"Gaaahhhhh!" Cisco gives another cry of anger as he shakes his laptop. "Whoa. Are you okay?" Barry asks, sliding Cisco his coffee. "Yeah, it's just that this new RPG I've been playing isn't acting as it should." Cisco turns to show Barry his screen. "It looks fine to me." Barry says, giving the screen a good look over. "Yeah, but see this girl?" He points to a cat girl not to far from his own avatar. "She's in the thief class, but you can't really steal from anyone in this game. They only can take things from you if you enter a battle and lose. But this girl has been taking things from me since I started playing. And even when I contact the game's headquarters to report her, they say the logs say I willingly gave up my stuff to her." He gave an exasperated sigh. "I've checked and it says the same thing."
"Well, maybe we can have the lab look at it. I can call it in when we get to the lab." Barry suggested and Cisco just shrugs. "Yeah, I guess. We better head over before Caitlin chews off our heads for being late... again." Barry laughs and they leave Jitters to venture back to S.T.A.R. Labs.
When they come to the hallway that leads to the Cortex they can hear someone humming and a furious drumming noise. "I don't think Caitlin plays music or hums, especially not like that." Cisco says, pointing towards the Cortex. "Let's check it out." Barry says, moving towards the sound. When they turn the corner they see someone sitting in one of the spinning chairs, drumming a song on the desk, and drinking coffee through a twizzler. "Hey." Barry says, tapping them on the shoulder. They turn in confusion. "What? Did you need something Mr. Allen?" The girl asks, taking off her headphones. The girl in question had a slight tan, brunette buns on top of her head with bags resting across her eyebrows, eyes that seemed to change colors in the light, and her outfit had the two boys in a tizzy. She wore a black crop top that asked 'Got Milk?' In white letter, with a galaxy tank top under that, then black, skinny jeans, and combat boots.
"I'm sorry, but, who are you, and why are you in my chair?" Cisco asks. She looks at him with a glint of amusement. "I'm Serena Takeuchi. Username, TheivingKitten13." She stands and extends her hand to Cisco. "It's great to finally meet you, DiscoCisco96." She gave him a knowing smirk as his eyes grew wide. "You're that thief that's been stealing my stuff!" He shouts. "Correction, Cisco." Dr. Wells says from behind. "She's been hacking your stuff. And she's quite good at it too." Serena swishes her hand in front of her. "You flatter me Dr. Wells."
"Um, Dr. Wells, why is she here?" Barry pipes up. "Oh!" Serena's hand shoots up like a rocket. "Is this the part where I do the thing?" She asks like a five year old girl. Dr. Wells laughs before giving her the okay to do her thing. She giggles and leads them to the training room where they test Barry's speed. She hands them tinted safety goggles. "You'll need these if you wanna keep your eyesight." They put the goggles on and watch Serena, who's standing in the middle of the room behind the glass.
She closes her eyes and starts to crackle like lightning, but when it gets louder they notice it's coming from her hands and they're multicolored. The sparkles slowly envelope her until she's just one big sparkler. "Her body temperature is so hot, she could melt steel." Dr. Wells says. "I think that's enough Serena, don't exhaust yourself." Serena goes out like some strong wind blew away the sparks. "So she's a meta? How did you find her?" Barry asks. "She found us, Mr. Allen. She came to me for answers, and so I gave for them."
"So she knows that Barry's the streak everyone's been talking about?" Cisco asks bitterly. "Of course I know. I'm apart of the team now, isn't that right Dr. Wells?" Serena says, adjusting her outfit and the two boys look at Wells. One in shock and the other in irritation. "Well, she'll be an amazing asset to this team with her hacking skill and she's a meta that's not attacking our city." Wells looks at her sipping her coffee through that makeshift twizzler straw again. "Through she won't be going into the field for some time. No, she's not ready for that yet."
"So, then why is she here?" Cisco asks in a huff. "Oh!" Serena puts down her coffee to speak. "I don't have a suit and first time I used my powers I killed my parents, so most of my time is spent taking care of my little brother." She says like they're talking about the weather. "So, in short, Mr. Ramon, I'm here to make sure I can control this power that Dr. Wells gave me." Her phone starts beeping furiously. "Speaking of little bro-bros, Layton got sick at school, so I need to jet." She rushes towards the door but stops for a moment. "Oh, and was lovely meeting you for real today, Mr. Allen. And... You too Mr. Ramon." And with that she was gone.
"Please tell me I don't have to actually have to make her a suit." Cisco whines. "Well, you weren't actually supposed to meet her today. I was hoping to introduce her more organically. However," Dr. Wells wheels himself to look over the computers. "She seems to have been too excited to meet you, and took meeting you into her own hands."
"Okay, but why the secrecy about her?" Barry asks, making Dr. Wells sigh. "She's been mostly hidden from you because when she showed up to my front door, my literal front door, she looked like she'd just seen something terrifying. It took weeks for her to finally say anything to me, but she told me that when the particle accelerator exploded they had been celebrating her parents 25th anniversary and they were shooting off fireworks and lighting sprinklers." He watches Serena get into her small car, bopping to an invisible beat.
"After the explosion, she'd gotten into an emotional conversation about something but she got so angry she had a moment of white out, and she woke up to her family and home torched. When she finally found her brother under the dining room table, he was barely breathing. But the worst part was what she saw when she pulled him out." There was a pause. "What happened to the boy?" Barry asks. "He had burns across the left side his face. Like someone had smacked him." Wells turns to them to see their conflicted facial expressions. "My point is, is that you were lucky, Mr. Allen. You were contained and protected. This girl is very sensitive, and her emotions are what dictate her powers, unlike yours she has very loose controls over the sparks. Though I am proud of her. She's never done a full body take over before. I suppose she was just wanting to impress you two. Especially Cisco." Cisco looks around before pointing to himself. "She wanted to impress me?"
"Of course, she's lived with me for four months before her brother got out of the hospital and she bought herself a small place for the both of them. I've told her all about you, Barry, and Caitlin. It's my belief that she feel a connection with you, Cisco, because of your similar interests in silent films, Netflix shows and comic books." Dr. Wells looks at his watch. "Speaking of Caitlin, where do you think she is?"
"Right here!" Caitlin says, turning the corner. "Sorry, traffic jam. What did I miss?" She asks, a little out of breath. "There's a new meta-human." Barry says. "Oh that's great. Why aren't you out there trying to catch them?" Barry and Cisco pause and shift about for a moment. "Because she's going to be working with us." Dr. Wells says. "I'm sure the boys can explain. I'll be back." Wells wheels away, leaving caitlin in a state of complete confusion. "What was that about." She asks. The boys sigh and tell her everything they know about Serena Takeuchi.
---Later---
"Code two thirty-seven, on Wade Boulevard." Cisco says when Barry picks up the phone. It was late, and Serena really didn't want to be doing this. She'd rather be with her brother, watching dumb animes and cartoons. She was barely listening when she heard Cisco say that. It made her giggle. Her father had been a Police Academy instructor and her mother was a 911 operator, so she know that a 237 was not what Cisco was supposed to be describing. However, after Barry had to question him twice Caitlin finally told him what was really going on, which made Serena laugh. "What's so funny?" Cisco asks with a bit of bite in his tone. Serena jumps a little and looks back to her phone. "Nothing." She says. "I need to go. Be right back." She quickly stands and exits the room.
Serena leans against a wall and takes a deep breath. "Lightning falls, but sparks fly. Lightning falls, but sparks fly. Lightning falls... but sparks... fly." She takes a deep breath and sinks a little against the wall. "I haven't heard you use that mantra since you accidentally melted that lamp post on twenty-third street." Wells says, sneaking up on her a bit. "I never thought I'd have to. But being around these new people I-"
"No." He cuts in. "You mean being around Cisco. I could see it in the way your eyes would light up when I'd tell you about my day and one of his antics. You still have that look in your eyes when you see him. Though, hacking into his game probably wasn't the best way of getting him to notice you." Wells says with a laugh. "Then what do you think I should do? I haven't dated ever and I'm no good with being around boys. I get nervous and... spark up." Serena sinks all the way down to the floor, looking at her hands. "I just don't know what to do." Wells comes close to her and put his hand on her head. "I'd suggest, first, that you return his game pieces, and thereby, extend the olive branch." Serena looks up at him. "You think that'll work?" Wells nods and Serena smiles.
"You seem to know everything Dr. Wells." Wells just laughs. "I've just been a similar situation with my wife long ago. Don't think too much of it." She nods. "Alright. I'll get on that." She says, standing. She looks at her phone a frowns. "How's your brother doing?" Wells asks knowing that she's checking for the hospital's call. "Better, he's in an overnight operation right now. His scars are healing and his hair is almost all the way grown back." She gives a sad smile. "He's a strong boy. I felt it the moment you introduced him to me." Wells takes her hand. "And if you need to bring him here, you may." Her face brightens. "Really?!" When Wells gives a reassuring nod Serena squeals in glee. "Thank you so much." She bends and gives him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you Dr. Wells! I'll see you tomorrow! I've got some homework to do!" She says, before heading home.
She opens her home door, quickly drops her things and opens her computer. The olive branch was going to be given and then some.