Frozen Flashpoint

Chapter 33: The Heart of the Matter

Summary: Marlize confronts her husband while also thwarting his plans.

Barry watched as the blue barrier around DeVoe collapsed. There was no sound beyond the usual one of the explosions; it looked like the barrier turned into a net that collapsed into itself.

Barry could have sworn that if DeVoe's eyes grew any further, they would fall out of his skull. When he screamed, his voice was filled with both confusion and fury, "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"

His eyes then turned into a sharp glare straight at Barry as he screamed, "How have you done it, Flash?! How could you destroy my protection sphere? What other secrets do you hold that I am unaware of?!"

For someone smart, that was a very stupid question. It's not like Barry would tell him; after all, what would be the point of it? That said, this time Barry couldn't answer even if he wanted to, because he himself wasn't sure what the hell just happened.

First DeVoe tried to teleport away and failed; that was according to plan. But the blue flash of light that always accompanied DeVoe's sudden appearance and disappearance was not.

It shouldn't have happened, and still it did, and DeVoe stayed, with his chair exploding a moment later. That was when all the dots connected in Barry's mind, but before he could actually confirm his suspicions himself, a familiar voice said calmly, "It wasn't their doing, Clifford. It was mine."

DeVoe spun his chair in an angle that allowed Barry to see the woman with long dark hair, a lab coat, and pale skin who was standing there.

Marlize was still holding up what Barry could swear was the gun Wally made for himself out of Harry's blueprint. Her face was calm despite everything going on.

DeVoe's voice did a 180 and turned from full of fury to a wistful one, though it still held the same amount of confusion as he called out, "Marlize? Has my body begun to decay my mind?" The latter question was asked in a mumble under his breath.

Marlize narrowed her eyes at him and replied dryly, "Despite your best attempt... Dear husband..." Even Barry felt the need to cringe at the amount of sarcasm the woman managed to put on that word. "It's still really me standing here."

DeVoe frowned, and there was a familiar flicker in his eyes, something that Barry came to associate with a failing plan. It was like each time this light flickered in his eyes, his rationality lost another layer and he became more of a madman.

Barry saw it when they met outside of Mercury Labs, he saw it just a few moments ago after Barry defeated his entire army, and here it was again. But that worried Barry, because how much further could DeVoe go? How long would it be before innocents lost their lives every moment so DeVoe could get what he wanted?

Barry resolved himself again to end that monster here and now; the problem was that his body didn't seem to cooperate with him. His muscles still ached, his air was still coming up short, and he could still taste iron on his tongue.

He looked to his sides to see Jesse was in even worse shape than him, barely managing to keep her eyes open. Lyra on the other side seemed to have lost less power than him, but she recovered much slower. Was that because of her cold powers? Barry couldn't be sure, and now wasn't the time to dwell on theories.

Right now, all he could do was focus back on the conversation between the husband and wife in front of him, hoping it would go long enough for him to recover at least some of his energy to end this.

DeVoe seemed at a loss, and he didn't look like he enjoyed the condition much, but he found it within himself to ask calmly, "How are you here?"

Marlize looked blankly at her husband and replied with the same accented emotionless tone, "Did you forget who created your transportation mechanism?"