(The Flash) Frozen Flashpoint: Chapter 19 – Speed Isn’t Enough

Chapter 19 – Speed Isn’t Enough

Summary: The fight against DeVoe's forces has begun. How will it end, and what will the consequences be?

“Shit. Kevin, Mike, deal with the mini-boss and boss. I’ll complete our quest,” Simon spat and began running toward the building behind Barry.

Barry was about to stop him when the tall meta, Kevin—Barry thinks Simon called him—stood in his way.

Wanting to end the battle as quickly as possible, Barry used his super-speed to punch the man in the face, only to feel his hand break as if he had hit a wall.

Barry jumped back and noticed the man’s skin had become the same color as a bare cement wall, and where Barry punched him, a few cracks appeared, like a dent in a wall.

Kevin gave him a sharp smile. “Sorry, man, but my power is the perfect defense. Nothing’s getting through me.”

Barry had another idea to try. He began running around the criminal in circles. Kevin snorted and called out, “Nah, man, surprise attacks won’t do you any good. Once I activate it, my power stays on until I shut it down. And it’s my entire skin too.”

Barry hesitated for a moment before spinning in place and launching a lightning bolt at the hardened man’s chest.

Kevin just stood there and took the hit. The lightning reached his skin without leaving any damage. The criminal laughed, showing his sharp teeth. “You’re supposed to be smart, man. My skin’s not so different from cement right now. It isn’t conductive.”

Barry frowned. He needed a little more time to consider his next move, so he asked, “Why are you doing this? What do you have to gain from breaking into a research facility?”

Kevin shrugged. “I just want to prove I’m the manliest man there is. Nothing else.”

Okay, Barry wouldn’t even try to understand what the hell that was supposed to mean. Instead, he asked, “And how does any of this prove that?”

Kevin waved his hand dismissively. “Oh, stealing stuff doesn’t. But I knew sooner or later one of you heroes would show up, and I’d get the chance to beat you into a pulp to prove how manly I am.”

Then the red-haired man laughed. “I’m actually happy you showed up tonight. I was worried it’d take a while before I got a shot at a hero.”

With that said, the man began charging at Barry. Barry used his speed to get out of the way.

Kevin clicked his tongue and said, a little annoyed, “Well, we’re at an impasse. You can’t hit me, and I’m too slow to hit you. At least my skin isn’t made of metal, or you’d have finished me off already.”

Saying that reminded Barry of his first year as the Flash and how his old bully could turn into a metal man. Barry hadn’t been able to throw lightning yet, but instead he used...

Barry smiled slowly before running back toward the city. Once he was sure he had moved at least five miles away, he turned around and used his top speed to rush back toward the fight.

When Kevin noticed him, he put his fists on his waist and struck a pose while laughing. “Another chance at a punch, huh? Give it your all, man.”

With his right hand still broken from his previous attempt, Barry pulled back his left fist. Just before he reached the hard-skinned meta, a loud boom sounded from behind him, proof he had broken the sound barrier.

In his head, Barry heard Cisco’s voice shouting, “Sonic punch, baby!”

Kevin’s eyes widened when he heard the boom, and he began to move, but it was too late. Barry’s punch connected with his gut, breaking through the hard shell of his skin and reaching the soft layer underneath.

The red-haired criminal was thrown to the edge of the parking lot, where he lay curled up in an unmoving ball.

Barry glanced at Lyra, watching her speed-punch Bran between explosions. But why was she using this tactic? Why wasn’t she using her cold powers? Something was off about the whole thing. He was about to intervene when a yelp from behind him caused him to turn and check on Jessie.

The genius speedster was running in odd patterns around the short meta. Now that Barry looked more closely, he noticed that the man had pulled back the sleeves of his hoodie, revealing arms covered in what looked like a purple rash.

Each time Jessie managed to get close, the short man would pass his hand along his arms, gathering a layer of the rash to throw at her. But his attacks always fell short, landing on the floor instead.

The man seemed to grow annoyed by the game of cat and mouse. He pulled back his hood to reveal purple hair slicked back with gel. He moved both hands through his hair to gather some of the gel.

He threw the gel balls simultaneously, one aimed at Jessie and the other lower and to her left. To Barry’s horror, Jessie moved left to avoid the first ball, stepping right into the second one.

Jessie frowned and tried to pull her leg away, but it wouldn’t budge—the gel had fixed her in place. The speedster tried to phase through it but failed.

The short man, Mike, laughed creepily. “My gel’s so sticky, nothing can escape once it touches it. It sticks to the cells of your skin or the fibers of your clothes. So, either you stay there, or you lose that lovely suit and give us a real show.”

Jessie stopped struggling, a deep blush spreading across her cheeks. Barry noticed Mike walking barefoot over the purple substance now coating the floor with ease, advancing toward her.

Barry ran forward to punch him, but when his leg touched the purple stuff, it stuck too.

Mike chuckled as Barry looked at him with outrage and explained, “My skin’s the anti-matter of my power, so I can’t be affected by it as long as it’s my skin, not shoes. Sorry, not sorry.”

Barry growled, but before he could think of a retort, the doors to the building opened again, and Simon’s voice called out, “I completed the quest. Time to use the exit point.”

Barry turned to see Simon waving a device in his hand. Then Barry’s blood froze when he heard Mike’s next words: “Just another minute, Simon. Let me have at least a little fun with this hot speed lady.”

Jessie screamed, “Stay away from me, damn pervert!”

Barry watched as the short man raised his hands to Jessie’s chest and kept walking toward her while she desperately surrounded herself with lightning, hoping it would be enough.

Without thinking, Barry began vibrating as fast as he could, hoping the vibrations would break the compound of the purple gel. Though he knew it wouldn’t be fast enough.

Simon was about to say something, and Barry was about to call Lyra for help, but then a breach opened in the middle of the parking lot, and two icicles shot out of it.

One was aimed at the device Simon was waving. Hitting its target, the device flew from Simon’s hand and hit the ground, shattering into small, frozen pieces.

The second icicle embedded itself in Mike’s leg, causing him to fall to the ground, howling in pain.

Out of the breach stepped Frost, her eyes glowing blue with fury, and Cisco, his usual cheerful face now frowning.

Simon began scratching his neck again and screaming, “You cheater! You’re cheating! You can’t bring more NPCs when the mission’s over. No, no, that’s not fair!”

Lyra seemed to notice the scream and ran back toward them. She ran circles around Barry, cooling down the substance on his leg before a small charge of lightning shattered it. Lyra then did the same for Jessie, who murmured, “Thanks, Speedstorm.”

The future teen didn’t reply, instead turning her glare toward the two remaining criminals. Both were standing next to each other, glaring at the heroes.

The five heroes created a line of their own and glared back. But before either side could make a move, an orb of blue light appeared behind the criminals, and a moment later, DeVoe was there.

He floated in his chair, but what was more worrying was the robotic arm extending from behind the chair, wrapping itself around a man in a black tracksuit with long dark hair, who kept glaring at DeVoe.

Simon was the first to speak. “Professor, they cheated! I completed the mission and was about to reach the exit point when the NPCs came out of nowhere and destroyed my win.”

The man in the chair frowned. “That’s very disappointing,” was all he said.

After another moment, he turned to the heroes and said, “It looks like I must teach you a lesson, Flash. It is my duty as an educator, after all.”

Barry scowled and asked, “And what lesson is that?”

There was a sadistic smile on the man’s face as he replied casually, “Standing in my way will bring you nothing but loss.”

A shockwave traveled down the metal arm, causing the man trapped in it to startle and his eyes to turn red.

Barry tried to speed forward and rescue the man but realized he couldn’t feel his speed anymore. A glance around at the others confirmed they were experiencing the same thing.

DeVoe laughed, and Barry turned to the floating man just in time to hear him explain, “This meta is just delightful. His stare releases light waves that suppress the meta-abilities of anyone he looks at.”

That was bad. And then Bran and Simon began to laugh, with Simon calling gleefully, “You’re not the only ones with cheat mods, Flash.”

That seemed to break whatever resolve Lyra had, and the future teen ran toward the two criminals.

Barry was shocked and quickly tried to run after her, but without his speed, he was much slower than his daughter.

Bran and Simon smirked and raised their fists, ready to beat the girl bloody. They might have lost their powers too, but they were outnumbering her. A girl who had powers her entire life probably—

Before he could finish that thought, Barry froze mid-run, his brain stalling at the sight in front of him.

Lyra ducked under Simon’s punch before she uppercut him, sending him a few steps backward, dazed.

Then she caught Bran’s punch and spun on one leg, using the other to kick him in the ribs, sending him to his knees, clutching his midsection and struggling to breathe.

Kevin tried to surprise her from behind, but she flipped him over her head, landing him headfirst on the floor, knocking him out.

That’s when Barry realized why it looked so familiar to him. Lyra was fighting like Oliver. The same style and the same brutality.

She stood straight again and turned back toward Simon, her body already poised for the next attack, just like Oliver would. But when she saw Simon’s hand coming toward her, she froze, her eyes dimming almost completely.

With no choice, Frost stomped her right foot on the ground. A path of ice leading just in front of Lyra formed, and at the end of it, a wall of ice rose from the ground, hitting Simon in the head on its way up, knocking the third criminal down.

In the next breath, Frost stomped her left foot, creating a glacier of ice sharp enough to cut through the metal arm of DeVoe’s chair, freeing the bound man, who immediately closed his eyes.

Barry felt his speed return. He looked at Lyra and saw her still in the same state as before—frozen, with dim eyes.

Suddenly, Bran shot to his feet and pulled his elbow back, aiming his arm toward the frozen Lyra.

Without thinking, Barry rushed forward and punched Bran in the face, breaking a few teeth and finally knocking the last criminal team member out.

“How can you still use your powers?” DeVoe growled at Frost, who just smirked back at him.

DeVoe looked around at the four people he had sent to retrieve the broken device—all of them defeated and useless. The prisoner was now hiding behind a sharp ice wall, and all the heroes were ready to fight.

“How could another plan of mine fail so miserably?!” he snarled, a mad glint in his eyes.

Before any of the heroes could act, DeVoe pressed a button on his chair, and he was gone.