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Chapter 3: Behind Bars
It was an unusually bright and sunny day in Central City. The city was buzzing with sound coming from the many citizens who were enjoying the hot weather out on the streets. Not only that, but some of the city's worst criminals were soon to be incarcerated. It hasn't been for a long time that Central City, and many others, were plagued with the presence of costumed super criminals. But if you were lucky you would have a costumed vigilante there to protect you. This city in particular was gifted of having 'the Scarlet Speedster' there to protect them. The Flash had in very little time made sure that Central City was safe. Everyone was happy, except for the defeated of course.
Mark Mardon, a member of the super criminal group called The Rogues, was one of those defeated. Going by the identity Weather Wizard he earned much money in the company of The Rogues. But one thing was clear to him when he became part of the group, The Rogues takes what they want but they never ever kill. He proudly stood by that code. But in recent events his fellow team mates were arrested for committing the type of crime they agreed they would never commit, or at least tried to. In a struggle with The Flash they were arrested and accused of trying to murder the city's beloved guardian. Luckily for Mardon he wasn't there at the moment, and if he was he would surely have been arrested as well. His first instinct was to flee the city or even the country. Mexico sounded nice to him, Canada too if he had to. But then he changed his perception of the event and decided to see if The Rogues were to be released or not while he hid.
Disguising himself in a long grey coat and a black hat and sunglasses, he roamed the streets of Central City on this sunny day. He stopped in front of a shop-window to look at several TV screens that all showed the local news.
"In recent news, an extraordinary thing happened just a few days ago that we have been following on the show." The news anchor said. She was a young woman with short cut blonde hair and a look of seriousness on her face. The show’s logo, CC News, sat on the wall behind her. "Central City's own vigilante, The Flash, tried to stop a burglary at the Central City Bank when he was, at first, seemingly disposed of by the criminals known as The Rogues. It wasn’t until later we acquired footage from…well, the atmosphere.”
A small screen appeared at her side, covering most of the big logo, which at first didn’t show anything but noise. The screen clicked and then revealed video footage taken by a satellite in the Earth’s orbit. It first recorded the Earth below but then moved to reveal the International Space Station. The news anchor continued her report as the screen at her side took over the whole TV screen.
“It has been calculated that just mere seconds after The Flash’s disappearance the International Space Station suffered from brief power failure. We are fortunate to have this footage.” The news anchor stopped talking as one of the station’s sun arrays suddenly flickered and something electric shot from it. The screen paused and zoomed in at the electric bolt. “As we can see here, this disturbance was somehow The Flash, possibly being moved from the bank to the ISS with the use of Mirror Master’s mirror manipulating abilities.” The news anchor said. The screen was muffled but slowly it cleared and revealed The Flash, seemingly unconscious, with electricity protecting him. “After this we didn’t know what could have happened to The Flash, until he crashed into our city.”
"Hell of a thing, huh?" A person who stood next to Weather Wizard said. But Mardon hadn't heard anyone standing next to him, so in an act of surprise he brought forth his blue wand and summoned several strong winds, so strong they would knock any person to the ground. Though people on the streets reacted to the sudden commotion, the person in front of Mardon wouldn't budge. Instead he put his hand in front of him and with a stern expression he started talking.
"Mr. Mardon, my name is Barry Allen." Barry Allen said to the still surprised Mark Mardon. "I represent The Flash."
"Oh no. No, no, no. If The Flash wants to kill me he can come here himself." Mardon burst.
"Kill you?" Barry retracted his hand as he understood his gesture of friendliness wouldn't be answered. "You should know that The Flash knows that you're not guilty. He knows that The Rogues are no murderers." The winds suddenly stopped as Mardon lowered his wand.
"Why should I trust you?" Mardon asked Barry.
"I don't know." Barry stated. It was silent for a few seconds as Barry thought. "I can buy you breakfast!"
Later
Mardon had reluctantly agreed to follow Barry to the small diner a few blocks away. Now Mardon sat and devoured pancakes soaked in syrup with fried bacon. He wore his sunglasses indoors and his collar was popped up. Barry sat across from him, observing him while he ate, and waiting patiently for his eggs and toast to arrive. Barry coughed loudly, though Mardon didn't seem to have heard anything. Barry coughed again.
"You don't seem to have eaten for days." Barry said in an effort to break the silence.
"Big appetite." Mardon managed to say between the bites. "Why are you doing this, instead of calling the police?"
"I...well, The Flash wanted to show a friendly approach." Barry answered.
"And he let you pay for breakfast?" Mardon asked. "That guy is colder than I imagined."
"No, it's fine. Believe me. I'm happy to do it. All for the sake of proving The Rogues' innocence." Barry explained.
"And who are you, again? Is lawyer?" Mardon asked Barry as a young waitress, who loudly chewed some bubble gum, placed Barry's plate on the table with white fried eggs and two pieces of golden toast.
"No. I'm a forensic scientist." Barry said. Mardon dropped his fork loudly on the almost empty plate, syrup splashing as it hit the surface, before quickly standing up.
"You're a freaking' cop or something?!" Mardon burst before heading for the exit.
"Weather Wizard, where's the loot?" Barry managed to say before he could have walked too far. The question managed to make Mardon stop in his tracks.
"So this is what this is about, eh? He wants the loot?" Mardon said as he spun around to face Barry again.
"Yes, in a way. What you five did is against the law, even though you’re no murderers." Barry said. "He, and I, wants to know because the right thing to do is to return it."
"Why should I care?" Mardon asked, grabbing the door handle tightly as if he was ready to leave in any second. Barry took a small bite from the toast (he wasn't that hungry).
"Because you’re so called friends are awaiting trial while you roam free out here. With the loot somewhere safe I can imagine. Are you going to leave your friends in jail? Going somewhere else perhaps. Canada? Or something more exotic? Is that what you call team loyalty?"
"Damn." Mardon muttered before letting go of the door handle. "What now?" He asked.
"We need to talk with Captain Cold." Barry answered.
An hour later, Iron Heights
"Five minutes!" The guard outside the metal door said. He wore grey clothes and a black cap, with the word 'guard' emblazoned on it. He carried a black stick with a switch on the side. Luckily the switch pointed at the word 'off'.
"Don't worry." Barry said. "Time is not a problem." He headed for the door and grabbed the metal bar door handle.
"Not him!" The guard said as he raised his black stick to stop Mardon, who were still disguised, from following Barry inside.
"Hey, what gives?" Mardon burst. "The lady up front told us we could both go in!"
"You can. But one at a time." The guard explained.
"It's okay. Wait outside. If you feel like you need to go in I'll wait for you too." Barry said as he looked back to see the negative look Mardon gave the guard and then himself.
"Fine." Mardon muttered and started walking back through the hallway. "I don't need to see him. Tell him I like his orange jump suit!"
"How do you know he's wearing a--?"
"That's what criminals wear!" Mardon yelled as he had walked a long way. The words echoed through the hallway. Barry gave the guard an embarrassed look, who then proceeded by taking out a small silvery key from his pocket and unlocking the door. Barry then entered.
The room inside was small. Can not have been many square meters. In the middle of the room reinforced glass separated it into two parts. Barry stood on one side. On the other side sat Leonard Snart, also known as Captain Cold. He was indeed wearing an orange jump suit with the number '07734' on his chest. He looked stern; he didn't even look up as Barry entered. Still, Barry sat down opposite to him. Small holes in the glass made it possible to hear each other through it.
"My name is Barry Allen." Barry said. Snart didn't react. "I'm here to talk to you about your murder charges." Snart quickly looked at Barry before staring down into the table in front of him again. "I represent The Flash."
"What does he want?" Snart asked, almost muttering.
"He knows you’re innocent. You never tried to kill him. He knows that, believe me on this." Barry explained.
"Why don't I believe you?" Snart asked.
"Weather Wizard believes me." Barry said. At the last sentence Snart aggressively stormed out off his chair and hit his hand on the strong glass. From his hand ice exploded onto the strong glass.
"What did that asshole do with the money?!" Snart shouted. Barry, in turn, knew there was no other way to end this and started to vibrate with immense speed. From Snart's perception Barry didn't shake, that's how fast it went. Barry then stood up and vibrated through the ice covered glass and grabbed Snart's arm on the other side. Snart look around him. Everything was orange and hazy around him.
"Listen to me. We are now vibrating at the speed of light." Barry's voice was shaky. "At this speed the camera's won't be able to record anything but blur. I can't uphold this for too long before you explode but listen to me. I didn't want to do this at first but I have no other choice. I am The Flash. If I am to prove that you're not guilty I have to confess that to the whole court room next week. Don't tell anyone! Do you trust me?"
Snart stood with horror in his eyes, looking at Barry as he spoke. He then nodded slowly.
"Good." Barry said and let go of Snart. He then pulled his arm back through the glass and stopped vibrating.
"Hey, what's going on in there?" The guard said from the outside. They could then hear the lock being turned. Before Barry left he put his finger over his lips while looking at Snart who had calmed down.
"Don't worry. I'm leaving." Barry said as he passed the guard on his way out. "I have a trial to prepare for."
To be continued...
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