Floating right in front of Kid Flash, Yuri observed him closely.
This was his first time seeing a genuine superhero since crossing over, and he couldn’t help feeling curious.
Wally was entirely unaware of being watched, occupied with listening to the guards describe the mess Axel had just caused.
Suddenly, an idea struck Yuri.
*Kid Flash is a metahuman, right?
Maybe I can capture his DNA…*
Earlier, when Yuri had transformed into Grey Matter, he had conducted some research on the watch.
Although he couldn’t unlock Master Control, he had figured out how his watch functioned in standard mode compared to the first and second generations.
Active transformation mode had been covered earlier, and recharge mode needed no elaboration, but Capture Mode was somewhat different.
The Capture Mode on this watch fixed a huge flaw present in the previous generations: their inability to sample Anodites.
The first and second generations could only sample DNA; organisms without DNA couldn’t be scanned, meaning Anodites, composed of Mana, couldn’t be stored in the Omnitrix database.
However!
While it was called “capturing DNA,” in reality, the original series showed that the Omnitrix’s definition of “DNA” went far beyond literal genetics.
After all, its database contained non-carbon-based lifeforms like Diamondhead, Upgrade, Chromastone, Clockwork, and Atomix.
Did those kinds of beings really have DNA?
Did Optimus Prime have DNA?
There were even pure energy beings like NRG, or Echo Echo, who was essentially living sound waves with no physical body in the strict sense.
Where on earth would their DNA come from?
Not to mention Alien X, an actual cosmic entity.
The Omnitrix was packed with species that lacked traditional DNA.
Thinking of this, Yuri couldn’t help snorting internally.
Anodites were energy beings, and NRG was an energy being too, yet Anodites specifically couldn’t be captured by the watch because they “lacked DNA”?
Seriously?
Sure, Mana is powerful, but does radiation energy get no respect?
It was beyond ridiculous.
So it was clearly a flaw in the original logic.
What the Omnitrix could capture definitely wasn’t limited strictly to DNA. This story is hosted at g.com.
Particles, elements, energy…
as long as it was a lifeform, it could be logged into the Omnitrix database.
Furthermore, Yuri’s watch could capture DNA through physical contact like the first generation, or project a capture beam for remote scanning like the second generation.
However, remote scanning required a condition: the target organism had to offer no resistance.
They either had to be willing or beaten into helplessness.
Yuri didn’t know whether Kid Flash’s superspeed came from a genetic mutation or some form of energy powering it, but he reasoned the watch stood a good chance of capturing it.
Everyone on Earth knew The Flash was the fastest man alive, while Kid Flash was the fastest teenager alive.
Both were beings who could easily run at light speed; no instrument could measure their speed limits, and no one could ever catch up to them.
As for who was faster between The Flash and Kid Flash, nobody knew for sure, though the general consensus favored The Flash.
If he could truly capture Kid Flash’s DNA, Yuri would acquire a remarkably powerful transformation.
*I need to make a careful plan…*
After all, this was an FBI field office, and Kid Flash was no pushover.
If the capture failed, things would get very ugly.
Yuri tallied the time in his mind.
It had been roughly five minutes since he transformed into Ghostfreak, leaving him a conservative estimate of a little over four minutes remaining.
While Yuri was busy scheming how to sample Kid Flash’s DNA, the guards were finishing up explaining everything that had transpired.
“I get the picture.
The Trickster shouldn’t have gotten too far yet.
I’ll search around the area first.”
Wally’s expression turned stern and his gaze cool; he had a terrible foreboding feeling.
Ever since two days ago, when The Flash had fought a major battle against Weather Wizard, he hadn’t been seen.
At first, Wally had assumed The Flash was summoned by the Justice League for a secret mission.
However, when Wally contacted the League’s satellite base, the Watchtower, a short while ago, Cyborg informed him that the League had no ongoing operations.
Then Wally went to The Flash’s house, where The Flash’s wife—Wally’s aunt Iris—revealed a horrifying fact.
If this “fact” turned out to be true, and malicious forces like the Network caught wind of it…
Everything that had transpired over the past two days forced Wally to prepare for the worst.
Aside from The Flash, several of Wally’s other friends were plagued by trouble.
Jesse Quick’s company had hit a severe financial crisis, with five hundred million dollars vanishing overnight, leaving her in utter turmoil.
The original Flash, Jay Garrick, who was now over sixty, found out his devoted wife Joan had terminal cancer.
Doctors gave her only one month left, so the Garricks decided to spend their remaining time together on vacation in Denver.
Impulse—grandson of the current Flash, not Jay—was deemed too young by Wally to be involved in vigilante business, so Impulse had accompanied Jay to Denver.
Chunk, a metahuman friend of Wally’s with spatial powers, had recently been shot in an accident and nearly died, leaving him bedridden for the foreseeable future…
It was almost as if someone were systematically taking down the Twin Cities’ superheroes one by one!
Mountainous pressure crashed down on Wally.
In all his time as a hero, he had never felt such crushing weight on his shoulders.
In the past, he could always count on The Flash; no matter how daunting the crisis, The Flash would overcome it.
But now, Wally was on his own.
Whoever was plotting in the shadows, Wally had to do everything in his power to stop them.
Golden lightning flared once more, and Wally vanished.
Yuri was prepared.
While Wally had been speaking, Yuri slipped into his shadow.
Ghostfreak’s flight speed was far from fast—sluggish, even—but it had its own method of rapid movement: merging with shadows.
Much like the Shadowkhan, as long as there were shadows, Ghostfreak could practically teleport.
A second later, Wally had searched every street and alley within a five-kilometer radius of the FBI field office building.
No sign of Axel.
This was highly unusual.
The Trickster’s air-walking shoes only let him walk on air—they didn’t boost his running speed.
Given Axel’s physical limits, there was no way he could have left that radius so quickly.
Frowning, Wally picked up his pace and swept through the entire city of Keystone City in two seconds flat.
Along the way, he knocked out two robbers and a thief for good measure, yet he still found no trace of Axel.