Post by jay on Feb 7, 2013 23:52:18 GMT -5
Ultimate Flash #2
“Questionable Motives.”
[/color]“All units! All units! Emergency Services heading towards Central City University. Smoke has been reported seen exiting the windows of one of the laboratories. One person has been found. Fire is being contained. Subject is suffering from severe burns and what looks like shock.”
“Dispatch. We've identified the man. It's Dr. Barry Allen.”
“Dispatch repeat. Who was the unidentified burn victim?”
“Dr. Barry Allen.”
Henry Allen sighed as he turned his car heading towards the university area. “Are they taking him to Central City Memorial?”
“Where is he being taken?”
“Dispatch. We're sending him to Central City Memorial to the burn ward.”
“Did you copy that Henry?” Henry changed his route to compensate.
“Tell the Captain that I am going off duty as soon as I get there.” Henry slammed on the gas and cut on his lights. It had been five years since he had even talked to Barry, but that didn't matter. All the fighting, hateful words, and bullshit didn't matter. Henry was going to be there for his son.
“Understood.”
“Dispatch, Come in!”
“Dispatch here. Go ahead.”
“Weather Wizard is robbing the Keystone Diamond Exchange!”
“All units! Code Red! Keystone City Police are being alerted as well. Proceed with caution. Subject is considered armed and extremely dangerous!”
“Damn it!” Henry thought as he kept heading for the hospital. “They haven't made a move in the last few weeks and this happens.”
__________________________
Barry's body was not responding well. He was losing a lot of blood from his wounds caused by the chemical burns he suffered, not to mention the electric shock from the blast. The EMT's had not seen anything quite like it, but they were fighting for his life. His heart rate was finally starting to slow down. His body spasms as it tries to regain control it's motor functions. As his body suffered, Barry's mind was far away...
__________________________
“The Speed Force?” Barry said still confused as to what was going on. A few minutes ago he was in his lab after receiving a mysterious container of chemicals. Then he was attacked and now he was standing near a former hero named “The Flash” in the middle of a wooded area. He felt the fire and the electricity hit him. He should be dead. Was he dead?
“Think of it as a link to your place in the time.” Flash said smiling as he removed his Mercury themed helmet. The guy didn't look to be a day over twenty five. This made no sense to Barry at all. The Flash had been one of the first reported metahumans that he could find solid evidence on. He had started fighting crime in the Depression and then helped fight in World War Two. He had disappeared during the nineteen sixties without a trace. The man’s youth befuddled the scientist whose brain was telling him there was no way this was possible.
“My place in time? Time isn't measured that way. I have no place in time. How are you still alive. You vanished in the sixties.”
“I did? Has that been long?”
“Yeah. It's the year Twenty Twelve. You disappeared in Central City after a huge battle with...I can't remember the name of the guy. Really weird guy.”
“Oh yeah. Doctor Terror. He was a hoot. Can you believe the guy was actually a nuclear engineer. He had rigged up a nuke to take out the city. Thought I couldn't run fast enough to take it out. Guess I showed him.”
“The nuke never went off though.”
“Of course it didn't. I brought it here. It's back at my base camp. Come on, I'll show it to you.”
“You keep a nuke where you live?”
“It's not gonna go off. Besides I always got trophies when I played football why not when I defeat an supervillain. Besides I wasn't gonna let that thing go off. It has enough nuclear payload from what Doctor Terror was going on about to level the whole tri-state area. All because he wasn't being taken seriously as a supervillian. I wonder how Don is doing though.”
“Don?”
“Oh yeah Donald McCulloch. Dr. Donald McCulloch. Oh he'd get mad if you didn't call him doctor all the time. We were such a pair together. Did you know that he actually helped me save the city once. Made him so mad...”
“Stop!” Barry said trying to retain his composure. “Look. I love talking about superheroes. I really do. It's actually part of my field of study looking into metagentetics, but what the hell is going on here?!”
“Calm down. I don’t know anything about metage-whatever you said. You need learn to take things a little easy. Geez. Your wound up tighter than Jerry Lewis.”
“Just. Why am I here?”
“I have no idea.” Barry looked dumbfounded at the hero.
“But you said you were expecting me.”
“I was. I was told that at some point when I got here I would meet a man named Barry Allen. He'd be a blonde headed guy wearing a suit. That's you right?”
“Who told you I would be here?”
“Oh Windrunner told me.”
“Windrunner? Whose Windrunner?”
“Oh you'd know him by other names probably. For a while he went by Whip Whirlwind, and I knew him as Quicksilver during the war. I think the last time he left here he went under the name Max Mercury. He's the oldest speedster we got around here. Knows a lot of reason why people are brought into this place. He'll be able to answer your questions better than me.”
“Where is he?” Barry said keeping his fanboy self in check. Apparently there was another metahuman here who might be able to explain what’s going on better than this guy.
“Oh he'd probably be back at the base camp.” Flash said smiling at him. “Feel a little silly for losing your temper there kiddo?”
“I am not a kid. I'm twenty two years old.” Barry said slightly offended. He had to deal with people constantly calling him kid his whole life. Ever since he showed that he was a gifted child he always felt like people had treated him with a odd mixture of admiration or contempt for it. His colleagues would fall into those two groups a lot. He had to tell multiple professors on many occasions that just because he was young didn’t mean that he was some sort of naive little brat who didn’t work hard or understand what was being said to him.
“Really. How old am I according to you?”
“You fought in World War Two. You've got to at least be pushing ninety.”
“Then you are kiddo rather you like it or not. Come on.”
“Sure thing...gramps.”
“Race ya.” Flash laughed as he put his helmet back on.
“Your top speed walking will outrun me. How am I suppose to keep up?” Flash smiled at him.
“Just put one foot in front of the other. You might surprise yourself.”
Barry shook his head for a moment. It was impossible for him to keep up with The Flash. The guy was said to be, back in the early days of superheroes, to be “The Fastest Man Alive”. How was he going to even follow the dust trail. Barry was never an athlete much to his dad's dislike. Dad. He'd go nuts right now. This was that hero he'd go on and on and on about for hours.
“All right. I'll humor you.”
Barry lined up next to Flash and they started to run. Slow at first. Then the whole world became a blur. Barry wasn't feeling tired or winded after what felt like five minutes. He looked behind him. The trail they were leaving was putting fire on the ground behind them. He looked over at Flash, who was just laughing at him.
“Now that you're warmed up kiddo let's see if this old man can still live up to his reputation!” With that Flash was gone. Barry felt a surge of air hit him in the face as he saw a red and blue blur go off in the distance.
“There is no way. This...This...Screw it! THIS IS AWESOME!!!” Barry decided to go faster. Faster. Faster. Faster. He caught up with Flash. “That all you got gramps?!”
__________________________
The Keystone Diamond Exchange didn't know what hit them. Fog was rolling into the front of the building that had just been blasted open by multiple lightning bolts. Weather Wizard floated in pointing his wand at the security guards and shocked them into submission. The only addition to his armored form was that of three empty black gym bags. He slid them over to
“Alright folks. This will all be over in a minute.” He points the wand to the remaining security guards at the exchange who were still .
“You can either make this easy and open the vaults now, or you can make me do it the hard way. Please, I've got a new setting on this that I want to test. How much current do you think you can take before you turn into human bacon.”
With that statement they began to open the vaults.
Sirens began to go off outside as the police began to show up in Keystone.
“What the hell are you're doing?” Captain Boomerang's voice rang loud in Weather Wizard's earpiece.
“Well Boomer I decided to do a heist. What's the problem?”
“You didn't clear it with the rest of us Wiz. I'm not a happy man right now.”
“Can we discuss this later I'm kind of in the middle of something.”
“There is no discussion. Pull out now. That's an order.”
“I'm going to have the diamonds in less than five minutes. I can do this.”
“You got three minutes before I come bail your ass out. If you screw this up mate, I swear you won't even make it to Captain Cold before I kill you.”
The Weather Wizard sighed. He had wanted to test the new model of the weather wand, but hadn't been able to test out the power output in a real situation. He wanted to make sure the screw up he made on the bridge wouldn't happen again. A loudspeaker creaked as it came to life.
“Weather Wizard! We have your surrounded!”
“Perfect timing. Hurry up with those diamonds, Now!” He then turned to the direction he heard the loudspeaker. “I highly doubt you are prepared for me that well officer. I suggest you just let me take what I want and stand down.”
Suddenly he heard the sound of canisters hitting the ground. He quickly adjusted his to his wind gusts switch and blew the tear gas canisters out the way they came.
“That worked well, but I still need to get the output better.” He thought as he grabbed one of the exchange workers. “If you do that one more time I swear I will tear this man apart with a tornado!”
There was a pause as the negotiator checked with his superiors.
“What do you want?”
“That's more like it. Just stay out of my way and no one else will get hurt.”
“Just let you walk away with all of the diamonds you want.”
“Officer, if you don't play nice I am going to have to get nasty.” Weather Wizard smiled. Mark Mardon would be scared out of his mind right now. He would be trying to negotiate his way out of this with very little, but he is not Mark Mardon right now. He’s not some shy little inventor who always got pushed around. No. He’s got real power now. The power to control the weather itself.
“I’ve got a better deal for you.” came a new voice over the loudspeaker. “The name is Agent Derrick Quinn. How about you come out and surrender or we get nasty.”
Suddenly all the lights shut off in the building. Weather Wizard quickly activates the lenses in his cowl so he can see in night vision. The guards who were gathering the diamonds decide to bolt.
“That’s not...” A shot rings out and Weather Wizard is on the ground. The wind knocked out of him. A large rubber bullet round hit his armor knocking the wind out of him.
“Move in!” Agent Quinn yells out as the swat team starts to head into the Diamond Exchange. Weather Wizard still had his hand on his wand and started pushing the buttons for an electrical storm. He gets up only to become surrounded by the SWAT team.
“Drop it!” The lead SWAT officer says pointing a shotgun right at Weather Wizard’s head. He drops the wand. As he does so it suddenly starts shooting out random spurts of electrical energy. The SWAT team dives for cover, but a few are hit as The Weather Wizard grabs the wand again. He fires a bolt into the ground out into the crowd of police cars. As he gets to the steps he hears the sound of many guns locking onto him.
“Stand down son. You’re a thief, not a moron.” says Agent Quinn smiling from behind the cop cars. Weather Wizard knew he couldn’t take out all of the guns before they struck him. The air was calm aside from a whirling sound.
“Cavalry is here mate...” Weather Wizard smiled as Captain Boomerang spoke in on his earpiece. From the air blasts of light energy started to fill the area. Wiz looked up and from the now decloaked ship he could see Mirror Master with a assault rifle version of his reflection pistol. He fired strategic shots, feed to him by a computer through his cowl’s lenses, making sure to hit near enough to the police officers that they would duck and cover. Weather Wizard activates the wand’s wind functions and flies straight for the ship.
“Thanks for the assist guys...” Weather Wizard said as he just narrowly landed onto the edge of the cargo bay door. Mirror Master is about to punch Weather Wizard in the face when suddenly they both stop as the air shifts and they hear a sonic boom.
__________________________
Inside of the “Speed Force” The Flash and Barry finally started to slow down. It was a beautiful sight to behold. They stopped near what looked like a tranquil waterfall area. Around the area was a encampment of sort. As Barry took everything in he was marveled at what he saw. Extinct animals were roaming the area all looking at him like they knew him. A hummingbird flew up to Barry’s face. Barry looked at the bird and then suddenly while he concentrated on it the bird’s rapid wing movements slowed down to a crawl. He blinked, breaking his concentration, and the bird flew away as fast as normal. There were two people that he could see down at the base camp. Flash and Barry speed down to see them.
The first one they came to was a Native American who looked about the same age as Flash. He had his long black hair pulled back in a braid, and on his face was blue and red face paint. It looked like a mask by the design. He wore a simple pair of blue pants and black leather boots. On his chest was a tattoo of a circle with a lightning bolt through it. His eyes were currently closed as he meditated. He sat on a rock near the pool that was forming from the waterfall. As he breathed the water near him stopped moving and then speed up with each breath.
The other man was standing off to the side. His short blonde hair slicked back. He wore a superhero outfit that had a black cowl covering most of his face. The outfit was a red and yellow combination. Barry recognized him as another speedster hero. Johnny Quick. Quick’s eyes staring intently into a cave near the waterfall. His arms were outstretched seemingly holding something in place.
“Windrunner.” Flash said as they arrived. The meditating man opened his eyes and Barry saw something very strange an odd blue coloring of the iris. Windrunner looked at Barry as he stood up.
“A pleasure to meet you Mr. Allen.”
“Yeah. Pleasure to meet you too. What’s he doing?” Barry said motioning towards Johnny Quick. Windrunner didn’t even look over in Quick’s direction.
“He is doing his duty for the moment, as am I. Tell me. Why do you think you are here?”
“I have no idea honestly. I got attacked in my lab and some chemicals fell on me. I passed out. I’m not even sure this is real.”
“I assure you it is Mr. Allen. I have been anticipating your arrival here for quite some time. It was your destiny to come here.”
“Destiny? Destiny for what?”
“You are one of the few who has been granted the ability to enter into this dimension. To access it’s powers to do good in the world. The Speed Force, as we call it, is a counter to a dark power in the universe. It is based on the principle that all things are connected. All living and non-living matter exist in a temporal state of flux. We are the counter to an emotional center that seeks out destruction and chaos.”
“I’m not following...I get the connectivity part, but what force are you talking about.”
“The words that the shaman who gave me my powers many years ago called it a shadow. It is fueled by the power of hatred. Hate is the key to unlocking that dark power. There are those who can use it to do anything their dark hearts can unleash. It is a false power though. A dark being wishes to use that power and has placed followers of it with this power to be used as his avatars. The Speed Force is linked to love...”
“Love? That makes no sense. Love is an emotion, it’s not some sort of force of nature like gravity.” Flash put his hand on Barry’s shoulder.
“Each of us became heroes, kiddo. Because we cared, or loved, our fellow man to the point of wanting to stop bad people from hurting good people. As a being with access to these powers you have to have a good understanding of how good should be the way of life. Sadly there is a price to be had for being connected to this power.”
“Which is?”
“You need a tether.” Windrunner said as he walked towards Johnny Quick. “ A person who loves you, or a group of people who do to the point that you can always stay focused in reality. Your body is vibrating constantly with pure energy. It takes a great deal of skill to control your powers. Because of that your soul has to stay connected to the people you are saving.”
“What happens if you don’t have someone like that?” Barry said concerned.
“You end up being stuck here.” Johnny uttered not taking his eyes off of the cave. “You end up becoming trapped here with no hope of ever getting out. You might as well just stay here kid. Don’t even bother trying to go back. If you do you will find out that these people will turn on you. This is not a reward. This is a prison.”
“So what you are saying is that in order to not be stuck here for the rest of my life I have to have a connection to people that love me?” Barry just couldn’t understand this idea. “This goes against everything I know. These powers you have are explainable by science. Your molecules are moving at such an accelerated rate that you can do these things with just but a thought...”
“All of that is insignificant if you can’t focus on what’s really important.” Flash chimed in. Barry looked at the man in the silver mask. Barry had been through enough problems in his life to know what he said was true. All Barry could think about were the lies he was told.
“What’s really important is that the people that love lie to you. They say they are protecting you when really all the do is lie. All they do is...is...iiiiissss...” Barry started to feel strange. His hands started to vibrate. His whole body began to follow. “Whhaatt’sss...”
Windrunner reached out to him, but before he could grab him Barry suddenly felt the world go topsy turvy. He was now standing in the streets of Keystone City as a loud boom seemed to emit from his location. He felt a tug towards Central City. He looked down at his body. He was not solid at all. He was a red blur of energy that was trying to stay put, but couldn’t. The tug was pulling him so hard that he had to start moving. He took a step and then another and suddenly was picking up speed.
__________________________
Inside Central City Memorial Hospital Henry Allen sits waiting to hear news of his son.
“God. I know we don’t talk much. I know I haven’t been the best father, husband, or much of anything. I’m not even sure why I am doing this now. I’ve not talked to you since that night. He’s all me and Nora have left. I know he hates me. I don’t blame him. I don’t, but if you can make sure he pulls through this. I’ll do whatever you want...”
The building shakes for a moment as the power flickers. Henry gets up and rushes towards a window to see what is going on. He see it. Heading fast towards the Twin City Bridge, a red blur. Just like the one he saw before. Just like.
“It can’t be...”
__________________________
The sonic boom destabilizes the aircraft for a moment. Mirror Master and Weather Wizard rush into the cockpit where they see Captain Boomerang trying to keep the ship from falling.
“What on earth did you do Sam?” Boomer said looking at Mirror Master.
“Wasn’t me. Mark?”
“That wasn’t my wand. I think.” Boomer nodded at Weather Wizard’s statement and starts scanning the area.
“Blimey. That thing. Whatever it is it’s moving fast and it’s power levels are off the chart.”
“What should we do about it?” Sam says getting into the co-pilot chair.
“Follow it. It could be someone we could use.”
__________________________
“Damn it!” Agent Quinn uttered as he saw Weather Wizard fly out of range into the ship. Suddenly he heard a sonic boom. A shot of air comes past him as he see’s the red blur heading towards the Twin City Bridge. “What the hell was that?”
Whatever it was he was going to need more help to deal with these guys more than these cops. He was gonna need to call in a favor. He pulled out his cellphone.
“Hey. It’s Quinn. I need a favor. What’s Sage currently assigned to...
To be continued...