103 - Central City

The streets of the Central City were bathed in Sunlight,

The usual hum of the city replaced by the deafening roar of Chaos.

Citizens ran for cover as beams of ice, explosions and bursts of fire erupted through the air. The Rogues were on a rampage, after their failed attempt at robbing of Central City Bank. Even after their meticulous planning to make sure of the Scarlet Speedsters absence/

Barry Allen—The Flash—was nothing but a blur as he sprinted at an unimaginable speed. He zigzagged between the cold blasts from Captain Cold's gun, Tricksters explosive toys and heatwave's fiery sprouts.

"I need to stop them before they cause more damage," Barry muttered to himself, his suit's assistance showing a perfect trajectory to avoid the attacks and bring down the Rogue. But the Rogue had became more coordinated, smarter under Snort's leadership.

Captain Cold, Heatwave, Weather Wizard, Trickster retreated out the Bank while keeping the Scarlet speedster occupied. Weather Wizard raised his Staff, raising a blizzard and Lightning to deal with the police surrounding them.

The Rogue moved in synchrony, a plan in place. Captain Cold pointed his Cold gun at the officers.

"Stick to the plan," Cold said, his voice calm and cold. "We take down the Scarlet Speedster today."

Flash arrived just in time to rescue the officers from turning into popsicle. He didn't waste time as he roomed toward the Rogue, dodging the cascade of ice shards thrown his way by Cold, flame from heatwave and explosive pellets of Trickster.

He circled them, trapping them in the eye of red and yellow, hoping to disorient them.

But Cold remained unfazed.

"Think you're clever, Flash?" Cold taunted. "This ain't our first rodeo."

Weather Wizard raised his staff, his grin widening as he summoned a gale. The vortex began to destabilize as wind and lighting clashed with Flash's speed. Barry grunted, even as his suit absorbed stray lighting, avoiding cold's blast while the winds pushed against him.

"Can't let this go on," Flash decided.

In the blink of an eye, he bolted toward Weather Wizard and delivered a punch that sent his staff flying. He then spun on his heel, aiming for Heatwave. But just as he landed a punch on heatwave, a mirror shimmered in the corner of his eye.

"Too late, Flash!" Mirror Master's voice echoed as Flash was sucked into the reflective surface.

Flash felt his body being stretched, twisted, and warped. In an instant, He was trapped in a maze of mirrors. Reflection of himself and Rogues multiplying in every direction. Shards of inverted images floating about in the Mirror dimension.

"You are trapped, Flash," Mirror Master laughed, his distroted face appearing on the countless mirror shards. "There is no way out."

Flash could feel his heart pounding, the suit humming as it began vibrating. Flash followed by tapping into the Speed Force, vibrating his molecules while synchronizing the frequency with his suit. To his chagrin, it was not the first time imprisoning in Mirror.

His vision blurred, the air crackled with energy as the dimensional shackles loosed around his body.

Just as Barry was about to escape, Captain Cold's voice broke through the chaos, calm and calculating. "Now, Trickster!"

A small, ticking sound echoed through the maze of mirrors. Flash's eyes widened as he saw a series of explosive toys scattered on the ground around him.

"Surprise!" Trickster's gleeful voice rang out as the explosives detonated, shattering the mirrors and throwing Flash out of the maze with a violent force. He landed hard on the cold floor, his head spinning from the impact

For a moment, the world slowed down. Flash's ears rang as he struggled to get back on his feet, his vision blurry. The Rogues were regrouping, and he was vulnerable, caught unguarded in his escape.

"Ice him," Cold said, walking forward with his cold gun raised, a confident smirk on his face. "It's over, Flash."

A massive wall of ice erupted from Cold's gun, racing toward Barry. He barely had time to react, slipping just enough to avoid being completely encased. But it wasn't enough. The cold bit into his skin, and ice crystals formed along his suit.

Barry's legs felt heavy, his speed faltering. He was slowing down. "No… not now…" he whispered, trying to push himself forward.

"You can't outrun us forever," Cold continued, his gun charging for another blast. "You've always been fast, Flash, but we're smarter."

Barry's breath came in shallow gasps, the ice clinging to him like chains. But his new suit was already at work, melting the encasing ice. He reached for the Force withing him, vibrating his leg to break away.

But Captain Cold took no chance, firing his Cold gun to encase Flash in ice. Yet at the nike of time, Flash unbound from his chains, His figured blurred as he appeared a few feet away from the rough, steam rising from his suit.

***

The Rogues regrouped, ready for another dance.

Captain Cold's cold gun charged up. Heatwaves was already spewing fire toward the surrounding building, Trickster juggled his gadgets and Weather Wizard summoned swirling cloud above them.

"You got you cornered, Flash," Trickter taunted, smiling giddily. "Why don't you just give up?"

Flash could only frown, not at Tricksters remark but at the meter indicating his low energy. Even as the fastest man alive, he had forgotten to get his breakfast. He was always running.

Without warning, Heatwave staggered. His flames shooting erratically from his flamethrower, hitting Trickster's feet. causing him to yelp and hop out of the way. Heatwave's body stiffened, his movements mechanical and unnatural before he leaned forwards, going limp.

"Heatwave, what the hell are you doing?!" Captain Cold barked, eyes narrowing at his partner's erratic behavior.

Heatwave straighten, twisting his head unnaturally, turning his face to Cold with a chilling grin that was not his own. His eyes dilated and lifeless, almost dead-like. In a low. rasping voice, he muttered.

"Heatwave's not here, heheheh," He giggled like an adosolent girl.

The Rogues gulped, cold sweats forming on their backs.

Yet before they could process what was happening, Heatwave spun his flamethrower around and unleashed a torrent of flames, not at the Flash nor the building—but at his allays.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Trickster yelled, jumping behind a police car as the fire singed the air above him. "Are we turning on each other now? What is this, a family reunion?!"

Captain Cold hid behind the wall of Ice he created, while Weather Wizard used the wind to moved the fire away from him and Mirror Master escaped into the mirror dimension.

Cold's mind raced. This wasn't part of the plan. His eyes flickered to the rest of the Rogues. It wasn't a betrayal. It was something worse if he went by Heatwave's behaviour.

Heatwave let out a sinister laughter that sent shivers down Cold's spine. The flamethrower continued to spit fire wildly, scroching the police vehicles, melting Ice and Heating wind, forcing the Rogues to scatter. The Rogues regrouped behind the armored truck, away from the heat.

"I don't know what's going on," Cold growled, his gun aimed at the Frenzied Heatwave. "But I'm ending this now."

Just as Captain Cold fired a blast of freezing ray, Heatwaved turned and met with his flamethrower. With time bought, Heatwave twisted and dodged the blast with agile movements that should have been impossible for him.

But the Rogues were not done with their rogue member. Weather Wizard guided the lightning to hit heatwave, shocking him in place for Cold to ice him. Heatwave froze as Ice slowly crept up his body, slowly encasing him in coffin of ice.

"Now... that was fun," Heatwave said in a voice that wasn't his own. His eyes rolled back and slumped to the side like a stringless puppet.

The Rogues stood still, confused and unnerved.

"What the hell was that?" Weather Wizard asked, stepping forward cautiously, his staff crackling with electricity.

Before anyone could respond, Trickster let out a maniacal laugh.

"Oh, man! You guys are killing me!" He crackled, stepping out on to the open with a wide grin plastered on his face.

Cold turned to Trickster, his brows creasing into a frown. "What now?"

Trickster's attetuide didn't seem quite right. His body moved with exaggerated swagger. unnatural grave, his eyes glinting with dark mischief that wasn't typically his. The playful menace was gone, replaced with something... Darker.

"Trick or treat," Trickster grinned, and before cold could react, launched many of his explosive toys straight at Weather Wizard.

The explosion knocked Weather Wizard off his feet, sending his staff clattering across the street. Trickster laughed manically, twirling around as if this was all some grand performance.

"What the hell has gotten into everyone?!" Weather Wizard coughed, struggling to get up, only for Trickster to launch another bomb in his direction, forcing him to roll out of the way.

Cold fired his cold gun at Trickster, freezing the ground beneath him, but Trickster jumped with an agility that didn't belong to him, flipping mid-air and landing with unnatural precision.

"Great, just what we needed." Cold muttered under his breath, his eyes focused on Trickster and his antics.

Trickster danced above the car as he threw explosive at the crawling Weather Wizard, keeping him from reaching his staff. But before he could react, his legs froze. Cold walked out of his hiding, his gun aimed at Trickster. his eyes scanning the surrounding to find the root of this chaos.

"I don't know who you are," Cold muttered, firing his gun, icing his fellow Rogue. "But this is as far as you slide."

"Ow," Trickster looked offended as he playfully chucked more explosive at Weather Wizard despite the ice encasing him. "Tick or treat.,,"

Trickster was fully encased in ice, but Cold couldn't relax as he scanned to find the Scarlet in a state of confusion. His eyes quickly moved to the ruffled up Weather wizard. Weather Wizard gazed at Cold with the same amount of distrust and doubt as he lifted his Staff, ready to attack at a moments notice.

For a moment, there was silent as the Rogues started at each other. Then without a warning, Weather Wizard suddenly froze. His body stiffened, his staff raised to summon the storm.

"Shit!" Cold cursed as he rolled to avoid gale and took aimed at Weather Wizard. He didn't think twice before taking the shot.

But Weather Wizard avoided the ray by pushing himself with the wind.

"You're all mine. now." He spoke in a raspy stone, summoning a blizzard. His eyes glowed faintly as he pointed his staff toward Cold.

The very air shifted around Cold, cold winds whipping up as Weather Wizard summoned a vortex that lifted the vehicles around, ready to smash Cold to Coldpaste. Cold raised his gun defensively, but the winds pushed him around like a rag doll.

Lightning crackled in the sky, descending chaotically as it struck everything around it. One struck close to Cold, sending debris and molten tar. Cold ducked and rolled to avoid getting charred. One for him to see a lighting reaching to him.

Flash came in time, saving Cold just in time.

"What's happening?" Flash questioned as he carried Cold to safety.

"Something's possessing them," Cold shouted, his voice audible above the raging wind.

Flash's mind raced, trying to come up with a plan. Soon he did, dropping Snart a distance away from the vortex. He then immediately ran back, circling against the vortex. In a few seconds, Flash managed to create counter force to kill the Vortex.

Cold who understood Flash's flash of ispiration, took aim and fired his cold gun timely. Weather Wizard froze on the air. The wind stopped, the lightning ceased and everything went still with his defeat. Flash moved in time to catch the frozen Wizard.

Captain Cold, breathing heavily, looked around. The street was eerily quiet. The Rogues were all down—Heatwave, Trickster, and Weather Wizard iced by his own gun. He was the last one standing.

"Where are you?!" Cold demanded, his shouting in indignation.

There was a long pause, and then, from behind Cold, came a whisper—a cold, spine-chilling whisper.

"Here,"

Cold whirled around, his heart drumming in his ear.

*boom boom boom*

Standing right behind him, a transparent gray figure, its singular eyes staring into Cold's soul.

"You," Cold whispered, his voice trembling. "What... what are you?"

Ghostfreak floated closer, his twisted grin widening. "I'm the thing that goes bump in the night. And tonight... you're my prey."

Cold stumbled back, his cold gun slipping from his hand. The Ghostfreak extended its appendage, touching cold on his head, sending a shiver down his spine. The villain who was normally so composed, so calm, was frozen in pure terror.

Ghosfreak leaned close, meeting Colds shaking eyes.

"Boo!" He revealed the eldritch horror within the gray shell. 

Tentacles with white stripes tore out of Ghostfreak's ethereal skin, reaching for Cold, wraping him in their deadly grip. Cold's heart stopped in pure terror, his brain froze, his already tense nerved snapped. Darkness overtook his vision as his body collapsed to the ground, foam forming in his mouth.

"You and your friends were fun," Ghostfreak said, floating above Cold. "But playtime's over."

With a final, chilling laugh, Ghostfreak phased Cold and vanished from the sight.

Flash who watched all this rushed to Cold's side, despite freezing at the sight of the ghost. He checked Cold's vital, which were low but steady, he scanned the rest to assure that they would survive. All the Rogues were down, with the exception of mirror master. A ghost took them all out and vanished.

Flash's day couldn't get weirder.

"Flash," A voice called, one that he recognized. "Fastest Man alive, yet can't catch his breakfast."

Zion stood with a wide smile, his hands holding the out cold Mirror Master. Flash quickly realized something—the ghost. "It was you?!"

Zion just answered him with a wink before he throwing Mirror Master next to Cold.

"Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind — Ecclesiastes 4:6."