abruptly snapped.
Both Iris and the handful of customers seated near them looked at Caitlin in surprise.
“I’m sorry!” Iris responded. “I was only concerned—”
“No.” Caitlin shook her head. “No, I need to apologize. I don’t know what came over me. It’s been crazy at the lab, I guess.” She reached across the table and set her hand atop Iris’s. “I’m so sorry…”
Iris opened her mouth, then shut it. She glanced at their touching hands.
“Iris?”
“Your hand is cold. I mean, like really cold. Caitlin, are you—”
Caitlin quickly withdrew it. With her other hand, she raised her coffee to drink.
Her lips touched ice.
She set down the cup, grabbed her purse, and jumped to her feet.
“Caitlin? What’s wrong?”
“I just remembered something urgent. I-I apologize! We’ll talk tomorrow!”
“Caitlin?”
The other woman didn’t answer, instead rushing out. Iris instinctively got up to pursue her, only pausing to leave some money on the table.
“Caitlin!” She hurried after her, exiting the restaurant only moments later. By then, though, Caitlin had vanished. Iris looked in both directions… but saw no sign of the other woman.
* * *
Back in the restaurant, the waitress returned to the table. She picked up the check and the money, then paused when Caitlin’s coffee caught her eye.
Picking up the cup, her eyes widened in disbelief as she tipped over the cup and the contents stayed inside. She used a finger to touch the coffee… and found it frozen solid.
10
The storm continued its relentless onslaught of Central City, yet there was a noticeable shift, a lessening from the days before. Most of the city’s inhabitants saw this as some relief, but to the Flash it only meant more frustration. The Weather Wizard appeared to be lying low and the possible reasons for it greatly disturbed him. Mardon had something new in mind, something the speedster was certain that he would not like in the least.
Despite a lack of any trace of his adversary, the Flash redoubled his efforts in his search, trying constantly to locate places that he had failed to search previously. None proved to be the rogue’s hiding place.
And even though Barry suffered no more sudden depletion of energy, by the end of a very long day he was ready once more to keel over.
“Any-anything?” the Flash asked.
“Nothing,” Cisco replied with a yawn. He stretched. “God! Somebody get the jaws of life! I think I’m fused to the chair!”
Barry slumped against the edge of a table. He took a bottle of water H.R. offered him. “Thanks. When’s the last time you went home, Cisco?”
“Feels like years. No sense going home any more than necessary. Not, at least, until the Weather Wizard is finally captured.”
“Listen, I appreciate the dedicated help, but you don’t need to do this. Maybe Caitlin could fill in for a while. She knows most of what you do—”
“She’s not in today.”
Barry looked up. “What’s the matter with her?”
“Just a little under the weather,” H.R. offered.
Both Barry and Cisco gave him a look.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean it like that.”
“She’s just worn out, Barry,” Cisco interjected. “I’ll call her later on to see how she’s doing.”
“Okay.” Barry opened the bottle and downed the contents without pause. “I think I could use a sandwich.”
“I’ll get—” H.R. started to offer, but Barry had already headed to the refrigerator they had installed due in great part to most of them living a good chunk of their days and nights in S.T.A.R. Labs.
Barry removed what he needed and shut the door before the light inside could even come on. On a clean table next to the refrigerator, he’d set out the bread, condiments, meats, cheeses, and salad pieces he needed.
“—you one right away,” H.R. finished.
“Thanks,” replied Barry, shutting the refrigerator after returning the leftover ingredients. On the table sat half a dozen thick sandwiches. “I took care of it.”
Not bothering to wait for any further response, Barry seized the first sandwich. As the others watched in horrified fascination, the Flash devoured it in several rapid-fire bites that took all of three or four seconds. Without pause, he plucked up the second and did the same, repeating the process until all six sandwiches had been consumed.
“You know,” H.R. went on, “my mother said you should never gobble your food down. Not healthy.”
“Don’t worry. I paced myself.”
“Yeah?”
Barry patted his stomach. “That should tide me over for a couple hours.”
H.R. looked a little dubious. “You ever consider joining a hot-dog eating contest?”
“Seriously, Barry,” Cisco added. “You put away a lot of calories because of your abilities, but you’ve nearly doubled your daily amount since Mardon became a problem.”
“I’d say he’s more than doubled it,” H.R. piped in.
“I can’t help it. Once I slow down, I start feeling the hunger.”
“We’ve got to put a stop to whatever the Weather Wizard’s doing before you burn out completely.”
Barry joined him by the monitor. “You tell me where to find him, Cisco. I’ve searched everywhere I can, but that still leaves countless places I can’t get to. We need to track him. Unlike most metahumans, when Mardon uses his abilities, it shows up pretty good. So why can’t we get a bead on him? If anything, he should be more obvious than ever.”
“All the energy feeding into the storm is still making it impossible to get enough data to pinpoint him. I’m getting very close, though, I think.”
“We need to find him before he can unleash whatever it is he wants to do.” Barry pulled up his cowl. “Maybe I’d better get out there right now. I might find us a clue, or at least draw him out—”
Cisco frowned. “Barry, before you do, I need to carry out a couple of brief tests. Do me a favor and lie down for them. I’ll be right there to hook you up.”
“Short?”
“Promise.”
“All right.” Barry disappeared, seemingly materializing from nothing a moment later by the research table. Keeping his cowl pushed back, he climbed on top of the table and settled down to wait.
Cisco returned to the keyboard. “I will be just a moment longer.”
“Sure,” Barry answered, yawning.
“Need to input some numbers.”
“Numbers. Got it.”
“Argh,” muttere
d Cisco. “Have to retype some of this. I must’ve missed a decimal point before. Hang on there, Barry. I promise I’ll be done here before you know it.”
There was no response from the table.
“He’s asleep,” offered H.R., “which I’m sure was your hope.”
Cisco leaned back. “Uh huh. He’s burning out faster than ever. It has to be in part due to the fact that they’re both metahumans, but there’s more, I think. The Speed Force must be linked to the natural elements in some way though, to make him so susceptible.”
H.R. straightened. “What was that?”
“Here, look on the big monitor.” Cisco typed in a couple of instructions and one of the wall monitors flicked from showing weather reports to a series of ever-shifting graphs.
The older man chuckled. “So, how many times must I tell you showing me these things doesn’t help. I’m not Harrison Welles… I mean not that one.”
“Here, I’ll explain. You see these six lines?”
“Uh huh.”
Cisco adjusted the screen to cut down to six graphs. “I had these six chosen at random from some of our encounters with metahumans. I’ve not bothered listing them by name because that’s not important. What is important is that if you study them long enough, they have similar points here and there: traits of all metahumans.”
H.R. nodded slowly. “Okay. I got that. All metahumans share certain energy traits.”
“Right, but in some cases, like with Barry and the Weather Wizard, there are more points of similarity. Depending on what those points are, those abilities then share a common core.”
“And this can be affected by another metahuman?”
“I wouldn’t have thought so,” Cisco replied, changing the image to two new graphs. “It should be beyond the ability of any one metahuman, but, yes, somehow it has in the case of Barry and Mardon.”
“How?”
“Look. Let me try this again from the beginning. From everything we’ve studied, it’s a fact that not everyone out when the original burst happened became a metahuman. We’ve found plenty of people who remained unchanged.”
“Okay, I got that.”
“That could mean that everyone who was affected had some trait in common. A gene or something else. Maybe someday we’ll figure out what, but what’s more important is that Mardon’s powers not only now effect the elements of the storm to a degree they never could before, but I think that because they involve meta energies, they now affect other metahumans as well. Maybe make someone else’s powers more unstable or even, with an assist, draw those meta energies to the Weather Wizard, making him kind of like a parasite.”
H.R. whistled. “What could do that?”
Cisco rubbed his jaw. “That’s the thing. It’d need quite a boost from something pretty much attuned to Mardon. Like the wand.”
“But he doesn’t have that.”
“No. I’m beginning to think I know how it all started: just not how it’s going to finish.”
H.R. cocked his head. “And there you go losing me again. Well, it was nice while it lasted.”
“Don’t feel too bad. I’m not much farther ahead. I’m going over the Iron Heights info again.” Cisco glanced at where Barry slept soundly. “Maybe I’ll have some answers by the time he wakes up.” He looked at the data on the large monitor and sighed heavily. “Maybe.”
“So, why don’t we just get the wand again?”
Cisco shook his head as he called up another set of numbers. “The device the prison implanted in the Weather Wizard’s head is on the same wavelength. If we try to use the wand, it’s more likely that he might usurp its abilities.”
“So, we don’t do that. Definitely not.”
A warning beep emanated from Cisco’s computer. He took another look at Barry, saw that the noise had not even disturbed him, then quickly turned back and summoned up the reason for the warning. Data flowed madly across his screen.
“What is it? Mardon?”
“I don’t know. Better go wake him up after all.”
H.R. quickly went to obey. He tapped Barry on the shoulder, but when that failed to rouse the speedster he shook him, calling his name.
“Don’t play around. This is really odd stuff that’s going on here. If I can get a fix on it, maybe Barry can catch the Weather Wizard before it leads to any trouble.”
“I’m not playing around. He’s really deep asleep—and I do mean asleep.”
“Great.” Cisco started to get up to help, then found himself drawn back to the console by a new rash of readings. “These make no sense. Just what the heck is happening?” Typing in a few numbers based on what he saw, Cisco sat down and stared. What he read made his eyes narrow. “Just what are you doing, Mardon?”
* * *
“Wake up, my lord,” Clyde’s sarcastic voice had whispered in his ear. “Can’t sleep your life away…”
It had taken the Weather Wizard all his strength to do as his brother said. Even though in some ways he felt more powerful than ever, it seemed to be more and more of a struggle to get started.
“More importantly, can’t go sleeping my life away again, bro,” Clyde added in a far more bitter tone. “Not ever again.”
That had snapped the Weather Wizard in to action at last. Even though his situation in the hospital after the crash had not been his doing, the notion that he had been unconscious—asleep, as he guiltily thought it—when Clyde had been murdered.
He had woken up to a powerful thirst and hunger. Despite the ease with which the incursion into Iron Heights had gone and the easier time dealing with the Flash’s would-be protégé, the Weather Wizard had been left much weaker than he had imagined. Not trusting the old safe house, Mark Mardon had found another location he hoped the Flash would not yet have thought to investigate. Clyde had insisted that his brother seize some skyscraper and declare his glory, but the Weather Wizard had not wanted to be bothered with ruling Central City until he lived up to his promise to Clyde.
It had taken only seconds to sweep down to a food store on his path, blast the windows open with a gale-force wind, and use that same gust to lift up enough food and drink to supply him for several days. For his new safe house, he had chosen a warehouse he and his brother had been familiar with through their contacts in the underworld. It would serve long enough to see his brother resurrected and the Flash and Detective West dead.
By the time he had satiated himself, the pile of refuse and empty bottles lay stacked high. The Weather Wizard paid no attention to the fact that although he had just devoured enough calories for two days, he somehow looked leaner and even more strained.
“Quite a feast,” Clyde had said. “Do you know how much I yearn to taste food again, bro? How sweet even water would taste?”
“It won’t be long. I’m ready to start.”
“You think it’ll be enough this time? You think you’ve got it under control? You’ve failed me before—”
“I know!” shouted the Weather Wizard. “I know!”
Clyde hovered there, silent. The older brother’s rush of anger faded, overcome by even more guilt.
“I’m sorry, Clyde! So very, very sorry…”
His brother merely stared.
“I really think we’ve got a better chance this time, Clyde! It’s gone just as I planned. I’m holding together the entire storm now in addition to gathering in all that energy. I was right. The Flash is part of the key. Even he fed me power!”
“Do it,” Clyde murmured. “Let’s see what you got, bro. Show me. Show me…”
“Yeah… show you.” Mark took a deep breath, then spread his hands. The room crackled with gathering energy. Small flashes of lightning erupted around the Weather Wizard. A wind rising out of nowhere brushed the older brother’s hair back.
Clyde stood directly in front of the Weather Wizard, his expression one of monstrous anticipation. The Weather Wizard matched that expression as he began to release the pent-up energies and mold them as he desired.
<
br /> “Don’t move,” Mark ordered Clyde. His brother did not answer, already standing as still as a statue. Indeed, Clyde didn’t even blink. His eyes just continued to stare into the Weather Wizard’s: to the elder sibling it seemed as though the specter silently demanded that Mark not fail him yet again.
The Weather Wizard slowly started drawing his open palms together. Caught up in his efforts, he failed to notice not only the tremor in his hands, but how much stronger it became as he progressed. In the empty spaces to each side of Clyde, Mark created twin whirlwinds. Miniature storms within each crackled with lightning and raged with thunder. Each was a manifestation of the energies the Weather Wizard had gathered within him. Mark grinned as the storms trebled in intensity yet remained sealed inside the whirlwinds. But still he knew it was not enough. Teeth bared, the Weather Wizard forced more and yet more from himself. The whirlwinds shook and twisted out of shape, the storms growing so violent that they could barely be contained.
Mark Mardon could not fathom anyone ever having wielded such might. He was a god.
Throughout all the fury flanking him, the figure of Clyde never moved so much as an inch. The Weather Wizard smiled once more at his younger brother, then brought the two whirlwinds together.
They merged just as they engulfed Clyde, who made no sound as he disappeared into the storms.
Mark now raised one hand palm up. The misshapen whirlwind created from the other two swelled, growing several times its original size until it nearly touched the high ceiling.
The two storms became one. The new storm raged and raged, lightning striking over and over and over within the tornado the Weather Wizard had now formed.
Once more bathed in sweat and with pulse pounding, the Weather Wizard stirred the restrained tornado, increasing its spin. Head pounding, he surveyed his work one last time… then unleashed the storm’s full energies where his brother stood.
Outside, the main storm abruptly unleashed a new barrage of lightning and thunder. The temperature dropped several degrees, rose again, then dropped even more. Winds whipped up that blew in every direction.
Body quivering from effort, the Weather Wizard fought the energies’ natural tendency to disperse. Each time part of it tried, he turned it into itself with the results being that any discharge spilled into where Clyde stood.
The Flash Page 13
