1 week later
Anna watched as Ralph stood behind a cabinet, reaching forwards to grab the hostages while Joe distracted the robber, who had a bomb on him. Anna used her telekinesis, grabbing the last man away and speeding the three to safety as the bomber finally turned around, seeing the hostages gone.
"Shoulda gone with the steak, pal." Ralph said as he stretched himself behind the bomber. "Cause it's the last decent meal you're getting for the next five to ten years."
"Who the hell are you?"
"Your friendly neighborhood superhero's. That's Jolt. You can call me.." Ralph stammered. "Mr...One second." He turned on his comms. "Guys, this is a huge moment for me. What's my name?"
Anna raised her hand. "How about, Mr Bomber is going to blow this building up?"
"I was wondering where you were going with that." Cisco noted.
"Hey, hey, where are my hostages?" The bomber questioned.
"Uh, bathroom break. They just couldn't hold it anymore. Don't worry, though, they're totally safe." Ralph approached the bomber.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Get back, freak."
Ralph acted hurt. "Freak, oh, sticks and stones may break my bones, buddy. Well, they used to. Not anymore."
"I'll blow this whole city block." The bomber threatened.
"Uh, you do realize you're a part of that block, right? Come on, man, it's a weekday. People just want to get off work, go home, and watch the boob tube. So why don't you take off that vest and..." Ralph reached for the bomb.
"No, don't touch me!" The bomber yelled as Anna grabbed the bomb from Ralph, racing into the ocean and chucking it as far as she could.
"Water Floatation activated." Cisco's voice came from the suit.
"Anna? You okay?" Cisco asked through comms.
"Yeah. I'm good." Anna choked out as she sped back to Star Labs, grabbing Ralph by the neck of his suit.
"Let this be a lesson to all of you would-be criminals out there." Ralph was saying on the news. "Catching you won't be too much of a stretch."
"And so, our streets are safe again, thanks to Jolt, and Central City's funniest new hero, The Stretchy Man." The reporter said into the camera as Cisco turned it off.
"Okay. Embarrassing. Cisco, next time you're going with him." Iris sighed.
"Iris, a chicken needs to leave its roost sooner or later, especially when that chicken insists on doing his own solo mission." Cisco muttered.
"This is bad." Iris noted.
"This is really bad." Ralph agreed. "Stretchy man that's a terrible name. Also, now that I'm going to be on TV all the time, this grey suit, got to go." Ralph motioned to Cisco.
"Hey, easy, chickadee."
"No, Ralph, I meant you." Iris explained. "If Anna hadn't rushed the bomb into the pacific, the bomb could tear everyone to shreds. Or Joe, or any of the officers outside."
"Relax." Ralph assured. "I'm indestructible. I would contain the blast."
"Oh my god." Iris sighed.
"Dibny is in-dib-structable." Ralph joked.
"Okay, Ralph, you are missing the point. You need to be more cautious." Iris argued.
Ralph denied it. "No, no, no, you are missing the point. What I really need, guys, is a new superhero name. Ramon, you've had all this time. You can't come up with anything?"
"Patience, okay? I'm getting to you. I've just been a little preoccupied, what with Barry being in prison and all." Cisco rose his voice, making everyone go quiet. Anna's back stiffened against the chair.
Ralph picked up a file. "You find anything that might prove DeVoe framed Barry yet?"
"My dad and Cecile are meeting with Judge Hankerson tomorrow to go over his appeal." Iris snatched the file out of his hands. "We've been pouring through the evidence piece by piece, but-"
"Don't worry, Iris, we're going to get him out." Caitlin assured, glancing at Anna, who was staring at the floor, feet tapping in a rhythmic order.
Ralph spoke up. "Hey, has Barry joined a gang yet? I've got some friends on the inside. I can make some calls."
Iris hit him with the file. "Shut up, Ralph."
"Okay. I will stop helping now."
"Her name is Zoey Clark." Joe said the next say.
"James Jesse had a girlfriend?" Iris questioned.
"Yeah, she called herself Prank. Back in the day, she was Bonnie to Jesse's Clyde. No matter what, whether it was attempted murder, arson, robbery, she was always by his side." Joe explained.
Cisco pulled up another black and white picture. "Man, what were people wearing back then?'
"Zoe Clark was the beneficiary to Clark Toys empire." Iris read off.
"Not much of an empire. All those stores closed 20 years ago."
"Looks like she has Bachelor's degrees in arts and applied sciences, as well as a Master's in chemistry." Caitlin added.
"Trickster and Prank were responsible for a series of terrorist attacks across Central City, including the destruction of the Gadzooka Bubblegum company." Harry said slowly.
"Huh, I always wondered why my favorite gum suddenly disappeared in the 90's."
"We have it on my Earth." Harry answered.
"Anyway, after Jesse was arrested, she disappeared. She's been a fugitive ever since."
"Looks like Axel was born nine months after Zoey was last seen. I bet she left to help to take care of her son." Caitlin assumed.
"And she came back to bust him out of prison, and pick up where she left off."
"Well, I'm digging into CCPD files to see if she had any other known associates."
"I'll set the satellite to do a search grid. Ramon?" Harry motioned.
"Hey, Ralph, do you want to go to your usual spots, see if any of your contacts have seen her?"
"Sure, I need a chaperone. Caitlin, you're up. It's happy hour, you're buying." Ralph said as Caitlin groaned. "Come on, use Killer Frost's credit card."
"No way, Jose." Caitlin said as Anna tossed Caitlin her own wallet.
"You think Ralphie's made of money?"
"I am." Anna joked. "I am a multi billionare in Star City." Iris rolled her eyes at her.
"What? I'll go search the city."
Anna pressed multiple buttons on her computer, releasing the small set of code that was meant to go through every piece of black web chat and find the man who had escaped jail. She leaned back in her chair, watched Iris walk in.
"Hey, how's the search coming?"
"Harry and I already set all the parameters, it's just got 300 square miles to comb through, so..." Cisco trailed off when the computers beeped, changing the screen. "That's not good."
Axel appeared on the screens. "Hello, Central City! It's been far, far too long since my beautiful face graced your screens." He laughed.
"Whoo, this kid's got a face for radio." Ralph walked in.
"Trickster's hijacking the city's broadcasting signals."
Axel continued on the screen. "Today, we're going to play a little game I like to call what Does This Do?" He held up a ball. "Looks like a regular old bouncy ball. But what does this do?"
"Cisco." Iris urged for him to hurry.
"Tracing."
"Let's find out if and when you throw it hard enough..." Axel threw it under a taxi, almost hitting civilians as it exploded.
"Kaboom!" He laughed.
"He's downtown, corner of DeMeo and Bilson." Cisco informed.
"Bring me the Stretchy Man, or else you're going to go boom-boom." Axel laughed.
"My first supervillain thunderdome challenge. This is awesome." Ralph said happily.
"Ralph, you do not know this guy. He's dangerous."
"He's throwing bouncy balls and wearing a bedazzled pea coat. I got this." Ralph ripped his shirt open, showing off the suit.
"You still haven't taken that off, huh?"
"Oh, I sleep in this. You mind breaching me there? It's a lot faster." Ralph questioned as he jumped through a breach. Anna got up from her seat.
"Nope. He might endanger more civilians if you're there." Iris shook her head.
"But-" Anna started. "He might need backup."
"Just be ready to grab him if this goes wrong."
Anna watched as Ralph fought the ninja stars Axel through, bouncing them back. Axel brought out another gun, squirting him in his leg.
"He's panicking, his heart rate is off the charts." Caitlin reported.
"Ralph, are you okay?"
"Help!" Ralph screamed. Anna nodded to Cisco as they jumped through a breach. Anna shot a lightning pulse at Axel, not enough to kill him, but enough to sting.
"Not today, Satan." Cisco yelled. Axel picked up his gun, aiming at them as Cisco opened a breach to Star Labs. Anna pushed them through and herself as Ralph screamed in pain.
"What the hell did he do to me?" Ralph groaned. "What the hell was that stuff?" Ralph questioned as Anna placed him in a medbay chair.
"Looks like Axel created some sort of super acid." Caitlin explained.
"It's got a ph level in the negative 50s, and all it did was burn through your skin?"
"God, if it were anybody else, it would melt right through them like xenomorph blood." Cisco added.
"But you said my cells were polymerized." Ralph argued. "You said nothing could hurt them."
"Dibny, I didn't say that. I said your cells were bonded unlike anything I've ever seen. I've never seen acid like this, and so, cannot be responsible for things I have never seen." Harry said without emotion.
"It definitely hurts."
"Well, now we know what your kryptonite is." Iris said.
"What the hell is kryptonite?" Ralph asked.
"What?"
"How do you not-"
"Oh, come on."
"Think I'm gonna heal?" Ralph changed the subject.
"Probably."
"Eventually." Caitlin said at the same time as Harry.
"Probably?" Ralph asked in panic. "I thought I was indestructible."
Harry laughed. "So did we." Harry said as he exited the medbay with Cisco.
"Okay, well, Caitlin, you can treat the wound and manage the pain, right?" Iris questioned.
"As needed."
"Okay, well, the most important thing is that you're safe." Iris said as she slapped his wound, making him groan in pain.
"Ralph, oh, my God, I'm so sorry." Iris apologized. "Um, Axel is still out there. We should track him down." Iris walked out as Anna moved back to her computer in the cortex.
"Hey, guys. Any luck finding Trickster?" Joe rushed in.
"My code is taking a while." Anna said as she ate her fries.
"Joe, geo-tracking is an art form. It takes precision, it takes finesse, it takes grace..."
"It requires none of those things. It's simply the fact that he's not a meta-human. Regular humans are harder to track." Harry said coldly
"Is there anything you can't suck the fun out of?"
The computer beeped mutliple times. "Trickster."
"Hello again, Central City. It's time for the exciting new game show, Wheel of Misfortune. With prizes so amazing, you'll think you died. And if you play your cards right, you just might. Here's your host, the murderous matriarch, Prank!" Axel said as his mother approched out. "What do we have in store for tonight? Well, we have chills, thrills, and plenty of kills."
"These guys are absolutely nuts." Iris noted.
"So, why don't we meet our first contestants? Ta-da!" The curtain raised, showing off multiple people gagged and tied.
"They've got hostages."
"Shocking prizes are in store. Oh, Prank, what about the grand prize? Oh, I'm so glad you asked." They both laughed. "Because we have an axid shower." She pulled off a cloth, revealing a toy Be-bo. "Sorry, Mr. Beebo." She said before pulling the lever, acid rain raining down on the toy, disinigrating it.
"Cisco."
"Triangulating their signal." Cisco informed as Anna rolled back to her desk, finding her code had targetted a word. Axel.
Axel contined on the screen. "We need a special VIP to come down for our special show. So, if you're watching, Stretchy Man, why don't you come on down and spin the wheel? You have one hour, or these nice people die."
Anna spoke up. "They're at the old Clarx Toys factory in Lawrence Hills."
"Tick-tock, Stretchy Man. Time's a-wasting. So, let's spin that wheel!" Prank said before the livestream turned off.
"I'm going to have CCPD create a perimeter a few blocks away, so they can't escape."
"Harry, how are you coming with a solvent for Trickster's axid?" Iris questioned.
"Well, slowly. Very difficult to neutralize a solvent that hasn't existed until today."
"You've got 59 minutes."
"All I need is 58."
"Ralph, suit up." Iris motioned as Cisco handed him something.
"Well, you wanted a new suit, didn't you? I even made it pocket-sized." Cisco added.
"Is it axid-proof?" Ralph asked. Cisco paused. "I can't do it, guys." He handed the device back.
"These people need our help."
"Yeah, sorry, but me getting melted? That is a deal-breaker." Ralph said quietly.
"Were you only doing this because you thought you couldn't get hurt?" Caitlin questioned.
"Yeah, why the hell else would I do this?"
Iris approched Ralph. "Ralph, last year, I thought I was going to die, too. But that didn't stop me."
"Okay, well, that's the difference between us then. I'm not that strong in the face of danger. I'm out." Ralph said before exiting the cortex, looking back at them once more as the group.
"All right, I will neutralize it. And you three , you get the hostages out." Harry motioned to Anna, Cisco and Caitlin. "Oh, we're gonna need the ice queen."
"Oh, that's not how it works, I can't just..."
"Lexi La Roche!" The three of them yelled.
"It was her childhood bully." Cisco explained as Caitlin's eyes turned white. "There's a lot of repressed anger in there. Let's go!" Cisco said as they moved out.
"Okay. Remember, anything in here that looks fun is probably lethal." Cisco explained as they ducked under the tent flap.
"Just like me." Frost noted.
"Nice." Cisco joked. "Okay, let's deliver these delivery people to safety."
"Or we could just leave them and kill Trickster and Prank." Frost suggested.
"Remember that talk about murdering your way out of problems? Yeah, we don't do that." Cisco said as they approched the hostages.
"Yet."
"We're going to get you out of here." Cisco said as they started to undo the ropes. Anna phased through them, cutting them off.
"Ooh, Beebo hungry." Multiple Beebo's desended from the air behind them as they whipped around, the toys holding bombs. "Beebo likes to play. Beebo..." Frost slammed them with an ice blast and they broke to peices on the floor. They turned, around seeing Prank and Trickster in the place where the hostages used to be. They placed Meta-Cuffs on all three of them.
"Help!" Cisco yelled.
Moments later, all three of them were tied together under the acid as Prank and Trickster went live.
"Now, we asked for one hero. But now, we've got two! Oh! It's time for our Showcase Showdown, so let's spin that wheel, and see what fun prize awaits our new friends." They both giggled as they spun the wheel.
"Hurry up, I haven't killed anyone in years." Prank yelled as the wheel slowed to a stop in the middle.
"Oh, a tie. Hmm, I guess they die together." Trickster noted, pulling Cisco's goggles off as the glass above them shattered, Ralph busted through.
"Nice outfit." Prank noted.
"Thanks, I've got a great tailor. Now let everyone go, pranksters, and no one gets hurt." Ralph threatend.
"We thought you chickened out, Stretchy Man." Trickster admitted.
"Actually, I did. See, I thought I was pretty much invincible until you and your oversized water pistol put the fear of God in me." Ralph said. "And I was ready to throw in the towel. But then I visited a friend of mine. And he helped me remember that no one is fearless. But real heroes, they find a way to rise above that fear and make a difference anyway. Even if it kills them in the process. So, this is me, rising up. Hopefully without the dying part. Now let my friends go."
Trickster and Prank both clapped their hands. "First of all, great speech. So inspired, it melted my heart. Oh, thank you, I worked on it on the way over. Now let's melt yours." They both laughed. "Shoot him, boo-boo!" Trickster pulled out the acid gun, firing at Ralph as he launched himself forwards, slamming into Trickster and knocking him out.
"I'd give up if I were you." Ralph motioned to Prank.
"How about I melt your friends instead?" Prank pulled the lever to the 'Acid' setting.
"No!" Ralph yelled, pushing Prank out of the way.
"Say good-bye to your little friends!" Prank teased. Anna finally shimmed her legs out of its bounds, jumping over Caitlin and Cisco to protect them as Ralph did the same.
Ralph started screaming for 0 reasons. "It doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt!" Ralph laughed as Anna rolled her eyes, sitting back down. "I'm not dying! Why am I not dying?"
"Because I got it." Harry said through comms.
"Yes, nice work, guys!
"I'm going to live, whoo! Oh, don't even think about running." Ralph motioned to Prank. " Okay, uh... you got scissors anywhere?" Ralph questioned, motioning to their bonds.
"The Elongated Man? It was just an expression." Ralph said as he stared at a newspaper article.
"It has a certain... I don't know. "Je ne sais quoi" to it."
"I like it, too."
"Well, I hate it." Ralph said, making them all groan.
"Well, maybe you should have let me do the naming." Cisco admitted.
"Oh, don't worry, you'll get your chance. There's no way this is going to stick."
"Probably gonna stick." They all said at the same time.
"The Elongated Man? Please, it's so literal. You think Prince would have settled for Shorty Guitar Man?" Ralph threw the newspaper down. "No way. And like The Purple One, I too need something that hints at the true depth of my sexy nature."
"Like The Flash."
"Exactly. He's a fast operator, gets the job done in seconds. Maybe Jolt. Or Killer Frost."
"What can I say? When you got it, you got it. You got it." Caitlin smirked, looking to Anna, who smiled, winking.
"Hey, Joe. What should I do?" Ralph turned to him.
"Man, do whatever it takes to keep the city safe." Joe informed. "Just like the rest of us."
"I could live with that."
"Heartrate's 170 BPM, and there's no sign of dark matter in the amniotic fluid." Caitlin explained after testing Cecile.
"So the baby's not a meta?" Joe let out a breath.
"Nope, it's a perfectly normal baby..." Caitlin stopped abrubtly.
"Girl. You were gonna say baby girl." Cecile sat up straight.
"I'm having another daughter?" Joe questioned.
"I'm gonna have a sister? Well, I guess we can cancel the announcement party."
"Ha-ha-ha! Boy, girl, that's 50-50. Let's test your skills for real. What number am I thinking of?" Cisco questioned.
"Seven." Anna said as everyone shot her a look. "Did everyone forget I'm a telepath too?"
Cisco turned back to Cecile.
"Three. 11. 25. Three again. Bulbasaur." Cecile said. Cisco almost fell out of his chair as Anna stifled a laugh. "What the hell is a Bulbasaur?"
Cisco chuckled."That's so weird. Why would I be thinking about Pokémon at a time like this?"
"Yep, definitely a telepath."
"But how? If the baby is not a meta, then where did these powers come from? Nope, I wasn't on the bus. No, I wasn't struck by lightning. No, I was not abducted by aliens. No, I didn't inherit a mystic totem from my grandma. Really, guys?" Cecile asked, still reading their minds. "Why are you both still thinking about Bulbasaurs?" Cecile turned to Cisco and Anna.
"He's the cutest one of all!" Cisco and Anna yelled at the same time.
"Okay, my best hypothesis is this is actually triggered by your latest phase of pregnancies, and it's actually latent dark matter that's been in your brain since... maybe the first particle accelerator explosion. Think of it like gestational diabetes." Caitlin explained.
"But it's not. You can fix that with insulin."
"Right, but it's temporary. I mean, the symptoms should recede after childbirth." Caitlin said as Cecile let out a breath.
"Okay, we'll give you guys a minute." Iris said as they exited the room.