Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2014 17:48:17 GMT -5
ULTIMATE FLASH
#1 - Like a Bolt Out of the Blue
Written by comixmaster
“Henry, stop!”
“Stop what? Huh? Stop what?”
“Henry—ow! You’re hurting me!”
Henry drew his hand back and slung his arm over his chest. “This hurts? This is nothing compared to what you deserve,” he said. His arm let loose like a bow and arrow. He backhanded his wife with such force that it actually hurt his knuckles.
His wife, Nora, covered her red cheek with her hand. She fell to her knees and hunched up into a ball, trying her best to keep her sobs silent. Henry charged up his leg, ready to deliver a kick to the ribs, when he heard the front door slam behind him. He whirled around to see his son standing there with a horrified expression on his face. His hair was blond like his mom’s, and he had his dad’s bright blue eyes.
“D—Dad?” the little boy stammered. “What’s…What’s…”
“Barry, look,” Henry said carefully. “This isn’t what—”
“Mommy?” Barry said in such a way that would break anyone’s heart. “What happened to Mommy?”
Barry took a step forward. His father pointed at him to stay there, and his voice became cold.
“Stay right there, young man.”
Barry stopped in his tracks.
“Your mom’s been hurt. But she’s going to be okay. You will not talk about this to anyone, you hear?”
Barry didn’t know what else to do but nod his head yes.
Three Months Later…
“Mommy, do you and Dad still love each other?” Barry asked.
“Of course we do,” Nora almost immediately replied as she adjusted her little boy’s tie.
“Then…why did you and him yell at each other so much?”
“We were just having some problems, Barry. All husbands and wives go through this.”
“Even me and my wife?”
“Even you and your wife.”
Barry was still concerned. “But I won’t push her, will I?”
Nora looked at him. Her facial expression was completely normal, but her eyes were filled with fright.
“I’ve seen Dad do that to you. It’s not nice.”
Nora didn’t say anything. She sat there in front of him, her hands mindlessly fidgeting at his tie.
“I don’t wanna be like that when I grow up,” Barry stated.
Nora sniffed and got up. “I’ll be right back,” she said.
Barry stood there, waiting for his mom to come back. He had waited ten minutes before she finally returned. Her eyes were red and her nose was runny.
“Are you mad at me, Mommy?” Barry asked.
“No. No, sweetie, I’m not.”
He became very cheerful. “Okay!” He extended his arms to let his mom put his jacket on him. He grabbed her hand and walked with her out of the house.
It was a cold winter’s night. Tiny snowflakes were falling from the pitch-black sky. Everything was covered in a thin sheet of frost.
“Come on, Barry,” Nora said. “Let’s go visit your dad.”
Nine Years Later…
Barry pedaled along the sidewalk on his bike. He watched in disdain as kids slightly older than him sped down the road in their loud, colorful cars.
I canNOT wait to get my license. Then I’ll get to show these bozos the REAL way to drive. Don’t they know there are people like me who can get hurt by their stupidity? One of them busted a FIRE HYDRANT last week. Drenched the whole block.
His house was coming up. Not letting his heavy backpack weigh him down, he went at a steady pace. He always liked going slow—at his own pace. Being slow got him in a lot of trouble, though. He was always late for class. He was always turning his work in late. He was always the last one to show up on a date.
Oh crap! I need to call Iris! She’ll be pissed if I—
Two police cars suddenly drove past with their sirens blaring. They turned at the corner of Barry’s street, speeding towards—
“My house!” Barry exclaimed. He started pedaling as fast as his bike could take him.
No… No, no, no, no, no no no NO NO NO! No! Dad can’t be in trouble AGAIN! He just got out of jail!
The two police cars were parked awkwardly in front of Barry’s small house. Four officers had forcefully kicked open the front door and gone inside. Barry could hear his father screaming. He dropped his backpack and let his bike fall as he sprinted toward his house, yelling, “No! Mom! Dad!”
One of the officers stepped in front of him. He tried running past him, but the officer wrapped his arms around Barry. He guided the teen toward the sidewalk, away from his house.
“Please let go of me!” Barry screamed, struggling in the officer’s grip. “Tell me what’s going on!”
“Son,” the officer said, “my name is Officer West and there’s been a…disturbance.”
“What disturbance?! What happened?”
“Come on, son. Let’s go to the police station where I’ll explain what happened.”
“I wanna know now!”
The other three policemen exited the house with Barry’s father. His wrists were cuffed, and he walked in a slow, deliberate manner. His head hung low, defeated.
Barry’s temper was flaring. “Dad! What did you?! Tell me what’s going on, you son of a—”
“I didn’t do it, Barry,” Henry said, his voice barely above a whisper. His eyes were red and gushing tears. “I…I didn’t do it. I found her there…”
The policemen shoved Henry into a police car and slammed the door. Henry was still talking. He was still trying to get to Barry, but no sound left that car.
Officer West’s grip was loosening. Barry took the chance and broke free. He dashed toward his house, not letting anything stop him. Something was going on. Something had happened to his mother.
He found her right as he got in. There she was, his mother, the strongest person he knew, laying there in a pool of blood. Her eyes were still open. They were wide with terror and stared straight ahead, as if she were looking at a ghost. Barry started backing away. The same look was in his eyes—that look of terror. His mother was dead. He felt like he was dead, too. It felt like everything he loved had died—his mom, his dad, his comics, Iris, everything.
Officer West came up behind him and put his hand on his shoulder. “Everything’s gonna be alright,” he said,
No, Barry thought. No, it wasn’t. Nora Allen had died.
He thought about his dad. He pictured him screaming in the police car, “It wasn’t me!” Somehow, Barry believed him. His father had a line, a line he would never cross: killing. Barry knew that. Henry would never kill Nora, because Henry believed death was an escape. He didn’t believe in escapes. Barry knew that. Barry knew his father loved seeing his wife suffer. If she had died, then the fun would be lost.
Present Day.
Central City.
“It’s a lost cause, Barry.”
“No, it’s not, Dad.”
“If there’s no evidence that I didn’t kill her, then…then that’s the way it is.”
“Dad, I know you didn’t do it. You don’t deserve to be here.”
Barry and his father Henry sat across from each other. Both had wired against their ears. A wall separated them, and they could see each other through a thick glass window.
“I do deserve to be here,” said Henry, who was wearing an orange prison uniform.
“No you don’t,” Barry said, raising his voice. He looked at his father with determined eyes. “I will find out what happened. I will clear your name.”
“Don’t,” Henry said. “The evidence is all there. I’ve been to jail before. I had a history of acting…violently to your mom. Who else would’ve wanted her dead? You don’t need to fix this, Barry. I’ve been locked up for over ten years. Yes, it sucks, but I’m doing fine.”
Barry had been shaking his head as his father spoke. “No. No. You shouldn’t be here…You…You said that you found her laying there—”
“And that’s the truth. But it doesn’t matter if it’s the truth or not if nothing’s there to support it.”
Tears were welling up in Barry’s eyes. “Dad—”
“Go home, Barry,” Henry said firmly. “Stop worrying about me and worry about yourself. You have your own life.”
“Dad…” Barry whimpered. His cheeks were drenched with tears. He looked like he was six years old again. “I c…can’t leave you here…I…I want you…home…”
“I am home,” Henry said calmly.
Barry dropped the phone without hanging up and stormed out, leaving his father sitting there, his phone still against his ear.
It was pouring rain when Barry marched out the police station. Thunder and lightning were exploding across the cloudy sky. Barry headed straight for a spot he liked to go to whenever he was frustrated. It was a spot where he would forget everything…and run.
But once he got there, he didn’t feel like running. This spot was outside Central City. It was a flat, empty field alongside the highway that connected Central City to Keystone City. His whole body was drenched from the downpour, and the rain showed no sign of stopping. It actually seemed to be getting stronger. Barry got down on his knees and cried harder than ever. His father’s words swam through his head like hungry sharks. How could his dad say those things to him? Why didn’t he want to be proven innocent? Why was he hurting Barry?
Lightning continued to zip across the sky. Barry remained there, hunched over, sobbing miserably. His yells were a mix of sadness and anger.
“Why did Mom have to die? Why couldn’t it have been Dad?!”
Then it stopped. The rain and the thunder—they were gone. What was left was the lightning.
String of electricity snaked through the clouds directly above Barry. He watched in confusion, wondering what was causing this strange phenomenon. The lightning stopped for a second—but only for a second—then erupted from the clouds. A gigantic bolt spurted from a cloud…and struck Barry.
Barry yelled in pain as his body absorbed the strike. More and more bolts of lightning zapped from the sky to hit the young man. It was as if God Himself was punishing him for wishing his father was dead.
Barry yelled in pain each time. His skin was burning. His face was itching. This reminded him of getting beat up in middle school, but much, much worse.
Yellow lightning swirled around his body, making him feel strong. He held out his arms and watched in horror as his sleeves started getting stripped off and replacing by something tight—something red. Strip by strip, the tight, red material replaced his clothes. It felt like getting coiled by a gigantic snake. The tight material wasn’t done. The yellow lightning didn’t stop swirling. The material surrounded half his head, and a circular emblem with a lightning bolt in the middle was crested in the middle of his chest. Everything was over. All that was left was one word in his head:
“Run.”
In his new, skintight uniform, Barry took a step forward. Then it happened. One more bolt was unleashed from the sky upon Barry. His clothes returned to normal, and the burns came back. His body flew for several yards before landing klutzily.
He just lied there, out cold. A tiny ray of sunshine poked through the dark clouds and landed on him.