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"All right, guys, say hello to our bus meta of the week, one who is unfortunately our last, Edwin Gauss." I introduce, gesturing to what was on the screen, "As we know, there's not much on him. No college history, no known addresses. Just a couple of backpacking photos on an old message board."

We were all at the cortex that day, after Harry had come up with a way to stop Devoe with some sort of tuning fork that had abilities like Izzy Bowen's, so we could catch Devoe off guard. A pocket dimension has opened, us all thinking it was Devoe, but surprisingly, it was our last bus meta.

I was dressed in a navy blue satin blouse, which was tucked into skinny black dress pants, my badge and holster attached to my belt, my hair straight, black heeled ankle boots on my feet.

"Old? Flip phones are old." Cisco corrects me, "This site is from the age of dial up. Try prehistoric."

"No digital fingerprint." Joe spoke, "Everything this guy owns is strapped to his back. He was off-grid before he was even a meta."

"That, and his powers are the reason we couldn't find him." I cross my arms, looking at everyone.

"And why there were 12 heat signatures on the bus, including the driver." Caitlin continues for me.

"Cisco, the way he appeared and disappeared-" Barry began.

Cisco cuts him off, "Pocket dimension."

"What? Like the Devoe kind?" Ralph questions.

"No, like the Edwin Gauss kind." Cisco pulls something up onto the screen, "You see, pocket dimensions, like the one you see here, are unique to their users. Just like Devoe can only enter or exit his, Gauss too is limited to his own pocket dimension."

"So why does Devoe need him?" Iris asks out of curiosity.

"Well, Devoe uses his chair to create pocket dimensions." I press my palms together, "If he has Edwin Gauss's powers, he won't need it anymore."

"Then we need to catch Gauss first." Joe nods.

"And we will." Harry walks in, holding his thinking cap, "Little late. Just tweaking the cap. Now, listen, locating this meta is not a task that we have to accomplish. Why is that, Harry? I'll tell you why. It's because we already have."

Harry sets the cap down and types away, pulling something up on the screen for us to see, "Yeah, this is the map that we constructed: Of all the pocket dimension activity throughout Central City."

"Right, but that's when we thought all the pocket dimensions belonged to Devoe." Caitlin spoke up, "Now we don't know whether they belong to him or to Gauss."

"And figuring out those distinctions, I'm sorry, but that's too big even for your britches, Harry." Cisco says.

"My britches are plenty big, okay? I fill my britches. Watch this, okay?" Harry types, "By simply tracking the two lanes of identifiers, cross-referencing the, uh, fluctuation migration patterns and the temporal displacement in the energy app, and I give you Edwin Gauss's pocket dimension activity."

Our eyes fall onto the screen, only a few red points on the map now, Harry softly speaking, "Ahhh, Harry. Harry is amazing."

"Yeah, okay, let's just split up and search each one for Edwin Gauss." I point, "Barry, you go with Ralph and Caitlin, Iris, tag along with Joe and Cisco, Harry-"

"I'll go with you." Harry nods.

I shook my head, "You hold down fort."

"Okay, I'll tweak the cap." Harry nods, grabbing his cap, leaving the room.

"Zee-" Barry catches my attention, "Tag along with us."

"All right."

-

"Guys- where are we?" Barry asks, as we walked through the forest, to the location, my eyes scanning the place.

"Looks like some sort of hippie commune." Caitlin mutters, my phone buzzing in my pocket.

I grab my phone, looking at the lit up screen, a text message from Cisco on the lock-screen.

:

I shove my phone back into my jacket pocket, my breathing visible in the air.

"Yeah, smells like one too." Ralph mutters, "Guys, I think I figured out Devoe's plan. He means to suffocate us with BO and incense."

"Okay, well, this is the last pocket dimension hotspot on our list, so just-" Barry pops a bubble that was in front of him, "Do you see Gauss anywhere?"

"Uh, unwashed flower child, have you seen this man?" Ralph stops and holds a picture in front of some man.

"Nope." He says, "I've seen the soul that belongs to this man. The dude's aura is a trip."

"Wait, so, you know Edwin Gauss?" I questioned for clarification.

"Sure do." He nods, "Round here, we call him the folded man."

"Folded man?" Barry questions the name.

"He's everywhere and nowhere but mostly, he's around here." He tells us, "Time for the reflection hike, everyone! Don't forget to leash your spirit animals!"

The man leaves us alone, everyone else following him, Ralph speaking up, "Literally already smells better."

"Okay, let's just search for Gauss." Barry puts his hands in his pockets, "Uh, stay in touch over the comms."

"Yeah, I will leash my inner animal and head south." I nod at them.

"I'll leash my inner-penguin and come along." Caitlin comes by my side.

"Be careful." Barry told us, before I nod at him, Caitlin and I searching for Gauss, making conversation every now and then.

Eventually, Caitlin and I had spotted Guass, chasing right after him, Caitlin speaking into the comms as we ran, "!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Gauss puts his hands up in surrender when he falls to the ground after Barry ran and stopped him, us all standing over him, "Easy, narcs. Hey- I give up."

"We're not cops." Barry tells him from beside me, "But you are in danger. We're here to protect you."

"Oh, righteous." Gauss nods, "Is that why you're- why you brought your ninja buddy?"

"What?" Barry questions, confusion falling over all of us.

All of a sudden, a sharp pain pierces right through where my chest and shoulder met, a gasp leaving my mouth, a arm wrapping around me, pulling me off the sword, throwing my body forwards, everything now moving in slow motion.

Barry's eyes are wide as he runs, circling around the Samuroid destroying it, running over to me, catching me bridal style.

I let out a grunt, breathing uneven, my hand going to where the pain was, that hand being covered in my own blood, Barry's eyes wide as ever as he stared, "God- ow-"