Marathon

Previously, on "The Flash" Vibe must live again.

I am no longer Nash.

I am Pariah.

I freed the Anti-Monitor.

Now I am forced to bear witness as he destroys world after world.

Oliver scarified himself to create this new world.

Our Earths must have merged when we helped Oliver reboot the Universe.

We all live on the same Earth now.

This is the same guy that kidnapped your cousin Esperanza and turned her into a meta-assassin.

The guy you questioned was killed in the same lot you questioned him, on the same day.

There's major UV energy coming off this thing.

Looks like Team Citizen has a new mission.

[POP MUSIC PLAYS]

Come on in, folks.

After five months of Vibaccinos to-go, welcome to the new Jitters.

Here you go.

And remember, folks, CC Jitters is here to stay, rain or Hands in the air, you foam-loving fascists!

Are you kidding me?

We're already being robbed?

Jitters just reopened and was immediately attacked by terrorists.

Why am I not surprised?

I'll go bail out those latte-sippers.

Guys, I got this.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

You.

Open the register.

Give me everything inside.

Dude, we just reopened.

There's barely anything in there.

- Really?

- Yeah.

Oh.

Well, I'm gonna start blowing stuff up then.

[GROANS]

[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]

Oh, crap.

Sorry I'm late.

I love what you've done with the place.

[APPLAUSE]

[ALL CHANTING]

Flash!

Flash!

Oh, stop.

Stop it, guys.

I'm sorry.

Crisis is over, we beat the bad guy, and you're still worried because Because an infinite number of Earths experienced a cosmic heat death from which only one Earth was rebuilt.

Mm-hmm.

So now not only do Superman, Supergirl, and Black Lightning live here, but now our entire timeline has been rewritten so that they've always lived here, and I don't remember owning this shirt.

Great shirt.

Besides, isn't that a good thing?

We're all one big, happy family now?

No.

No!

No, it is not.

Not when these guys are crashing the reunion.

Not a single one of our doppelgangers survived to make it to Earth Prime, as far as I can tell, but we did manage to pick up a butt-ton of bad guys and aliens and more metas, and you know the best part?

[LAUGHS]

The best part is a bunch of our old villains are back, with fresh paint jobs!

When did you have time to do all this?

Edencorp, The Top, Rainbow Raider.

Our Earth has more threats than ever, and we don't even know where they're coming from.

[KNOCKING]

What the hell was that?

Pipes bad pipes.

The heating.

- Don't worry about it.

- [BANGING]

- Let me out.

- Are you sure?

Cause it looks like you locked Nash in the closet.

No.

Let me out.

Okay, one of the auxiliary pipes was leaking, so he's patching it up in exchange for a Crypto-circuit.

Fine, don't let me out.

I'll let myself out, actually, thank you very much.

I'm gonna put an Atlantean shoulder check into this door and bust right through.

- In three, in two - Okay.

In one!

[GRUNTS]

Sup?

[PANTING]

- Killer Frost.

- It's just Frost now.

Give me my Crypto-circuit or I'm gonna punch you in the throat.

I have your Crypto-circuit, and I could give it to you, but, you know, I'm not really sure what you'd need it for, because you're an adventurer, so shouldn't you be off somewhere, adventuring?

Preferably not here.

Yeah, I mean, Gorilla City's part of Earth Prime now.

Don't you wanna go mythbust it?

No.

Gorillas are atheists.

[LAUGHS]

Are you kidding me?

No, I'm gonna run tests on my dig site to insure that nobody ever accidentally reopens the anti-matter universe.

Run your tests, but I've already run tests, and that cave is staying shut, so you're not really needed here.

Oh, you ran the tests?

Then I'm really needed.

What happened to Magenta?

I liked her.

Isn't it great?

It's still our number one story.

[SOFT MUSIC]

Thanks again, friend.

- Iris.

Hey.

- Hi.

I was running back from a car fire on Route 119, and look who I found on the way back.

- Hey.

- Dig, hey.

[LAUGHS]

How's the fam?

Oh, everyone is very busy.

Lila just accepted a new posting, so next week we'll be taking the kids to Metropolis.

I heard.

So shouldn't you be at home, helping to pack boxes right now?

Right.

But [GROANS]

Oliver's last will and testament was read yesterday, and, um, he left something for you, Barry.

Oliver's mask.

It's the original.

This is the one I made him.

Yeah, it's interesting, because Oliver was never a man given to sentiment.

Hey, do you see this?

Right above the left eye.

Oliver hasn't worn this in years.

Why is there a mark on it?

I don't know.

Felicity skimped on the dry-cleaning?

Or he left it on purpose.

I mean, you just said it.

Oliver wasn't sappy.

What if the mask is a clue to some new threat out there, something too dangerous to put in writing?

Barry, you got all that from a smudge mark?

- I don't, uh - I Iris, what do you think?

Um, that you two will have to figure this out on your own.

I'm so sorry, babe, I gotta go meet with this source, like, right now.

Yeah, no, that's fine.

Do your thing.

Break your story, and Dig and I can work on this.

We we can?

Can we?

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

Were you followed?

- No.

- You sure?

Yes.

Uh, no no no recordings.

The people you're after, they know my voice.

These people you say you've learned quite a bit about them, so you should recognize this, right?

[GASPS]

I spent 20 years working for McCulloch Technologies.

R&D department, classified division.

And then this guy showed up, said his name was Malcolm Strombard.

He'd been promoted into our group, but he had no technical know-how.

But last fall, I I came in late one night, and I I found him with the infrared photon rifle we'd been developing for years.

The next day, he and the prototype were gone.

So I started looking into it, and this man, Malcolm Strombard, he doesn't officially exist.

Of course, no one at McCulloch believed me, so they fired me.

The group that sent him to steal that rifle, they found out I was after him.

Oh, they killed their own man.

They have destroyed way too many innocent lives, and they will not stop unless someone helps us bring them to light.

Someone like you, Mr.

Huskk.

And I can stay anonymous?

No one will ever know your identity.

I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe, I swear.

These people they will not be brought out of the shadows easily.

They live in the darkness.

In the absence of light.

I didn't talk.

I didn't talk, I swear!

They call themselves [SCREAMING]

Black Hole.

[SPEAKING JAPANESE]

[SPEAKING JAPANESE]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

You're telling me that a secret organization has been operating in Central City for seven years now?

Yes, and according to my source, they have a name.

Black Hole.

We've been building a timeline.

It looks like Black Hole's activity started just after the Particle Accelerator exploded.

They've been abducting and training meta-humans, like my cousin Esperanza and potentially others.

And Black Hole's reach goes far beyond theft and training meta-human assassins.

They are also involved in international arms deals.

And they kill anyone they believe has been compromised, including our mystery man, who's now crispier than the chicken strips Allegra insists on ordering for dinner.

Better than your vegan donuts.

[SCOFFS]

Iris, have you told Joe about this?

Yeah, I have, but Dad would have to launch a RICO investigation to pursue a conspiracy like this.

This is reporter territory now.

Okay, okay, look.

Guys, I get it.

There's nothing stronger than a reporter's drive.

I I literally can feel it coming from all three of you.

But as your legal advisor, I gotta tell you I think that running this story is a mistake.

Iris, if McCulloch doesn't like what they read, they can sue you for defamation.

I know.

My dad was worried about the same thing, but that's a risk that I'm willing to take, Cecile.

Guys, we don't even know who's running Black Hole.

We're gonna find out.

Yeah, she's right.

Reporters don't walk away from the truth.

Now, I have a meeting with the CEO of McCulloch Technologies, Joseph Carver, in an hour.

So let's see if he's willing to comment on what's been happening.

But either way, be prepared to go to print.

We are running this story with or without his comment.

I know it's sort of like asking the ocean to be less wet, but Barry, do you think you could, um, slow down?

Dig, you wouldn't let me speed you to the crime lab, so I had to speed the crime lab here.

[SCOFFS]

Look, man, if Oliver really wanted you to look into something, don't you think he would've left you a note instead of some secret code?

Oh, because Oliver never kept a secret from you before?

[MACHINE CHIMES]

There's sediment traces on the mask usually found on islands in the North China Sea.

- Like Lian Yu.

- Like Lian Yu Barry, there's more than one island in the North China Sea.

Yeah, but only one with Mirakuru.

Does that mask really have Mirakuru on it?

Anton Ivo's super soldier serum.

You really think there's any of this stuff left on the island?

Yeah, well, Oliver always thought that some samples could have survived on Ivo's freighter.

And we don't even know what the state of Lian Yu is post-Crisis; I mean, if somebody got their hands on Mirakuru, they could become a living weapon.

Or replicate it and build an entire army.

I mean, Dig, this this is this has got to be why Oliver left me the mask.

He wants me to find the last stash of Mirakuru on Lian Yu before it threatens the world.

Look, I know you don't want me to run you there, but it's a 20-hour plane ride.

[PILLS CLATTERING]

That's too much.

What you got?

My wife and I started this company with three employees.

Now we have almost 3,000, but I still know each one of their names.

It's what Eva would've wanted.

That's very thoughtful, Mr.

Carver.

Joseph, please.

I'm a huge fan of "The Citizen.

" How can I help?

Well, I have a source who can prove that one of your classified Photon Rifles was stolen last fall and it's now in the hands of a secret organization linked to terrorism, kidnapping, illegal arms deals, and murder.

Would you care to comment?

Maurice, tell the board I'm running a little bit behind.

Ms.

West-Allen and I need to speak someplace a little more private Great.

[TENSE MUSIC]

[BEEPING]

Your source it's Gene Huskk, isn't it?

I completely respect your need to protect your sources, but there's something that you should see, off the record, for Huskk's sake.

Just a sec, please.

Someone did infiltrate the R&D division here at McCulloch, but it wasn't a secret organization.

It was Obsidian Tech trying to steal one of our prototypes, but Huskk couldn't accept that.

He became convinced there was some larger conspiracy, and the paranoia consumed him.

He became troubled, started scaring other employees.

I had no choice but to let him go.

Mm.

But, uh, I can assure you that we have dealt with this problem internally.

We just completed our investigation, and we're getting a whole new security system starting tomorrow: new badges, new cameras.

The works.

There's no story here.

Well, with all due respect, Mr.

Carver, I think that there is.

Maybe it's just one that you won't like.

Mm.

Ms.

West-Allen, everything that I do, I do in my wife's honor, to protect her legacy.

A story like this could really damage our company's reputation.

Not to mention, scare our investors.

I'm asking you, please, don't run this story.

I understand.

You have an obligation to your shareholders.

Thank you.

But I have an obligation to the truth.

You were robbed, Mr.

Carver, and I get that that's embarrassing, but the public deserves to know what happened before anyone else gets hurt, so if you wish to withhold comment, that's fine But I'm running this story either way.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

100,000 views in one hour.

That's gotta be a record.

Citizen just fired its first shots at Black Hole.

This is a cause for celebration.

- Ooh.

- Are you even 21?

I'd hold off on the balloons and bubbly.

McCulloch Tech just sent a memo.

They are suing "The Citizen" for defamation.

[TENSE MUSIC]

[WHIRRING]

- This is ridiculous.

- Iris.

Fabricated statements, deliberate omission of exonerating evidence Iris, something's not right.

Carver is just trying to bury us in legal fees.

He's just trying to scare us.

Everybody down!

Why is someone shooting at us?

It's them.

It's Black Hole.

Okay, we we gotta go.

So they can kill us outside?

Okay, look, it's me that they're after, okay, so you guys get to S. T. A R. Labs.

I will make my way out through Nash's tunnels.

No way.

We're not leaving you.

Look, I have to make sure that my source is safe, okay?

Once I do, I will meet you there, I promise.

Now we need to go.

On my count, okay?

One, two, three.

Go!

[GUN FIRES, GLASS SHATTERS]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

[SHUTTER SNAPPING]

Go.

Go, go, go, go, go.

[GUN FIRES, GLASS SHATTERS]

You're okay.

Oh.

What happened?

Black Hole tried to assassinate Iris.

She went to go find her source.

Cecile went to Joe's.

- Where's Barry?

- He's in Lian Yu.

I've been trying to radio him, but that place is a total dead zone.

What about those clicky things you guys use?

The extrapolators don't work.

Now that the multi-verse is gone, the physics behind breaching has changed entirely.

But don't worry, Frost is out there looking for the shooter.

She should be careful.

Do you see these burn marks?

Whoever tried to kill us was using high-intensity light.

Holy crap.

[SCOFFS]

I'm glad you two made it out alive.

Are you okay?

- Yeah, I'm fine.

- You're fine.

[SIGHS]

Good.

Yeah, why didn't you tell me that they were in danger?

Okay, I could've I could've gotten them out of there.

Don't come at me, Nash.

I'm not here to keep you in the loop.

You're not even a part of this team.

Oh, that's so hurtful.

How's your little team doing in the standings?

- Your little team - Okay, you don't see this is exactly what I'm talking about.

No, you don't care about the team.

You only work with us when you want something from us.

Yo, keep me out of this.

So what is it this time?

You you got a couple glyphs you need Allegra to x-ray for you?

Oh, or maybe you just want to open up another Pandora's box of Hell.

Are you kidding me?

I was the one to I was the only one trying to stop Crisis.

A Crisis you started!

Billions of worlds, trillions of people gone, like they were never even born.

And I paid for it!

As Pariah I paid for it and still managed to help defeat the Anti-Monitor.

Which did nothing for the people who died.

Oliver.

Harry.

Jesse.

An infinite number of Harrison Wells.

And we're stuck with the one who killed the multi-verse.

Babe, what the frak was that?

Just making sure we learn from our mistakes.

Iris is still out there, guys, and we need to figure out who this assassin is before they get to her first.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

Thank God you're safe.

I'm not.

Neither are you.

Black Hole isn't what we think.

[GUN FIRES]

- Oh, my God.

- [GROANS]

Mirror.

[GROANS]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

[WHIRRING]

[TIRES SQUEALING]

[TIRES SQUEALING]

[TIRES SQUEALING]

- Iris.

- Boss, you're okay.

Yeah, no, I'm fine, but my source isn't.

The person that tried to kill me got to him first.

Hey, Cisco, where's that binder?

- Right here.

- Thanks.

Where is it?

Where is she?

Her.

Dr.

Kimiyo Hoshi.

Hoshi She went missing four years ago.

She's an astronomer out of Tokyo with the power to fuel starlight, but her meta-powers aren't precise enough to do the kind of damage you showed me in those photos.

What if she used the Photon Rifle to focus them?

Good thinking, maybe the reflector chip could condense her UV photon emissions.

The rifle is the weapon.

No, she's the ammunition.

So Black Hole turned her into some kind of evil light doctor.

So we've got a brand new, more powerful, murder-happy Dr.

Light on our hands.

Another new meta-surprise courtesy of Earth-frakking-Prime.

Actually, you know what?

Hoshi killed my source, but I managed to save some evidence that he gave me.

Ow.

[GROANS]

Damn it.

Hey, you should sit down.

I'm fine.

- Did you get hurt out there?

- I said I'm fi Whoa, whoa.

Call Frost, now.

- That was on the freighter?

- Yeah.

If there's anything left, it's in here.

Open it up, man, let's see what's in it.

All right.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

This can't be right.

No, this can't be right.

I I I searched the whole island a dozen times.

[LAUGHS]

Take the win, man.

There's no more Mirakuru left, Barry.

No, I mean, Oliver's mask, it's a warning.

Or Maybe this is exactly what it was intended to be in the first place: a gift.

No, man, no, it can't it can't just be a gift.

I mean, there's got to be something we're missing.

What if somebody got to the Mirakuru first?

Really, and left the box behind?

[SIGHS]

I don't Okay, I need to run more tests.

Or why don't we bring in the DEO?

Or call Felicity or Thea, I mean, we we can't just let somebody create another Deathstroke.

We have to stop this threat, man.

I mean, I have to finish what Oliver started.

Barry!

Are you all right, man?

Yeah, I'm that's never I I I'm just frustrated, I guess.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Look, I think I know exactly what went on here.

Oliver and Thea came to this island a couple of years ago, and they faced off with the man who used to live in this cell.

Deathstroke himself, Slade Wilson.

Oliver brought his uniform with him.

Which is how he could have soil and Mirakuru on his mask.

It wasn't a warning at all.

You're searching for a mission that doesn't exist, Barry.

But no amount of searching is gonna bring Oliver back.

[SIGHS]

That man sprinted from crusade to crusade.

But, Barry, life is more than just the mission, and unfortunately Oliver learned that too late.

And he wouldn't want you going down that same path.

Oliver died so this Earth could live, Dig.

I have to do everything I possibly can to protect it.

Oliver died for more than this Earth's survival.

Oliver laid down his life so the people he loved could live theirs.

That includes you.

Life's a marathon, not a sprint, Barry.

Slow down and enjoy it.

[SOMBER MUSIC]

So Kamilla asked me to check on you.

What are you watching?

So my latest experiment jumpstarts my neurons Harry.

They're currently firing at 120 times per second.

And I think we can get to 200.

Yeah, so this is, you know, progress.

It's real progress.

I'll let you know.

Anyway, miss you.

He was regaining his intelligence.

All of Earth-2.

Wiped out.

And he doesn't even know it.

But that wasn't your fault.

Wasn't it?

When the Monitor gave me my powers back, for Crisis, I remembered how powerful I used to be.

I can't help thinking that if I hadn't stopped being Vibe, maybe I could have sensed that first anti-matter wave.

Maybe I could have saved them.

And that's why you've become so obsessed with all the new threats.

You want to protect everyone who did survive on Earth Prime.

Cisco, do you regret taking the meta-human cure?

No.

Do you miss being Vibe?

Caitlin, it's not that simple.

I don't know.

I don't know.

You know I think you might be onto something over here.

[SIGHS]

With all these new threats, changes to our reality, we need someone whose job it is to compile all of them.

Somebody who remembers the difference between the way it was and the way it is.

Yeah, but what you're talking about, that can't just be done in a day.

And it certainly can't be done in some room in the middle of Central City.

I know.

But I still think you're the man for the job.

Besides, maybe some time away from Central City will allow you to figure out who you want to be in this post-Crisis world.

Yeah.

Maybe.

Here you go.

Thanks.

So you gonna tell me?

Your thinking.

Running this story.

I knew what I was doing, Dad.

Really, Iris?

Frost told me.

You have fifth-degree burns.

My forensics guys have been in your office for hours, and they found nothing.

There's no bullet holes, there's no casings.

If that assassin would have murdered you today, I would have no evidence to bring her in.

Black Hole attacked my office.

Dad, they nearly killed my friends.

They murdered my source right in front of me.

He's dead because I asked him to speak up.

And I have to honor that by exposing each and every person behind this organization, so I'm sorry, Dad, if you want me to give up I you know I wouldn't say that.

But this organization has been in operation for years, and their roots run deeper than you have dug, Iris.

You can't win this war in a day.

Look, when you and Barry told me that Crisis was coming, I was determined to solve as many cases as I could because God knows how many days I have left to make a difference.

But then Crisis came.

Barry survived.

So now I have to remind myself every single day that we don't live in Crisis mode anymore.

We have time now.

So what am I supposed to do, Dad?

How am I supposed to fight these people?

Well, first thing's first.

Don't go charging to the front line like you have nothing to lose.

Now okay, your source.

Are you sure he hasn't told anyone else about Black Hole?

No, no.

[SIGHS]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

Actually, someone else did know.

[FOREBODING MUSIC]

[SPEAKING JAPANESE]

[SPEAKING JAPANESE]

Can I get you something to eat?

No, I'm good, Dad.

Thanks.

- How about a glass of water?

- Yeah, okay.

Sounds good, thanks.

[WHIRRING]

[WHIRRING]

[GUN FIRES]

[GRUNTS]

Gotcha.

Lower your weapon, now.

We've got you surrounded.

Put it on the floor.

Pretty good Iris, huh?

Uncanny, babe.

Now it's up to the real one.

Mr.

Carver, hello.

Ms.

West-Allen, what a surprise.

I know.

Reports of my death were greatly exaggerated.

Oh, careful, there's a scrum of reporters 20 yards down the hall.

Might not be the most convenient time to call up your meta-assassin.

That's quite the allegation to make without any evidence.

Oh, no, there's evidence.

You gave it to me.

Your McCulloch ID.

It uses a microchip that reflects ultraviolet radiation.

And as your former employee tried to tell me, it's the same microchip inside your company's reflector gun and inside Black Hole's badges.

Black Hole has been using your optics technology for years, all while abducting metas like Esperanza Garcia who have light-based powers, your area of expertise.

You placed Malcolm Strombard in Gene Huskk's division so that he could obtain the rifle before it went to market and then place said rifle in the hands of the one person who could power it: Kimiyo Hoshi, your personal assassin.

You weren't robbed by Black Hole.

You are Black Hole, and you've been using McCulloch's resources to power a global conspiracy in meta-human trafficking, weapons sales, and murder-for-hire.

Now would you care to comment?

I would.

But I don't think you have the whole story yet, because if you did, why would you be here trying to scare me while your family risks their lives for you?

Weapon down, now!

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

[WHIRRING]

[GUN FIRES]

- [CHUCKLES]

- You're right.

I can't stop Black Hole tonight.

But I can't let you hurt anyone else.

Which is why I've set up a dead man's switch.

If I, my employees, any of my sources, my loved ones die?

All the information I have tying you to Black Hole will be immediately released.

[GROANING]

Come on.

[SPEAKING JAPANESE]

Screw you.

So tell your friend to stand down.

[PHONE RINGING]

[SPEAKING JAPANESE]

That's it?

You're just leaving?

I follow orders.

- Mr.

Carver.

- Mr.

Carver.

[OVERLAPPING CHATTER]

Hi, thank you all so much for coming.

Here [CLEARS THROAT]

Given new information that has come to light, I have decided that McCulloch Technologies will be dropping its lawsuit against Central City Citizen Media.

[OVERLAPPING CHATTER]

Any questions?

- Thanks for coming.

- Hmm.

I'm going away for a bit.

I might not have my Vibe powers anymore, but at least I can still do some good, old-fashioned foot work, so I'm gonna go suss out whatever brave new threats we might have to our brave new world.

And I was thinking, in the meantime, maybe you could hold down the fort here at S. T. A. R. Labs.

Ahh.

Oh, wait, you you got cameras here?

There's no cameras.

This is this is some kind of trick.

- Right?

- No.

It's not a trick.

It's more of an olive branch.

Oh.

I'm sorry I said those things.

I should have held myself accountable for what happened in Crisis, but instead I chose to take it out on you.

[SIGHS]

Anyway, so - Hitting the road?

- Yeah.

So while I'm gone, do your best not to break anything, will you, Nashville?

Break everything while you're gone, got it.

It's like you're literally not listening - to what I'm saying.

- What's that?

- Nash?

- Hmm?

I hope you find what you're looking for.

How was Lian Yu with Dig?

I thought Oliver left the mask as a reminder to keep fighting.

But with all the danger we've been through, I guess I kind of forgot why I made it for him in the first place.

It was so Oliver would always remember to protect the people he loved.

That's why he left it to me.

He wanted me to take my own advice.

I've been in overdrive ever since we learned that you were gonna die in Crisis.

I've spent the last month trying to live every day like it was my last, hell-bent on Trying to make the most of the limited time I thought we had left together, but Crisis is over now, and you didn't die.

And I think I just I forgot to To slow down.

So are you also thinking that tonight maybe we just take it easy?

- Great minds.

- Beautiful minds.

[SOFT MUSIC]

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

[GUNSHOT]

Oh, my God.

Mirror.

Eva.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

[WHIRRING, BEEPING]

[LATCH UNLOCKS]

[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]

[COMPUTER BEEPING]

What were you up to, Eva McCulloch?

[ELECTRONIC CHIME]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]