Short on Time

Chapter 113

"Ladies and gentlemen, we finally have our hands on the meta-human cure," Cisco announced and only had crickets in return. "Cool, cool. It's not like I spent weeks in the frozen tundra or anything.""No, no, no," Sherloque said. "I think that just people are waiting for the inevitable but that follows such a big statement.""Mmm, no, it's done, and thanks to Caitlin, we even have a way to deliver our silver bullet, so no, no buts," Cisco said. "I believe there is a big but coming," Sherloque said. "But we need to test the cure on a meta-human," Cisco said. "There it is," Esther said. "What we need is to save the metas that Cicada is targeting because he's not gonna stop killing innocent people," Barry said. "Is the cure dangerous?" Nora asked. "Well, it's an untested serum that alters biology on a cellular level, so until we try it out on someone, we have no way of knowing," Caitlin said. "When we started working on the cure, we decided that it would always be a choice, not a weapon, so all we need is a volunteer," Cisco said. "Well, there's quite a conundrum, right? A meta-human volunteer when the meta-humans in this city have been chased away by us or killed by Cicada or incarcerated at Iron Heights Prison, so-" Sherloque said. "Nobody from either group is gonna volunteer," Barry said. "No, these criminals are not going to relinquish their powers, although-" Sherloque began again. "There's gotta be somebody somewhere," Esther said. "Yes, on another Earth," Sherloque said. "Oh, I'll call Harry, see if there's anybody from Earth-2 - who wants to volunteer," I said. "And I can tell him about the baby." "Not really what I was suggesting," Sherloque said. "Hold on, you don't have to call Harry," Barry said. "Wait, why not?" Nora asked. "Because there's already a meta here from Earth-2, one who might not want his powers," Barry said. "Although it might be pretty difficult to talk to him."~*~"King Shark You really think you can cure him?" Lyla asked. "That's the idea," Nora said. "Oh, Lyla, this is, um our daughter, Nora," Barry said. "Your daughter?""Yeah.""Don't forget about me," Esther chimed in. "Other daughter," I told Lyla.Nora smiled nervously, "I'm from-" "The future, I'm guessing," Lyla said. "Weird, right?" Barry asked. "No weirder than waking up one day to find out that your son used to be your daughter," Lyla responded. I winced, "ouch." "So, why King Shark?" Lyla asked. "Dark matter levels vary from meta-human to meta-human, but Shay Lamden's case is the most extreme we've seen, so we think if we could reverse the effects of a high level mutation like him-" Caitlin explained. "You can help all metahumans," Lyla summised. "Look, we know King Shark has limited speech, but we're wondering, could we try and talk to him?" Cisco asked. "If we're gonna do this, we're gonna need his permission.""Well, you're in luck, Cisco," Lyla said. "Lately, he's been quite talkative.""Really?" I asked surprised. "Normally, we don't bring in outside help but we got wind that the top ichthyologist in the country was doing research on cases just like King Shark's," Lyla explained as we walked outside to the water. "Actually, I think you may know her.""Dr. Lamden?" I asked in surprise."You're working for ARGUS now?" Barry asked. "Couldn't say no," Dr. Lamden said. "And please, call me Tanya.""What about Nautilus Laboratories?" Caitlin asked. "Director Michaels offered me the opportunity to work with another Shay Lamden, one afflicted with the same dark matter anomaly as my late husband, only this Shay system was causing his neural pathways to regress," Tanya explained. "I'm teaching him how to communicate effectively.""Are you saying his mind is becoming more shark-like?" I asked. "It was, but not anymore," Tanya explained. "I stopped the regression of King Shark's mind using a cerebral interface that stimulates his neural outputs. I call it a telepathic crown.""Kinda like the MAD 2.0 we built," Cisco said. "That's brilliant.""My husband, the Shay Lamden of Earth-1, was a wonderful man," Tanya said. "Now, I have the chance to help another Earth's Shay Lamden, by giving him back his human mind. And since Shay's current state requires him to be in the water more, these earbuds allow me to hear him under water and vice versa.""The telepathic crown allows Tanya to get through to King Shark and curb his violent behavior," Lyla explained."King Shark is in the water right now?" Esther asked. "Yes, but he's harmless," Tanya said."Right," Esther said as she looked around nervously. "Can we use the crown to talk to him?" I asked Tanya. "Yes, but why?" Tanya asked. "We think we can make him human again," Barry said. "It's taken a lot of work, but we think we figured out a way to transform dark matter-infused cells back to their non-meta state," Cisco said. "Now, all we need to do is test it, so we came looking for a volunteer," Caitlin finished. "That could really work?" Tanya asked. "So, can we ask him?" Barry asked.Tanya smiled and turned around, "Shay, a team from STAR Labs is here. They have something you may want A meta-cure for your condition. Trust me, their preliminary analysis on reversing meta-gene transfigurations proves there is a strong chance it could work, especially in ichthyological prospects."No, I'm not just showing off. It's their research," Tanya said laughing before turning to look at us. "Shay has a wonderful sense of humor.""So, are we supposed to call him King Shark or Shay?" Cisco asked and Esther smirked. "Yes, I'm still here," Tanya said. "Uh-huh. I agree. Okay." There was a ripple in the water and Esther stood in front of me protectively as King Shark jumped out of the water and landed in front of us. "You believe this cure could help?" He asked. "Yeah," Barry agreed as he stepped forward. "Where do we begin?" Tanya asked, and then King Shark tore off the thing on his head and smacked Barry back. "Barry!" I said in alarm."Mum!" Esther said as she tackled me to the ground just in time. "This is Agent Michaels," Lyla said. "I need every available soldier at the aquarium now!" "Dad?" Nora asked Barry."Mum?" Esther asked as she helped me up. "I'm fine," we said together. "Are you sure?" The three of them asked.I glared at them, "I'm fine." "What was all that feedback? I thought he was under control," Barry said. "I don't know," Tanya said. "Nothing like that has ever happened before. Maybe his neuroregression finally reached the point where the crown could no longer affect him. Shay could be lost forever." "No, no, no," Cisco said. "We don't know that. Why don't you come to STAR Labs with us. We can use the MAD 2.0 to boost the crown's efficiency.""We need to find King Shark before he hurts anyone," Esther said. ARGUS backup protocols have been activated, but King Shark could be anywhere," Lyla said. "We'll re-task the STAR Labs satellite to work in circuit with ARGUS," I told Lyla."And you are staying out of the field," Caitlin ordered. "Doctor's orders.""Why are we not-" Lyla began."Ginger is pregnant," Barry said giving me a look. "I'm fine," I said again. "But-" Esther began. "Listen to your mother," Lyla suggested. "It'll make her less cranky that way." ~*~"We're here," Barry said as they went to the warf to find King Shark. "Caitlin, are you sure he's here?" "Oh, he's there," I said. "He's heading straight right for you," Caitlin said. "Big shark," Esther said as we heard a roar. "Nora, you're up," Barry said. "Done," Nora said. "Okay, systems are synched," I told Tanya. "Shay?" Tanya asked. "It's me, Tanya. These people are only here to help you. Please listen to them. It's okay." "I think it's working," I heard Barry say. "I think you're right," Cisco said. "Let's ask him.""Or not," I said as Killer Shark picked up Cisco. "Shay, stop! Please," Tanya begged. "Please. I don't know what's wrong with him.""He's about to eat him," I warned. I heard a splash and Cisco growning, which meant Cisco hadn't been eaten alive. "Barry?" "Guys, what's happening? Where's Shay?" Caitlin asked."Shay?" Cisco asked. "What is it? What's going on?" I asked. "Is Shay okay?" Tanya asked. "Yeah," Barry answered. "He's human again.""How-" I began and then shook my head, this is going to be messy later.~*~"Where am I? Who are you?" Shay asked alarmed when he woke up. "Hey, hey, hey," Barry said. "No, enough! Just get off me!" Shay shouted."It's okay," I said gently. "They're friends," Tanya told Shay."Tanya," Shay said, awestruck. "Yeah, it's-it's me," Tanya said. "I'm me?" Shay asked. "How?" "We call it the cure," Caitlin explained. "It's a serum that suppresses dark matter in meta-humans. You're the first person to take it.""Well, except you didn't take it," Cisco said. "We, um, we gave it to you," Barry said. "My-my head is still swirling around," Shay said. "Are you saying I'm human again? Forever?" "Almost," I told Shay. "We developed a cure to work on the human part of a meta-human. The animal part of your brain fought back a little bit." "There's still some dark matter in your pituitary gland, but with this new data, we should be able to address the cure and the next dose should be permanent," Caitlin said. "Monsieur Lamden, I should introduce myself," Sherloque said. "Sherloque Wells. You've probably heard of me. I have a question. I've been debating in my brain. What drives the King Shark? Is it the shark, or is it the man?" "If you're asking should I be held accountable for my actions, my answer is simple," Shay said. "Yes, I should. I don't remember how many people I hurt, or who, but that's no excuse.""What do you remember?" Tanya asked. "Fragments," Shay said. "Glimpses. One day, I was a scientist. The next, I was trapped in that body and everything felt heightened, like my emotions were on steroids. And the rage... There was so much rage.""That makes sense," Caitlin said. "A shark's amygdala triggers a huge emotional response when it feels attacked.""Perhaps that's why you escaped today," Sherloque said. "You were frightened," I told him."I don't know," Shay said. "Today felt different. I don't remember much before I started using Tanya's crown, but since then, my mind and memory have been much clearer. And I especially remember the kindness that you showed me."Tanya reached for Shay's hand, only for that part of him to turn into a shark. "What-" Shay began as Tanya pulled back quickly. "What happened?" "The dark matter in his system is replicating," I said. "Tanya, I'm sorry," Shay said. Tanya didn't say anything as she backed away and left. "Shay, I'm sorry, but until this is over, we can't let you leave STAR labs Labs," Caitlin explained."Call me as soon as the cure is ready to inject him a second time," Barry said as he left."Ginger-" Cisco began, but I held up a hand."I am a moody pregnent woman," I told Cisco. "And I need to go feed the kiddos." "But he's your husband," Cisco tried."Yes, and you're the one who is angry," I told Cisco."But Lu-" Cisco whined and I glared. "Shush," I told Cisco."Shushing." ~*~"Cisco's cerebral scan is clear," I said as I walked out, balancing a kid on each hip. "Caitlin's as well.""We are both back to normal," Caitlin said in a mini cheer. "No more strings on us," Cisco said. "Killer Frost says she's sorry for that ice blast," Caitlin said. "That was Grodd, too. Now she's ready for some payback.""Yeah, me too," Cisco agreed. "Do we have a twenty on our Simian Svengali?" Esther asked sarcastically. "Data and company are working on it, but Grodd's psychic abilities are helping him conceal his location, so he could be anywhere by now," Nora said. "I thought every square inch of ARGUS was supposed to be power dampened twenty-four hours a day," Barry said. "It is," Lyla said. "Then how does an eight-hundred-pound gorilla escape?" Esther asked. "Let me show you," Lyla said. "I went through our security footage. This is from the night of May 22nd, 2018." "That's the night-" Cisco began. "Of the Enlightenment," Nora finished. "DeVoe's dark matter wave took down all tech in the surrounding areas," Lyla explained. "Luckily, our generators kicked in.""But not for a second," I said."One second," Barry said. "That's all Grodd needed to psychically implant instructions in a guard," I said. "Instructions to secretly shut down the power dampeners in his cell, and find out any other information he needed to know," Lyla. "So, that's why King Shark flipped out? Because Grodd was trying to mind control him?" Esther asked. "Likely as a distraction," Lyla said. "Grodd's only ever controlled human minds before," I said. "He must have had a hard time controlling King Shark because of the animal part of his brain," Caitlin said. "So, King Shark was trying to resist Grodd's iron will?" Cisco asked. "Respect.""If Grodd's had his powers for a year, why wait until now to escape?" Barry asked. "It's probably no coincidence that the first thing he did was steal the telepathic crown," Esther said. "Tanya did say she's been working on the crown for a while," Caitlin said. "Grodd probably knew this was his perfect opportunity," I said. "And it was thanks to our tech," Cisco said. "All right, well, now that Grodd has the crown, what's gonna happen when he uses it?" Barry asked. "It'll amplify his mental abilities a thousand-fold," Caitlin explained. "Instead of just being able to mind control a few people at a time..." "He'll be able to control the whole city," Barry finished. The computers started beeping and I looked at the screen, "you had to say something." "What's happening?" Barry asked. "Our fuzzy friend is crawling up the Broome Belfry," Cisco said. "What is it with him and that tower?" "Beause it's at the exact epicenter of the city," Esther explained. "Making it the perfect place to broadcast from," Lyla said. "He's going to use the crown," Caitlin said. "And get inside everyone's head in the city," I muttered.
"How long before everyone's under Grodd's mind control?" Nora asked. "A few minutes, maybe less," Caitlin said. "We need to dismantle that crown and get it away from him," Esther said."I can try talking to him," Caitlin said. "He's always had a sweet spot for me.""Good," Sherloque said. "Nope, Killer Frost is gonna be a hard sell on that one," Caitlin said next. "I can go instead," I said."Like Hell," Barry, Esther, and Nora said. "We're immune to his mind control, right, because we're speedsters?" Nora asked. "No," Barry said."Why would you think that?" I asked. "Okay, The Flash Museum just straight up got a lot of stuff wrong," Nora said. "Wait, but do you have any extra anti-mind control headsets lying around?" Barry asked."There's a few in the workshop, but it didn't work so well last time," Cisco said. "Yeah, but now there's two of us," Barry said. "I need you to run at him as fast as you can-" "Without reversing time," I corrected. "Okay," Nora agreed. "That'll get his attention," Esther agreed. "What are you gonna do?" Cisco asked. "An old trick," Barry said."I really hope this works," I muttered as they ran off."Don't you trust Dad?" Esther asked."Usually," I told her. "But his plans don't always work." "Get the crown!" Sherloque ordered. "Dad?" Nora asked."Oh dear," Esther muttered."I told you," I said. "We can't move," Nora muttered."The mental dampeners are working, but Grodd's too strong," Caitlin said. "I'm trying to hack into the crown, but Grodd won't let me," Cisco said. "He's gonna kill them," I told them. "Cisco, I need you to get me there.""No-" Esther began, but I cut her off. "They'll die," I said angrily. "Not if you turn me back," Shay said as he walked in with Tanya. "I can stop Grodd. He can't read my mind... At least, not when I'm a shark.""Can you do that?" Esther asked. "I mean, if we accelerate the cell cycle, do something that will prompt a return to the dark matter cellular form," Caitlin said. "Right, right, perhaps a vibration or a jolt, right?" Tanya said. "Yes, if it was strong enough, but there would be permanent consequences," I warned Shay. "If we re-saturate your meta-genic cells, that will eliminate the possibility for you to transform them back into human cells," Caitlin said. "He won't be able to use the cure," Esther summed up. "Shay, if you agree to this, you'll never be human again," Tanya said. "Tanya, I can save Flash, the people of this city, you, and make up for some of the horrible things I've done," Shay said. "I have to do this.""I'm afraid of losing you," Tanya said. "You won't," Shay said. "Well, is there anyone in this room that can provide a vibrational jolt?" Sherloque asked."I'm doing it," Cisco said. "Thank you," Esther said to Shay as Cisco blasted away. One moment there was a man in front of us, the next there was a walking shark. Cisco opened a breach and I had to resist jumping through as King Shark left. "I'm going through if this doesn't work," I told them firmly."Can't argue with the pregnant lady," Cisco muttered. "Oh, no. Guys, King Shark's not moving," Barry told us. "When a shark is turned upside down, it enters tonic immobility," Tanya explained. "He's in a state of paralysis," Caitlin said. "How do we wake him up?" Barry asked. "Don't sharks have electroreceptor organs called ampullae of Lorenzini?" Caitlin asked."How does she know something as random as that?" Esther asked. "It's how they detect electromagnetic fields, right?" Caitlin asked. "Yes, it's how they navigate," Tanya explained. "And it will also attract electricity, right?" I asked. "So if we can get enough electricity to him, we can-" I began."Electrify his ass back up," Cisco, Sherloque, and Esther said. "Barry!" Cisco began. "Yeah, we heard," Barry said. "Time for another old trick." "That's my girl," I said smiling. "Long live the king," Barry said.~*~"I know Grodd almost turned all of our brains into scrambled eggs, but that Kaiju battle was the stuff of dreams," Cisco said. "Seriously, way better than anything I read in The Flash Museum," Nora said."No kidding," Esther said. "Even better than the stories mom told us about the Greek heroes." "Now that Grodd is safely locked up, what's stopping him from getting out again?" Barry asked. "A medically-induced coma, one safely administered by Caitlin and the ARGUS medical staff," Lyla said. "Exposure to the crown kickstarted Grodd's mental abilities into high gear," Caitlin explained. "They're growing even now," I concluded. "Fortunately, I realized that if Grodd's brain remains inactive, he can't access his mental powers," Caitlin said. "Add in newly-enhanced AI power dampeners that upgrade to keep up with Grodd's power," Lyla said. "You're welcome, by the way.""Anything it takes to keep the city safe," Esther said. "Speaking of keeping the city safe, we couldn't have done this without Shay," Barry said. "How'd you guys convince him to turn back into King Shark?" "We didn't," Cisco said. "He volunteered," Caitlin said. "And you can never turn him back into a human?" Barry asked. "I don't think so," Caitlin said."Doesn't mean we won't try," I reminded. "So, he's gonna stay King Shark forever?" Barry asked."That's very possible," I said sadly. ~*~"Are those Swedish fish?" I asked happily."Yes, ma'am," Cisco said. "Can I-""Of course," Cisco said. "Cravings?" Caitlin asked. "I have weirder cravings than this," I told her. "Like?" "Not telling." "Guys, hey," Barry said, "I just- Swedish Fish? I love those. And here's the truffle fries you wanted.""Wonderful darling," I said kissing his cheek. "Um, look, I know today has been crazy, and I just wanted to make sure that we're good, I know Grodd made you blast me in the face but I also know I kinda deserved it Same with being ice blasted," Barry said. "I shouldn't have used the cure as a weapon and forced it on King Shark. I promise it won't happen again." "Apology accepted," Caitlin said. "Goober," Cisco said as he threw a fish at Barry. "And we know something good did come out of today," Caitlin said. "We know the meta-human cure works," I agreed as I ate my fries. "And now we can use it to help all of the metas in Central City and beyond," Cisco added. "Maybe we start with Cicada," Barry said. "I'm sorry, what?" Cisco asked. "I know, I just-" Barry began. "People can surprise you. Today definitely reminded me that. And like you've been saying, everybody deserves a choice to be whoever they want to be... That includes our enemies.""Barry, what are you saying?" I asked."I think we should offer the cure to Cicada," Barry said.~*~