"I left Starling to stop being a vigilante."
"Then don't be a vigilante, be a hero."
Olivia Theresa Wells.
Former member of the League of Assassins.
Current member of Team Arrow.
Codename: The Nightingale.
After two years working with the Arrow...
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—REWRITTEN—
"I just got a call from Joe," Barry says, as we all walk towards the Cortex. "The Central City Gold Reserve is about to transport $300 million in gold bars to their Coast City vault. Singh told Joe they think the Man in the Mask is gonna make a play for it."
"Okay, but we still don't know if he's responsible for those weird images you saw," Caitlin says.
"How are they transporting the gold?" Cisco asks.
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"Whoa, the truck just got hit by a land mine," Cisco says, as we make our way to the truck.
"Is Joe okay?" Barry asks.
"We don't know yet."
I quickly reach Joe and move him out of the way as Barry goes and throws the shooter into the truck. "You okay?" I ask Joe.
"Yeah," He says. "You guys?"
"I didn't want you to have to shoot him again," I say.
"And I'm having a pretty bad day," Barry adds.
"So is this guy," Joe says as we move to the shooter. "Let's see what Goldfinger has to say for himself."
I remove the mask to find... "General Eiling?"
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"What is wrong with him?" I ask, as we look at Eiling.
"I pulled a bullet out of his shoulder," Caitlin says.
"Which should hurt like hell," Joe adds.
"And it didn't even seem like he felt it," Caitlin finishes. "I did a complete body scan, and otherwise, General Eiling is perfectly healthy."
"So why is he just standing there like a robot?" Joe asks.
"I just got off the phone with ARGUS," Cisco says. "Officially, Eiling is on administrative leave."
"Unofficially?"
"I spoke with Diggle's wife, Lyla, and she said Eiling's been missing for the past three months and ARGUS is covering up for it," Cisco explains.
"Makes sense," Barry says. "Last time I saw the general was when Liv, Ronnie and I broke Professor Stein out of that military facility. I'm sure they're covering that up too."
"So where has he been since then?" Joe asks. "General Eiling, why were you trying to rob the gold reserve?"
When he doesn't respond, Cait says, "Maybe he's in some kind of a trance?"
"General, do you remember me? Or this girl next to me?" Barry asks, referring to me.
"Liv... Flash."
"Whoa, how does he know you're The Flash?" Joe asks.
"I don't know," Barry says. "General-"
"Eiling not here," He replies. "Eiling bad."
"Maybe it's some kind of psychotic break presenting itself as dissociative identity disorder," Caitlin says.
"Caitlin," Eiling says. "Caitlin good."
"Oh, uh, thank you?" Cait replies.
"Forget multiple personalities," Cisco says. "You guys have seen The Exorcist, right?"
"You and your movies," Joe says. "Keep talking to him. He seems to respond to you."
"Uh, why is Eiling bad?" Barry asks.
"Eiling hurt me. I hurt Eiling."
"Okay, uh, so if you're not Eiling, then who are you?" Barry asks.
"I Am Grodd. Fear me."
"What is a Grodd?" Barry asks. Me, Caitlin, and Cisco share a look.
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We show Barry and Joe a video of Grodd. "Oh, Grodd is a gorilla," Barry says.
"Five years ago, Eiling and Wells were working on a project to expand soldiers' cognitive abilities during battle," Cisco says.
"What we didn't realize is that Eiling was trying to create soldiers with psychic abilities," Caitlin adds.
"What do you mean "psychic"?" Joe asks.
"Eiling was trying to create these super-soldiers with telepathic and telekinetic capabilities. But when Dad- I- I mean Dr.Wells- found out about the terrible experiments that Eiling was doing, he shut down the entire project," I explain.
"So our psycho-killer has a soft spot for animals," Joe says. "That's sweet."
"What happened to Grodd?" Barry asks.
"We don't know," Caitlin says. "After the Particle Accelerator exploded, I went down to check on him, and his cage was empty."
"So he could have been affected by the same energy that hit Barry?" Joe states.
"When the dark matter hit Grodd, all the drugs and serums that Eiling injected him with could've activated," Cisco says. "Maybe the Accelerator explosion created a meta-gorilla. And I think we know what happens when a super-intelligent ape who's pissed off at humans escapes captivity."
"Cisco's right... about the first part," Caitlin says. "This is the first brain scan that I did on Grodd."
"Whoa," Barry says. "His primary motor cortex and Broca's area are lit up like a Christmas tree."
"From Eiling's experiments," I say.
"And this is the brain scan that I just did on Eiling," Cait says. "His brain is lit up in the exact same way."
"So Grodd and Eiling are connected somehow?" Joe asks.
"I think that somehow, Grodd is transmitting neural signals to Eiling's primary motor cortex," Cait says. "Mind control, telepathy who knows what Grodd is capable of now?"
"What do we think Grodd wants Revenge?" Barry asks.
"I do not like the fact that Wells rescued Grodd," Joe says. "I don't think it's a coincidence that this gorilla shows up at the very same time we're looking for Wells."
"Grodd and him always did have a special bond," I say.
"It wouldn't surprise me if Wells was using Grodd to distract us," Joe says. "If we find Grodd, we find Wells. If we find Wells-"
"We find Eddie," Iris says. We all turn to look at the new figure that's entered the Cortex. "And I'm gonna help."
"Know anything about gorillas?" Caitlin asks.
"I just might."
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