Post by C_Miller on Jun 26, 2011 2:49:45 GMT -5
Ultimate Flash #3
First Strike Pt. 3
“Wait who did you say you were?” Barry asked in a state of shock, turning to John Chambers who had just walked into the room for answers, but his Cheshire grin remained as if to say ‘now do you believe me?’
Barry turned back to the man claiming to be Max Mercury, expecting him to have the same grin but he was simply eyeing Iris. “Iris… Your name is Iris.”
“How did you know that?” She asked breathlessly.
“Iris, get behind me.” Barry stepped in front of her and protected her with his arm. “Who the hell are you.”
The wizard-looking man turned to Barry and gazed at him with sad blue eyes. “I go by Max Mercury… I’m a Speedster…”
“A what?”
Barry’s question fell on deaf ears. The man calling himself Max Mercury turned to John Chambers and his sad gaze turned into a wrathful glare. “You… you aren’t supposed to be here… I made that clear.”
“Max, I found my way back… I thought no one can come here uninvited… if I’m here, I thought…”
Max took what Barry thought was a giant step towards John, or at least that’s what it looked like. One second he was across the room and the next he was on the opposite side right in front of the white haired man. “You thought wrong. Barry got the call… no one else!”
“Then why is she here?” John questioned in a tone that Barry couldn’t quite pinpoint. It was equal parts nervous and accusatory with just a hint of annoyance.
Max turned to face Iris again. “I don’t know… I tried to fight the future by changing the past… I failed.”
“Max, you can’t fail, that’s impossible… maybe you didn’t want to change things…”
He turned quickly back towards John pointing his long boney finger towards him in anger. “Don’t try to make nice with me, Chambers. What you did to try and return here was unforgiveable… just because you happened to be on the same plane doesn’t make that any different.”
Barry was starting to get annoyed. He was sure that there was a lot of information he was missing and references he wasn’t getting in their conversation, but he didn’t care. He wanted answers. “ENOUGH!”
The two men quickly snapped their necks towards Barry. “Can someone please explain to me what’s going on?”
Max nodded and slowly walked towards Barry. “Yes, I’m terribly sorry. I just didn’t expect to see him here or her for that matter,” he indicated towards Iris, “I would like to be the first person to welcome you to the Speed Force.”
“The what?”
Max let out a hearty laugh. “Ah yes, you’re still a man of science… I’m not sure how I can explain it without sounding like someone who should be committed.”
“Well, losing the beard and the Gandalf costume might help.” Iris quipped from behind Barry who had almost forgotten that she was there in the first place.
“Ah yes, the famous Iris Al… I mean Iris West acidic tongue.”
The comfort level that she had built up in the room quickly diminished and she almost tried to hide behind Barry. “Okay, Pal, I don’t know what’s going on, but someone better explain it to me.”
“Have you ever felt you were meant for something better? Like you were meant to be someone?” John spoke up from behind Max, speaking a line so cheesy that caused Max to roll his eyes.
“I wouldn’t put it like that, but yes… Barry, you have been chosen.”
Barry shook his head, but he did something for a reason he couldn’t quite explain; he put away his gun. “Chosen to do what?”
“I’m trying to figure out how I can explain it to you… Let’s see… you were born in Keystone City....”
“How did you know that?”
Max waved his hands in front of him as if to say, ‘it doesn’t matter.’ “But you were born in Keystone… in 1964. You grew up in a city that was under the protection of a man by the name of Jay Garrick, better known to the people as…”
“The Flash.” Barry muttered under his breath.
“Precisely. To achieve his power, he is able to tap into a… plane of existence, if you will, that’s half way between the one that you exist in and a different universe entirely. “
Barry scratched his head confusedly, “I’m not a physicist, but is it like Hugh Everett’s Multiple World Theory?”
“I’m not a physicist either, but they are similar, not entirely… either way that’s not the point. Right now you are in the space between. You’re the Speed Force.”
Barry couldn’t explain why, but he was starting to believe him and feel more at ease. “You say I was chosen. What was I chosen for?”
“That my friend, is going to take more time and more prudence than we can afford right now in this spot… please, if you will come with me for a short period of time, I can show you everything.”
Barry turned towards Iris and then to Chambers and back to Max. “I’m not leaving her with him.”
Max nodded and waved his arm. “That’s completely understandable.” Suddenly they heard footsteps and hushed voices in the hall. Barry looked past Max and John and saw Danielle, Roger Hayden and the rest of the team come spilling out of the doorway.
“Barry!” Danielle yelled as she walked hastily towards him and put her hand on his shoulder.
“Any luck with Thawyne?” Hayden asked Barry.
He solemnly shook his head no. “Unfortunately not. We just ended here… wherever here is. You?”
“Negative. We thought we had a trail, but none of us are expert trackers in jungle climates. Unfortunately that’s not a common skill…” Roger lamented.
Max coughed and everyone in the room looked at him. “I currently have some business with Dr. Allen… if you all will wait here.”
Danielle looked up questioningly at Barry and while he wanted to assure her that he was doing the right thing, something was stopping him. “I don’t know Dani… this guy knows the island better than any of us, I should probably see what he has to say.”
She nodded and Barry began walking with Max towards another chamber in the temple. “Oh, and don’t let Chambers out of your sight.” Max nodded with a smile at Barry’s insistence.
The pair walked through what seemed like an endless myriad of halls poorly lit by torches lining the walls that were decorated with primitive paintings of men in costumes looking like they were running. “What is all this about?”
“I told you I’m a speedster… you are too.”
“Come again?”
Max shook his head. “I’ve told this to dozens of people in my lifetime… I’d have thought this would have gotten easier. You’re a speedster, Barry. You were born to run, you can tap into the speed force. Barry, you’re now the Fastest Man Alive!”
Barry stopped dead in his tracks, dumbfounded at the prospect. “What? How?”
“You know, I’ve been here for… a very long time and I’m still not entirely sure how it works. The lightning that struck you one the plane is unlike any lightning that has been categorized by scientists…”
“How so?”
“Well, let’s just say you were born with the potential for super speed… the lightning just… let’s say jump started that potential energy into kinetic energy, but the how is not as important as the fact that it is.” Max stressed as he opened a door and revealed a room that looked like a turn of the century style gymnasium.
Barry walked forward and gazed at the room in wonder. It was as if he had stepped directly into history. “Wow… I mean… how might not be important to you, but it is to me.”
Max didn’t acknowledge Barry’s pleas for answers. “Okay. I want you to run up that far wall over there. We’ll start easy and let you have a running start. By the end of the day, I’ll want you to do it when you’re right up against it…”
“Wait just a damn minute… wait… run up the wall? It’s like 60 feet high… that’s Impossible.”
“Perhaps it is with that attitude. Run up the wall.”
Barry rolled his eyes, but then he began to think that maybe he should just appease the old man. “Fine…”
He crept down into a runner’s starting position, facing the wall. He took a deep breath and he was off. Much to his surprise, he saw the wall moving closer to him than he had anticipated. To avoid a collision, he jumped up, putting his feet on the wall and again to his surprise, he moving up towards the ceiling, as if the wall was no different than the floor. He turned to face Max, but before he could find the man, he lost his balance along with his focus and began to tumble towards the floor, landing on his back.
“That was not a part of it.”
“What? Aren’t you going to ask if I’m okay?”
“No.”
“I could have died?”
What did you do to that wall?”
“Absolutely nothing, Barry. That was you.”
Barry looked up at the wall again to see if there was anything amiss with it, but there was nothing he could tell. “I can’t…”
“Yes. You can… Look, let’s try something else… on the other side of this wall there’s a vase… I want you to grab it.”
Again, Barry looked at him with a questioning look. “Would you care to enlighten me on how?”
“Your speed doesn’t just give you the ability to run fast, but also to vibrate your molecules at rapid speeds. If you do that, you can match the frequency of the wall and pass through it.”
Barry covered his eyes with his hand and slowly moved it down his face. Without waiting for him to respond, Max spoke without changing his tone at all, “It’s easier if you run at it with full force than try to phase an individual part through the wall… that could get messy.”
“The whole damn thing seems pretty messy if you ask me.” But again, he found himself starting to believe what Max was telling him. So again, he got down in a running position and ran full force at the wall. Again he noticed that it was coming up closer than he expected, but sure enough when he got to the wall he smashed right into it, making his nose break on impact.
“GODDAMMIT!”
Max simply sighed and walked over to Barry who was now lying on the floor. “You need to try again.”
“How in the hell am I supposed to vibrate through a wall? You can’t do that… the speed that your molecules go is not a voluntary action… and even if I could, knowing what speed the wall’s going at… No!”
“You think so three dimensionally.”
“No. I think scientifically. What you’re trying to spew is magic.”
This was the first time that Barry saw Max’s facial expression change at all. It went from relatively stoic with a bit of whimsicalness to it, to wrathful. “No Barry. Magic is only science that your brain doesn’t have the capacity to comprehend. This isn’t about quantities or knowing things. It’s about faith!”
“Faith in what?” Barry muttered.
“Faith in yourself, faith in me, faith in the Speed Force. Faith in the fact that it’s possible that there’s something better out there.”
Barry sat up and leaned himself against the wall. Rather than looking up at Max, he stared down, looking intently at his shoes. “How can you find faith so easy?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me…”
“Barry, I have been on this island for a very long time. Possibly close to the beginning of everything. And I have been holding onto one thing; the fact that you would walk in that door with Iris. I have lost faith countless times in my lifetime, but I regained it and here you are.” Max sat down with him and put his arm around him.
“Wait what? How did you know we were coming?”
“Not important. What I’m saying is that to truly be a speedster, you have to believe that you’re The Fastest Man Alive. Can you do that?”
Barry stood up hastily and began to walk towards the exit. “I can’t…”
Max looked sadly towards the FBI Agent and whispered, “Come on, Barry. I know you have it in you.”
The two of them walked silently into the original room where everyone was waiting. Iris and Danielle both lit up when they saw Barry emerge from the entryway. Danielle remained professional, but Iris walked up and hugged him. “Where were you? What were you talking about?” She asked energetically.
“I wouldn’t know where to begin… Max, if it’s alright with you, I’d like to re-commence with our search for Thawyne.”
Max didn’t speak. He simply sat behind the desk and nodded while waving his hand towards the door.
“Okay, team, let’s head out… except for Chambers. You’re staying here.” Barry spoke authoritatively. “We’ll pick him up when we’re done.” Max sadly nodded again while he started reading one of the books that was sitting on the desk.
As the group began walking, Barry saw Iris stop dead in her tracks. She turned around and he saw blood starting to trickle from the sides of her mouth and bruises started to form all over her body. He quickly scanned her up and down quickly with his eyes, fixating on her the spot right under her breasts where he saw the fabric on her top start to tear and stain with blood. Iris began to fall over, but he quickly caught her before she hit the ground.
He frantically looked around for help, but he saw everyone but he and Max were suffering similar injuries, including his partner who looked like her eyes had been gouged out and her right arm had been severed. “Ba…barry… wha…?”
“Iris… don’t speak. It’s going to be okay… You’re going to make it out of this.” He softly told her as she died in his arms.
“ARE YOU DOING THIS!?!” Barry screamed at Max, not expecting a real answer, but a very unexpected one came from the door that led to the entrance.
“No… he didn’t. But I did.” Barry’s eyes grew large as he saw Dr. Eobard Thawyne walk out of the darkness. “I’m truly sorry, Allen, but it’s time to fix history. You’re next.”
To Be Continued…
First Strike Pt. 3
“Wait who did you say you were?” Barry asked in a state of shock, turning to John Chambers who had just walked into the room for answers, but his Cheshire grin remained as if to say ‘now do you believe me?’
Barry turned back to the man claiming to be Max Mercury, expecting him to have the same grin but he was simply eyeing Iris. “Iris… Your name is Iris.”
“How did you know that?” She asked breathlessly.
“Iris, get behind me.” Barry stepped in front of her and protected her with his arm. “Who the hell are you.”
The wizard-looking man turned to Barry and gazed at him with sad blue eyes. “I go by Max Mercury… I’m a Speedster…”
“A what?”
Barry’s question fell on deaf ears. The man calling himself Max Mercury turned to John Chambers and his sad gaze turned into a wrathful glare. “You… you aren’t supposed to be here… I made that clear.”
“Max, I found my way back… I thought no one can come here uninvited… if I’m here, I thought…”
Max took what Barry thought was a giant step towards John, or at least that’s what it looked like. One second he was across the room and the next he was on the opposite side right in front of the white haired man. “You thought wrong. Barry got the call… no one else!”
“Then why is she here?” John questioned in a tone that Barry couldn’t quite pinpoint. It was equal parts nervous and accusatory with just a hint of annoyance.
Max turned to face Iris again. “I don’t know… I tried to fight the future by changing the past… I failed.”
“Max, you can’t fail, that’s impossible… maybe you didn’t want to change things…”
He turned quickly back towards John pointing his long boney finger towards him in anger. “Don’t try to make nice with me, Chambers. What you did to try and return here was unforgiveable… just because you happened to be on the same plane doesn’t make that any different.”
Barry was starting to get annoyed. He was sure that there was a lot of information he was missing and references he wasn’t getting in their conversation, but he didn’t care. He wanted answers. “ENOUGH!”
The two men quickly snapped their necks towards Barry. “Can someone please explain to me what’s going on?”
Max nodded and slowly walked towards Barry. “Yes, I’m terribly sorry. I just didn’t expect to see him here or her for that matter,” he indicated towards Iris, “I would like to be the first person to welcome you to the Speed Force.”
“The what?”
Max let out a hearty laugh. “Ah yes, you’re still a man of science… I’m not sure how I can explain it without sounding like someone who should be committed.”
“Well, losing the beard and the Gandalf costume might help.” Iris quipped from behind Barry who had almost forgotten that she was there in the first place.
“Ah yes, the famous Iris Al… I mean Iris West acidic tongue.”
The comfort level that she had built up in the room quickly diminished and she almost tried to hide behind Barry. “Okay, Pal, I don’t know what’s going on, but someone better explain it to me.”
“Have you ever felt you were meant for something better? Like you were meant to be someone?” John spoke up from behind Max, speaking a line so cheesy that caused Max to roll his eyes.
“I wouldn’t put it like that, but yes… Barry, you have been chosen.”
Barry shook his head, but he did something for a reason he couldn’t quite explain; he put away his gun. “Chosen to do what?”
“I’m trying to figure out how I can explain it to you… Let’s see… you were born in Keystone City....”
“How did you know that?”
Max waved his hands in front of him as if to say, ‘it doesn’t matter.’ “But you were born in Keystone… in 1964. You grew up in a city that was under the protection of a man by the name of Jay Garrick, better known to the people as…”
“The Flash.” Barry muttered under his breath.
“Precisely. To achieve his power, he is able to tap into a… plane of existence, if you will, that’s half way between the one that you exist in and a different universe entirely. “
Barry scratched his head confusedly, “I’m not a physicist, but is it like Hugh Everett’s Multiple World Theory?”
“I’m not a physicist either, but they are similar, not entirely… either way that’s not the point. Right now you are in the space between. You’re the Speed Force.”
Barry couldn’t explain why, but he was starting to believe him and feel more at ease. “You say I was chosen. What was I chosen for?”
“That my friend, is going to take more time and more prudence than we can afford right now in this spot… please, if you will come with me for a short period of time, I can show you everything.”
Barry turned towards Iris and then to Chambers and back to Max. “I’m not leaving her with him.”
Max nodded and waved his arm. “That’s completely understandable.” Suddenly they heard footsteps and hushed voices in the hall. Barry looked past Max and John and saw Danielle, Roger Hayden and the rest of the team come spilling out of the doorway.
“Barry!” Danielle yelled as she walked hastily towards him and put her hand on his shoulder.
“Any luck with Thawyne?” Hayden asked Barry.
He solemnly shook his head no. “Unfortunately not. We just ended here… wherever here is. You?”
“Negative. We thought we had a trail, but none of us are expert trackers in jungle climates. Unfortunately that’s not a common skill…” Roger lamented.
Max coughed and everyone in the room looked at him. “I currently have some business with Dr. Allen… if you all will wait here.”
Danielle looked up questioningly at Barry and while he wanted to assure her that he was doing the right thing, something was stopping him. “I don’t know Dani… this guy knows the island better than any of us, I should probably see what he has to say.”
She nodded and Barry began walking with Max towards another chamber in the temple. “Oh, and don’t let Chambers out of your sight.” Max nodded with a smile at Barry’s insistence.
The pair walked through what seemed like an endless myriad of halls poorly lit by torches lining the walls that were decorated with primitive paintings of men in costumes looking like they were running. “What is all this about?”
“I told you I’m a speedster… you are too.”
“Come again?”
Max shook his head. “I’ve told this to dozens of people in my lifetime… I’d have thought this would have gotten easier. You’re a speedster, Barry. You were born to run, you can tap into the speed force. Barry, you’re now the Fastest Man Alive!”
Barry stopped dead in his tracks, dumbfounded at the prospect. “What? How?”
“You know, I’ve been here for… a very long time and I’m still not entirely sure how it works. The lightning that struck you one the plane is unlike any lightning that has been categorized by scientists…”
“How so?”
“Well, let’s just say you were born with the potential for super speed… the lightning just… let’s say jump started that potential energy into kinetic energy, but the how is not as important as the fact that it is.” Max stressed as he opened a door and revealed a room that looked like a turn of the century style gymnasium.
Barry walked forward and gazed at the room in wonder. It was as if he had stepped directly into history. “Wow… I mean… how might not be important to you, but it is to me.”
Max didn’t acknowledge Barry’s pleas for answers. “Okay. I want you to run up that far wall over there. We’ll start easy and let you have a running start. By the end of the day, I’ll want you to do it when you’re right up against it…”
“Wait just a damn minute… wait… run up the wall? It’s like 60 feet high… that’s Impossible.”
“Perhaps it is with that attitude. Run up the wall.”
Barry rolled his eyes, but then he began to think that maybe he should just appease the old man. “Fine…”
He crept down into a runner’s starting position, facing the wall. He took a deep breath and he was off. Much to his surprise, he saw the wall moving closer to him than he had anticipated. To avoid a collision, he jumped up, putting his feet on the wall and again to his surprise, he moving up towards the ceiling, as if the wall was no different than the floor. He turned to face Max, but before he could find the man, he lost his balance along with his focus and began to tumble towards the floor, landing on his back.
“That was not a part of it.”
“What? Aren’t you going to ask if I’m okay?”
“No.”
“I could have died?”
What did you do to that wall?”
“Absolutely nothing, Barry. That was you.”
Barry looked up at the wall again to see if there was anything amiss with it, but there was nothing he could tell. “I can’t…”
“Yes. You can… Look, let’s try something else… on the other side of this wall there’s a vase… I want you to grab it.”
Again, Barry looked at him with a questioning look. “Would you care to enlighten me on how?”
“Your speed doesn’t just give you the ability to run fast, but also to vibrate your molecules at rapid speeds. If you do that, you can match the frequency of the wall and pass through it.”
Barry covered his eyes with his hand and slowly moved it down his face. Without waiting for him to respond, Max spoke without changing his tone at all, “It’s easier if you run at it with full force than try to phase an individual part through the wall… that could get messy.”
“The whole damn thing seems pretty messy if you ask me.” But again, he found himself starting to believe what Max was telling him. So again, he got down in a running position and ran full force at the wall. Again he noticed that it was coming up closer than he expected, but sure enough when he got to the wall he smashed right into it, making his nose break on impact.
“GODDAMMIT!”
Max simply sighed and walked over to Barry who was now lying on the floor. “You need to try again.”
“How in the hell am I supposed to vibrate through a wall? You can’t do that… the speed that your molecules go is not a voluntary action… and even if I could, knowing what speed the wall’s going at… No!”
“You think so three dimensionally.”
“No. I think scientifically. What you’re trying to spew is magic.”
This was the first time that Barry saw Max’s facial expression change at all. It went from relatively stoic with a bit of whimsicalness to it, to wrathful. “No Barry. Magic is only science that your brain doesn’t have the capacity to comprehend. This isn’t about quantities or knowing things. It’s about faith!”
“Faith in what?” Barry muttered.
“Faith in yourself, faith in me, faith in the Speed Force. Faith in the fact that it’s possible that there’s something better out there.”
Barry sat up and leaned himself against the wall. Rather than looking up at Max, he stared down, looking intently at his shoes. “How can you find faith so easy?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me…”
“Barry, I have been on this island for a very long time. Possibly close to the beginning of everything. And I have been holding onto one thing; the fact that you would walk in that door with Iris. I have lost faith countless times in my lifetime, but I regained it and here you are.” Max sat down with him and put his arm around him.
“Wait what? How did you know we were coming?”
“Not important. What I’m saying is that to truly be a speedster, you have to believe that you’re The Fastest Man Alive. Can you do that?”
Barry stood up hastily and began to walk towards the exit. “I can’t…”
Max looked sadly towards the FBI Agent and whispered, “Come on, Barry. I know you have it in you.”
The two of them walked silently into the original room where everyone was waiting. Iris and Danielle both lit up when they saw Barry emerge from the entryway. Danielle remained professional, but Iris walked up and hugged him. “Where were you? What were you talking about?” She asked energetically.
“I wouldn’t know where to begin… Max, if it’s alright with you, I’d like to re-commence with our search for Thawyne.”
Max didn’t speak. He simply sat behind the desk and nodded while waving his hand towards the door.
“Okay, team, let’s head out… except for Chambers. You’re staying here.” Barry spoke authoritatively. “We’ll pick him up when we’re done.” Max sadly nodded again while he started reading one of the books that was sitting on the desk.
As the group began walking, Barry saw Iris stop dead in her tracks. She turned around and he saw blood starting to trickle from the sides of her mouth and bruises started to form all over her body. He quickly scanned her up and down quickly with his eyes, fixating on her the spot right under her breasts where he saw the fabric on her top start to tear and stain with blood. Iris began to fall over, but he quickly caught her before she hit the ground.
He frantically looked around for help, but he saw everyone but he and Max were suffering similar injuries, including his partner who looked like her eyes had been gouged out and her right arm had been severed. “Ba…barry… wha…?”
“Iris… don’t speak. It’s going to be okay… You’re going to make it out of this.” He softly told her as she died in his arms.
“ARE YOU DOING THIS!?!” Barry screamed at Max, not expecting a real answer, but a very unexpected one came from the door that led to the entrance.
“No… he didn’t. But I did.” Barry’s eyes grew large as he saw Dr. Eobard Thawyne walk out of the darkness. “I’m truly sorry, Allen, but it’s time to fix history. You’re next.”
To Be Continued…
