We woke up to a status update. Some craziness had ensued while Ralph and I were sleeping. Apparently, team Flash had found another bus Meta, who can touch meats, take their powers, and transfer them to other people. He was a good guy luckily, and after some confusion with Iris being a speedster for a day, he had agreed to help us out with DeVoe. Plus, Harry used the thinking cap to find the names of the other two bus Metas.
So yeah...that happened.
My cold died down within a couple of days, and then we immediately started training Ralph with some DeVoe holograms that Cisco had programmed. Nothing gives you anxiety like the simulated death of your boyfriend.
DeVoe, who looked like Izzy at the moment, was floating in the middle of the room. Barry was running all over the place, I was floating above the scene, and Ralph was hanging on the rafters.
"Ready, Ralph?" Barry asked.
"Ready."
"Enact double scarlet's speedster in three, two, one-"
"Wait," Barry stopped and I touched down beside him. "I got a better idea." Ralph dropped down, whistling. "Over here, Doc Oc. Watch this, Master Splinter."
"Master Splinter..." I repeated. "Oh boy."
"Turtle power." And just like that, Ralph retracted his head into his body. His hands were flailing randomly.
"Shut it down." Barry said. The hologram shut off and the lights came on. "Alright, let's run it again. We gotta make this work."
"Does he know that?" I looked at Ralph to see his arms crossed and his head still missing. I put a hand on his arm and he popped his head back out.
"What?" He asked.
"One more time please," Iris said, "Follow Barry's plan?"
"You know, the one where I spent hours of my precious time programming realistic holograms for you?" Cisco added.
"Which, bravo on that by the way."
"Thank you."
"Look, just morph yourself into Barry, there'll be two Flashes, Thinker won't know which one is which and we'll confuse him."
"Kind of a 'her' actually."
"Ralph, you're missing the point of this exercise." Barry said, clearly frustrated.
"No, I get it. I was just doing a little improv."
"But this isn't stand up comedy!"
"I know, but if you would've just let it play out, it would have worked. You could have done some improving of your own, throw some Skyrocket action in there, comedy comes in threes, man."
"We're trying to protect you. DeVoe's coming. We need to be ready. All of us, ok?"
"I still think it's a pretty good plan, I hide my face I save my butt." Barry looked around at us, everyone shaking their heads.
~~~
"We'd make a fortune, an improve group made up of superheros? We can take it to Washington. We'd be the DC Comics."
"No, Ralph." Cisco said.
"First rule of improv is to say yes."
"Would it kill you to take training seriously?" Barry asked.
"Would it kill you to open up your mind grapes just a little?" He walked into the Cortex and I stayed behind with Barry and Iris.
"We'll get there. Eventually, we'll get there."
"He's just making a big joke out of the whole thing."
"That's just how he deals with serious situations, Barry." I told him. "Trust me, he's taking it seriously, even if it doesn't look like it." I put a hand on his shoulder before following Ralph.
"Where are we on tracking down Edwin Gauss and Janet Petty?" Ralph held up a finger and Caitlin swipped a hand across her neck.
"No, no, no, he's-"
"What?"
"He's still, shh-"
"I ca-uh!" Harry yanked the cap off his head.
"Working on it." Caitlin finished.
"I can't work with all this noise!" Harry said. He sat down in a chair and a fart sound came from it, causing Ralph to laugh. I turned, looking at him.
"That is disgusting Harry, really, grow up." Harry held up a whoopee cushion.
"Really?"
"Ralph..." He looked at me. "Take it down a notch."
"It wasn't me." Harry chucked it at him and he caught it. "That was expensive."
"Harry, look, every time you try to locate these guys, it's the same thing. I'm telling you, just crack that thing open, it's probably broken."
"It's not broken! It's just finding these two," He pointed at the new pictures on the board, "Is complicated."
"Why is that?" Iris questioned.
"Because, this dude, Edwin Gauss, flat out disappeared the day Allen came out of the Speed Force. No credit card charges, no bank withdraws, no social media posts, nothing. Gone."
"What about Janet Petty?"
"Just as tricky. I asked Joe to pull her file from CCPD, her first known record wasn't until she was thirteen. Some sort of a nomad. Last known address: Iron Heights." Caitlin explained.
"What's she in for?"
"Trifecta of breaking and entering, trespassing, and burglary."
"So surely she's a good Meta, right?" I asked sarcastically.
"But what we should be worried about is where is she now, and what are her powers." CIsco pulled up a couple of Instagram pictures.
"Is that really her handle? 'Null'?"
"Ok, well DeVoe needs both of these people for whatever he has planned, so we have to figure out where they are." Barry stated.
"I will Allen, if I can get a little peace, a little quiet, and no interruptions." Just as he said this, a breach opened and Breacher appeared.
"Cisky."
"Breacher?" He grabbed Cisco's throat, pushing him up against the wall.
"I need your help."
"Little bit of a mixed message here."
~~~
I got called into a crime scene and was standing with Joe when I saw Barry and Ralph walking onto the scene with a coffee cup in each hand.
"Brought you your iced coffee, babe." He called. Barry shot him a look. Oh boy. Joe and I shared a look before walking over to them. Ralph handed me my coffee, and Barry gave Joe his.
"What happened?" Barry asked.
"Robbery. " Joe answered.
"Stole a Kahndaq Dynasty family crown." I added. "They brought it here for the museum exhibition. The guard said it was being transported in a steel-plated crate that weighed about two-hundred pounds. Not exactly an easy heist to pull off."
"Apparently, it suddenly disappeared without a trace and then reappeared completely smashed."
"Nothing else is missing." I said. "And based on that impact, the case had to be moving at at least fifty-five miles per hour."
"So we're looking at a meta with super strength?"
"I mean, maybe." Barry stated. "Are there finger prints on the case."
"I'll have to dust it, get Laura the results."
"Why wait? I can just grab the tape, get the prints right now." Ralph's arm started stretching across the pavement when the guards walked across, carrying a vase.
"Ralph!" I whispered. He yanked his hand back before the guards walked over it, knocking the vase out of their hands and smashing it.
"Dude! I need this job!" One guard yelled to the other. I shot Ralph a look.
"Allen! Look what you did!" I pinched the bridge of my nose, shaking my head.