(The Flash) Frozen Flashpoint: Chapter 29 - March Forward

Chapter 29 - March Forward

Summary: DeVoe's true plan is exposed, as is the identity of a certain speedster.

Barry blinked twice before asking in a blank voice, "You mean like in two days?"

Marlize nodded. So, Barry asked again, refusing to believe what he was hearing, "He is going to attack Central City with an army of metas in two days?"

Marlize nodded once again and informed them, "He was planning this attack for a while now, gathering forces, mainly from the meta criminals he convinced to follow his plan. He hoped for some specific powers to come up before attacking on this scale, but like I said, all those changes forced his hand."

Barry opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before clicking it shut and drowning in his thoughts.

Damn it, DeVoe would have tricked them! He probably made sure that Cisco would find that drug formula, and that the engineer would manage to hack the client list of the information. All of this so they would assume DeVoe's next target would be the drug, while all this time he was preparing an army to attack Central City and take it over.

If Barry had not trusted Caitlin and supported her decision to speak with Marlize, then DeVoe would have caught them by surprise again and probably would have taken over the city. Would Barry still sacrifice himself with everything that he knows now? He wasn't sure. Lyra's face with tears flowing down came to his mind, and in that moment, he would prefer to stay with her than give his life for any reason.

Still, Barry now needed to consider what should happen next... But before he could think about it too much, Caitlin's voice broke through and said, "We should go talk with the team."

When Barry looked up at his fiancée, she was giving him a hard stare, and Barry could almost read her thoughts. She already knew what he was about to consider and decided to cut the idea at its roots.

Barry could only nod; he had learned even before they started dating not to challenge Caitlin when she had that look on her face.

Without another word, the four of them began heading toward the cortex where Barry knew the rest of the team was waiting for them.

Barry was walking behind Caitlin and Lyra, so he could hear it when Caitlin whispered to their daughter, "Hey, are you okay, little star?"

Lyra startled a little, as if she was surprised hearing Caitlin's voice, but it passed the same moment it happened and was replaced by the teen's usual smile and chipper tone. "Sure, Mom."

Barry noticed Caitlin side-eyeing Lyra for a moment before responding casually, "You were quieter than usual since you ran Marlize in."

Lyra almost tripped on air due to Caitlin's words before she caught herself and managed to say, "Oh, just a lot on my mind is all."

Caitlin hummed for a moment, and both Barry and Lyra grew paler at the familiar act that indicated the brunette was not satisfied with the answer and would start an investigation now. So, trying to prevent that, Lyra gave out a nervous chuckle before saying in what was probably supposed to be a confident voice, "There is really nothing to it, Mom."

The girl received no response, so finally she gave the act away and let out a heavy sigh. "Fine. It's just that Marlize was like an aunt to me in the future, and I'm a little bummed that she won't even recognize who I am now."

Barry could feel his eyes widening at the information, but his future daughter decided to add, "Seeing her almost dying because of DeVoe also shocked me a little, I guess."

Caitlin raised an eyebrow at the teen and asked, "He didn't do it in the future?"

Lyra shook her head slowly. "Last time she found out, she tried to infiltrate STAR Labs, and you caught her. Instead of just throwing her in prison, you spoke with her and convinced her to look deeper into her husband's plans. After she did, she found out about his previous plans before the timeline changed, and she understood she couldn't trust him and began feeding us info. When DeVoe began suspecting her, she joined the attack on Star City and used it to join us away from him."

"Oh." It was the only response Caitlin offered to the young speedster, and honestly, Barry could think of nothing better to say.

Before anyone could say anything else, their group arrived at the cortex to the expecting faces of Harry, Jesse, Cisco, Wally, and Joe. Those faces were quickly changed into guarded ones when they noticed Marlize coming from behind Barry.

Barry noticed Marlize flinching a little before adopting an emotionless mask. Barry turned back to his team and said firmly, "Cut it out, guys. She's already been through enough."

Cisco and Wally were the first to look away with guilty expressions; Jesse took a moment longer before her face calmed down. Joe and Harry, on the other hand, didn't look very convinced.

Barry sighed deeply. "Look, guys, DeVoe actually poisoned her and left her to die. So I'm pretty sure she won't be running back to him anytime soon."

Joe eyed Marlize for a moment while commenting wryly, "It could have been a plan. From what we know of DeVoe, he is smart enough to inject her with just the right amount of substance to mimic the symptoms without endangering her life and ordering her to play the victim."

Caitlin jumped quickly to defend her new friend. "I was the one who had to treat her, and I promise you, Joe, if we were even a minute late, she would have died. And when I talked with her, she was honest about escaping DeVoe."

That was when Marlize chose to speak her piece, using a monotone voice that made Barry a little nervous. "All I ever wanted to do was improve life in this world. At first, I thought that my research was the way. I was in Africa purifying water in a way that surely would revolutionize the world when a group that wanted to keep control of the region burst in and killed my entire team. After that, Clifford explained to me his plan to enlighten the entire world, and I believed in it. I wanted to find a solution for all the problems so my team wouldn't have died for nothing. But Caitlin was right—his plan would have brought more disasters than miracles. I'm here because now I know that before I can improve the world, I need to save it from Clifford's plans and seek redemption for the part I played in bringing them to this point."

Joe's face changed to something like pride, and he smiled with a nod. Harry just huffed but didn't say anything else, which Barry considered a win when it came to the man.

Cisco cleared his throat before bringing the mood in the room back up with his usual enthusiasm. "Well, now that we have the biggest expert on all things DeVoe, we can make even better plans to counter him."

Everyone nodded while Harry asked in reluctant interest, "So do you have any idea when he is going after the drug?"

Barry could feel the sinking feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. Looking around, he saw Lyra, Caitlin, and Marlize were in the same boat as him, while the other five were confused by the change in the atmosphere again.

Barry gulped a little before speaking up. "Well, about that... DeVoe tricked us to focus on the drug."

All of them were frowning, and Joe was the one to ask, "But I thought he needs it to stay alive, so if he doesn't go after it, what is his plan?"

Caitlin nodded. "It's still true, and he plans to get his hands on the binding agent soon."

Jesse frowned and reached the most obvious conclusion. "He'll do it after his next move, which will help him get there, isn't it?"

"You can say that," Lyra mumbled ominously.

Wally looked at her with a raised eyebrow and asked with a worried tone, "Umm... What do you mean by that?"

Barry was the one to answer. "It's because DeVoe plans to attack Central City, taking it over. After that, getting the binding agent will be child's play."

Joe's eyebrows climbed all the way up. "He plans to launch an attack on the city? How?"

Marlize, as the only one with all the information, answered, "He is planning to use a large group of metas he has been preparing for months to attack City Hall and take control by force and fear."

Cisco was now frowning as well. "Does he think it will be so easy to defeat the Flash because he has the numbers?"

Marlize shook her head. "Don't forget he doesn't count on Barry or any of you to be in City Hall. None of you has reason to be there; he made sure you all will have your eyes on the drug. Once City Hall and the police are under his control, he could bring in more metas to start hunting all of you down."

Everyone felt a shudder running down their spines. If it wasn't for Caitlin and her plan to recruit Marlize this early, DeVoe would have the city under his control by Monday. Barry knew he could have been in City Hall in seconds once the alert came in, but could he really take on an entire group of metas trained by DeVoe with the element of surprise on their side? No, Barry wasn't arrogant enough to think the answer would be anything else.

Harry then stood up, glared at Lyra, and growled out, "And you just chose not to say anything?!"

Lyra's eyes widened, and before she could reply, Jesse was next to her father and pulled him down to his chair while admonishing him. "Calm yourself, Dad! Lyra wouldn't hide something like that; she's here to save her dad, not see him get killed."

Harry frowned and melted into a guilty expression for a moment before he looked down and didn't say anything else.

Lyra shook off her surprise and responded to the accusation. "Auntie Jesse is right—it didn't happen like that before, and not even close to this early in the timeline."

Marlize's gasp made everyone look at her. The dark-haired woman looked at Lyra with wide eyes before exhaling, "It's you! You are the reason all of Clifford's plans kept failing. You are a speedster from the future!"

Lyra's face went blank, and she responded dryly, "Yes. I'm the reason the monster you call husband kept being defeated, and I will take great pleasure in bringing him down once and for all."

Marlize looked a little terrified of the future teen and asked weakly, "What did Clifford do to you?"

Lyra's eyes grew colder. Wait, no. The entire room was getting colder, and thick white mist began forming around her as she said in a chilling tone, "He took everything from me. My family, my city, my home, my future. And I'm here to take it all back."

No one could move. Barry was vibrating himself so he wouldn't freeze, and so was Jesse, but the other four males couldn't do it and were shaking due to the cold.

That was when Frost stepped in, unbothered by the cold. She reached Lyra and pulled her into a tight hug while whispering, "Hush, snowflake, Mama is here."

The room's temperature began to climb, and Barry ran toward Joe and Cisco to warm them up using his speed while Jesse did the same for Wally and her father.

Once everyone calmed down, a weak voice said, "I'm sorry."

Everyone looked toward Marlize. She was looking at Lyra with tears in her eyes and she said in a voice full of remorse, "My... Clifford caused you great pain, and I helped him. I'm sorry for all you had to lose because of what he became without me noticing."

Lyra pulled her face from Frost's chest, and her usual smile spread on her face as she said calmly, "It's not your fault. Even in the future, you joined us and tried to help bring DeVoe down. You are a good person he used his mind to manipulate. Just another thing he will have to pay for."

Cisco clapped his hands and said loudly, "So we need a plan!" He then looked at Marlize and asked with a smile, "So when does DeVoe plan to attack?"

Marlize's response was calm and measured. "Sunday evening."

Cisco's smile faded away, and Wally asked shocked, "Two days?! He's attacking in two days?"

Marlize just nodded in confirmation. Harry, who was silent until now, was rubbing his chin, and he asked, "Do you have any idea what metas he plans to bring with him?"

Marlize smirked and responded, "I actually have a decent idea. And their files are on my phone."

Harry began to smirk himself as he turned toward Joe and asked, "Could you discreetly evacuate the neighborhood around City Hall?"

Joe considered it for a moment before answering, "It will take some time to arrange, but I'm sure between me, Cecile, and Singh, it's possible."

Barry saw the glint in Harry's eyes and said with a wide smile, "Looks like we have a plan."