Second Chances: Impulse

Chapter 20

"Where are we going?" Eddie asked, since while he respected this Ralph guy since he was a federal agent, he was also a meta and Eddie still wasn't willing to trust metas based on all the harm they've caused his city.

"To a safe house. Argus has had their eyes on Joseph Carver for a while and I've spent over a year collecting evidence against him, until a few months ago when you guys took him down. I was originally coming to Keystone to extradite him, but instead I find myself having to save the people who put him away." Ralph said.

"Wait, why extradite him?" Dinah asked.

"Because his crimes aren't just limited to the US. We have proof that he's been running an international crime syndicate ever since his wife disappeared." Ralph said and Dinah nodded, not even surprised by that.

"But why is he trying to off us if he's going to prison anyways?" Eddie asked.

"I don't know. Desperate men do stupid things, but that's why Argus is putting all witnesses on this case into protective custody until the case is over and when it is, Carver is going to be put in an Argus prison." Ralph said as they entered the safe house to find Wally, Jesse and Kira had already been brought there.

"Wally, Jesse, Kira." Dinah said as she rushed forward to hug the rest of her team.

"Dinah, thank god. After my dad attacked us, I was worried he'd gotten to you too." Jesse said as she hugged Dinah.

"Your dad really does not know when he's beaten does he?" Dinah asked her.

"No he does not. Especially considering how he just sent Godspeed after Wally and I." Jesse said.

"Wait, how could you two have possibly escaped a speedster?" Eddie asked as Wally gave Dinah a look since he knew her thoughts on this topic and wanted her permission, which she gave with a subtle head nod.

"Like this." Wally said as he vibrated his hand.

"Wait, you're a speedster too?" Eddie asked in shock.

"I'm Impulse. Godspeed's fast, but he's not as fast as me." Wally said.

"Wait, Dinah, did you know about this?" Eddie asked her.

"Yeah, I did and I didn't tell you because I know how you feel about metas, even ones who've been helping the city. Especially since it was a meta who saved us from Joseph Carver's thugs. You're so focused on the bad that you can't see any of the good." Dinah told him, not giving him a chance to get mad.

"Let's focus, we can't hide here forever. Carver's gonna know that his hits failed soon." Wally said.

"I still don't understand why Carver would wait so long to get us?" Kira said.

"My best guess is that daddy dearest thought that he'd be able to slip out of trouble, but I guess since his trial is coming up, he realized that he wasn't getting out of it, so if he was going to prison, he might as well try and take out the people he blames for sending him there, but what I'm trying to figure out is why Black Hole is still following him, since based on what I can tell, he shouldn't have any money left to pay these thugs." Jesse said.

"But what if money isn't how he kept them on a leash." Wally said.

"Meaning?" Eddie asked, but Ralph caught on.

"It's not about money, it's about leverage. Carver must still have something on these people that's keeping them on his leash." Ralph said.

"We need to know what we're up against, aside from an evil fake speedster." Wally said.

"What do you mean fake speedster?" Eddie asked.

"Godspeed's power is artificial. He's really just a drug addict who uses a very dangerous drug to give himself fake speedster powers. He doesn't connect to the speed force like I do." Wally said.

"What?" Eddie asked, confused.

"It means that Godspeed is just a poser trying to live up to the real deal." Dinah explained.

"Right." Eddie said, still not completely getting it, but deciding not to question it.

"Anyways, we need to know what else we're dealing with. Argus wouldn't by any chance have records on all of Carver's known associates would they?" Wally asked Ralph.

"My partner is getting all our files on that front together now." Ralph said, right as a pretty brunette woman entered the safe house.

"And here I am. Argus agent Sue Dearbon." Sue said and Wally shot Ralph a look, since before Crisis, that was the girl he'd been hired to find and Ralph shot him a look that read tell you later.

"Wait, Dearbon, any relation to Richard and Penelope Dearbon, one of the richest couples in Central City?" Dinah asked.

"They're my parents, though I don't talk to them anymore, since they're in bed with Carver, since he bought their loyalty, which is part of why I joined Argus. To take him and them down, since I originally joined when I thought that he was blackmailing them, but then I found out that they got so used to that lifestyle that they joined him willingly. So now I'm here to take them down. And now here's everything Argus has on Black Hole, including Carver's top goons." Sue said as she plugged a usb drive into the computers and brought up several files.

"Like you said, first there's Godspeed, the fake speedster who's just as deadly as the real thing. Then there's Vigilante, aka, Vincent Sobel, a metahuman who as far as we can tell has super healing abilities, making him very hard to put down, not that several people haven't tried. Next up we have Jeremy Tell, aka Double Down, since he can turn the playing card tattoos on his arms into actual weapons. Millie Rawlins, aka, Sunshine, she can harness sunlight into deadly energy blasts and finally Aviva Metula, aka Shadow Thief, a professional thief and assassin who can, well, move through shadows" Sue said as she continued going through the list.