Phoenix (The Flash - Book 1) [RE-UPLOAD]

Chapter 8 - Phoenix vs. Flash and Arrow

I was sitting next to Cisco in the Cortex of S.T.A.R. Labs, I was reading Iris' blog on one of the computers. The computer Cisco sat at started to beep and I looked at him, seeing that a bank's alarm had been triggered.

"Barry, bank robbery in progress at Cunningham and Sampere," Cisco told him.

"I got it," Barry responded.

"Wait," Caitlin walked over to us. "That's where I bank."

"Once superthieves showed up, I went mattress," Cisco stated.

I chuckled before looking back at my own computer. "Oh, look! Another picture of the Phoenix came in."

Both Cisco and Caitlin leaned closer to have a look and I smiled at the photo. All you could see was a yellow and orange flare soaring past some buildings, it could easily be mistaken as a camera flare but if you looked closely enough, my face was visible. The headline read 'NEW PHOENIX SIGHTING BRINGS MORE BELIEVERS'.

"Look who's getting famous!" Cisco said.

Caitlin looked at me with concern. "Aren't you worried? What if Iris looks at this picture and recognizes that it's you?"

I shook my head. "She won't. That's why I wear a mask, to conceal my identity and besides, most people will think this is Photoshopped anyway."

Caitlin nodded, but I could tell that my answer didn't ease her one bit. I continued to read Iris' blog with a smile plastered on my face.

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Barry had told us that the people at the bank were whammied and attacked each other, but once he stopped a guy from getting shot, they all snapped out of it. Everyone was now in the Cortex talking about the metahuman responsible.

"Anger, hate, aggression," Dr. Wells said as he wheeled across the room.

"A Jedi craves not these things," Cisco said, imitating Yoda.

I looked at him and raised my brows. Barry just shook his head at him.

"No one is feeling that quote?" Cisco asked in his normal voice.

"Everyone in the bank went total savage for like five minutes," Barry told us, walking towards Wells. "And then they were fine again."

"Anger can be a powerful emotion," Wells said. "If this metahuman can engender irrational feelings of anger in his victims, he can do a lot of damage."

Caitlin walked in with a USB drive in her hand. "Detective West helped me get a copy of the CAT scans the hospital did on everyone at the bank. Take a look."

She plugged in the drive and the CAT scans appeared on every screen.

"Look at this. The emotion centers of the brains are still showing signs of being overwhelmed."

"Particularly the area that controls executive function," I added, causing everyone to look at me in surprise. "What? I'm a scientist too. I know how the brain works. That's the part of the brain that stops people from doing whatever random and potentially destructive things that pop into their heads."

Barry smiled in amusement before looking at Caitlin. "How do you think the meta does it to them?"

"That's the half-million-dollar question," she replied.

Barry's phone started to buzz, he got it out of his pocket and looked at the message. "Hey, if you guys figure it out, just give me a call, okay?"

I looked at him. "Is the Flash off to another rooftop rendezvous with Iris?"