The Flash #35: "Glory of the Golden Glider"

The alarms are still ringing when I arrive at the scene; but the criminals themselves are long gone. It’s the third store to be hit in one day; and Central City doesn’t have a heckuva lot of jewellery stores in the first place; other than the north side of the city, it’s not exactly the high culture capital of America. I blaze in; a streak of light, almost unnoticeable to most of the people here. The police haven’t arrived yet, but I can see a man’s arm hanging out of the shattered glass window and wince. My first time back in the suit since…. Since I got back, and it’s a nasty one.

“What exactly…” my voice trails off as I step inside the door- there’s a man there, frozen solid, inside a giant block of ice. It sounds funny the first time or too. When you realise what has been done to this man’s internal organs; the horror of his death, not so much. Cold? No. Not Cold. I touch the ice. He would have done a thin layer; Cold doesn’t kill for no reason. Then who? Freeze? Icicle? Killer Frost? Plenty of possibilities. And now I notice the trail of ice leading down the street away from the store; whoever attacked this place wants to be followed. There’s a single thin line down the middle of the ice, which is strange but…

As I step out, I notice that a crowd has gathered around; a few dozen people speaking in hushed whispers and murmurs and pointing at the scene of the crime.

“It’s alright, everyone,” I reassure them, raising my hands. “I have this under….”

“Like you had last month?” someone shouts from within the crowd. My head snaps round, but before I can reply, a woman steps forward angrily.

“They said you were gone! Why aren’t you gone? Haven’t you done enough?”

“Why didn’t you just go when you had the chance?”

“…brother was in Central Hospital!”

“…Governor warned your wife anyway and…”

Before I can say a word, more and more people are shouting in support. My mouth flaps open uselessly- I have no idea how to deal with this. More disgruntled cries of support- more stories. More outrage. For a moment, I stand helpless, aghast. This… nothing close to this has ever happened before. The anger on their faces. The disappointment. The… the betrayal.

My name is Barry Allen. I’m the Flash, the Fastest Man Alive- and for the first time I can remember, I’m also the most hated man in Central City.



Time was, I would have stayed to talk to people; find out what happened, collect eyewitness accounts. But something tells me I’m not welcome this time. I’m relieved to have a trail to follow in the ice; zooming out in a blur without stopping, mood suddenly darkened. Wally’s back at the house, Jay and the others are off on their own mission, today is just me on the streets of my city. City. Singular. Because I’m not allowed into Keystone City anymore; not allowed across the river. Its new governor has seen to that. I try to push aside those thoughts; I’m on a case, and whoever broke open that jewellery store can’t be…

It’s then that I notice it out of the corner of my eye; a shadow in a side street, just off from the ice-trail. It could be nothing but… there’s a momentary reflection. Off glasses. And I know those glasses anywhere. I turn to the side, and I hear a curse; then a frozen beam of energy blasts towards me.

I duck aside- I’ve got you this time. – and have to detour again; he’s trying to seal off the alley with a frozen wall but I vibrate through it so that it chatters, sending slabs of ice everywhere. He fires another beam straight at me; I duck around it at the speed of sound and run forwards, but he’s set his weapon to a different setting and I’m surrounded by an instant blizzard; razor-sharp snowflakes milling around me, slashing through the costume. That’s new. I run quickly up the side of one of the walls and run down on the other size of the snowstorm- but suddenly, I’m slipping; he froze the ground!- and before I can recover, I slam into the far side.

“How many times we done this now?” asks Captain Cold, his cold gun an inch from the back of my head.

“Enough that you should know I can escape before you can blink, Cold” I respond, turning my head slowly to gaze at him. It’s the only time I’ve seen him since the hospital, and that was a quick glance only, my first in months at the time. He looks older; more grizzled. Unshaved, too. I don’t care- I remember what he did to Piper. He cocks his head, expression unreadable.

“I’ve triggered a cold-field in the air. Movement is slower. Not much, but enough for me to plug you.” I’ve heard that before.

“Try it,” I counter. I’m itching for a fight, to drive my fist into his face, to pound him, for what he’s done. But I restrain myself- just about. He seems to consider for a moment, and then, to my surprise, he extends a hand to help me up. Cautiously, I accept, making sure not to stand on the patches of ground he froze. Nice little obstacle course he’d managed to set up there; he’s more dangerous than I remember. And he was always plenty dangerous. “Care to explain the sudden return to form?” He snorts in derision.

“I didn’t rob that store.” Right. Sure.

“Like you didn’t kill Harley, you lying filth?” I spit bitterly. He twitches- just a bit.

“...Piper died?” He asks, but I don’t buy the act for a second.

“You murdered him. You murdered him after he helped you save Mardon. You...”

“I...” he hesitates. “...We never meant to... I didn’t know.” He straightens. “And he made his choice- he betrayed the Rogues. I didn’t want him to die, but I sure as hell ain’t gonna shed any tears over it. And for the record, Flasher, I know you’re pissed. You got every right to be- but we didn’t like what Trickster did, and...”

“Shut it,” I counter angrily. “We aren’t old friends, and this isn’t a reunion. Give me a reason; any reason not to take you in for this.” Any reason not to break your nose...

“Can the crap,” He turns his back on me, walking out of the alley, feet crunching on the synthesised ice. “First, if it was a heist, I would have done it with the Rogues. Second, I wouldn’t have killed anyone. Thirdly, I would be long gone, not skulking in an alley. And fourth, Flasher, I don’t leave a damn trail. I was trying to follow it when you decided to try and bring me in.” I give a humorless laugh. the idea of Cold trying to bring in a criminal would certainly be a new one. “You with me?” He asks, and I nearly laugh again. Work with him? After he murdered Piper?

“The only reason I’m not bringing you in this second is that there’s a more immediate threat out there. But you and I are having words about this, and very soon, Cold. And you better hope that words are all we have.”



“Well… this isn’t really a good place to be in now, is it?” The blonde girl smiled lazily as she applied just a little more pressure with her foot, causing the police officer currently under it to gasp in pain as her razor-sharp skate drew blood from his cheek. “Or…. Maybe it is?” Golden Glider cocked her head in thought, raising an eyebrow seductively. “Maybe you’ve had dreams like this, hmm? People are into all kinds of stuff… is that it? Is this what you like?”

The alarm continued to drone loudly, and behind her, the final screams had stopped; evidence that her partner in crime had finished off the tellers. She tossed a glance over her shoulder; yes, he was coming out of the bank now, sack over his shoulder heavier than before. He looked around at the decimated police car and the man trapped beneath her skate. “Geez, GG, you been busy.”

“I’m a busy gal,” she agreed, eyes flicking back to the unfortunate officer. “And this mouse has already taken up too much of my time.” She forced her heel down with a grin; it smashed down with a crack… but nothing that sounded remotely like pulped skull. She glanced at the pavement… and found the man was gone. It took her only a split second to realise what had happened, and then her smile only widened. “It’s been a while, Red,” she called out. “You haven’t met Chillblaine, right? He’s a good boy- and oh, so useful.” Like the idiot he was, her large partner nodded, twirling his cold-gun in a display he doubtless thought was impressive. And then the Flash was standing in front of the bank; the policeman safely deposited elsewhere, and to Glider’s delight, the goody two shoes looked pissed off. “I can’t tell you how much I’ve been looking forward to this!” she crowed delightedly. “It’s like a big reunion!”



“Not a happy one,” I tell her. I’m not in the mood for this. I’m not in the mood for any of this. I don’t want to have to deal with Captain Cold. I don’t want to be fighting his mysteriously-not-in-a-coma sister and her boytoy. And I certainly don’t want to be doing it while half the city hates my guts and I still don’t even have a place to live. I’m about to start forward when she speaks again.

“Well, Red… oh, sorry, that’s so out of date. It’s Barry, isn’t it?” My stomach lurches in shock, then I grit my teeth. I’m going to have to get used to this. It’s a wonder Cold didn’t make the most of it too. “Right, Barry Allen. With the lovely little wife… what’s her name? I can’t remember. Chillblaine probably remembers, he always remembers someone pretty before he… well, you know, boys will be boys.”

Like a shot, I’m away, but she’s already gone herself, laughing as she skates rapidly down Chillblaine’s ice path. I’m faster, of course, but I need to slow myself to avoid slipping, and her reflexes are fast. Chillblaine’s firing at me too, and I weave between his blasts, but one of them catches me on the thigh and I skid to the ground. I’m up again just before Glider’s skate connects with where my head was; Chillblaine turns to fire at me again- but now another ice blast intercepts his.

“I knew it was you, Lis. I just ****ing knew it.” Snarls a familiar voice. Cold is on the scene. Just perfect.

“Now it is a reunion!” Glider says happily, skidding away from us both along the ice paths Chillblaine has covered the square with. “How you been, Lenny?”

“I’m not in the mood for your games, Lis,” Cold snaps over the roar of the freeze-weapons. “How are you not in hospital? And what happened to the baby?” Baby? That was a new one. I knew she was in hospital- a wave of guilt rolls over me as I remember that I put her there myself, but a ba…a…

“Oh, didn’t you know, Barry?” Taking advantage of my distraction, Glider’s skating just a few feet in front of me, a cruel smile on her face. “I was pregnant. With a baby. A little girl, actually. Funny though, despite what they say, newborns can be so… well, disposable.” I swallow. Hard. A little girl?

I hold her, and rock her in my arms- she’s so tiny, so fragile, and now I forget about Grodd and about the attack on Wally, and the Rogues, because there’s just Iris and Carrie and I alone in the universe and…

“….sake, Flasher!!” Her fist slams into my stomach, hard, and as I double over, pain lances down the side of my body, and there’s a numbness as my flank is layered with a thin blue shell. It might have gone deeper, might have frozen past an outer layer, if Cold hadn’t swiftly created a shield to protect me from its influence; as it is, I need to shake my head. “She’s trying to throw you offguard! Just stop her!” He’s angry, not with pure rage but a more controlled, focused, and- I’m certain- more deadly wrath. As he advances, firing quick, unpredictable bursts of varying size and width, I’m stunned back into action, running after Glider.

She tries to wind back and forth to evade me, but I’m wise to her now, and I leap over the pools of ice on the ground, gaining on her with each step, certain that I can quickly take her down and…. And then she turns her head and flashes me that grin again and-

Newborns can be so… well, disposable. She drives her elbow back into my face, coming to a sudden stop. I could have brought myself up in town, could have seen it, but the sudden thought dazzled me, and instead her blow takes me right on; I stagger backwards. I can hear Cold roaring at me, but the air is now full of snow; a storm of flakes. Not razor-flakes, like Cold, but blinding all the same; a white shroud lies over my vision. Pull yourself together, Barry. You can’t let these two idiots beat you. You can’t… A shape looms out of the whiteness; I tense, ready for anything…

But it’s Cold whose fist emerges to smack into my nose, so that I fall to the ground in surprise. “Idiot,” He growls in fury. He reaches down, grabbing me by the collar. “****ing….” He raises his fist again, and I feel a sudden surge of rage. I throw myself to my feet and punch him in the jaw. It feels so good that I do it again- I imagine him murdering Piper, imagine the boy’s fear, his horror- and I strike hard; and again, and again. In response, he throws himself at me, and we wrestle for a moment in the snow; I ignore his attacks, pounding him repeatedly, taking out all my frustration on him until with a shout he throws himself away, panting heavily, refusing to meet my expression.

We sit there for some minutes; Chillblaine and Glider are long gone. I don’t suggest we work together, and neither does he. We don’t have to. And neither of us can bear to mention it. After a while, I stand, and he follows, and that’s that. Silently, without even glancing at each other, we set off out of the miniature storm to follow their trail once again.



One month ago...

“Oh!” The nurse winced as the hospital shook once more. She glanced through the window in the door, then threw herself to the ground as a razor sharp card smashed through the glass, sending shards everywhere. She crawled around the wreckage, her lip curling in contempt at the ignobility of it- but she was intact. A piece of glass had scoured her badge, though it was still possible to make out ‘Nurse Geraldine’ faintly on it Irritably, she shot a glance at her patient. The woman was lying still in the bed, deep in a coma, the lump in her stomach betraying her advanced pregnancy. She should have given birth soon. She probably wouldn’t now. The room shook again and the nurse bit her lip in anxiety. Those villains fighting out there... they didn’t care who they hurt, and this young woman could be their next victim, and her child. And even she herself, God forbid.

She turned to the room’s window, then considered the spare bedsheets in the cupboard. Maybe... maybe... She began scrambling, trying to bundle them up- perhaps she could form a stretcher to lower herself into the alley behind the hospital? And then, she... she... and the nurse froze, her attention caught by the clipboard sitting atop the cupboard. Lisa Snart.... Lisa Snart... That was her patient’s name? Lisa Snart? It was supposed to be classified, and in an instant she knew why, with a thrill of surprise. That’s his sister! And then something clicked into place, and the flicker of a smile came to her lips. Ignoring the chaos in the hallway, she snapped open her mobile phone- which, in violation of hospital regulations, she kept on- and began to dial.

* * *

Cold and I don’t say a word after that for quite a while. The trail is pretty clear; obviously, Glider wants to be followed. A third jewellery store, I’d imagine. I know this city like the back of my hands, but there are at least two possibilities, and I can’t afford to waste time running off to one when it could be the other. Part of me wants to leave Cold behind too, but I may need him if Glider starts messing with my head again.

“So what happened to her anyway?” I ask at last, not looking at Cold in case he reacts stonily. There’s a pause, and I don’t think he’s going to answer, but at last he does.

“Hell if I know.” Short, gruff- typical Cold, in other words. A fresh feeling of dislike overwhelms me- the Rogues may not be as bad as some of the villains out there, but I can’t forget that they are, every one, murderers and scumbags- they’ve shown that too clearly now. It’s just that they’re the lesser of two evils right now.

“...Why did you come back?” I ask at last, changing tack- and this time, the answer is even slower coming.

“We came back to help Mardon. He tells me at last. “We stayed because this is our hometown, and because we ain’t big fans of the new class of crook here.”

“New class?” I ask- I turn to look at him with interest. A bad idea, because an image of Harley flashes through my mind, and I have to look away, concentrating on jogging without leaving Cold behind.

“Yeah. The Candyman and his goons. Drug dealers, scum... typical mafia crap. Twin Cities didn’t used to have to deal with this, not when... not in the old days. And we don’t like people muscling in on our turf.” So that’s what this is about- some sort of glorified gangwar between new criminals and old. Jay and the others mentioned all the filth flooding into the streets- and now I have a name, too. I’ll have to check it with Batman. “How Lisa’s connected to that... I dunno. But I’m sure as hell gonna find out.”

That’s as far as we get, because then we round the corner into 14th Street- where I know for a fact there’s a jewellers, because I bought my wife’s wedding ring there. And my suspicion is concerned a second later by the screams. With barely a word, Cold and I take opposite sides of the street and I accelerate, teeth grit. No screwing up this time- it’s Round 2.

* * *

When I run into the middle of the street, I’m pretty surprised to find there’s no-one there. The trail just ends abruptly, half-way down, and... that’s it. Nothing more. There are a few confused pedestrians looking at it- and not a few looking with what just might be anger, and even... even fear... at me. But that’s it. Hell, even the front of the store seems fine. I turn to look at Cold in surprise- and that’s when Golden Glider descends on me from mid-air so that I’m just about able to duck in time. She grins at me as she keeps skating- apparently able to skate even without anything beneath her now. That’s new. Then the front of the jewellers shatters and Chillblaine is firing quick bursts off his cold gun.

I deal with him first, because it’s easier. It takes me only a few seconds to race over there- and this time, unlike before, there’s no ice to trip me up, and the Glider is going after Cold, and unlike with Cold in the alley earlier, this guy isn’t smart. It takes me literally five seconds to drop a haymaker on his jaw and then pummel him to make sure he’s out but good- now I can return my attention to the one who really matters here. She’s still skating across the air, leaping over Cold’s blasts, laughing as she does so.

“Your aim’s gotten pretty bad, Len. Or maybe you just don’t want to hit me?” She grins down at him, and I shudder at the playfulness in her tone. I didn’t know Glider for long, but she seems more insane than she ever was before. Is this my fault too? Everything else seems to be. “Aww, Barry took out my toy...” She says, giving me mock puppy dog eyes as she expertly swerves around another cold-beam fired into the sky. “Maybe he’ll be my new one?”

I don’t bother to reply- I’m trying to see a way to take her out, but I can’t. As long as she stays up there and away from the sides of buildings for me to run up, there’s no way I can get her- and Cold’s fast and accurate, but the sky’s too big and she can dodge far too easily. At least she can’t wreak any more havoc, but she can get away easily- and that isn’t good enough.

“What’s this about, Lis?” Cold shouts. “Is it just the jewels? Is that it?”

“Don’t be silly, Len,” She throws him a broad wink. “It’s about you, of course. The Candyman wanted to let you know the consequences for not working with him. And he wanted to see if I could be any use against dearest Barry- well, I could, of course!” She’s still smiling infuriatingly, and my blood quickens. “Not that I need to be good against him- when some of his family isn’t as.... fast as he is anyway.” She smiles again, and my fists are clenched tight now- I can’t give in, I can’t... maybe I could make a tornado to take her down? But no, I’d need to generate energy to make it reach high enough, and she could just escape in the time it took me. Think, Barry. Don’t listen to her. Think. “Take his daughter, for instance. She’s... oh, but wait, that’s right, you don’t have your daughter, do you? They say she went messing. Oh, Baz, what happened? Did you lose her?” And again with that smile... that god-damned smile, that...

“Speaking of children,” It’s a new voice, and a familiar one. “We need to talk.” And then a bolt of lightning crashes into Glider and she tumbles from the sky with a scream.

Weather Wizard is on the scene.

* * *

Two weeks ago...

“Hmph.” The Candyman’s eyes betrayed nothing as his gaze scanned the young woman’s prone form. After a long moment, he turned his attention to the woman beside him, standing over the body. She was eerily still, face pinched and thin, auburn hair cropped closely. “Well? Is she retrievable?”

“I think so,” She answered at once. “Removing her from the coma is not the difficulty, really; do you want her mind intact when it’s done?” The Candyman considered for just a moment, pacing around the stretcher the girl lay in as he pondered.

“I do not care if she is unbalanced if that is what you mean. In fact, I’d prefer it. As long as she’s useful.”

“Oh, she will be that,” the woman replied. “She’ll still have all her powers, and the knowledge of how to use them- and as you know, the conditioning itself is simple enough. And, as I said to you when I first brought her in, she’ll drive Len Snart insane. Particularly if she’s unbalanced, I suppose.” The Candyman smiled at that and nodded, then turned to leave- he was a busy man.

“Good. That will be useful if he does not agree to the proposal I intend to offer him next week.”

One last thing,” the woman- who only a week before had been working undercover as a nurse in Central City Hospital- asked. “The child?” Candyman did not hesitate in the slightest.

“A baby is of no use to me, my dearest sister. Dispose of it however you see fit.”

* * *

“Start talking, Lis,” Before Glider can get up, Cold’s gun is an inch from her head, and I’m standing right beside her, ready to act at any moment. He looks up and gives a gruff nod to Weather Wizard as Mardon descends, eyes glittering with lightning. It’s the first time I’ve seen him since... well, in a long time. I never thanked him for helping, if unwittingly, to save Iris in the hospital. After what he helped do to Harley, I never will. “You got here, quick,” Cold tells him.

“I’ve been shadowing you since the start,” He says shortly. “I got my own bone to pick her. And speaking of.... what happened, Lisa?” He seems ready to hit her. “What happened to my son?” He was the father? That makes sense, in a twisted way, but....

“P....” She spits blood, and shudders as the residue of the electrical current goes down her. There’s no trace of that sickly sweet smile now, only hatred, all of it directed full force towards her brother, ignoring Mardon completely. “P...P...Pe...” I wonder what she’s trying to say- it could be... “Peek-a-boo....” She spits at last.

“...Wha...?” Begins Cold, but then from absoloutely nowhere, someone else is standing right beside us. I barely have a chance to see a teenage black girl placing her hand on Glider’s shoulder before there’s an explosion and I shunt into speed mode. I just about manage to get out in time- Cold and Mardon aren’t so lucky, and get thrown backwards. Then the girl- and Glider- are gone. I see movement from the corner of my eye, so I turn quickly- in time to see another explosion, this one beside the broken window of the jewellery shop, where the unconscious Chillblaine lay. Had lain, I should say- because now he’s gone too. I failed. They got away.

With a deep sigh, I climb back to my feet- Mardon and Cold are both getting up too, groggily- they seem intact, if not exactly ecstatic. They’re talking now, in low voices, and their conversation seems to take an age, though I can’t hear it. I scan the area quickly- no-one seems to have been hurt here, although a crowd is gathering again. I don’t want to stick around to talk to them, but just as I’m about to leave, I see the two Rogues walking towards me. I don’t want to talk to either of them. I just want to take them both down, to bring them in.... Their expressions aren’t clear at all, so I tense- now that Lisa’s gone, do they want a fight too? Do I? I think of Piper, and I clench my fists, ready to.... “You ain’t got a problem with us,” Cold holds up both hands.

“Oh?” I reply softly, sizing up angles. I can take down Cold first, he’s the more dangerous one, and if I move fast, he won’t be able to stop me. Then Mardon - he’ll have time to react, but that can’t be helped.

“No,” Weather Wizard chimes in. “We didn’t kill the Pied Piper. We roughed him up, maybe, but... he was alive.”

“And that ain’t your problem anyway,” Cold’s expression is, as ever, masked. “All this crap that’s come down on you over the past few weeks... we didn’t want it to be that way. And if you’re worried about your family, don’t be. The Rogues won’t go for them. It ain’t right. But the Candyman... he don’t play by the rules. And this new idiot over in Keystone... we know him from the Heights- he’s worse than all of us put together.”

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about, Cold,” I snap, though that’s not really true. “And I don’t believe for a second that you didn’t kill Harley.” I’m not sure that is either.

“All we’re saying is, Flasher, when it comes down to it, these are bad times for super-folks in these cities. We don’t like you, and you don’t like us. But we know where you stand with you, not like those others. And... well, it runs both ways, okay?” Is he... but before I can ask, before I can suggest a thing, both of them have vanished into an icy puddle, and I see the Mirror Master give me a cheerful wave out of it. Then Cold speaks out of the reflection. “And by the way... Barry. Sorry to hear about your dad, and your kid. That was rough. You didn’t deserve that.” And then they’re gone.

For another while, I stand there, troubled by everything I’ve seen and heard. Then I shake my head- I need to get home, back to Iris and the others. It’s pretty clear that the Twin Cities aren’t my biggest fans anymore. Now I know about this... this Candyman... and if what Cold says is true, then my family aren’t safe from him. Who was that girl who helped Glider escape anyway? And I’m even more confused about the Rogues than I was before. Plus I have no idea what happened to Glider, and the fact that she knew my identity, that she was able to rattle me so easily.... It’s all disturbing, to say the least. And then there’s the other question, the one I’ve been thinking about ever since I realised that Cold might not be lying after all.

If the Rogues didn’t do it... then who killed the Pied Piper?

Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like any of the answers?

The End

Epilogue:

Two weeks ago

The Candyman picked up his cell phone irritably, face barely betraying his annoyance. “What is it?” He snapped brusquely.

“It’s Geraldine. I have some news I think you’ll find interesting. About the Snart child- I think I may be able to remove it without killing it or the woman.”

“Why would I care? I told you to get rid of it.”

“You did. But I think you may change your mind, Jack. We did a scan on it before I was to begin the procedure and... well, I think the baby takes after her father.”

And the Candyman smiled.