//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Captain Cold // Story: Enter: Zoom // by The Phantom Joker //------------------------------// RRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG- An alarm was blaring from the bank before stopping abruptly as a figure walked down the steps whistling to herself while twirling a futuristic-looking weapon in her hand. She had a purple and mint green mane and tail, pink skin, and wore a blue parka with a hood and a white shirt underneath, tight black jeans, black boots, black gloves, and black goggles of some kind. “That was even easier than the last ones. I didn't even need to shoot anyone, which is always a plus, means more people know to fear me.” said the unicorn before she started chuckling. Then a thought struck her, why not make an even bigger show of it, so she turned around and blasted the building, coating the entire front of the bank with ice except for the door. The unicorn chuckled again before the distinct sound of police sirens reached her ears as two police cars pulled up in front of her. Easy come, easy go, the unicorn thought as the police officers climbed out of their cars and aimed their guns at her. “Don’t move! Freeze!” the cops barked at the unicorn. “Y’know, I was really hoping not to have to kill anyone this time, but I guess you can’t always get what you want,” said the unicorn as she charged up the weapon. Quick as a whip, the unicorn fired the weapon, freezing not only the officers, but their vehicles as well. “I’m sorry. So, so sorry.” she said looking down to the ground with a sad frown on her face, then snapped her neck back up and shrugged, “Oh well.” Then, as though she’d done nothing more than brushed her teeth, the unicorn walked away, whistling away without a care in the world. … “Sparkle, Drakon, do you honestly expect me to believe a word of what you've told me so far?” Iron Lock said to them with a disapproving glare. “But sir, this information is straight from one of the witnesses,” Twilight said. “She saw what happened firsthand!” “And do you honestly expect me to believe the words of a drunkard, Sparkle?” “The witness that was interviewed was Octavia Melody! The ‘drunkard’ you're talking about, Vinyl Scratch, her marefriend, lost the use of her vocal cords last night because of the knife wound on her neck from the attempted mugging!” Twilight yelled angrily at her insufferable boss. Before Iron Lock could respond, however, another officer poked his head in. “Uh, sir, we’ve got a situation. The First Equestrian Bank was just robbed,” the officer said. “Yes, and?” said Iron Lock. “And… the entire front of the building was frozen solid, along with two officers who arrived on the scene to investigate.” The officer said before he ducked back out of the door just in time to avoid a quill being thrown into the door. “Well, looks like you two will be going out again, and…” “‘Take Zolomon with us.”’ … A few moments later, Hunter, Twilight, and Spike were standing in front of the frozen First Equestrian Bank. “Well, someone went trigger happy on this place,” Hunter said as he walked up to some of the ice, while Twilight and Spike went to check on the frozen officers. Hunter, being curious, decided to touch the ice, only to get burned by the absolute zero temperature. “OW! Never doing that again.” “You okay, Hunter?” asked Twilight, having heard Hunter cry out. “I’m fine. But, whatever iced this place reduced its elasticity to nothing. Only way it could’ve done this was if it somehow reduced the building to absolute zero degrees,” said Hunter. “What in the wide, wide world could’ve done that?” Spike asked Hunter. “Freeze-ray Mare. And I think I know where to start looking for answers. CRSDI, I overheard a couple rumors running about that the owner was developing something like this. Don't know what for though.” He shrugged his shoulders during the last part of his statement. Twilight nodded in reply. “You know, I’ve always wanted to meet Harrison Wells. He’s something of my hero.” “And what of Professor Moondancer? She of any interest to you?” Zolomon asked the mare. “Oh, I've known Moondancer since we were children, she's a good friend of mine.” Twilight said nonchalantly. “Okay then, let’s go pay them a visit,” said Hunter. … Meanwhile, in an abandoned warehouse, the so-called “Freeze-ray mare” was chilling on the bed she’d purchased with her ill-gotten gains, reading the newspaper. Couldn't they have come up with a better name for me than “the Freeze-Ray Mare?” Why not something like Miss Freeze or Killer Frost, or Cold? Wait, ‘Cold’, I like that. she smiled to herself, “How about ‘Captain Cold?’” she said to no-one in particular. Turning the page of the paper, the newly-dubbed Captain Cold came across something that really peaked her attention. The Unicorn Dynasty Diamond, one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, was going to be on display at the Baltimare History Museum, and had been given several security measures. If I can get my hands on that diamond, I can finally retire from crime and be set for life. Hell, God-willing, my children would be set for life if I can pull off a score that big. There shouldn’t be any reason I can’t pull it off unless they’ve got some kind of anti-cold gun, and as far as I know I have the only one. Cold smiled. Her mind had been made up. She would be reliving the museum of that diamond, sell it to the highest bidder, and retire from crime and settle into a life of ease and luxury. … Outside of the CRSDI building, the trio of Hunter, Twilight, and Spike pulled into the empty parking lot. “Ready to see an old friend, babe?” Spike asked his marefriend as he shut off the car, only to see the passenger side empty of its occupant and Hunter smiling like a loon. “She ran off as soon as you parked the car you dum dum.” he said chuckling as he exited the vehicle himself. “You go on ahead, I gotta take a leak.” Hunter said as he walked towards a secluded area. After he reached said area he used one of the original Zoom’s most used powers, creating a Time Remnant. “You know the plan?” the original Hunter asked the Time Remnant. “Of course I do. After this, I go back to my timeline, right? You’re not gonna kill me, are you?” “I'll try not to.” the original jokes as the Time Remnant spins in place and dons the Zoom outfit. ”See you inside.” … “It’s so good to see you again, Twilight!” said Moondancer as she hugged her old friend. “I wish I could say this was a social visit, Moondancer, but we have some questions for you about some recent robberies involving some kind of freeze ray that may have connections to CRSDI,” said Twilight. “Well, Miss Sparkle, we’ll answer your questions to the best of our ability.” Twilight’s eyes widened in shock as she squealed internally. She knew that voice anywhere. Sure enough, sitting right behind her, was Dr. Harrison Wells. Twilight just stared at him before squealing like a little filly, nearly breaking the eardrums of her present company. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! You're him, you’re Harrison Wells!” “Yes, indeed I am,” said Dr. Wells. “And you are Twilight Sparkle. Top of your class at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns and, as I understand it, one of the most keen scientific minds ever to come from the school. I understand Celestia herself took you in as an apprentice after you made quite the bang during your entrance exam.” Twilight blushed at the kind words Wells was speaking to her. “Yet, I can’t help but wonder, why did you leave your studies to become a police detective?” “My older brother has been a member of the Canterlot Royal Guard for as long as I can remember, and I always wanted to follow in his hoofsteps. Thing is, there aren’t any mares allowed in the Royal Guard, due to some kind of government policy. So, since I couldn't become a Guard I decided to become a police officer instead.” “I see…” said Dr. Wells. “Well, how may we be of assistance, detective?” “Well, recently there's been a string of robberies committed by a unicorn with some kind of freeze ray. We thought that the weapon might be from CRSDI. Do you know if anything like that was taken?” asked Twilight. ”Oh they do.” said Zoom as he ran into the room, causing Hunter, Twilight, Spike, and Moondancer to jump back in fright. Dr. Wells, however, merely flinched. Recovering quickly, Spike pulled out his gun and took aim at the sparking speedster. “Get down on the ground and put your hands on your head!” demanded Spike. Zoom turned to face Spike and Twilight. ”Forgive me, we haven’t been properly introduced. I am Zoom, and I am the fastest thing alive. First, look at your weapon,” Spike does so, ”Now look at me, look at your weapon, back to me, down at your gun. Oh, where'd it go?” Zoom said as he took the gun from behind his back and twirled it around his index finger, ”It’s a little thing called ‘Magic’, Sunny Jim.” And I thought Rainbow Dash was fast, but this… thought Twilight before she found her voice. “What did you mean, they know if a freeze ray went missing?” ”Ah, yes, Miss Twilight Sparkle. Before I answer, here’s a sad fact of life. Our heroes aren’t always what they seem to be,” said Zoom, casting a glance towards Harrison Wells. ”To answer your question, I paid a visit to CRSDI last night to ask them about this so-called ‘Freeze-Ray Mare’ everyone’s been talking about. Turns out they not only made a compact cryo engine to achieve absolute cold, they built a compact flamethrower to do just the opposite.” this caused Twilight to give Moondancer a horrified look, with tears almost starting to leak, before Zoom started speaking again, ”However,” Hunter, Twilight, and Spike looked back to him with Twilight still on the verge of crying, ”They had both of those objects sealed away in one of the Professor’s most secure private labs, or so they told me. What we're trying to figure out right now, is how they got in.” “‘Got in?’ You mean, the guns were stolen?” said Hunter. Moondancer looked Twilight dead in the eye. “Twi, look… I designed the guns to be used for search and rescue operations, not theft and murder. I built them to help people and ponies, not hurt them. I have the most advanced defenses and security, against technology and magic. There’s no way anyone could’ve gotten through. Unless…” said Moondancer. “Unless what?” asked Twilight. ”Unless they had a Meta helping them, or they designed the methods used.” Moondancer growled in frustration. “Damn it, Starlight!” Spike blinked in confusion a couple of times. “Starlight?” he asked. Wells punched in a few buttons on the tablet attached to the wheelchair. On the screens in front of them appeared the image of a young unicorn mare with pink skin and a purple and mint green mane and tail. “Starlight Glimmer. She was an employee here at CRSDI alongside Sunset Shimmer, Pinkamena Pie, and a few others until the incident. She helped build the cold and heat guns. After the particle accelerator blew its lid she must've decided to use them to get back what she lost, one way or another.” Wells said depressed, “And she was such a nice pony to know.” “Do we know where-” Twilight began to say before a call came in over the police radio. ”All units we have a robbery in progress at the Baltimare History Museum. Reports of the freeze ray mare on the scene. Units, be advised, the suspect is referring to herself as ‘Captain Cold.’ Sounds a Helluva lot better than ‘Freeze Ray Mare.’ Wait, is this thing still on?” “Well, he sounded like an idiot.” Hunter said before Zoom sped by them stopping at the door. ”Are you slowpokes coming or not?” … “Oh, man, if I knew being a super criminal was this much fun, I’d have never signed up at CRSDI!” laughed Captain Cold as she froze several officers solid with her cold gun, the Unicorn Dynasty Diamond in her free hand. Suddenly, there was a flash of blue lightning and before Captain Cold stood Zoom. “And what are you supposed to be?” she said bored. ”They call me Zoom, and I'm the fastest thing alive. Before you shoot me can you do something for me?” Zoom asked quickly. “I'm not cold enough to ignore a last request. What is it?” ”Look at the diamond, the look at me, then to the gun, to the diamond, back to me, look down. Where'd the diamond go?” “What are you-” Starlight said, completely confused before she realized the diamond was gone. And Zoom was holding it. “GIVE ME BACK MY DIAMOND!” she screamed firing the Cold Gun at Zoom who narrowly avoids it. ”Sorry, not sorry,” taunted Zoom as Cold fired her gun again, this time scoring a direct hit on Zoom’s chest. ”Hah, ow.” he says in pain before he starts vibrating in place to try and get it off. “My turn,” said Zoom, before throwing a bolt of blue lightning at Cold, who managed to get out of the way just in time. “Let’s add some magic to this fight!” snarled Cold as she charged up her horn and fired a beam of energy that knocked Zoom onto his back. ”Arrgh!” Zoom cried out in pain as he hit the ground a few yards away. “You know, for the so-called ‘fastest thing alive’ you sure move pretty slow,” said Cold as she focused her magic to pick Zoom up off the ground and slammed him around. ”Ow.” Zoom wheezed in pain as Captain Cold walked up to him and aimed her weapon in his face. “Any real last words?” she said as she powered up the gun, Zoom merely chuckled. ”Yeah, look behind you.” “Don’t move, Starlight!” said Moondancer as she aimed what looked like a jumbo-sized cold gun directly at Cold. Starlight smirked and pulled down the hood of her parka. “Hello, Moondancer. I see you’ve found our old prototype.” “Four times the size, four times the power. Dr. Wells trusted you, Starlight. I trusted you, and this is the thanks we get?!” Moondancer said angrily. “It wasn't just your reputations that went down the drains that night, you know. Everyone that worked there lost everything they had! Sunburst got half of his body covered with third degree burns, Sunset and Princess Celestia vanished, and the only one that came out unscathed was Pinkamena! Do you have any idea just how hard it was to even show my face in public without getting ridiculed for being one of the ponies involved with the accelerator project?!” Starlight shouted, “Something that shouldn't have even gone wrong!” Moondancer just stood there as a few tears fell from her eyes before she started to charge the prototype, and aimed at Starlight, “I'm giving you one final chance to put the gun down, and turn yourself in peacefully.” Starlight’s only response to what Moondancer said was a teleportation spell. Zoom pulled himself off the ground and looked at Moondancer. ”Thanks for the save, Professor,” the black-clad speedster told Moondancer. “You’re welcome. Although, I’d start running if I were you though,” said Moondancer. As if on cue, the sound of multiple guns cocking reached Zoom’s ears. ”The cops?” “The cops,” said Moondancer. As soon as the words left her mouth, a sudden rush of wind swept across Moondancer’s face as a flash of blue lightning filled her vision. … Later that night Starlight was sitting in a warehouse at a makeshift table with one other pony there. “So, what is it you wanted to see me about Starlight?” the unicorn stallion said in a gruff, damaged voice. “I tracked you down because I wanted us to be a team again.” “And just why should I, Starlight?” “Because I have something you may like.” Starlight said placing a briefcase on the table and sliding it over to him. He stared down at it before looking at its contents and took it out. “The Heat Gun, figures you'd steal this for me. If only for the irony.” the stallion said leaning forward into the light revealing his scarred face. “I'm in.” … In an alleyway on the South side of Baltimare, a young alicorn mare was shivering. From apparent drug abuse or from cold, it was unclear. The mare had orange skin and an unkempt fiery red and yellow mane and tail, and was clad in a ragged black leather jacket, tattered black jeans, and black leather boots. A couple of gangsters came by and noticed the mare. “Hey, baby, you all ‘ight? You cold? Don’t you worry, I’ll fix you up real nice,” one of the gangsters said. “I’m… not… cold…” the mare said in a shuddering gasp before her hands and head burst into flames, causing the gangsters to turn tail and run for their lives as the mare growled and snarled at them. After the gangsters had gone from her sight she shuddered more as the flames died down. “It’s...getting worse...and...we don't...know what to do…” she said in the same shuddering gasp before she began to light up again. This time screaming in fear and pain.