“Here you go!” Cisco gave him the first five steps. The Flash darted in and adjusted or replaced things accordingly. Power bursts highlighted more than one of his actions, power bursts that would have killed anyone slower than him. As it was Barry was usually on the next move before the electricity even had time to shoot out.
The only delay was for Cisco’s instructions. Each time it became necessary to listen, the Flash rushed back out. Once he had what he needed, he raced back.
And then it was done. Barry eyed the adjusted system dubiously. It looked under control, but it also looked as if Girder or King Shark had gone through it. “That’s it, then? No more?”
“That’ll work better than the original,” Cisco assured him. “And be safe enough for them to come in and make the needed replacements.”
“All right. I’m heading back to Joe. In the meantime, I need you to try to see if you can figure out where Mardon headed.”
“We’re already on it, but if you can find any personal effects from Mardon, maybe I can also use my Vibe powers to help track him.”
“Will do.” Cutting the connection, the Flash raced around what was left of the cell. In the end, he found a toothbrush the Weather Wizard had been issued. Tucking it away, Barry returned to Joe West.
He saw with relief that Joe was off the phone and instead directing the efforts of the police. The detective looked slightly exasperated when he saw the Flash.
“She wasn’t happy,” Joe said when they were alone. “She’s not been happy for a while. Not with either of us.”
“She’s always known you as a policeman, though. She’s your biggest fan, Joe!”
“Yeah, she had concerns enough, though, but she was able to cope with those before. Apparently it’s gotten a lot worse since the first time she realized I’d be facing metahumans on a regular basis… and that revenge where they’re concerned reaches a whole new level of danger.”
“Listen, Joe, I’ve got Cisco and the others trying to trace Mardon. If anyone can locate him—”
“Got a trace!” Cisco called in the Flash’s ear. “It’s a scant one—the storm’s still wreaking havoc on readings. Better follow it now: Head south to 44th and we’ll take it from there.”
“Got a line on him, Joe. Gotta go!”
“Yeah, well, you better—”
But the Flash was already a mile away. He hated having just left Joe like that. There had been no choice though. If Cisco thought the trace a weak one, it had to be nearly imperceptible.
“Go ahead, Cisco! I’m listening!”
“Turn on 44th! Head toward the stadium—”
A massive explosion of thunder drowned out what else Cisco had said. More importantly, the thunder was accompanied by a new barrage of lightning.
The Flash dodged one bolt, a second, and a third. By the fourth, he felt certain that the Weather Wizard had to be involved… and yet there was no sign of Mardon.
“Where is he?” Barry demanded as he shifted to evade another bolt. “This is getting a lot closer than the prison electrical system!”
“These readings don’t make any sense now! It’s like Mardon just faded away—but there’s something else stirring. It kind of reminds me of Mardon’s readings, but—”
“But none of that matters, Cisco,” the Flash reminded him as he dodged yet another strike. “These things are shooting down in every direction. I can outrun them, but I might also run right into one!”
“I’m double-checking something—hang on!”
“Hang on, he says,” Barry muttered. He skirted another strike—and as he had feared raced right into the next. Gritting his teeth, the Flash tried to change his path. He knew it would be close. Very close.
It was even closer than that.
The strike shook everything. The Flash evaded the actual bolt, but not its effects on its surroundings. He was thrown hard.
Twisting in midair saved him. He landed not on his head, but his shoulder. The suit took some of the force, but Barry still felt as if someone had taken a hammer to every bone in his body.
“God! I don’t want to cut it that close again!” When there was no response, the Flash said, “Hey! I’m toasty and bruised but okay!’
Still nothing. Barry frowned. The near miss had still been enough to ruin his communications system.
Temporarily drenched by the rain, he stumbled to his feet and looked around. Without Cisco to give him directions, he had no idea where Mardon might be.
“Damn!” Barry glanced up at the heavens, where more lightning raged. The storm had stopped him as thoroughly as if the Weather Wizard had actually been controlling it. Barry could almost imagine Mardon laughing at him. Tonight’s failure meant that Joe was in very real danger. Mardon was not to be taken for granted.
“Damn,” he repeated, wincing as he rubbed his shoulder, “Iris is not going to be happy.”
* * *
High above and obscured by the storm, the Weather Wizard hovered over where the Flash had just stood. Mark Mardon stared down at the area, his eyes never blinking. The huge gust of wind he had created kept him perfectly in position despite the elements.
The Weather Wizard continued to stare for several seconds after the Flash had departed. Had anyone else been close enough to see, they would have noticed his eyes had a slightly glazed look to them.
Mardon’s mouth abruptly shifted into a severe frown. The Weather Wizard rose several feet higher… then, eyes still glazed, swiftly floated away from the vicinity.
* * *
“Barry? Barry?” Cisco made a face. “The link’s dead. Lightning must’ve shorted things out.”
“So long as it didn’t short him out,” H.R. said. “Just how close was that strike?”
“Too close. I’m definitely not getting anything here. Caitlin?”
When there was no answer, both men looked to her. Caitlin sat hunched forward, her unblinking gaze on the screen.
“Caitlin?” H.R. called tentatively.
She started.
“Barry,” Cisco offered. “Do you have a definitive reading on him? This part of the system’s fried.”
Caitlin studied her screen, and finally spoke. “He’s all right. His readings are a little on the high end, but he’s been even more active than usual.”
“Not too bad for a guy who had a run-in with lightning—” Cisco’s phone rang. He plucked it up. “Ah! The man himself! Hey, there! We had a little fright. Couldn’t get an immediate reading on you…”
As Cisco talked with the Flash, H.R. slipped over to Caitlin. “Why don’t you go home?” he said in a low voice. “Cisco and I—well, Cisco anyway—has this in hand for now. You could—”
He hesitated as he eyed where her right hand gripped her chair. There were hints of frost under her fingers, frost that had no obvious source but one.
“Caitlin?”
She looked up… and H.R. found himself staring into eyes colder than any ice.
Then Caitlin’s eyes returned to their normal vibrant selves. She looked at him with a pleading expression.
“Don’t say anything!” Caitlin whispered. “I’m fine now.”
“I thought those powers were under control.”
“They are. It was just a momentary lapse. Promise you won’t bother Cisco with it?”
H.R. had made some questionable decisions in his life, most especially choosing to cross over to an Earth in order to escape his past mistakes. He knew that the proper thing to do would have been to tell Cisco immediately, but Caitlin continued to plead silently with him.
“I’m a damned fool,” he muttered under his breath. Slightly louder, he replied, “All right. If you’re sure you know what you’re doing.”
“I do.” She held up her right hand. “See? Normal.”
There was not even any hint of ice on the chair. Still, a part of H.R. screamed that he should warn someone. He knew very well the risk he was taking. Caitlin had her own metahuman powers, ones that she supposedly kept suppressed
with the device Cisco had given her. Even as small a reaction as he had just witnessed indicated the device was certainly not doing its job.
“If it happens again I have to tell everyone,” he warned.
“I understand. Don’t worry. I’ve got everything under control. I’ve got her under control.”
3
Thunder shook Mark Mardon awake. The Weather Wizard’s first impulse was to call out his brother’s name.
The only response was more thunder, followed by a renewed gush of rain on the roof of Mardon’s unlit surroundings.
Bits and pieces of his escape returned: he relived his destruction of his cell and the surrounding area, but after that things became foggy again.
Take a deep breath, he heard Clyde say. You always told me to do that after I got my head whacked or had an all-night binge! Take a deep breath—and swear you’ll learn to pace yourself better next time!
This was followed by Clyde’s brash laugh.
“Don’t find that funny at all,” muttered the Weather Wizard.
“You did when it was me who was the one all banged up! Guess when the shoe’s on the other foot, it isn’t so good a joke!”
“I never earned being the butt of it, unlike you,” Mardon retorted. “You had a hard time learning a lesson, Clyde—” He looked up in shock. “Clyde…”
There was no response save the thunder and rain.
The Weather Wizard stumbled to his feet. After battling for his equilibrium for several seconds, he stared at his surroundings. Even though he couldn’t make out much, there was a familiarity to them.
“Let’s have a little illumination,” Mardon growled as he raised his left hand.
A tiny bolt of lightning burst above his palm. It lasted long enough for Mardon to get a better idea of just where he was.
He smiled, recognizing the safe house. Even battered and drained, he had managed to get himself here without anyone apparently seeing him. It was a testament to his power and control.
“Yeah, you always had better control over things. Maybe if I had had your control, he’d have never have had the chance to shoot.”
Mark Mardon spun around. This time he was certain that he had heard the voice… and yet…
“Who is it? Who’s there?” The Weather Wizard created a series of short lightning bolts. He had no desire to truly light up the room—that would attract some busybody’s attention—but he needed to see the entire room clearly for a change.
The bolts enabled him to do just that. Mardon surveyed everything… and found nothing.
Letting the last bolt fade, the Weather Wizard stood motionless. He waited and waited, but no one spoke, no one materialized.
The exertion was too much. His legs gave out under him. The Weather Wizard barely managed to keep himself from falling face first onto the floor. As it was he ended up on his knees with his nose only inches from the wood.
“Can’t let that happen when we go after them, Mark! Maybe the detective won’t be a problem, but you know that the Flash’ll take advantage of any mistake or hesitation! You can’t make a mistake if you’re going to avenge me, brother!”
“Clyde? Clyde?” The Weather Wizard shook his head in disbelief. “No… Clyde’s dead… The Flash and that detective did him in!”
“Revenge is something that can keep on going even after the last breath!” came his brother’s unmistakable voice. “That’s all you really need. Revenge… I want revenge, Mark… And you’ve got to get it for me.”
“This isn’t possible!”
At that moment, in a part of the room the Weather Wizard knew had been perfectly empty a moment ago, a vague shape formed. He stepped back in shock as the shape took on a more and more human appearance.
And he had no trouble recognizing the slightly shorter figure now only a couple of yards beyond.
“Clyde? No… You can’t be. You’re dead…”
Clyde rewarded him with that same wide mischievous smile Mark Mardon had lived with nearly all his life. “You’re one to talk. You were supposed to be dead after that crash.” His expression darkened. “You were supposed be or otherwise you’d have been there for me when that damned cop shot me!”
Mark winced. Clyde’s words expressed exactly how he himself always thought of the situation. It didn’t matter that the air crash had left the older brother with nearly every bone broken and in a coma for several weeks. All that mattered was that during that time Clyde had evidently discovered the same powers that his sibling had and had decided to use them. In typical Clyde fashion, he had made a grand spectacle of himself, drawing the attention of the police and the damned Flash.
“I couldn’t help it,” Mark rasped. “I really couldn’t, Clyde! I had nightmares the whole time I was in the hospital, nightmares of the plane, that weird explosion, and you! Always you! If I could’ve been there to protect you, I would’ve been!”
His brother smiled again. “Yeah. You would’ve. Well, you’re here now. You can teach ’em both. First the cop, then the Flash…”
Clyde reached out a hand to his sibling, and without thinking Mark took it… or tried to.
His hand went through Clyde’s.
Reality finally overtook the Weather Wizard again. His last comment echoed in his head. “You’re dead… Clyde… you’re dead…”
“Yeah, you said that before. You know, that can change too… if you really want it.”
Desperate curiosity overcame the Weather Wizard’s shock. His greatest failure had been not being able to save his brother. If he could change that, nothing else mattered. But once more, common sense fought to take over. “No… You’re dead. That can’t be changed.”
“What? You want me to stay that way? When you hold the key? I thought you’d do everything to have me back! You’ve been saying that since you woke up and found out! You still want that more than anything, don’t you? To have your little brother back?”
Guilt finally conquered. “Yeah—yeah, of course I do! Damn it, you should know that! But how?”
Clyde drifted around him. The younger brother shook his head. “Look at you! The great and powerful Weather Wizard! Maybe I am the smarter one! Mark… look at the storm last night! Look at the tidal wave you created the first time you came here! You would’ve destroyed the city if the Flash hadn’t interfered! Think of the power at our fingertips—the power you still have! You’re a damned god, Mark! You just need to harness your abilities even better…”
The Weather Wizard had to admit that Clyde wasn’t saying anything that he had not thought about before. That was why it had burned him so much to have been outwitted by the Flash.
“You just weren’t aware enough of your abilities yet,” his brother went on as he drifted back and forth. “Look what you did to Iron Heights! Man, I bet they never saw that coming!”
“I could’ve used that to bring you back? That’s all?” The Weather Wizard immediately summoned a miniature storm in front of him. He made the storm rise, drop, then grow to twice its original size. “Yeah…”
“That’s it, Mark! You’ve got it in you… Compress it all together, then stir it up! Go past what you’ve done before…”
The Weather Wizard focused. He’d summoned tidal waves and huge storms, but those couldn’t be used to bring his brother back. No, he needed to concentrate all that energy together just as Clyde had explained, then create such a primal force that surely it had to be enough to resurrect his brother.
“Keep at it, bro! Keep at it!”
Sweat already covered the Weather Wizard. His heart pounded faster and faster. He molded the energies he had gathered into a smaller and smaller volume. The strain of doing so quickly began to tell, but all Mark had to do was glance at his brother.
“Yeah, you’re doing it! You’re doing it!”
The Weather Wizard sensed that he could not hold the energies together much longer. He had already accomplished something he had not even thought himself capable of doing; now he had to use it before he los
t control.
Without a word, the Weather Wizard directed the energies toward Clyde. As he did, a wind stirred from that direction, a wind that swelled in strength as Mark fed the power into his brother.
An explosion of energy filled the room. The Weather Wizard ignored the pain with which both it and his efforts assailed him. All that mattered was to keep his gathered power circulating around Clyde.
“Yeah! Yeah!” Clyde roared.
The intense wind radiating from his brother’s location pushed the Weather Wizard back several inches. Mark gritted his teeth and pushed forward again.
Clyde howled with glee as the energies engulfed him. He faded into them, leaving only the condensed storm. Yet his triumphant howl continued.
The Weather Wizard fell to one knee. He gasped. Try as he might, he could find no more strength. Desperate, he let everything he had left fuel the storm a few precious seconds longer—
Mark collapsed. As he did, lightning crackled where Clyde had stood.
The Weather Wizard blacked out. He knew it was only for a moment, but still a new wave of guilt overtook him as he came round again. At some point during his unconsciousness, the tremendous wind had faded. Now there was only a tense stillness. Taking in several quick, deep gulps of air, Mark managed to push himself to a kneeling position. He tried to make out his brother, but between his blurred vision and a thick smoke covering that part of the room, he could see nothing.
Rubbing his face, Mark croaked out his brother’s name.
A figure coalesced in the smoke. The Weather Wizard blinked, clearing his gaze.
Clyde stepped out of the smoke. He did not look happy. Mark swore as Clyde rippled.
“You’ve let me down, Mark. You’ve let me down…”
“No!” The Weather Wizard spread his hands in apology. “No!” He looked back and forth as he tried to think. “No… it just… It just wasn’t enough. That’s it. Not enough…”
Clyde cocked his head. A slight chill breeze wafted over the Weather Wizard as his brother finally said, “Yeah, not enough… But how are you going to make it enough, Mark? How are you going to make up for everything?”
“I’m thinking…”
The Flash Page 4