[No POV]
It was 12:43 pm in downtown Central City, and the Flash had been spotted again all throughout the western side, the trail of sightings leading straight to Trial Enterprise, where a ring of police surrounded the outside of the building. Stray papers and fast food bags flew up in the wind and swirled about as the Flash made his way to the front and through the double doors that marked the entrance to the corporate building.
Barry stopped on the fourth floor, the doors of a dimly lit conference room swinging closed behind his entrance. His eyes quickly scanned over the mass of terrified hostages to the masked figures standing over them. There were maybe a dozen of them, each armed with guns and wearing a themed mask. The nearest to Barry was short, with a hood pulled over the plain white mask concealing everything but his/her eyes.
"Fourth floor," Wells mumbled. "Either they've gone through the first three, or they're targeting something specific."
Cisco nodded in agreement then leaned into the mic. "What's the deal, Barry?"
Barry didn't answer, instead appearing behind the white masked criminal and locking them into a choke hold, pistol now in his hand. The rest of the group didn't flinch as he started to speak.
"Stop. Now. This doesn't need to get any worse than it is. Just let the people go, and I won't need to hurt anyone."
Silence was the only response from the tense atmosphere of the room. A few of the hostages were huddled together on the ground, some sniffling quietly and others looking up at Barry with hopeful expressions. None seemed to be hurt.
What are they waiting for? . . . Maybe a meta-human. . .
Barry took a breath and was about to act when one of the crowd began to tilt their head, a black mask glinting as a gloved hand raised. At that moment, all lights in the conference room and the rest of the floor switched off.
The silence was abruptly broken as a chaotic chorus of bullets rang throughout the darkness, an appearing flash of red the only light in the rooms. The flashing of Barry's speed provided the building's workers a choppy, terrifying view of the fight.
Barry managed to dodge the majority of the bullets, a few scraping the side of his ears and stomach as he brought the masked criminals individually to the ring of cops outside. While some were being cleared out, more would take the place of those, and the wall of bullets aimed at Barry continued without stop.
"What the—how much ammunition do these guys have??" Cisco gapped.
Caitlin leaned close to the mic, asking Barry to let them know he wasn't dead.
"I'm fine," he managed to reply through gritted teeth. He soon reappeared in front of the last criminal. It was the one with the reflective black mask—The one who had somehow made the power go out throughout the whole fourth floor.
"That's our meta-human. . ." Barry whispered, out of breath, into the mic.
The hooded figure stared Barry down, their hands clenching into fists.
"I can't get in there," Cisco frantically murmured, his attempts at hacking into the security cameras repeatedly failing. "Something's cutting me off. . ."
The figure's hand started to reach into its hood, but Barry wasn't going to let them fight back. Within seconds, he had the criminal pinned against the wall of the conference room, punches flying towards the black mask.
They returned his fists with a jerking kick to the crouch, and Barry accidentally let go of his hold on them. Seizing the chance, the figure grabbed Barry and violently threw him to the ground before getting on top of him.
After taking a few beatings, Barry was back in control and running the criminal to the closest window in the room. When he was able to hold them up against the cold glass, Barry raised a fist into the air and the "meta-human" frantically reached into their hood once more, muffled sounds evident from behind the mask.
Expression darker than usual, the Flash's punch started towards them when a painfully loud screech echoed throughout the com system, and his hands moved to block out the sound.
At the lab, all three other members of the Team also went to cover their ears.
"AGH! What is that!?" Cisco yelled.
"Something's interfering with the com system!" Wells called out in response.
"Well, what i—"
They were interrupted by an unfamiliar voice speaking into the broadcast. It was female, but low and hard to hear in the midst of the ringing. Eventually though as the screech died down, the team was able to comprehend her rushed and vaguely accented speech.
"STOP! If you kill him, then the rest of those people in that building will die."
Barry slowly regained his composure and strengthened his grip on the figure. He didn't plan on killing the guy, but he wasn't going to pamper him either.
"Will they? Why should I believe you?"
"Who are you. . . ?" Caitlin breathed.
The voice didn't take long to reply.
". . . I'm Chen. And I know that if he dies, then so do you, me, and over a third of Trial Enterprise. Let him go."
Barry bit his lip, then clenched his fists more around the hooded figure's collar. "What do I do?" he mumbled.
Wells looked up at the screen showing CC news' view of the company building. He rubbed his chin slightly then began to reply, "Don't do anything. If bringing him in gets you and innocent people killed, then it's not worth it."
Chen was silent as Barry stared into the dark reflection of his face on the mask, thoughts rushing through his head.
Eventually, however, his grip loosened and the all-black figure stepped back.
Barry could've sworn he heard a voice from underneath the mask whisper, "Good work."
His eyes narrowed as he watched him turn and flee the scene.
There were a few moments of silence then as Barry was left to ponder his decision, and the police force was able to flood into the building, hostages being led to safety and flashlights shining on the many walls of grey.
But it would soon be broken by Doctor Wells, who had started to put together the last pieces of the puzzle.
"So. Chen," he wryly smiled.
"How did you manage to hack into our com? . . . You might also explain the lights."
Finally, some action! This was so fun to write guys. Sorry it might've gotten a little dragged out. . . I got excited
