Hunting for Mardon

Caitlin announced, "I've reconfigured S.T.A.R. Labs' satellite to alert us of any abnormal weather patterns."

"Good!" Elon praised the clever strategy, just as sharp as the original plan.

A silence ensued for several minutes.

"..." Elon broke the silence, "What's our next move?"

"Wait," Caitlin said earnestly.

"For what?" Cisco asked, puzzled.

Caitlin replied with a hint of resignation, "We can only wait for the metahuman to use his powers. That's the only way we'll detect his location."

"Oh no, I'm not keen on just waiting for the Weather Wizard to show up. I'd rather go fix the Flash suit; that darn Weather Wizard really did a number on it," Cisco complained before leaving the control room to repair the damaged suit.

"Although I'd like to get back to my work, we're stuck without a target. Give me a call if there's any news. I'm heading to the training room to munch on some energy bars," Elon said, also exiting the control room.

This left Caitlin and Dr. Wells alone, exchanging looks. Dr. Wells smiled and said, "Go ahead with your tasks, Caitlin. I'll keep watch here."

Caitlin then went to the infirmary to check on Barry.

The energy bars, crafted by Cisco, were twenty-centimeter-long liquid-filled tubes the size of a finger, packed with highly concentrated electric charges. The taste, however, was another story; sucking on them felt like slurping mucus to Elon, a rather disgusting experience.

Having expended more energy fending off injuries to protect Cisco and Barry than in actual combat, Elon had only used a handful of electric blasts and a single lightning spear. A couple of energy bars were enough to replenish his strength.

In the training room, Elon swept away the iron sand that had leaked from the punching bags, the remnants of his demonstration of electric current rays to Dr. Wells. The room was relatively clean as he hadn't used it in a couple of days. After tidying up, he sat down cross-legged in the vast space.

Closing his eyes, he tuned into the faint presence of the Speed Force that had stabilized since Barry's condition had. The times he had accessed the Speed Force mode had left him yearning for more; the world seemed to freeze, creating an illusion that he was the only real entity in a world of NPCs. The surreal 'reality' was intoxicating.

It was an addictive power, one that the characters from the TV show, Zoom and Savitar, couldn't renounce. Even the masquerading Dr. Wells would find it impossible to give up such a heady ability.

Elon had only experienced the Speed Force for a few seconds, but it wasn't truly his to command. It was like reaching out to touch a phantom; his hand would pass right through, unable to grasp something from another dimension. The Speed Force was inherently connected to Barry, elusive to Elon's control.

Frustration gripped him as he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. It was infuriating to be so close to such a game-changing power, yet unable to wield it. If he could harness the Speed Force, he could traverse timelines, maybe even return to the vortex that brought him here. But without it, he faced a long wait for Barry to awaken.

After stewing in his frustration, Elon had to accept the reality: the Speed Force was not his to command. Relaxing his fists, he adjusted his mood and opened his eyes, which sparked with electricity. Activating his super-speed thinking, he picked up a tablet and continued his study of black holes, wormholes, and other physics knowledge pertinent to finding his way home.

There was more than one way to solve a problem, and Elon couldn't rely solely on Barry. He had to make his own efforts, approaching the issue from multiple angles.

He studied until 7 PM, with no alerts from the satellite and no word from Joe. It wasn't until 8 PM that Joe arrived in his police car.

"Elon, let's go. Mardon has three potential hideouts, and he might be at one of them."

Elon quickly briefed Wells and the others before hopping into the police car with Joe.

"You took your time, an entire day just to find Mardon's possible hideouts?" Elon chided.

"You should feel lucky I managed to find his addresses from a pile of nearly destroyed death records," Joe retorted.

The first location they checked was a chaotic residential building in a predominantly black neighborhood. In apartment 3308, they found moldy leftovers, a sign that Mardon had been there a few days prior but had since moved on. Joe took note of the location and alerted patrolling officers to keep an eye out before moving on to the next site.

The second site was an eerie, haunted villa in the suburbs, void of any human presence or recent footprints. Joe crossed it off his list as a place not worth their attention.

Feeling fatigued, Joe announced, "The last place is a farm to the west of the city."

Elon's eyes lit up. Wasn't that the farm from the TV series where Mardon was hiding? He regretted not asking Joe for the locations earlier. They had wasted the whole evening driving around.

Arriving at the farm, Elon extended his magnetic senses, detecting human life signs. Unfortunately, upon inquiry, they found only a middle-aged farmworker, a thin man in his forties.

Joe showed the worker Mardon's picture. "Do you recognize this man?"

The worker's eyes darted away as he mumbled, "No, I don't."

Suspicion arose between Joe and Elon, and as they exchanged glances, the worker suddenly pushed Joe and attempted to flee.

Elon took a few strides and tripped the man, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Joe drew his gun and pointed it at him. "Don't move, stay down. Where's Mardon?"