The weather was bright and clear that morning.
Jack Kadere returned to the villa with Disciple in tow, carrying a handful of new phones he'd picked up. After briefly teaching Kate how to use them, he dialed Caitlin Snow.
Caitlin was already driving toward S.T.A.R. Labs. After a quick exchange, she hung up to focus on the road.
Setting the phone aside, Jack turned his attention back to studying the Speed Force.
The applications of this power weren't limited to what he'd demonstrated in his clash with Firestorm last night. Some abilities were fairly simple to grasp—like Reverse-Flash's rapid hand strikes, the high-speed vibration of his face to disguise his identity, or even generating streaks of lightning with each sprint. But others were more advanced—time travel, phasing through solid walls, manipulating perceptions of reality. Those required deeper mastery of the Speed Force.
Jack was still at the stage of learning control. Not just in how others perceived his movements, but in calibrating his own body: the acceleration, the deceleration, the way his senses processed the outside world at super-speed. Every shift required precise adjustment.
He lost track of time and realized the entire morning had slipped by.
After a quick shower, Jack came to the living room, flipped on the TV, and asked Laura without looking away from the screen, "Where are the others?"
"They went out," Laura replied.
"Shopping? And why didn't you go with them?" Jack picked up a decorative figurine from the coffee table, shifted its molecular structure into solid gold, and casually tossed it to her. "That's enough to buy a car. Go enjoy yourself when you've got nothing better to do."
Laura looked down at the gold in her hands, hesitated as though she wanted to say something, but Jack had already turned his focus back to the television.
The news was reporting a bank robbery. An employee being interviewed described how, out of nowhere, the bank had been engulfed in a thick fog.
Jack's brows lifted slightly. Fog?
Weather Wizard.
The particle accelerator explosion hadn't only created the Flash—it had spawned a whole wave of metahumans. The Weather Wizard was among the earliest. Or rather, the brothers were. The Mardon brothers had been small-time crooks, fleeing in a private plane while Joe West was pursuing them. The timing was unlucky for them: the particle accelerator exploded mid-flight, and their plane crashed.
Everyone believed they'd died. But in truth, both survived—each gaining the ability to control weather itself. The older brother kept to the shadows at first, badly injured, while the younger wasted no time turning his newfound power into crime. If Jack remembered correctly, this made Clyde Mardon Barry Allen's very first true villain after becoming the Flash.
Jack couldn't quite remember Clyde's name at first, but the ability was unmistakable—and intriguing.
Without hesitation, Jack activated the Speed Force.
Red electricity flared across his body, and he vanished with a crack of thunder.
"Double stack—" Jack muttered under his breath as he pushed his speed even further.
He thought back to the old S.T.A.R. Labs files, and the TV show events that mirrored them. If Clyde was hiding out, it was most likely on a farm outside Central City.
Farm after farm blurred past in streaks of crimson lightning as Jack searched.
Then—
CRREEAAK!
Jack came to a sudden stop at one farm, his presence disrupting the air like a spark.
Standing a few feet away was a man with a startled expression, shock written across his face.
"You… you—" Clyde Mardon stammered, staring in disbelief. How had this man appeared out of thin air? Did he also have powers? No—there wasn't supposed to be another one.
Jack smiled lightly, tilting his head.
Without another word, Clyde whipped his arm forward. Instantly, a dense spiral of mist and whirling wind erupted from his body, surging toward Jack like a miniature storm.
BOOOOM!
The blast tore through the farm's wall, blowing it apart in an explosion of debris and dust.
Clyde exhaled, bracing himself to see his opponent crushed by the winds—
Tap.
He froze as he felt a light touch on his shoulder.
Whipping his head around, Clyde found Jack standing casually behind him, smiling as though amused by the attempt. "You're decisive," Jack said calmly. "I'll give you that. You understand the classic rule—villains usually lose because they waste time talking." His smile sharpened. "But the truth is… you're too slow."
"You—!"
Clyde stumbled backward in alarm, widening the gap between them. Raising both arms, he summoned stronger winds.
The air roared as cyclones gathered, circling him in tightening rings of force. His face twisted with focus, his power growing more intense by the second.
Bang!
The roof of the farmhouse was ripped away, and nearby debris was torn from the ground, flying in all directions.
"You're dead!" Clyde snarled, his voice carrying over the howling wind as he glared at Jack from within the whirlwind.
Jack tilted his head casually, not the least bit concerned. "Dead? You won't die, at least not by my hands." He chuckled. "But I don't need your powers to deal with you. If I used them, I might accidentally kill you. So instead…"
Whoosh!
A red flash streaked through the storm, and Jack was suddenly standing right in front of Clyde.
"How did you—" Clyde's eyes widened.
"How did I ignore the cutting force of your wind?" Jack interrupted, smirking. "A minor thug like you shouldn't ask so many questions."
His hand shot forward, gripping Clyde's neck in an instant. The whirlwind faltered and then dissipated as Clyde struggled for breath.
Jack held him firmly with one hand, raising the other. His palm began vibrating at incredible speed, becoming nothing more than a blur.
"You have a choice." Jack's voice was calm, almost conversational. "Either you attack S.T.A.R. Labs, or I snap your neck right now."
Clyde's eyes widened in fear as Jack continued. "You know S.T.A.R. Labs, right? The night the particle accelerator exploded, you got your powers because of it. They already know about metahumans like you. So whether it's for your own safety… or just because I'm threatening you, I think you'll make the smart choice and destroy S.T.A.R. Labs."
Jack's eyes narrowed, the blur of his vibrating hand humming ominously. "What do you say?"
"I… I'll go…" Clyde wheezed, barely able to speak.
Crack!
Jack released him, letting Clyde collapse to the ground in a heap, gasping for air.
"Don't even think about running," Jack said flatly. "You already know—I'm very fast."
Clyde looked up, but by the time he did, Jack had already vanished.
...
S.T.A.R. Labs.
The rooftop, the very same place where Caitlin Snow had once been kidnapped. Jack appeared there in a streak of red lightning, calmly pulling out his phone.
He dialed.
"Hello?" Caitlin's voice came through the line.
"Is Barry Allen at the lab?" Jack asked directly.
"No, he isn't."
"Then you should tell him to get back there," Jack said with a smile she couldn't see.
"Why?" Caitlin asked, clearly confused.
"Because a metahuman is about to attack S.T.A.R. Labs," Jack explained casually. "The guy from the news—the one who robbed the bank."
Her voice grew sharp with concern. "How do you know that? Then hurry and come help us!"
"Help?" Jack chuckled. "No, I won't be helping. After all, I'm the one who forced him to attack S.T.A.R. Labs. Why would I step in?"
Before Caitlin could respond, Jack ended the call and powered his phone down.
"You… you forced him?" Caitlin stared at the dead line in shock. She tried calling again, but his phone was switched off.
Frustrated, she had only one option left—contact Barry Allen.