Ch - 54 Emotions?

Although Barry and Harrison Wells had granted Tony his freedom, as Barry had emphasized, he would remain under surveillance. And under surveillance he was for the past few weeks.

Indeed, several weeks had passed since Blackout—Cisco's codename for Farooq—wreaked havoc at S.T.A.R. Labs. During the lab's repair period, Tony, who was constantly monitored, defied expectations. He caused no incidents and refrained from any illegal activities. Instead, Tony took up honest work at construction sites, earning an honest living.

But enough about Tony. These weeks weren't all about him. On the night of Farooq's death and Tony's release, Barry, having just regained his powers, was extremely worried about Joe, Iris, and the people held hostage at CCPD. After informing the team and apologizing for his sudden departure, he donned his superhero suit and rushed out of S.T.A.R. Labs to help them.

Upon Barry's return, he found Cisco, Caitlin, Swayam, and even Harrison Wells cleaning up the mess caused mainly by Farooq's attack. Seeing how slow their progress was compared to his speed, Barry decided to step in. Using his superspeed, he tidied up the lab in seconds. Once the cleanup was somewhat complete, they placed Farooq's body in a body bag and stored it in the metahuman prison, the pipeline.

***

As the days passed, everyone became increasingly busy with their own lives. But, like any good story, just when the protagonists found a moment of peace, something unexpected demanded their attention—and that's exactly what happened with Barry.

On what seemed to be a calm day, when everyone had just begun to stabilize emotionally after the Farooq incident, another metahuman attack occurred.

This metahuman had a unique ability: he could influence, amplify, or manipulate people's emotions, making them aggressive and causing them to attack anyone nearby. That was the information Barry provided to the team after returning to S.T.A.R. Labs, having secretly overheard the statements of victims from a bank robbery who had been influenced by the metahuman's powers.

When Barry shared this information, Harrison Wells began, "Anger, hate, aggression..." But before he could continue, Cisco, ever the Star Wars fan, interrupted, imitating Yoda's voice: "A Jedi craves not these things." After finishing Harrison's sentence, Cisco looked around to see if anyone caught the reference. Sure enough, Swayam facepalmed, signaling he understood. Feeling proud, Cisco crossed his arms, smirked, and said, "At least someone got the reference."

Just because only Swayam reacted didn't mean no one else understood it. Everyone was simply too focused on the seriousness of the situation to be amused. Ignoring Cisco, Barry turned back to Harrison Wells, eager for him to continue. Barry added more details about the metahuman's power, explaining, "Everyone at the bank went savage for about five minutes, then suddenly, they were fine again."

Harrison Wells pondered this new information for a few moments before speaking. "Anger can be a very powerful emotion, as we saw firsthand with Farooq Gibran. His anger directly affected his lightning. If this new metahuman can evoke irrational feelings of anger in his victims, he could do serious damage."

At that moment, Caitlin returned from CCPD, carrying a USB drive. She held it up and said, "Detective West helped me get a copy of the CAT scans taken of everyone at the bank. Take a look." She plugged the drive into the computer and displayed the scans on the large monitor.

After examining the scans, Harrison Wells pointed out, "Look at this—the emotional centers of their brains still show signs of being overwhelmed."

Caitlin, an expert in biology, clarified for everyone, pointing to the affected areas of the brain. "It's particularly the area that controls executive function. That's the part of the brain that prevents people from acting on random, potentially destructive impulses."

Barry, paying close attention, asked Caitlin, "Do you have any idea how the metahuman is doing this?"

Despite her expertise, Caitlin shook her head. "That's the half-million-dollar question."

As she finished speaking, Barry's phone buzzed with a notification from Iris, requesting a meeting with the Flash. Barry quickly responded, saying, "Hey, if you guys figure it out, just give me a call, okay?" Without waiting for a reply, he donned his suit and sped out of S.T.A.R. Labs.