12 *Hidden*

Back at the Precinct, Tockman had the whole place hostage.

"Tockman? Tockman come in?" Captain Singh asked through the walkie-talkie.

"I am presently in control of eight of Central City's finest, three underpaid assistants, and one very brave civilian girl," Tockman replied.

"You've got demands; I want to hear them. But first, let the civilians go." Captain Singh ordered.

"Would you prefer I send them out Alive or Dead? PLEASE BE MORE SPECIFIC!" Tockman replied. "ONE HELICOPTER, ONE VEGETARIAN TAKEOUT MEAL, ONE LAPTOP WITH EIGHT GIGABYTES OF RAM will be delivered to the roof of this building within exactly 53 minutes and 27 seconds from now or I shoot a hostage," Tockman stated, but he didn't notice that Joe was looking at a short cut blonde man that was slowly getting up from behind a counter. Joe shook his head to the man but the man didn't listen and slowly made his way around with his gun drawn.

"There is a city-wide blackout. I'm going to need more time." Captain Singh replied.

"Well, you may delay Captain, but time does not," Tockman stated.

"Benjamin Franklin," Joe said out loud and Tockman turned towards him nodding in approval.

"Very good, Detective," Tockman said and walked away. Inside a room at Star Labs, Johnathan was finally waking up after getting knocked out by the pale man.

"Ughh. That was one way to get a good night's sleep," he said to himself as he slowly got up. "Where the hell am I?" he asked himself as Johnathan began to look around and realized that Caitlin must've put him in one of the safe rooms.

"Looks like I owe Caitlin a big one," Johnathan said while chuckling. He then sent a telepathic signal to the Kabuto Zecter and a buzzing sound came within seconds. Johnathan then pressed the button on his belt transforming it into the rider belt. The zecter quickly slid onto the rider belt by itself,

"Henshin!" the zecter shouted and the bulky silver/red armor enveloped Johnathan. He then grabbed the horn of the zecter pulling it across,

"Cast off!" the zecter shouted and the armor shot off Johnathan's figure revealing a slender figure in red armor, with a giant beetle horn in the center of his helmet, along with a blue visor. During the time Johnathan was making the rest of the Zecters and tinkering with the Kabuto zecter. It somehow became self-aware, and it had a mental connection with Johnathan from the start. So while Johnathan was here with team Flash, he sent out KZ to go scout the Precinct to keep an eye on Tockman.

"How is it over there at the Precinct?" Johnathan asked through telepathy,

"It's not looking too good, Partner. Right now Tockman has the whole place hostage and it seems like your friend Barry's family is there also. He seems like an impatient man, so we might not have enough time." KZ replied. Johnathan just chuckled,

"KZ, sometimes I think you forget what our nickname is and to us time is irrelevant," Johnathan said to it.

"Then let us go show them what we are made of!" KZ shouted. Johnathan then pressed on the right side of his belt,

"Clock up!" KZ shouted and Johnathan's figure disappeared from the room. Back at Star Labs Barry ran into the pale man, the pale man raised his electric hands towards Barry.

"Hey, Whoa, easy there. I'm not going to hurt you." Barry said to the man with his hands up in peace.

"You can't hurt me. Where is Harrison Wells?." the pale man stated with his guard still up.

"Look, I know what happened to you. The night of the accelerator explosion, it changed you. It similarly changed me too." Barry said to the man. He then lowered his hands down,

"You were in the red suit. I fed off you. I have to keep feeding." He said as he walked closer to Barry. Barry backed off quickly,

"All right, I know this has to be terrifying. That is why I want to help you, okay." Barry tried to comfort him.

"The night of the explosion, when the light hit me, it stopped my heart. Jake and Darya." he faded off.

"They were your friends?" Barry asked.

"When I woke up, they were both laying beside me, dead. They were trying to give me CPR but I electrocuted them," he stated which got sympathy from Cisco and Caitlin.

"This is not your fault," Barry stated. The pale man looked up at him,

"I know," he replied and energy began to light up in his hands. "Wells did this to me," he said which made Dr. Wells shake his head in disappointment.

"Farooq, listen to me." Barry pleaded, but Farooq was not hearing any of it and blasted Barry away with lightning. Cisco quickly ran over to the door to close it, and Caitlin ran over to Barry to check upon him.

"I don't think that is going to hold long," Cisco said to the group,

"So talking to him, huh." Dr. Wells said sarcastically. Barry just got up off the floor and began to walk away. Back at the precinct, Tockman still had the place lockdown. Tockman was surveying the area outside,

"End this and I will talk to the D.A," Joe stated.

"It was the District Attorney that denied me Furlough. So I could visit my dying sister one last time. Saying goodbye one last time in person. THAT'S TIME I WILL NEVER GET BACK!" Tockman replied while slamming down the handcuffs after the last words. Joe then nodded to the blonde man that was behind the counter and he began to move closer,

"For however long I have left in this life, I promise not to spend a single second within a prison," Tockman said then the blonde man shot Tockman in the back.

"I got him." the blonde man said in victory, but then Tockman turned around and shot him in the arm. Tockman then pulled off his coat and revealed that he had a bulletproof vest on.

"Eddie, Eddie." Joe's daughter sobbed out. Tockman then pulled out the walkie-talkie.

"An officer has just been shot 9.3 seconds ago. I'd pick up the pace in meeting my demands, captain." Tockman said. Captain Singh was now pacing even more due to Tockman's sentence, then there was a sonic boom along with a blur running past the officers and the wind blew everywhere.

"Flash!" every officer there shouted out. Captain Singh let out a sigh of relief, he then began to group up with the rest of the officers to take back the precinct. Inside the precinct, there was a sonic boom then people began to disappear one by one. Everyone that was taken was bewildered due to the instant of being inside than outside.

"Flash!" Joe's daughter shouted out in excitement. Joe looked puzzled,

"Did Barry get his powers back?" he thought to himself but the figure that appeared answered his question for him. The red armored beetle stood where the hostage's sat before they disappeared. Tockman pulled out his gun and shot at the mysterious figure, but the bullets just bounced off him while creating sparks. Joe, his daughter, Eddie, and Tockman were all surprised because this was not the Flash so they didn't know what this person wanted. So no one dared to make a move due to this mysterious person.

"This person needs help ASAP." Joe's daughter said to the mysterious person.

"Iris! We don't know if this person is helping us or himself." Joe retorted.

"What else can we do, Dad. Eddie will die of blood loss if we don't get him out of here. I'm willing to risk it." Iris told her father. Then the mysterious person turned towards Iris looking her in the eyes and he disappeared from that spot along with Eddie. Before the mysterious man could return, Tockman ran over and grabbed Iris to become his hostage so that he can achieve his goals. Joe tried to stop him, but Tockman smacked him away with the gun.

"Dad!" Iris yelled out as she was dragged away.

"No! Tockman take me instead, damn it!" Joe shouted at Tockman, then the armored man returned as everything was going on. Tockman pointed the gun to Iris's head,

"Don't come any closer or this girl will have a bullet in her head." Tockman threatened. The armored man just calmly walked closer bit by bit. Tockman pulled back the hammer on the gun,

"I will do it!" Tockman shouted.

"Just do what he says, please!" Joe begged. The armored man just kept walking closer,

"What do you want the most in this life?" The armored man asked which shocked the three people left in the building.

"Money? Fame? Women? Men, if you are into that?" He added.

"What I want you can no longer give me," Tockman replied with sorrow in his eyes.

"And that is?" the armored man asked.

"To say goodbye one last time to my sister, but she is already gone and there is no way for me too. The room was silent for a bit,

"I can fulfill that wish if you're willing to let go of that woman." the armored man said to Tockman, which got his attention instantly. Tockman pointed his gun at the armored man,

"Don't spout any of that nonsense! Like anyone would believe that!" he shouted at the armored man. The armored man just raised his right hand out,

"I'm not but it is not up to anyone to believe. Only you." the armored man replied. Tockman's hands began to shake,

"How will you even accomplish this task?" Tockman asked. The armored man just chuckled while holding his right hand on his chin along with his left supporting his right. The armored man then looked directly at Tockman,

"Nothing is impossible for me. For I am the Lord of Speed, Kabuto." Kabuto replied. "Last chance Tockman for the time is ticking," Kabuto added. After a few seconds, Tockman let Iris go and she ran towards her father. Tockman looked at Kabuto,

"I believe you. If you can grant this wish of mine, then I will turn myself in with no retaliation whatsoever." Tockman said. Kabuto nodded and walked towards Tockman grabbing him on the shoulder.

"Well then, prepare yourself William for this will be a bumpy ride," Kabuto said then pressed and held the left button on his belt.

"Maximum clock up!" KZ shouted and the two figures disappeared from their spot in the Precinct.

"The Flash is not the only speedster now," Iris mumbled.

"Let's get out of here Iris. We need to go check up on Eddie and the others." Joe said to her and they both got up and left the building. Back at Star Labs, Barry was blown away from the speed treadmill after Caitlin pulled the lever to activate the generator.

"It didn't work," Barry stated then Caitlin helped him up and they began to walk towards Cisco. As they were walking, a bloody body was thrown in front of them.

"Tony? What are you doing?" Barry asked and Tony looked up at him.

"Oh, come on. You know me, Allen. I never run away from a good fight." Tony replied.

"All right. Well, stay with me, okay. Your good." Barry said but Tony crawled a bit closer so that he was in about earshot with Barry.

"Run," Tony said then he began to lie down due to all of his injuries.

"Tony? Hey, Tony? You can't die." Barry said then Farooq walked out from one of the hallways.

"Barry!" Caitlin shouted then ran and grabbed Barry's arm so that they could leave.

"I will kill anyone in my way just like this guy and the other in the garage. I'm not afraid of the consequences of this world anymore!" Farooq shouted as he tried to hit them with his lightning. The duo quickly fled towards the generator room that Cisco is in. They got into the room quickly,

"You're winded, that is not good," Cisco said as Caitlin sat Barry down.

"I need to take a blood sample to see where it went wrong," Caitlin said as she began to pull out a first aid kit that she took with her.

"I can't believe he is dead," Barry said,

"Dr. Wells?" Cisco asked.

"No, Tony Woodward," Barry replied.

"He must've escaped from the pipeline when the power went out," Caitlin said.

"That's not possible, because the pipeline was designed to withstand a power outage. Someone had to have let him go." Cisco said,

"I let him out." Dr. Wells stated which made the trio turn towards him.

"You used him?" Barry asked in disbelief,

"Yes, and it seems like an unnecessary one at that. Because he did not prove to be useful." Dr. Wells responded. Barry got up and began to walk around towards Dr. Wells,

"I have his blood on me. How could you do something so cruel like that?" Barry stated.

"You're showing a lot of sentiment for a man who tormented you as a child, Mr. Allen." Dr. Wells shot back.

"Tony may have been a bully then and now, but he didn't deserve to die." Barry retorted.

"Does Caitlin or Cisco or me and even Mr. Takahashi who may or may not be dead in one of the safe rooms. Even you Mr. Allen and I had a choice to make. He or us. I chose us without a second thought." Dr. Wells stated.

"Well, all your talk about Miracle cures and scientific breakthroughs, but you don't care about people at all. The only person you care about is yourself." Barry said.

"Well, maybe you care too much about people. I understand your ideal for being a superhero, but I don't have that luxury to share those ideas." Dr. Wells retorted.

"That's right, your game is chess so we are just pawns in your plan. Expendable pieces to you, so what is your move now?" Barry said. Silence filled the room until a bright flash blinded the team and then an explosion went off taking down the door to the generator room.

"So this is where you guys were hiding. Well, sorry to tell you but hide and seek is over." Farooq said to the team as he charged up his power. Right before Farooq could vaporize them a red/silver blur rushed in and knocked him down onto the floor. The team was shocked at the sudden stoppage of their doom.

"What in the hell was that!" Farooq shouted and began to shoot randomly. The team took cover behind the generator so that any stray shots wouldn't hit them. Once again the blur passed by again, but this time Farooq was hit multiple times and knocked out in the process. When the team stood up to see what had happened to Farooq, they saw a red/silver armored man that resembled a beetle.

"That's the same person I saw the night Farooq took my powers," Barry said.

"His armor looks sick as hell!" Cisco shouted which got him a smack from Caitlin.

"We don't know if he is an ally or a bad guy yet Cisco. You can't just go complementing people randomly." Caitlin said.

"Who are you exactly?" Dr. Wells asked as he rolled over closer to the Armored man. When he got within arm's length of the armored man, the armored man turned quickly towards Dr. Wells.

"I am the Lord of Speed, Kabuto," Kabuto said as he pointed at the group with his right hand formed as a gun.

*The Lord of Speed Appears*