"Give me a second," The Flash said, holding up his index finger as his phone rang.
In front of him stood a man pointing a gun at his head. The man looked confused, this had never happened before.
"Iris, do you need something?" The Flash answered, recognizing her call.
"I need your help with my paper. Are you free tomorrow to go to the Stagg Industries?" Iris asked. "Simon Stagg will be giving a speech, and I want to try interviewing him."
Meanwhile, the man in front of him grew impatient. His finger twitched, ready to pull the trigger.
But before he could, The Flash disarmed him in an instant, snatching the gun and tossing it aside. Then, he pressed a finger to his own lips, signaling the man to stay quiet.
"Hmm, sure," The Flash replied to Iris, just as the man threw a punch. The Flash dodged effortlessly.
"Alright," Iris said, smiling. She was glad he hadn't ignored her this time.
The Flash effortlessly avoided the man's rapid punches, a one-two combo that never stood a chance.
"Then..." The Flash ended the fight with a single punch to the man's chin, knocking him unconscious. "See you later."
"See you later. Bye," Iris said before hanging up.
The Flash looked down at the unconscious man and sighed. "I don't get some people. He already saw I have super speed. Why even try?"
He checked his phone. He still had about 10 minutes left on his lunch break.
"Guess I have time," he muttered.
He grabbed the gunman and dropped him off in front of the CCPD. Then, he spent the next five minutes running through the city, helping people in need.
Afterward, he changed back into his work clothes, stopped by CC Jitters for a drink, and bought an entire cake. Barry finished both in under two minutes before heading back to work.
Just as he turned on his computer, a police officer walked in. "Captain needs you at the crime scene."
"Got it," Barry said, gathering his tools before following the officer.
At the scene, he show his credentials before stepping past the tape. Inside the shop, he approached the area where the crime had occurred. A dead body lay on the ground, surrounded by multiple footprints.
Several items appeared to have been stolen.
Barry pulled on gloves and knelt down, beginning his examination.
As Barry continued his examination, Captain Singh arrived.
"So, Barry," Captain Singh called to him.
Barry looked up. "It's a crew. About ten people. But with the evidence we have, it's nearly impossible to identify any suspects."
Just then, Joe walked in.
"Hey, Joe," Barry said, stepping past the crime scene tape.
"What did you find?" Joe asked.
"It's a crew, probably planning more crimes since most of what they stole were guns and ammo," Barry said. "They might have taken some money too."
Eddie arrived with a tablet, showing security footage. "This is what I got from the surveillance team."
"There's only one person in sight," Eddie said.
Barry studied it, then asked, "What about the footage from outside the shop?"
"Good idea. Joe and Eddie, go to the surveillance team and find more footage," Captain Singh said.
Joe and Eddie left the scene. Before Joe walked away, he patted Barry's shoulder. "We'll talk later, Barry."
"Got it," Barry said.
"And Barry, check with the other forensic teams to see if there are any leads in this shop," Captain Singh said before leaving the crime scene.
Barry nodded.
A few hours later, seeing he still had time, he went straight to the library to refresh his knowledge.
As he researched, he also worked on harnessing tachyon particles into a device to enhance his speed. He used his super speed discreetly, avoiding cameras and witnesses.
'Damn, this is complicated as hell,' Barry thought.
He was halfway to understanding how to build a tachyon harness.
About an hour later, he realized how late it was. He returned to the CCPD to finish his reports. Just as he was about to leave, Eddie entered the forensic lab.
"There's a new case," Eddie said. "Follow me, we might need your help. Someone just reported finding a corpse."
"Alright," Barry said, grabbing his tools.
Eddie drove, with Barry in the passenger seat, to the New Lantern Motel.
"Barry, can I ask you a question?" Eddie said.
"Go ahead," Barry replied, still reading a research paper.
"Do you like Iris?" Eddie asked out of curiosity.
"No. And it's weird as hell, I'm her adoptive brother. There's no way I'd ever have a relationship with her," Barry said.
Eddie chuckled. "Just wanted to know. That's all."
Noticing Barry absorbed in his reading, Eddie asked, "What's that you're looking at?"
"Research on expanding and shrinking tech from Palmer Technologies," Barry said.
The rest of the drive passed in silence, and soon, they arrived at the motel.
An ambulance was parked outside, and a person sat nearby, trembling under a towel. Barry took note of them but followed Eddie inside.
The motel room's hinges were broken, the door lying on the floor.
What they saw next shocked them.
A corpse leaned against the wall, blood splattered behind it.
The body had been grotesquely altered, its face distorted, limbs mismatched, as if some horrific experiment had gone wrong. The childlike clothing it wore made the scene even more disturbing.
Barry felt nauseous. He looked away for a moment before forcing himself to examine it.
The corpse's face was stitched with a porcelain doll-like mask. A single, perfectly placed bullet hole marked its forehead.
Steeling himself, Barry pulled on black gloves and knelt beside the body. Using tweezers from his kit, he inspected the stitches. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and checked the rest of the modifications.
"What's the story?" Eddie asked, also visibly unsettled, turning to the officer who had arrived earlier.
"Whatever this... thing is, it attacked the person renting this room. In self-defense, they shot it," the officer explained.
Eddie nodded. "Barry, have you seen anything like this before?"
"No, but I think I know who's behind it," Barry said, standing and wiping his tweezers before putting them away. "Recently, I've been reviewing cases in and outside Central City. This matches Professor Pyg's work, same stitches, same methods."
"Inform the captain," Eddie told the officer.
Barry exhaled sharply. "I need some air."
"Go ahead," Eddie said, understanding.
As Barry left the room, he noticed the person under the towel was gone. He rushed to a medic.
"Where's the person who was sitting here?"
"In the restroom," the medic replied. "Why?"
But Barry's instincts screamed that something was wrong. He jogged toward the restroom, then once out of sight switched to super speed, scanning the area.
Deep in the nearby woods, he spotted a figure carrying the victim over their shoulder.
Barry sprinted up and delivered a precise strike to the back of the kidnapper's head, knocking them out instantly. He caught the victim before they could fall.
"Thank God I got to you in time," Barry muttered as he checked the person's vitals first. "Okay, not dead. Good."
Then he called Eddie.
"Barry? What's up?" Eddie answered.
"I found the same thing the victim shot down," Barry said.
"What?! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I used a taser. The suspect's unconscious."
"I'm on my way," Eddie said. "Where are you?"
"The forest behind the motel," Barry replied.