Chapter 23: The Man of Fire
It started like any other day.
Dante was up early, as usual, dragging Barry through an intense training regimen. The kind of training that ignored limits. He had Barry running uphill sprints with ankle weights, doing muscle failure drills, punching until his arms trembled, and focusing until his mind was razor-sharp.
"You won't beat the Reverse-Flash because you're faster," Dante said as Barry collapsed on the ground. "You'll beat him because you want it more. Now get up."
Barry groaned and forced himself to his feet, sweat dripping from his brow, chest heaving.
At the same time, in the other part of STAR Labs, Cisco and Caitlin were geeking out over something new—Dante's suit.
"He keeps tearing his sleeves when the lightning surges," Cisco said, tapping away on his tablet. "We need a material that can flex under raw energy."
Caitlin leaned over his shoulder. "We could try the new reinforced poly-fiber weave. If we infuse it with micro-cooling units, it might contain the Void energy without rupturing."
"You just want him to look good, admit it," Cisco teased with a smirk.
Caitlin rolled her eyes but smiled faintly. "I just want him to be safe."
Across the building, in his hidden room, Harrison Wells wasn't smiling.
He stared at a holographic timeline projected in front of him—countless threads of history, moments in time. It wasn't the first time he'd searched. He had been looking for weeks, trying to locate any trace of Dante in the timeline. The past. The future. Alternate timelines. Echoes. Glitches.
Nothing.
Dante didn't exist.
Not really.
Wells had reviewed the public records a hundred times. Dante's father had died of sickness. His mother passed two years later. His little brother had been killed in what police claimed was a gang-related incident.
But that was it.
There were no further leads. No anomalies. No pattern. No future records. No evidence of powers. Nothing.
He was a ghost in time.
And that terrified Wells more than anything.
Because he knew how to stop Barry Allen. He knew how to manipulate the team. He had prepared every move against the Flash. But Dante? He was the variable. The unpredictable, dangerous variable.
He couldn't be controlled.
He couldn't be stopped.
Not with what Wells had.
And so, hidden in the shadows of the lab, he began forming a new plan.
One meant not for the Flash—but for Dante.
---
Then it happened.
The Cortex screens suddenly erupted in red, blaring alarms echoing through the halls.
Cisco bolted from his chair. "What the hell—?"
Everyone rushed into the Cortex. Barry, dripping sweat. Dante, calm as ever. Caitlin with wide, worried eyes. Wells, appearing seconds later like he hadn't been in his secret room.
The central screen showed it: live footage from across Central City.
A man made of fire, flying above the rooftops, leaving trails of flame in his wake.
He wasn't running. He was floating.
Hovering.
Burning.
His clothes were ragged. His hair wild and unkempt. He looked like a soul dragged from the heart of a volcano.
"Oh my god," Caitlin whispered.
Cisco instantly began running facial recognition software.
It took only moments.
Then the result flashed on screen.
Caitlin's breath caught in her throat.
Barry blinked.
Cisco took a step back.
Even Wells, usually cold and unreadable, showed a flicker of disbelief.
But Dante… he didn't react at all. He just watched.
"Ronnie Raymond," Cisco said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Caitlin couldn't speak. She walked closer to the screen, hand rising to cover her mouth.
"He… he died," Barry said. "That night… the particle accelerator—"
"We thought he died," Cisco said. "But somehow… he survived."
Caitlin stared at the screen, tears brimming in her eyes as the flaming man turned toward a news helicopter. For a brief moment, the flames peeled away from his face—and there he was.
Ronnie.
Her fiancé.
The love she had mourned.
His eyes glowed orange, but his face was still there. Hardened. Changed. But still him.
Barry put a hand on Caitlin's shoulder.
"I need to go," she whispered.
"No," Dante said sharply.
Everyone turned.
"What?" Barry asked.
"You go out there now, and he could kill you," Dante said. "He's not stable."
"He's Ronnie," Caitlin snapped. "He's not just some metahuman!"
"I don't care if he's your boyfriend or your dog," Dante said, eyes sharp. "He's literally made of fire. You go rushing in crying his name and he melts your face off—what then?"
Barry stepped forward. "We have to help him. That's what we do."
Wells, calm again, nodded. "Barry's right. But we proceed with caution. Ronnie may not know who he is. Or he might be suffering from post-acceleration trauma. His mind could be fractured."
Dante crossed his arms. "Fine. But I'm going with you."
Caitlin wiped her eyes. "Please don't hurt him."
Dante met her eyes, and for a rare moment, his voice softened.
"I won't. Not unless he gives me a reason."
---
Outside, the city was in chaos.
People fled the streets as flames tore through intersections. Sirens blared. Cars screeched. Smoke billowed.
Above it all hovered Ronnie Raymond—his body a storm of flame, his mind fractured and wild.
And somewhere, deep inside the fire…
A part of him remembered her name.
Caitlin.
---
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