Absolute DC Part 2: Rogue Element by Red-Rum-18

At the Los Angeles, CA headquarters of STAR Labs, a special laboratory was set up years ago as the support center of The Flash, the speedster superhero also known by his real name Barry Allen. This support center and its staff expanded with the inclusion of Wally West, who gained his own speed powers years ago and later became the heroic Kid Flash. Members of the staff include Iris West, geneticist and Wally’s cousin, Chester Rulkin, police forensics expert and police liaison to the Flash, Cisco Ramon, expert in hacking and computer surveillance, Caitlin Snow, medical expert, and head geneticist Albert Desmond. After what was a routine medical examination headed by Dr.s Desmond and Snow, Flash and Kid Flash got a call from the police regarding an armored car heist. The two sped off to squash the attempt, but as this happened they started getting slower and slower until they could only move as fast as a normal person! With the crooks victorious and fleeing, Barry and Wally returned to STAR to figure out what happened to their speed. At the lab, Iris looked over Barry and Wally and determined that they were exposed to a new form of the drug Lazarus that began dampening both their resistance to friction and their metahuman metabolism. Barry realized how it could have happened and confronted Desmond and Snow. Snow grabbed a freeze gun confiscated from the villain Citizen Cold and attacked Wally with it, giving Desmond ample time to escape Barry and the rest of their team. Snow was captured, and Barry saw that Desmond’s wig fell off his head during the chaos, revealing to him a scar on his forehead that looks like the alchemical symbol for Mercury. In the team’s custody, Snow admitted that Desmond and her used the speedsters’ genetics to synthesize two serums that could give the user permanent speed powers. They planned on selling it to the highest bidder at an auction at Desmond’s mansion. Snow then escaped by dropping one of Citizen Cold’s ice grenades she hid in her sleeve. Barry, Wally, Iris, Chester, and Cisco began planning their heist of Desmond’s mansion to steal back the speed serums. Using Cisco’s skills, they found a large vault in the basement and figured that’s where the serums are being held. At the mansion, that night, Cisco and Chester blended into the crowd at the pre-auction party as Barry, Wally, and Iris snuck into the mansion behind the scenes to break into the vault. The vault door closed on them as they realized the serums aren’t there, and Desmond, now calling himself Dr. Alchemy, gloated to them over the intercom as the oxygen began draining and a bomb primed itself on the door, ready to blow if the door opened. As fast as they could, the team built a barricade of whatever they could find in the vault. Barry ran for the door to trigger the bomb and blast open the door, knowing very well he could die. When the dust of the blast settled, Barry was okay and hiding behind the barricade, realizing that his speed was returning ever so slightly. The Flash and Kid Flash, now reduced to periodic bursts of speed for each, attacked the auction to keep the serums out of the hands of Dr. Alchemist and the winning bidder, crime lord Augustus Heart. Cisco attempted to keep Heart from drinking both serums at the same time, but splashed a little of it on his skin as he failed. Heart fought Flash and Kid Flash until he became unable to sustain his material form, what with his molecular structure vibrating at such high frequencies, and he vanished. Cisco tripped on himself as he tried to chase Dr. Alchemy, but that caused a vibrational shockwave to ripple through the hall, making the ceiling drop on Desmond and trap him. With Dr. Alchemy in custody, Flash and Kid Flash eventually regained the full power of their speed and Cisco began mastering his vibration powers, intending on becoming a hero himself called “Vibe”.

Notes:
* Inspired by The Flash TV show.
* Caitlin Snow will return with her own ice-based weapons, going by the name “Killer Frost.”
* Augustus Heart is based on the villain “Godspeed”.