ack Kadere smiled calmly at the security guard before walking straight toward the pair emerging from S.T.A.R. Labs—Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow, who were mid-conversation.
"Excuse me."
Jack stopped in front of them, wearing a friendly expression. Cisco and Caitlin paused, looking puzzled.
"Can we help you with something?" Cisco asked, his tone cautious but polite.
"I need a favor," Jack said. "I'd like you to help me build a small portable sonic device. Something wearable—like a necklace. I don't have any parts or payment, so you'll have to improvise. Oh, and I need it done within the next thirty minutes."
Cisco blinked, unsure whether he was being pranked.
"Sorry, man, I have no idea who you are."
"That's fine. The introduction isn't important. The request is," Jack replied coolly.
Cisco's smile faded. Was this guy serious?
"Look, I'm not making anything for someone I don't know. Please move along."
"Are you sure?" Jack asked again, his voice calm.
"Yeah. I said no," Cisco replied more firmly.
Jack sighed with theatrical disappointment, then slowly raised his hand. A sharp crack split the air, and blue lightning arced between his fingers. Electricity pulsed violently, lighting up the stunned faces of Cisco and Caitlin.
Jack's tone stayed level, almost casual. "Let me ask again. Will you build it now?"
Cisco stared in awe at the energy crackling from Jack's hand. "Oh my God… that's— That's a metahuman ability!" His fear was momentarily eclipsed by fascination. "You're generating electricity! How? Do you control voltage? How are you not getting shocked?"
Jack simply turned and pointed a finger at the nearby security guard, who had just started reaching for his sidearm.
ZZZAP!
A burst of lightning surged from Jack's hand. The guard collapsed with a cry, unconscious before he hit the pavement.
Caitlin gasped in horror. Cisco stepped protectively in front of her.
"Okay, okay—what are you doing?! You can't just— We're calling the police!" he said, fumbling for his phone.
"I didn't want to escalate this," Jack said with a shake of his head. "I just needed some help. You're the expert in tech, right?"
Caitlin, trembling, was already pulling her phone from her purse.
Jack calmly raised his hand again.
ZAP!
Both Cisco and Caitlin were hit by a brief electrical discharge. Caitlin screamed and collapsed. Cisco cried out, legs buckling as he stumbled to the ground.
The current faded. Smoke rose from Caitlin's phone, which had short-circuited in her hand.
Jack walked over, lifted Caitlin into his arms, and glanced down at the dazed Cisco.
"Thirty minutes. I expect that sonic device finished by then," Jack said flatly, then turned and walked off.
"Caitlin!" Cisco shouted, reaching weakly toward her retreating figure. He fumbled for his phone, but before he could do anything, a firm hand grabbed his shoulder.
"Cisco."
Cisco looked up, startled. It was Dr. Harrison Wells, the director of S.T.A.R. Labs.
"Professor Wells?" Cisco looked up, startled to see Harrison Wells—director of S.T.A.R. Labs—already at his side. "Caitlin… Caitlin was taken by that guy. The electricity guy. Black Current or something!"
"Black Current???" Wells muttered, his face tightening slightly. Cisco's habit of naming metas on the fly had already started before the particle accelerator.
"I saw everything," Wells said calmly, but there was a weight behind his voice. "Why did he come after the two of you?"
"I don't know him! He just walked up and asked me to build some kind of sonic device—said it should be portable, like a necklace. No materials, no payment, and he gave me thirty minutes like I was working a shift at RadioShack!"
"He's after the tech, not either of you personally," Wells deduced. "That means Caitlin's not in immediate danger. Don't call the police yet. Focus on building the device. I'll try to track him."
Cisco hesitated, then gave a tight nod. "Right. I'm on it."
Back inside S.T.A.R. Labs, Cisco dove into the task. His fingers flew over his workstation while Wells, frowning deeply, tapped into the city's surveillance grid to try and locate their uninvited guest.
....
Meanwhile, on the rooftop of an apartment complex not far from S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin Snow groaned and stirred.
The jolt that had knocked her out still tingled through her limbs. Her eyes fluttered open—and instantly widened when she saw the figure in front of her.
Jack Kadere.
She yelped, scrambling backwards on her hands and feet like a panicked animal.
"Whoa, easy there," Jack said, holding up his hands to show he meant no harm. "I may've overdone it with the shock earlier. New powers... they kind of get to your head, y'know?"
"D-Don't come near me! Stay back!" Caitlin's voice trembled, her hands flailing in panic.
"I'm not moving!" Jack said, clearly frustrated. "Why is it when I try being polite, people lose their minds?"
He exhaled hard. Sparks danced around his fingers.
"I said shut up!" he barked, eyes narrowing. "Or I'll fry you where you sit."
Caitlin froze, her mouth snapping shut in fear.
"Now tell me," Jack growled, "have I moved an inch toward you since you started screaming?"
She didn't answer.
"I swear," Jack muttered, the electric charge in his palm dimming slightly, "you people act like I'm the Joker or something. Try to talk nice and you get nothing. Turn hostile, and suddenly you're a 'maniac.'"
He scoffed. "World's broken, not me."