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 [b]PART ONE: ROGUE TAKEOVER[/b] 

 [sup][i]THE CALM[/i][/sup] 

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[quote]... while the Flash was occupied in the Badlands fighting the infamous Weather Wizard it appears that several criminals broke into Iron Heights prison to free Hydroman. Reports are still coming in at the time but it appears as if the prison break was orchestrated by Heatwave as well as another individual who used some form of cold gun technology.[/quote]

Iris sighed as she continued typing into her LexBook. She was tired, the fight with Weather Wizard had taken a lot out of her, Christmas was coming. She looked outside her window to see fresh snow falling outside. It calmed her, something about the snow was so pure and innocent. Like the earth beneath it was being reborn. Leaning back she raised her right hand to rub the bridge of her nose, massaging away the migraine that she could feel building within her head. How had she been so foolish to think that Weather Wizard was doing anything other than playing her? She was going to have to come up with some kind of early warning system, rather than simply relying on Jay, in order to direct her movements. Stumbling around in the dark wasn’t exactly working out for her, and it’s not as if she had super hearing like other heroes she knew.

As a door banged she closed the lid of the laptop, eying the redheaded interloper that was currently residing in her apartment. ‘Cousin’ Wally, who was actually her Nephew. She still felt bad for not telling the kid the truth, that her piece of scum brother was his father instead of Uncle Joe who was an upstanding member of the community, or at least he had been. From what she had been gleaming from Wally he had taken retirement from the Keystone PD pretty hard, hitting the bottle as he didn’t really know who he was anymore. The kid was going through a tough time, she just… she just wished that Barry was still around. He would know how to connect with him, Iris knew how to find a story but that was pretty much the range of her expertise.  [color=#ff9900]“Hi Wally.”[/color]

The teen didn’t even look up from his phone, murmuring a very pathetic [i][color=#ffff00]“Hey”[/color] [/i]as he continued his way into the kitchen fixing himself something up to drink. 

[color=#ff9900]“What did you do today?”[/color] She heard a sigh from the kitchen, and could only assume he was rolling his eyes at his cousin attempting to make small talk.

[color=#ffff00]“Not a lot. Did some school work, watched the news.”[/color]

[color=#ff9900]“Central City News?”[/color]

Wally came up to her as a he let out a breathe laugh. This was going to be interesting. [color=#ffff00]“No offense Cuz, but that isn’t really a reliable News Service. I mean don’t get me wrong a lot of the stuff is good, but most of the time it’s just ‘Flash Fan Club!’-”[/color] He raised his hands defensively. [color=#ffff00]“-Now don’t get me wrong, I think the Flash is great. I have to admit I’m in love with the new lightning bolt look on the outfit. I have to say though that the News does seem to be missing a beat in other areas. Have you noticed the decrease in crime recently?”[/color]

Now it was her time to scoff. [color=#ff9900]“Of course I have, I’m a reporter. I’ve been reporting on the decrease in crime, it’s attributed to the Flash. A lot of the big stuff she’s handled, leaving the police free to devote resources to other pursuits such as investigations and petty crime.”[/color]

Wally shook his head. [color=#ffff00]“Did you hear about the break in at Iron Heights?”[/color]

[color=#ff9900]“I’m writing a report on it right now.”[/color]

He nodded along. [color=#ffff00]“I think that’s proof.”[/color]

[color=#ff9900]“Of?”[/color]

[color=#ffff00]“Come on Iris, do I really need to spell it out?”[/color]

[color=#ff9900]“Humour me.”[/color]

[color=#ffff00]“I think the criminals are getting smarter. The Flash has been around for over a year now. She’s dealt with different Metas along the way, fought the Surfer, Heatwave, Manfred Mota and a handful of other bad guys as well as petty criminals. She’s a pretty public figure and people are learning how she operates, and take that into account. Surely the whole distraction method proves that.”[/color]

A gear was knocked out of place in her head as the gears came grinding to a halt. This couldn’t be the case could it? Was it possible that she was just taking the clumsy criminals off the street, making it easier for the smarter criminals to keep moving untouched? If this was the case there was a massive criminal element gaining power without her seeing it. Just then there was an explosion, followed by the lights going out. Jumping up she ran, at a normal speed, to grab her camera. [color=#ff9900]“I have to go Wally. Stay here.”[/color]

[color=#ffff00]“Where the hell are you going?”[/color]

[color=#ff9900]“Hey. A girls gotta eat.”[/color] She closed the door behind her, and that’s where she really took off.