Chester P. Runk (Earth-1: Pre-Crisis)

"I don't believe in quitting."

- Chester P. Runk

Chester Phineas Runk, often simply referred to as Chester P. Runk, is a scientist and the technology consultant on Metahuman affairs to the CCPD. Runk is also the son of inventor Quincy P. Runk.

Runk gained his abilities after his experiments failed, causing destruction in Central City. He was then placed in the MAC for weeks before finding himself in S.T.A.R. Labs. Runk soon joined The Flash's team and served as its technological support, working alongside and later succeeding Cisco Ramon.

Biography
"What's up, party people?"

- Runk's catchphrase

Early Life
Chester Phineas Runk was born to Quincy P. Runk on July 5, 1991, in Masonville.

In 1998, Runk was starting to build creative technology using trash. It was later revealed to him when he travelled back in time that his father was leaving parts he needed in the trash and teaching him lessons. However, his father died soon and left his own invention blueprints to Runk.

When Runk is 11, he tried to build a hovercraft out of her grandmother's car. However, it failed, and he sees it as his worst experience.

During Runk's sixth grade, he built a miniature copy of the Millennium Falcon for his school's science fair. Due to rust in the intake valve, the copy did not fly, and the teacher refused to let him fix the problem, saying people like him do not get second chances, which later became one of his greatest lessons.

After Runk graduated from high school, he moved to Central City with his grandmother.

At some point, Runk became a believer of Rao and worshiped him.

After the particle accelerator explosion and Grodd's first appearance, Runk chose him to be his favorite villain.

Becoming a Metahuman
After one of his experiment went wrong, his body was infused with Dark Matter and became a Metahuman. He was then saved by Team Flash after creating a black hole in the city and was placed in the MAC where Barry Allen would visit and talk to him.

Joining Team Flash
In 2020, Runk and Kamilla Hwang stood up as the mission control of Team Flash during Cisco Ramon's travel across the planet. They helped The Flash fight Hartley Rathaway, better known as Pied Piper. After the latter's escape, Allen returned to the facility to calculate the changes caused by the Crisis with the help of Gideon. Runk entered and saw Allen using his speed which made him know his secret identity. Runk then try to help but was refused by Barry due to him not being a member of the team. Runk then went to CC Jitters after Allen hurt his feelings.

Soon after his upgrades to Gideon, it malfunctioned and sent Allen to Grodd's mind. Runk refused to help as he felt guilty about his mistake. Frost then talked to him and told him that mistakes are valuable lessons. Runk then worked with her and allowed Barry to return safely.

After the incident, Runk found Allen's parents, Henry and Nora's graves which Allen struggled to find. Allen apologized for his anger and invited him on the team. Runk accepted and aided him later fight against Pied Piper soon after the latter's reappearance.

Assisting The Flash
Weeks later, Runk was in charge of mission control due to Cisco Ramon leave of absence to Atlantis. He then woke Allen from the Cryo Pod as Eva McCulloch resurfaces.

Later, Runk assisted the construction of the Artificial Speed Force and was fascinated when all Harrison Wellses' brainwaves take over Barry's mind. He was then present when Nash Wells' sacrifice, who told him and Allegra Garcia to look out for each other.

Invasion of Central City
Returning after visiting his grandmother, Runk was attacked by one of McCulloch's Reflections. Runk was able to escape back to S.T.A.R. Labs and regroup with Team Flash. He later assisted the team on issuing a half-city blackout to prevent any more Reflections from entering Earth-Prime from the Mirrorverse.

Central City Strong
A few weeks later, Runk and the other members of S.T.A.R. Labs helped rebuild the city and promoted the slogan "Central City Strong". He was then assigned his first case as a tech consultant to the CCPD after Abra Kadabra's murder. After his defeat, Runk played Fortnite with Ramon, who told him to stop beating him unless he wanted to leave the team.

Stuck in 1998
When Runk arrived back at S.T.A.R. Labs, he was fascinated by the Speed Force and introduced the Isotopic Signal Booster to the team, telling them that he could detect the Forces of Nature as well as which specific ones. Later that night, Runk and Ramon drove the van to Masonville, Runk's hometown. As they installed the booster, they were hit with a green energy wave of Temporal Energy and were unable to find their cell phones. They then walked to Masonville and attempted to find phones to dial S.T.A.R. Labs, only to find multiple stores and advertisement that are not from 2020. They then realized that they were sent back to 1998 by the energy wave. They soon investigated the person who sent them back after detecting the identical Isotopic Signal when they were sent back.

Runk and Ramon then went to Runk's former high school and interviewed several students. Their scanner then detected the same signal on Parker and quizzed him with movie references. However, he was able to respond to a reference of The Matrix, a film that was not yet released. They then accused him of sending them back in time, only to restart the day with a time loop and sent back to where they started.

With the loop resetting, Runk referenced Game of Thrones and fixed Ramon's mind, which reverted to his seven-year-old self. They then realized that Runk was shielded by the scanner and that it was damaged. Later, they went to the Tech Station and attempted to buy the X-67 Power Convertor. However, it was bought by Runk's father, and they returned the school. They then talked about the convertor and Ramon motivated Runk to ask his father for the device.

"So you don't care about your work more than your son? You care about your work because of him. I'm just a man trying to do the right thing. Make my son proud."

- Runk and his father

Returned to his childhood home, Runk used the pseudonym of John Boyega and kindly asked for the convertor. Runk did not reveal any future information and talked to him about how he loved his son. Quincy was soon convinced by Runk and worked with him to rebuild the sensors of the booster.

Runk then met Ramon back at the auditorium after acquiring the convertor and was attacked by Deon Owens, who was able to control time. Runk attempted to convince Owens to stop, knowing they are not strong enough to fight him, with the latter teleporting away for a different way to restore his own past and future. Runk and Ramon were then sent back to 2020, with them telling the story to their teammates.

First Solo Case
When an imposter started framing Frost for murder, Runk was assigned his independent case as an advisor. Working with Allen and "Nora", Runk was able to give Allen a sample of the ice, later revealing that it had a different structure as that of Frost, proving her innocent. However, "Nora" gave Allen a rush of energy, and he accidentally deleted the files as he damaged the computer.

Return of Timeless Wells
Days later, Runk, Ramon and Allen discussed the methods to prevent the Forces of Nature from being created and stop the Speed Force. Allen then told them that they could go back in time and erase the Forces from existence. However, despite the method working, it would disrupt the timeline and Barry turned to Timeless Wells for assistance. With Wells' power to protect the timeline, Runk and Ramon started working on the Particle Harness Collector in order to collect Forces' particles from 10 days prior.

As they worked on the device, the team was surprised by Deon Owens. Runk and Ramon then attempted to calm him down by complimenting him, with him pausing time on Runk, Ramon and Wells while talking to Allen. Allen and Wells later returned to the creation of the Forces and activated the collector as Runk and Ramon monitored the percentages. However, Allen was affected by the creation and chose not to kill his "children". Runk and Ramon were surprised by the choice Barry made and agreed to work with him on another method.

Unforgiving Storm Ravages
During the final showdown between the Forces of Nature, Runk finished his Temporal Isotope Sensors, allowing Barry to find Deon Owens through a wristband. With Allen unable to convince Owens, he returned to S.T.A.R. Labs and Runk and Ramon informed him that their brainstormed methods will not be able to contain "Nora". Later, Barry returned once more and asked if "Nora" claiming the storms were not her fault is accurate. Runk and Ramon confirmed her sayings and Allen changed his mind on fighting her, now choosing to talk her down.

When the storm started forming a cyclone, Runk and Ramon informed the team that at a critical point, it would create a reversed Big Bang, wiping out not just the city. Thankfully, Allen was able to stabilize the cyclone and prevent an apocalyptic event from happening. Runk, Garcia, Ramon and Hwang then went to CC Jitters, while gathering to share their recent events. Runk told them that he built an Electronic Sock Warmers for Grandma Runk with Garcia telling him that she finished the Chopped marathon. As Hwang talked to Ramon privately at his ear, Runk and Garcia were embarrassed and looked at each other, then quickly looked away.

Goodbye Cisco
With Ramon announcing his leave to A.R.G.U.S., Runk met him at the Starchives. He was then quickly fascinated by the inventory over the past 6 years. He took the Flash helmet and played with several gadgets as Ramon smiled at him. Ramon informed him that all those gadgets now were his after his leave, except a box of t-shirts that he would take with him.

Ramon later got "whammied" by Rainbow Raider 2.0's powers and the team chose Runk to take care of him in case of danger. Runk and Ramon then stayed in the Starchives as they discussed as to why the Vibe Goggles were stored there. Ramon quickly answered and mistook Runk blocking the entrance as a method to prevent him from seeing a surprise party. Runk was unable to block him and Ramon arrived in the Cortex, playing videos of cats on Allen's HUD.

Allen was then "whammied" as well and returned to the Cortex breaking dancing with Ramon, Runk entered the room and joined them, later using the Vibrational Filter and fixed their constant joy.

After The Flash and Mecha-Vibe completed their final mission together, Ramon returned to the Cortex for debriefing, only to be stalled by Runk. Ramon slowly realized that there was a surprise party at the loft. Before they left, Ramon gave Runk the key to S.T.A.R. Labs, officially handing over the torch to Runk and reminisced his past events with Team Flash over the past 6 years.

Erased Future
In the distant future, Runk helped Bart West-Allen on his differentials of mathematics homework multiple times and improved Nora West-Allen's gauntlet efficiency by 2000%.

Powers

 * Black Hole Manifestation: After being exposed to a Dark Matter-powered black hole, Runk gained powers to open black holes.

Abilities

 * Genius-level Intellect: Runk has a high-level intellect and was able to understand complex concepts of physics and engineering.
 * Physics: Runk was shown to be an expert physicist when reading a book on high level physics.
 * Engineering: Runk was proven to be a master engineer when he assisted on the construction of the Artificial Speed Force.

Weaknesses

 * Power-Dampening Technology: Like all Metahumans, Runk is unable to use his powers when in range with Power-Dampening technology.

Current Equipment

 * Forcefields: While operating as a field member, Runk utilizes a series of powerful forcefields that can withstand the strength of the Negative Strength Force.
 * Mobile Gideon: Runk utilized Gideon when diagnosing Allen while his mind has been taken over by Harrison Wellses.
 * Stealth Audio Speakers: Runk installed the speakers in the workshop after Ramon's departure.

List of Works

 * Artificial Speed Force: Runk worked on the later stages of the creation of the ASF and was present during its activation. However, it removed Allen's emotions and was eventually destroyed.
 * Particle Magnet: To harness the Multiversal Particles in Nash Wells's body, Runk and Wells worked together and built a metallic vest capable of attracting the particles to the Fusion Sphere.
 * Isotopic Signal Booster: Working with Cisco Ramon, they installed the boosters in Masonville and monitored the motions of the Forces of Nature.
 * Temporal Isotope Sensors: Later on, Runk created handheld sensors to locate Deon Owens.
 * SEE (Solar Encryption Engine): Runk attempted to finish his father's invention from the latter's blueprints.
 * Transmogrifiers: Runk worked on the devices and attempted to modify it to fit Frost.
 * Particle Harness Collector: Runk, Timeless Wells and Ramon worked together and upgraded the Tachyon Enhancer to collect the particles from the Forces of Nature, erasing them from existence.
 * Electronic Sock Warmers: Runk built a pair of sock warmers for his grandmother after the "Unforgiving Storm".
 * Particle Eradication Distributor: Bringing the PED back from the Reverse Flashpoint, Allen gave the device to Runk, who converted the device into a pair of gold belts for The Flash Suit.
 * Ray Gun: At some point, Runk built a ray gun based on the designs of the fictional "Marvin the Martian". However, the weapon malfunctioned and burnt down his best friends' house.
 * Dark Matter App:
 * MCCU (Micro-Catalyzed Containment Unit):
 * Cold Fusion Alarm Module:
 * Quantum Splicer: Runk upgraded the original Quantum Splicer with an R-CEM chip to coalesce a body to stabilize "Ronnie Raymond" situation without another body.
 * Virtue Suit:

Erased Timeline

 * Radiation Gun: Runk was given the task to create a weapon that could harm Despero against his will.
 * Neural Conjoiner: In an erased timeline, Runk built the Neural Conjoiner with the Telepathic Crown in order to boost Cecile Horton and Rosa Dillon's abilities, allowing them to find The Flash.