Some time later, at the FBI central city branch office.
Inside the supervisor's office, three people were in conversation.
One of them, wearing a yellow and red uniform with short golden hair, was none other than the Kid Flash.
Sitting in the supervisor's chair was a middle-aged man in his forties, dressed in a suit and looking serious. A nameplate on his desk indicated his identity.
James Jesse, Supervisor.
As for the last one, he was a cripple with a cane, short brown hair, and most noticeable of all, his red pupils. He was a few years older than the Kid Flash.
"So you're saying someone stole my old costume and props last night and intends to take on the mantle of the Trickster?"
In the United States, the relationship between local and federal law enforcement is not great, and they are not subordinate to each other. Therefore, even though James was the FBI branch supervisor, he did not know about the incident that happened yesterday at Keystone City Police Department.
"His name is Axel Walker, from an affluent family in Central City. He has enjoyed a life of luxury since he was young, but his parents divorced not long ago, and then this kid began to cause trouble everywhere, using drugs, getting into fights, and vandalizing public property... until he became the second Trickster."
The brown-haired cripple calmly explained.
Hearing this, James felt somewhat surprised and praised, "To be able to quickly uncover the background of the perpetrator of last night's incident, you truly live up to your reputation as the FBI's youngest criminal profiler."
At this point, James suddenly sighed and looked regretful as he turned to the cripple, "If it weren't for what happened last year, the position of the Central City branch supervisor should have been yours, Hunter. The FBI has suffered a great loss without you."
It turned out that the young cripple was Hunter Zolomon. Last night, Keystone City detective Morillo enlisted the help of Kid Flash to investigate, and Hunter was the person he brought in.
At the FBI training headquarters, Hunter Zolomon had already demonstrated impressive talent and performance, and he had far surpassed his peers in criminal profiling.
Hunter, a genius graduate, was promoted by the FBI right after graduation, and he deserved it. For several years, Hunter's analysis had never been wrong, and he had accomplished many achievements.
Until a year ago, in a certain case, Hunter's profiling analysis went wrong for the first time, which directly led to him being shot in the left leg, making him a permanent cripple.
But that's not the worst part because his judgement led to the deaths of two fellow agents and even his uncle sacrificed himself in the case, which led to his wife divorcing him, and the FBI had to dismiss this talented prodigy.
Suddenly, Hunter went from being a star profiler to a private investigator struggling to make ends meet, occasionally helping the Keystone City Police Department with their investigations.
"They were right to fire me. I was too proud, and I thought I knew everything, and in the end, I caused so many deaths."
Hunter looked dejected, that was his biggest failure in life.
"That's not entirely your fault. You did what you were supposed to do, no profiler can guarantee being always right," James said calmly.
"Hey, guys, I hate to interrupt, but it's not the time to regret the past. We need to hurry and find that new Trickster," Kid Flash suddenly interrupted, cutting off their conversation.
"Kid Flash is right. Axel stole the Trickster's equipment, and we suspect he may have some kind of connection to you, like hatred or admiration. Sorry to offend you, James, but after all, you were previously..."
Hunter snapped out of his reminiscing state and took on an official attitude.
"Don't worry, even now, there are many people in the agency who are wary of me, but I am no longer who I used to be," James signaled to Hunter not to worry and continued, "I have never met Axel Walker, nor do I know anyone with the last name Walker, so I don't think this kid has any grudges against me."
"It is very likely that it's a copycat crime. Axel may be a fanatic admirer of the first Trickster and because the Trickster is no longer active, he took the initiative to create a new Trickster." Hunter analyzed.
"His parents have just divorced, perhaps this has brought some negative impact on him, stimulating his mind, and making him go down the path of crime... We have too little information to go on, and can only analyze this much before his next crime." Hunter continued.
James nodded in agreement, his thoughts were the same as Hunter's.
*Ring Ring!*
Suddenly, James' office phone rang.
"Sorry, this is a work number," James answered the phone, and a few seconds later, his face changed instantly.
"Hunter, our lateral analysis needs some modifications..."
James hung up the phone and looked at Kid Flash and Hunter with a stern expression.
"A few minutes ago, Axel Walker broke into the FBI evidence room in Keystone City and stole data of 'The Network.' He's definitely one of the Blacksmith's minions!"
"What?!" Hunter's face turned pale. No one knew better than him the significance of The Network's data, as he was the one who led the investigation into it, and even now he hadn't given up on it.
"I'll go ahead. You guys catch up," said Kid Flash. Although he didn't know the progress of the FBI's investigation into The Network, James and Hunter's expressions showed the severity of the situation.
In a flash of yellow lightning, Flash disappeared from the office.
James quickly put on his combat suit and assembled a team of agents to fly over in a helicopter.
As for Hunter, with his limp, he moved too slowly and couldn't catch up with James's helicopter, so he had to ride another one.
—-—
On the other side, Yuri floated out of Busk's body, having modified the memories of Patch and Terry slightly.
At this point, all four members of the gang had forgotten how they got here and forgotten that Yuri was with them.
The guards at the FBI branch in Keystone City had already handcuffed Terry and the others and locked them in the interrogation room, including Jim, who had been knocked out earlier, even though they didn't know why these guys suddenly fell into a coma.
Yuri was about to leave when a flash of lightning suddenly appeared in the room.
"Hey, guys! How's it going? Does anyone know where the Trickster went?"
Flash appeared out of the lightning.
"That voice sounds familiar..."
Yuri, floating in the air, had a sudden realization. Although the Ectonurite's brains were not as advanced as the Galvans', their mental abilities were powerful enough to remember every detail of their memories.
So Yuri quickly remembered where he heard Flash's voice before.
It was at a hamburger joint: Wally West.
He turned out to be Flash?
*****
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