After returning from the sub-basement, Barry and Kara were led to the alpha cell block by the same agent that had taken Barry there before.  The agent had been instructed to keep a close watch on the Flash so he didn’t phase himself into the cell again.  Barry couldn’t blame Alex for giving the order as she knew tensions were still high.  So he calmly waited as Kara approached the cell after ignoring Live Wire and Despero trying to taunt her.

“Well, well, well…Supergirl, you seem to be quite healthy; up and about.  I guess the worry that your boyfriend the Flash had over you dying because of me was unfounded.”

Kara ignored Slick’s comment and pressed on, looking for answers that Barry hadn’t gotten.  She also chose to keep the knowledge that her powers had not returned yet an unknown variable from Slick.  While she had a feeling Barry suspected this, he didn’t say a word.

“I heal remarkably well under the light of Earth’s sun.  Flash told me he came to you for answers on what you did to me.  Tell me about the black sand that you forced into my system.”

“Can’t do that.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s so much more fun to watch you hero types squirm.  After all, no heroes came to save me when the mob buried me alive.”

“So you’re going to continue playing games.  Fine, I hope you enjoy spending the rest of your life in this cell.”

Kara turned away knowing that she wasn’t going to get any more answers than what Barry had told her already.  She had started to walk away while Barry looked back, hoping Slick would change his mind but all he got was a snarky wave in return before the meta-human positioned himself lying back on the seat. 

“Kara; don’t let him get to you.  He’s no different from any other Meta or alien we’ve faced together.  All of them thrive on having power above all else.  He…”

“What would you have me do Barry?  I may not remember doing the things I did with that black dust in my system, but I still did those things.  I could have killed you, could have killed Alex.  You two had to take my powers away.”

“Alex didn’t want to do that to you Kara…there was just…”

“I know.  No other way.  But what if my powers don’t come back?”

“What if they don’t…what about when they do?  Kara, Supergirl isn’t all of who you are.  Come on, let’s get changed and we’ll go home.”

Kara stopped walking as Barry continued forward.  He was headed towards the locker room but immediately stopped and turned back when he noticed her not beside him. 

“Kara?”

“Barry, I think you should go back to Central City.  I want us to go back to my apartment together…I really do…but…”

“…you want to be alone right now, don’t you?”

“I just think it’s for the best right now.  We might benefit from a little time apart at this juncture.”

“You’re giving up on us already?  You waited for me for six months and now you’re…”

“It’s not like that Barry…not like that at all.  You know the powers I’m capable of.  What if I’m not completely cleared of what the Sand Demon did to me.  What if the next time I really do lose all control?  I lost you once before, I can’t go through that again, especially if I’m the cause of it this time.”

Barry didn’t know what to say, even though he knew Kara’s reasoning was sound.  He could tell she was trying to keep a brave face for him despite knowing that this was tearing her apart inside.  He slowly reached out to place a comforting hand on her face, but she pulled back, flinching at the ghost contact.  Dejected, Barry lowered his hand and turned towards the exit.  Walking away from the love of his life was painful, but he had no other choice and spoke before he pushed the doors open. 

“Fine.  Take all the time you need.  You’ll know where to find me.”

With those words, Barry was gone with a lightning trail flickering in his wake.  Kara collapsed to her knees, the tears starting to fall.  But she wanted to believe she was doing this to protect him.  She was still there in the hallway half an hour later when Alex found her.

“Kara…we’re running tests on the sand from Slick, we should have some answers soon.  We’re going to figure out…what happened to you?  Where’s Barry?”

“I sent him away Alex.  I made him…”

“I’ll break his legs if he broke your heart.”

“This isn’t his fault!  I made him leave!  I told him to go back to Central City!  I’m too afraid of what could happen when my powers come back if I’m not completely cleared of the black sand that made me lose all control!”

“Come on Kara, I’ll take you home.”

As Barry neared Star Labs, the communicator in his ear started transmitting with Cisco on the other end.  He had called before the incident with Kara to let his team know they were back, he just didn’t expect a threat to be running loose when he came home.

“Cisco…what’s the problem?”

“I wish I knew Barry.  We’re getting all sorts of readings of people attacking each other for no reason.  It’s like every citizen of Central has a grudge against everyone else.”

“What about at Star?”

“We’re all fine for the moment.  But you better get back here.”

“I’m already on my way.”

As Barry ran through his city towards the labs, he was shell-shocked at what he was witnessing.  He had to stop several violent incidents along the way, the last of which being two men fighting over a small fender bender.

“Hey…whatever happened…there’s no reason to try and kill each other.  I’m sure that this was just an accident.”

“Get lost hero…you cause more problems that the super-villains!  Central City was a lot more peaceful before you and the rest of the meta-human freaks showed up!”

Barry began quickly dodging the fists both men were now throwing at him.  His own anger was starting to boil over before the inhibitor in his mask activated.  This wasn’t the first time he was thankful Cisco and Winn had installed one into his uniform after the incident in National with Despero.  He had a feeling that this could be another case of mind control, but his instincts were telling him there was more to it.  After subduing both men and running them to a cell at Central City P.D., he made his way back to Star and the Cortex.

“All right…so what exactly is going on out there?”

“Funny you should ask that Barry, we’re not sure.”

“I’m sorry…not sure?  Cisco, I leave for two weeks, almost get killed by Kara and come back to find the whole city in chaos?  Where are Jesse and Wally?”

“Barry…you’ve got to calm down…we’re trying to figure this out.  You just have to give us time.”

Barry could feel his emotions beginning to run on overdrive as soon as he took his mask off.  He was still on edge after everything that happened with Kara just a few hours ago.  He didn’t know it, but his emotional state was being affected by whatever was happening out in the city.

“I’m sorry Caitlin…I’m just…”

“It’s fine.  What was that about almost getting killed by Kara?”

“Not important right now.  Figuring out what’s going on is.  So where are Jesse and Wally?”

“Out trying to stop this chaotic situation, Allen.  But they’re not responding to their comms.”

“When did you last hear from them Harry?”

“Twenty minutes ago.  West had gotten tired of training in the Speed Lab so he and Jesse decided to run tests against real obstacles.  Then all this started happening.”

“Can we still track their signals through their suits?”

“Working on it Barry.  All of our systems went a little haywire.  Too much data coming in, we haven’t even been able to…what the hell?”

“What is it Cisco?  Did you find Jesse and Wally?”

“No…but whatever’s causing the chaos out there just sent out a massive signal.  It’s…”

Anger started to well up in Cisco, Harry and Caitlin.  Furious words were screamed back and forth and Barry slipped his mask back on before Harry turned his attention squarely towards the hero, hoping that the inhibitor would help.

“This is all your fault Allen!  You just had to give up your powers to Zoom!  Jesse would still be safe at home on my Earth if you hadn’t been so stupid!  You wanted me to try the experiment to bring you powers back!  If I hadn’t…Jesse wouldn’t have gotten powers and wanted to become a hero!”

Barry could see pure rage in Harry’s eyes and instantly knew that though this could still be mind control, his friends were also acting on pure emotions.  It only took him a moment to formulate a plan and find the extra inhibitors Cisco and Winn had made.  In seconds, he had attached one to each of his friends and activated them.  They slowly began to regain control as Barry was trying to triangulate a search for the cause of the problem.

“Allen…”

“Wasn’t your fault Harry.  You guys okay?”

“We will be, that was quick thinking.  Did you find something Barry?”

“I might have, Cisco.  That energy spike…we don’t know what it is, but I think I found where it’s coming from.”

Cisco and Caitlin both convened in front of two separate terminals and pulled up the signal Barry had located.  The energy was clearly radiating from the location he pulled up and neither of them had any doubts that whatever this energy was, it did cause the current situation.

“Mercury Labs.  The signal is spiking out from the satellite dish on their roof, Barry.”

“On my way.  Caitlin, Cisco, Harry, keep trying to find Jesse and Wally.  If they’re out there, They could be trying to stem the chaos or they could have fallen victim to whatever’s going on.”

Barry took off faster than his friends had expected.  Upon reaching Mercury Labs he could see that the building was engulfed by some sort of energy barrier.  Not knowing the source, Barry ran up the side of an adjacent building and saw a gap in the energy on the roof.  He could see the satellite dish and propelled himself through the air to the other side.  When he landed he was hit by what felt like a tidal wave of raw emotion.  In the middle of it all, he saw Jesse and Wally, fighting each other with super-speed punches.

“You don’t belong here Jesse!  You have you own Earth to play hero on, why don’t you go back there?!”

“Trust me West!  I’d rather be on my Earth!  I’m only here because I told Barry I’d help train you!  I didn’t know I’d be your babysitter!  You don’t have what it takes to be a hero!  Working with you has been a colossal waste of my time!  You don’t deserve these powers!”

In the next instant Jesse had begun running circles around Wally, and with her being better trained, Wally couldn’t keep up.  Barry could tell what she was planning to do and he had to move quickly to stop her.  Running counter clockwise to her, Barry was reversing her attempts to form a cocoon around Wally that would cut off his oxygen.  His plan was successful as the two younger speedsters fell to their knees, breathing heavily.  But he knew that whatever was causing their outburst could still affect them and he quickly placed an inhibitor on each of their necks behind the ear. 

Jesse and Wally’s minds began to clear slowly as they looked up at each other.  Their breathing had begun to stabilize as remorse filled their eyes for what they both had just done and said.

“Wally…I…”

“I know Jesse…it…”

“Are you two better now?  Because if so, I’ve got a bad guy to stop.”

“Flash?  You…”

“Yeah. I’m back.  Jesse, Wally, there are a lot of angry people down there.  I need you down in the city.  Do whatever you can to stem the chaos.”

Jesse and Wally jumped across to the other building and ran down into the streets, doing whatever they could to stop people from hurting each other.  With that situation beginning to get under control, Barry quietly stepped around the satellite dish, getting the first glimpse of his newest adversary.

“Hello Flash.  You’re surprised I’m still here. I can feel that emotion in you.  Did you think I was going to run?”

“You should have.  But you wouldn’t have gotten away.”

“Oh I know.  Besides, why should I run when I can do to you what I’m doing to your city?”

Barry’s unknown new enemy turned to face him and the sight was not what the speedster expected.  He had expected to see a human face, but was met with a golden mask.

“You may be the fastest man alive Flash, but you can’t outrun emotion.  I can make you scared, I can make you doubt your own abilities.  You feel it don’t you…every life you’ve failed to save…you know that you hate yourself for it.”

Barry watched as the mask started drawing out his emotions and through that he remembered Eddie’s sacrifice, Ronnie’s death, even that of his mother, and for a very brief moment, he was blaming himself until his own inhibitor cleared his mind again.

“Nice try.  So that mask of yours.  It controls emotions?  Makes people relive their worst fears.  Even makes them lash out in anger for nothing.”

“It should be doing the same to you…why are you not a curled up ball of anger and grief?”

“For a moment I could have been.  But I made peace with my mistakes.  So tell me something, who are you?”

“I’m the Psycho-Pirate.  And I’ll figure out what’s making you immune to my powers.  It’s just…”

“Psycho-Pirate…?  Supergirl was right, where do you villains keep coming up with these names?”

Barry knew that this villain was the cause of the problems in the city below them and started running around the Psycho-Pirate and expending his own powers to reverse the flow of the negative emotional energy.  The effects of Barry’s attempts created a loop of feedback that forced the Pirate’s powers back in on him.

“Stop!  Make it stop!”

Psycho-Pirate was on his knees, hands clutching his head in an effort to block out the emotions he had unleashed upon the city.  He was soon writhing in pain before Barry stopped running and walked over, removing the mask from the prone man’s face who was shedding massive tears.  As the energy around the satellite dish began to dissipate, both Wally and Jesse had reactivated their comms and spoke.

“Barry…it’s Wally…whatever you did up there, it’s working.”

“Central City is getting back to normal.  Got a lot of apologies going on down here.  Looks like the violence is done.”

“Copy that, Jesse.  I’ll meet you two back at Star Labs.  Good work down there.”

Psycho-Pirate had fallen unconscious so it was easier for Barry to get him back to Star Labs.  When he arrived, Jesse and Wally were already there, and changed out of their uniforms.  Barry quickly placed the Pirate in the Pipeline before bringing the mask to the Cortex where the team could figure out it exactly what it was and how it worked.  Harry was checking on Jesse when Barry dropped the mask on the desk with a loud thump.

“Allen…where did you get that?”

“From the villain I just left in the Pipeline.  I don’t know what is or how it works, but it let him control and amplify emotions.”

“It’s called a Medusa Mask.  Last I heard it was destroyed.”

“How do you know that Harry?”

“Because the man who was in possession of it was from my Earth.”

“So another of Zoom’s lackeys?”

“Not exactly Ramon.  Snow, pull up the cameras in the Pipeline.”

Caitlin already had the cameras activated before Harry could even ask her to.   She was currently running a facial recognition scan to identify their mystery man, but all her search results came back without a match.

“Well, if he’s from your Earth, he doesn’t have a doppelganger on ours.  Who is he?”

“His name is Roger Hayden, Snow.  He was a small time criminal before encountering the first Psycho-Pirate.”

“Psycho-Pirate?  Does no one know how to name a supervillain on your Earth, Harry?”

“Not the time for jokes Ramon.  It was rumored that Hayden has a large part to play in some sort of multiversal crisis.”

Barry froze at hearing Harry’s use of the word crisis.  Ever since Thawne had come back from the future, a newspaper article written by Iris has been on his mind.  He can only hope that this is just a coincidence, especially with the potential threat of the Worldkillers still on the horizon.

As the team split up to go about the rest of their tasks before closing the labs for the day, Harry specifically went to see Hayden in the Pipeline.  He didn’t know if the man would remember him, but he had to know if there was truth to the rumors.  Harry found Hayden sitting on the floor, muttering to himself.

“Worlds will live, worlds will die, and the universe will never be the same.”

Hayden was repeating this mantra over and over again.  The words were unsettling to Harry as he thought about speaking.  Finally his curiosity got the better of him, garnering the attention of the Psycho-Pirate with two words.

“Mr. Hayden.”

“Dr. Wells.  I’ve known that you’ve been on this Earth for some time.  I know why you’re here.  You’ve been helping the Flash.  You’re going to fail.  Death is his destiny.”