Post by C_Miller on Oct 15, 2011 20:42:38 GMT -5
Ultimate Flash #7
Rapture
Jessie Garrick closed her eyes as she felt the warm ocean breeze caress her face and blow her hair, as if it were sentient and trying comfort her. She had lived her whole life in Kansas, so she rarely got the chance to experience being on the water and when she did, it was generally on Lake Erie or Lake Huron. None of that could compare to the Pacific Ocean.
“Jessie?” She turned around and saw the teenaged girl with shoulder length red hair who wore a skintight red and yellow jumpsuit covered by a black leather jacket. While she didn’t wear a mask, dark rose-colored sunglasses covered her eyes. “It’s time to come in.”
The blonde young woman nodded and began to follow the younger costumed girl. A pregnant silence fell on the two as they walked back towards the jungle and into the temple. “So, you’re Kid Flash from the future?”
“A possible future to you. That’s what Max said.” She stated matter-of-factly.
“Is Barry Allen still The Flash?” Jessie asked curiously.
The girl shook her head aggressively. “He was able to retire years ago. His wife greatly appreciated it.”
“If you’re Kid Flash, that means there has to be a Flash, right?”
Kid Flash winced and looked back at Jessie, unsure of how she wanted to continue. “Yeah. There is a Flash… my Dad.”
Kid Flash opened her mouth to answer, but she quickly shut up when they entered the main chamber where they saw Max Mercury and the other seven members of the Guardians of Flashpoint. “Ah, Jessie, welcome. Please have a seat.”
They had only been together for a few hours, but she felt like she knew most of them after some of them had shared their identities. Barry’s two children were present: Danielle as Velocity and Blaine as Quicksilver, but they were from two different alternate futures. Impulse was Bart Allen, a teenaged kid who claimed to be Barry’s grandson, yet he claimed he didn’t know Blaine or Danielle. XS was Jenni Ognats, the Champion of the Speed Force from the 31st Century.
The Flash was from an alternate reality where Barry died early in his career and he said his name was Walter West. Other than that he was hesitant to reveal more personal information. Impala claimed to be the first Champion of the Speed Force from Ancient Africa. He chose the name Kimbia; Swahili for run. Max Mercury, she knew to be the Guardian of the Speed Force or the manifestation of the Speed Force. She wasn’t quite sure and frankly, her mind couldn’t wrap her head around it in the first place right now. The last one at the table was a man who went by the name of Blitz who wore a costume similar to The Flash’s, but it was yellow with red lenses in the mask. He didn’t talk much about his life and still tried to keep up his secret identity at all costs. And of course, there was Kid Flash who was equally reluctant to give information about her.
“Max, if I may ask a question… we’ve been here for three days. Can you tell us what we’re doing here?” Jessie asked as she took a seat in-between XS and Impulse.
Max looked at her in amusement. “Of course you many. Fortunately I’m ready to answer.” He stood from his place at the perfectly circular table and paced around the room by his empty seat. “You’re called the Guardians of Flashpoint… we have to make sure Flashpoint happens.”
“What’s Flashpoint?” XS asked.
“One of the misconceptions of time is that it’s not set in stone. Every single person is the sum of his or her choices. Time is fluid. However, for the past, present and future to exist Flashpoint has to occur. All of you are from different realities that all stem from this one moment.” Max spoke each word with brevity that only he could muster. He was able to strike a sense of urgency into the conversation, even though he was speaking of such convoluted topics.
The Guardians sat and looked at each other in a confused sense of worry. “Max… what do we have to do?” The red headed Kid Flash asked with an innocent sound in her voice.
“What do we have to do for you, Max?” Impala spoke up. Out of all of the Speedsters who were open with their lives, Jessie knew him the least. His English wasn’t great and he preferred to play the role of the strong silent type.
“We need to make sure, Flashpoint occurs. I can’t go into more detail at the risk of hurting the time stream.” Max said forcefully, yet Jessie, the psychology major, could detect a hint of uneasiness
Impulse stood up, cracked his knuckles in a fan pattern and then repeated the act on his back by twisting his neck. “Okay. Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.” Max placed his hand lightly on Bart’s shoulder.
“You’ll get your chance, Bart. Believe me, you will. But half the battle will be getting there, so rest up.” With that Max turned around and left the room.
***
Jay pulled out of the Speed Force, carrying both Wally West and Blaine Allen under his arms. After he lost the light strength that the Speed Force granted him, he quickly dropped them as lightly as he could. He looked around and saw Iris and Danielle on the ground holding each other for dear life with tears flowing down their cheeks and he saw Barry off in the distance staring blankly into space.
He approached him carefully. “Barry?”
“Thawyne.”
Jay had never met Professor Eobard Thawyne, but everything Barry had told him made his blood run cold. “Look, Barry. Let’s all go inside. We can figure it out.”
“What’s to figure out? Max Mercury said he’d lock in on the Island and now he’s here. Jessie’s lost her connection to the Speed Force. It’s all wrong.” Barry stated lazily as if he was just talking to himself.
Jay reached out and put his hand on Barry’s shoulder. “We’ll take care of this, Barry. We always do.”
The group walked into the house silently where Joan who was sitting in her favorite chair watching the news met them. Barry and Jay’s gaze quickly focused on the television. “Great Scott…” Jay mouthed nearly under his breath.
On the television was a video of Barry’s house, but there was an anomaly covering it and it was growing bigger by the second. “What the hell?” Iris exclaimed as she caught eye of the TV.
“It’s Thawyne trying to dismantle the Speed Force… he’s trying to dismantle everything.” Iris looked back at Barry who had already gotten into his Flash costume and began to look towards the door.
“Can he do that?” Jay asked without trying to hide the worry in his voice.
Barry gravely nodded. “Max once told me once that the Speed Force is the binding glue of the universe. The only thing that can tear it apart is the Champions of the Speed Force. Us or the Reverse Speed Force. I think the Reverse Speed Force has chosen its champion.”
“Thawyne.” Iris breathed.
“Precisely. I’m going back.”
Jay shook his head violently. “I dealt with a Champion of the Reverse Speed Force in my day. Dr. Edward Clariss; The Rival. You’re not going in alone.”
“This is my fight, Jay. Thawyne is my responsibility. I should have finished this fifteen years ago when I had the chance.” Barry stated matter-of-factly as he walked through the door into the bitter October air.
Both Jay and Wally followed him in hot pursuit. Luckily for them, he had yet to take off towards Central City. “Uncle Barry, would you listen to yourself?”
“He killed my partner. Left her two-year-old daughter without a mother, her husband without his wife, her eight siblings without a sister, her parents without a daughter. Before that he spent years experimenting on innocent people. Children, homeless, mentally disabled in search of what he called a better world. No more. It ends tonight.” Barry attempted to take off, but he couldn’t move his legs. He looked back at Jay who was pointing in his direction.
“I couldn’t let you go there. If you kill him you’ll lose what makes Barry Allen Barry Allen.” Jay held his ground while staring straight at Barry with a coldness taking over his typically friendly blue eyes. The will power required to hold Barry in place was taking its toll. He had never looked other than this moment. “I can’t hold you forever. So I hope you can take reason.”
Wally stepped forward. “Uncle Barry. Even before I knew you were The Flash, you were my hero. You can’t do this.”
Barry opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He simply felt to his knees. Wally hesitantly walked up to him and Iris, Blaine and Danielle who had joined the group on the front lawn followed him. “I have so much to look back on. So many accomplishments. I’ve saved so many people. But everything goes back to Thawyne… I… I can’t shake him.”
“Barry, I love you. I love you more than anything. We are going to get through this. She looked up and saw the group standing around them. Joan Garrick had now joined them on the lawn, which led Jay to go to her. She looked at her children who she birthed and she kissed both of them on their foreheads. Then she looked at Wally, her child that she hadn’t birthed and gleamed at the man he had become. ”As a family.”
Barry gazed longingly at her and moved towards her to capture her lips with his. The kiss lasted longer than either of them had intended, but they simply wanted to savor each other and hold on as long as they could. “I love you, Iris. With everything that I am.”
Suddenly Barry’s vision began to grow fuzzy and then it began to get dark. The next thing he new he was falling towards the ground and then everything got silent.
***
The Time Stream
The method that Max Mercury and the Guardians of Flashpoint used to travel through the time stream looked like an old sailing vessel, which amused Jessie to no end. However, everything in her life seemed to be unraveling at once. All she wanted right now was for Wally to be there to hold her. Her own Wally.
She let a single tear roll down her cheek, but she caught it so the rest of the people on the boat wouldn’t see.
“Is everything alright, Jessie?” Max’s voice startled her.
She quickly rubbed her eyes and fixed her hair before turning around to face the man who was the embodiment of the Speed Force. “Umm… yeah, just fine. A little overwhelmed. It’s so much to take in.”
“It is. It took me a thousand years to get used to all of this and I pray that you’ll never have to.”
Jessie nodded. “Will I ever get my power back?”
“If this works… in the mean time, have you tried talking to the others?” Max asked with concern.
Jessie shook her head. “You told us not to. You said it would ruin things.”
He smiled with a nod. “I did, didn’t I? Well, I suppose it’s time we start throwing caution to the wind. I think you could get a lot from the other Kid Flash.”
She looked back at the colorful swirls of color that surrounded the ship and made up the time stream. Occasionally she’d see the vague image of an event happening, such as John F. Kennedy’s assassination or a space ship landing in what looked like a midwestern cornfield. But most of the time it was just beautiful colors that made her feel a little bit better. “Jessie? Max said I should come over.”
Jessie turned around and saw Kid Flash standing behind her. She wasn’t quite sure what to say. “Um… yeah, you could like sit down if you wanted.”
“What’re you doing?”
She sheepishly smiled and let out a breath that sounded a bit like a chuckle. Truth be told, she wasn’t quite sure herself. “Just watching. It’s pretty.”
“Yeah.” Kid Flash agreed. The pair sat in silence for a little while, but Jessie who sensed the awkwardness, decided to speak up.
“So how old are you?”
“Thirteen.” She responded in one word.
Jessie knowingly nodded and patted the younger girl on the back. “Thirteen was not a good age for me.” Looking back, she laughed at the thought of it. “I grew 8 inches in a month and towered over all the boys in my class. Made the eight grade formal super awkward. And then a few months later I got breasts and my powers with in a week of each other.”
Kid Flash gulped at the thought of it. “Nah, don’t worry, kid, you’ll be fine. Lucky for me, I found Wally. Or, he found me rather.”
“You’re with Wally in your timeline too?”
Jessie eyed the girl cautiously. “Not exactly... Tell me about your reality.”
Kid Flash began to sweat. “Max said…”
“Come on… please?”
She sighed in defeat. “In my reality, you’re The Flash. And I’m your Kid Flash. Everyone says we make a great team, even The Guardian.”
“The Guardian’s dead…” Jessie said to no one in particular. “Kid Flash, am I your mother?” She didn’t know what drove her to ask that, but she couldn’t overcome the strange feeling within her.
Kid Flash looked at her and even though rose-colored sunglasses covered her eyes, they said all that Jessie needed to know. Kid Flash got up and walked away from Jessie. She turned back for a second and smiled at the blonde haired woman. “Rachel. My name is Rachel.”
Jessie smiled as she walked away. “I think I’ll give Wally a call when I get home.” She said under her breath.
***
Barry woke up with a jolt. His mind was hazy and he was having trouble focusing on any one thing, which led to massive disorientation. After a while, his senses came back to him and he recognized it to be the bedroom from his old apartment in Keystone City. “Iris?” He called out to no response.
He got out of bed and nearly immediately Eobard Thawyne walked into his room carrying a tray with fried eggs, bacon, pancakes, orange juice and coffee. “Don’t get up so soon, you haven’t eaten yet.”
“Thawyne! What are you doing here?” Barry jumped up into somewhat of an attack position.
Thawyne laughed in his standard deep maniacal laugh. “Allen, I thought we should have a chance to talk and I picked this as a neutral location. In this reality Iris died in the plane crash with everyone else. You still became The Flash, but you never married and never had anyone to hold you down. Barry Allen died that day. Only The Flash exists here.”
“What are you trying to prove, Thawyne?”
“I actually would prefer if you called me Professor Zoom. And I am not trying to prove anything, Allen. I only want to ask your help.”
Barry opened his mouth to shoot off another insult, but something stopped him. “What could the great Professor Zoom: Champion of The Reverse Speed Force possibly need?”
Thawyne smiled. “My goal has always been to create a better world and now I have the tools at my finger tips. God created man in his own image… we can create the entire world in ours. All it takes is to deconstruct this one. You’ve always had the power, why not use it?”
Barry looked away from Thawyne and out the window where he saw a city that was in distress, more so than the actual Keystone City of his reality. “You’re a broken record, Thawyne.”
“You’ve always had the power to become a God, why are you so hesitant to become one?”
“Well, seeing as you’ve wanted to play God since before you got your powers, I think you can handle it for both of us.” Barry flashed Professor Zoom a dangerous look that would scare even the bravest man.
Thawyne scoffed. “Your desire to remain on the straight and narrow is going to be the end of you, Allen. You won’t be able to stop me this time… this time it’ll be your Children, your wife, your nephew and after I’m done with them, I’ll finish you.”
Before Barry had a chance to react, the man from Barry’s dreams from years ago busted through the door with a gun drawn on Thawyne. He was wearing the same golden mask and the same red cloak from when he last saw him on the island. “End this, Zoom!” Rather than wait for an answer, he took two shots that landed in Thawyne’s shoulder and neck. The wounds splashed out blood, but quickly metabolized and healed.
“You!” The man took another shot, which hit between Thawyne’s eyes. This one knocked him down, but before he hit the ground, the wound had healed. “I’m getting bored of this, Psycho Pirate.”
“Well, I’m not.” He shot him two more times in the stomach, but the wounds nearly immediately did the same thing.
Thawyne stood up and got between Barry and the Psycho Pirate. “This isn’t over, Allen. I’m not going to lose again.” With that he created a portal with a lightning bolt and dove into it.
Barry looked to the Psycho Pirate. “Who are you?”
“That’s not important right now. What’s important is the message I have for you. In order to leave the island, Professor Zoom killed Max Mercury. Max is not the Speed Force, but he embodies it, so it’s currently in the process of breaking down around us. All of the realities that the Speed Force keeps apart are going to bleed into each other and that will prevent Flashpoint from happening.” The Psycho Pirate spouted out words at a mile per second.
Barry stood there looking at him with a look that bordered between skeptical and shocked. He only understood half of the words. Flashpoint for example meant nothing to him. But three words rang out in his head. “Max is dead?”
“Yes.”
Barry stood there for a second to take in what he had just been told. “What can I do?”
“The anomaly that’s positioned over your house; only you have the power to close it. That will save the Speed Force.” The Psycho Pirate walked towards the door, but paused for a second. “Barry… take care…”
Barry nodded affirmatively at the man. As The Psycho Pirate left the room, it began to swirl around him and before he knew it, he was back on Jay Garrick’s front lawn. He was on the ground with Iris, Jay and Wally surrounding him “Barry? Barry, are you alright?”
He didn’t answer them. He simply stood up and put his mask back on. “I know what’s going on. I know what I have to do. I have to stop Professor Zoom and save The Speed Force.”
***
The Time Ship slowed to a complete halt and the swirling background of the abyss began to melt away and the company saw that they were in the middle of Washington DC. The more the group looked around the more they realized that something was wrong. The whole city had a grey hue over it; a fog created by smoke, debris and ash. “My Dad brought me to Washington DC when I was a little girl. This isn’t Washington.” Dan Allen spoke up as she picked up a small pebble that had landed on the ship and tossed it out.
“In my time, Earth is nothing more than one large city, but I’ve seen pictures, this is nothing like Washington.” XS was the next to speak.
Impulse stepped to the edge of the ship and cracked his knuckles. “Okay, Max. Point me into the direction of who to hit.”
Kid Flash rolled her eyes. “Boys,” She sighed. “But really, Max? What happened?"
Everyone turned to Max who had a worried look on his face. “I… I… don’t know.” He looked to the controls on the Time Ship, but everything appeared to be normal.
The Guardians of Flashpoint frantically began to look around. Just then a piece of paper floated gracefully through the air and landed right on the deck of the ship in front of Jessie. She cautiously picked it up and turned it over to read. She gasped and threw it over to The Flash.
“Reelect President Eobard Thawyne. 1993.”
To Be Continued
Rapture
Jessie Garrick closed her eyes as she felt the warm ocean breeze caress her face and blow her hair, as if it were sentient and trying comfort her. She had lived her whole life in Kansas, so she rarely got the chance to experience being on the water and when she did, it was generally on Lake Erie or Lake Huron. None of that could compare to the Pacific Ocean.
“Jessie?” She turned around and saw the teenaged girl with shoulder length red hair who wore a skintight red and yellow jumpsuit covered by a black leather jacket. While she didn’t wear a mask, dark rose-colored sunglasses covered her eyes. “It’s time to come in.”
The blonde young woman nodded and began to follow the younger costumed girl. A pregnant silence fell on the two as they walked back towards the jungle and into the temple. “So, you’re Kid Flash from the future?”
“A possible future to you. That’s what Max said.” She stated matter-of-factly.
“Is Barry Allen still The Flash?” Jessie asked curiously.
The girl shook her head aggressively. “He was able to retire years ago. His wife greatly appreciated it.”
“If you’re Kid Flash, that means there has to be a Flash, right?”
Kid Flash winced and looked back at Jessie, unsure of how she wanted to continue. “Yeah. There is a Flash… my Dad.”
Kid Flash opened her mouth to answer, but she quickly shut up when they entered the main chamber where they saw Max Mercury and the other seven members of the Guardians of Flashpoint. “Ah, Jessie, welcome. Please have a seat.”
They had only been together for a few hours, but she felt like she knew most of them after some of them had shared their identities. Barry’s two children were present: Danielle as Velocity and Blaine as Quicksilver, but they were from two different alternate futures. Impulse was Bart Allen, a teenaged kid who claimed to be Barry’s grandson, yet he claimed he didn’t know Blaine or Danielle. XS was Jenni Ognats, the Champion of the Speed Force from the 31st Century.
The Flash was from an alternate reality where Barry died early in his career and he said his name was Walter West. Other than that he was hesitant to reveal more personal information. Impala claimed to be the first Champion of the Speed Force from Ancient Africa. He chose the name Kimbia; Swahili for run. Max Mercury, she knew to be the Guardian of the Speed Force or the manifestation of the Speed Force. She wasn’t quite sure and frankly, her mind couldn’t wrap her head around it in the first place right now. The last one at the table was a man who went by the name of Blitz who wore a costume similar to The Flash’s, but it was yellow with red lenses in the mask. He didn’t talk much about his life and still tried to keep up his secret identity at all costs. And of course, there was Kid Flash who was equally reluctant to give information about her.
“Max, if I may ask a question… we’ve been here for three days. Can you tell us what we’re doing here?” Jessie asked as she took a seat in-between XS and Impulse.
Max looked at her in amusement. “Of course you many. Fortunately I’m ready to answer.” He stood from his place at the perfectly circular table and paced around the room by his empty seat. “You’re called the Guardians of Flashpoint… we have to make sure Flashpoint happens.”
“What’s Flashpoint?” XS asked.
“One of the misconceptions of time is that it’s not set in stone. Every single person is the sum of his or her choices. Time is fluid. However, for the past, present and future to exist Flashpoint has to occur. All of you are from different realities that all stem from this one moment.” Max spoke each word with brevity that only he could muster. He was able to strike a sense of urgency into the conversation, even though he was speaking of such convoluted topics.
The Guardians sat and looked at each other in a confused sense of worry. “Max… what do we have to do?” The red headed Kid Flash asked with an innocent sound in her voice.
“What do we have to do for you, Max?” Impala spoke up. Out of all of the Speedsters who were open with their lives, Jessie knew him the least. His English wasn’t great and he preferred to play the role of the strong silent type.
“We need to make sure, Flashpoint occurs. I can’t go into more detail at the risk of hurting the time stream.” Max said forcefully, yet Jessie, the psychology major, could detect a hint of uneasiness
Impulse stood up, cracked his knuckles in a fan pattern and then repeated the act on his back by twisting his neck. “Okay. Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.” Max placed his hand lightly on Bart’s shoulder.
“You’ll get your chance, Bart. Believe me, you will. But half the battle will be getting there, so rest up.” With that Max turned around and left the room.
***
Jay pulled out of the Speed Force, carrying both Wally West and Blaine Allen under his arms. After he lost the light strength that the Speed Force granted him, he quickly dropped them as lightly as he could. He looked around and saw Iris and Danielle on the ground holding each other for dear life with tears flowing down their cheeks and he saw Barry off in the distance staring blankly into space.
He approached him carefully. “Barry?”
“Thawyne.”
Jay had never met Professor Eobard Thawyne, but everything Barry had told him made his blood run cold. “Look, Barry. Let’s all go inside. We can figure it out.”
“What’s to figure out? Max Mercury said he’d lock in on the Island and now he’s here. Jessie’s lost her connection to the Speed Force. It’s all wrong.” Barry stated lazily as if he was just talking to himself.
Jay reached out and put his hand on Barry’s shoulder. “We’ll take care of this, Barry. We always do.”
The group walked into the house silently where Joan who was sitting in her favorite chair watching the news met them. Barry and Jay’s gaze quickly focused on the television. “Great Scott…” Jay mouthed nearly under his breath.
On the television was a video of Barry’s house, but there was an anomaly covering it and it was growing bigger by the second. “What the hell?” Iris exclaimed as she caught eye of the TV.
“It’s Thawyne trying to dismantle the Speed Force… he’s trying to dismantle everything.” Iris looked back at Barry who had already gotten into his Flash costume and began to look towards the door.
“Can he do that?” Jay asked without trying to hide the worry in his voice.
Barry gravely nodded. “Max once told me once that the Speed Force is the binding glue of the universe. The only thing that can tear it apart is the Champions of the Speed Force. Us or the Reverse Speed Force. I think the Reverse Speed Force has chosen its champion.”
“Thawyne.” Iris breathed.
“Precisely. I’m going back.”
Jay shook his head violently. “I dealt with a Champion of the Reverse Speed Force in my day. Dr. Edward Clariss; The Rival. You’re not going in alone.”
“This is my fight, Jay. Thawyne is my responsibility. I should have finished this fifteen years ago when I had the chance.” Barry stated matter-of-factly as he walked through the door into the bitter October air.
Both Jay and Wally followed him in hot pursuit. Luckily for them, he had yet to take off towards Central City. “Uncle Barry, would you listen to yourself?”
“He killed my partner. Left her two-year-old daughter without a mother, her husband without his wife, her eight siblings without a sister, her parents without a daughter. Before that he spent years experimenting on innocent people. Children, homeless, mentally disabled in search of what he called a better world. No more. It ends tonight.” Barry attempted to take off, but he couldn’t move his legs. He looked back at Jay who was pointing in his direction.
“I couldn’t let you go there. If you kill him you’ll lose what makes Barry Allen Barry Allen.” Jay held his ground while staring straight at Barry with a coldness taking over his typically friendly blue eyes. The will power required to hold Barry in place was taking its toll. He had never looked other than this moment. “I can’t hold you forever. So I hope you can take reason.”
Wally stepped forward. “Uncle Barry. Even before I knew you were The Flash, you were my hero. You can’t do this.”
Barry opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He simply felt to his knees. Wally hesitantly walked up to him and Iris, Blaine and Danielle who had joined the group on the front lawn followed him. “I have so much to look back on. So many accomplishments. I’ve saved so many people. But everything goes back to Thawyne… I… I can’t shake him.”
“Barry, I love you. I love you more than anything. We are going to get through this. She looked up and saw the group standing around them. Joan Garrick had now joined them on the lawn, which led Jay to go to her. She looked at her children who she birthed and she kissed both of them on their foreheads. Then she looked at Wally, her child that she hadn’t birthed and gleamed at the man he had become. ”As a family.”
Barry gazed longingly at her and moved towards her to capture her lips with his. The kiss lasted longer than either of them had intended, but they simply wanted to savor each other and hold on as long as they could. “I love you, Iris. With everything that I am.”
Suddenly Barry’s vision began to grow fuzzy and then it began to get dark. The next thing he new he was falling towards the ground and then everything got silent.
***
The Time Stream
The method that Max Mercury and the Guardians of Flashpoint used to travel through the time stream looked like an old sailing vessel, which amused Jessie to no end. However, everything in her life seemed to be unraveling at once. All she wanted right now was for Wally to be there to hold her. Her own Wally.
She let a single tear roll down her cheek, but she caught it so the rest of the people on the boat wouldn’t see.
“Is everything alright, Jessie?” Max’s voice startled her.
She quickly rubbed her eyes and fixed her hair before turning around to face the man who was the embodiment of the Speed Force. “Umm… yeah, just fine. A little overwhelmed. It’s so much to take in.”
“It is. It took me a thousand years to get used to all of this and I pray that you’ll never have to.”
Jessie nodded. “Will I ever get my power back?”
“If this works… in the mean time, have you tried talking to the others?” Max asked with concern.
Jessie shook her head. “You told us not to. You said it would ruin things.”
He smiled with a nod. “I did, didn’t I? Well, I suppose it’s time we start throwing caution to the wind. I think you could get a lot from the other Kid Flash.”
She looked back at the colorful swirls of color that surrounded the ship and made up the time stream. Occasionally she’d see the vague image of an event happening, such as John F. Kennedy’s assassination or a space ship landing in what looked like a midwestern cornfield. But most of the time it was just beautiful colors that made her feel a little bit better. “Jessie? Max said I should come over.”
Jessie turned around and saw Kid Flash standing behind her. She wasn’t quite sure what to say. “Um… yeah, you could like sit down if you wanted.”
“What’re you doing?”
She sheepishly smiled and let out a breath that sounded a bit like a chuckle. Truth be told, she wasn’t quite sure herself. “Just watching. It’s pretty.”
“Yeah.” Kid Flash agreed. The pair sat in silence for a little while, but Jessie who sensed the awkwardness, decided to speak up.
“So how old are you?”
“Thirteen.” She responded in one word.
Jessie knowingly nodded and patted the younger girl on the back. “Thirteen was not a good age for me.” Looking back, she laughed at the thought of it. “I grew 8 inches in a month and towered over all the boys in my class. Made the eight grade formal super awkward. And then a few months later I got breasts and my powers with in a week of each other.”
Kid Flash gulped at the thought of it. “Nah, don’t worry, kid, you’ll be fine. Lucky for me, I found Wally. Or, he found me rather.”
“You’re with Wally in your timeline too?”
Jessie eyed the girl cautiously. “Not exactly... Tell me about your reality.”
Kid Flash began to sweat. “Max said…”
“Come on… please?”
She sighed in defeat. “In my reality, you’re The Flash. And I’m your Kid Flash. Everyone says we make a great team, even The Guardian.”
“The Guardian’s dead…” Jessie said to no one in particular. “Kid Flash, am I your mother?” She didn’t know what drove her to ask that, but she couldn’t overcome the strange feeling within her.
Kid Flash looked at her and even though rose-colored sunglasses covered her eyes, they said all that Jessie needed to know. Kid Flash got up and walked away from Jessie. She turned back for a second and smiled at the blonde haired woman. “Rachel. My name is Rachel.”
Jessie smiled as she walked away. “I think I’ll give Wally a call when I get home.” She said under her breath.
***
Barry woke up with a jolt. His mind was hazy and he was having trouble focusing on any one thing, which led to massive disorientation. After a while, his senses came back to him and he recognized it to be the bedroom from his old apartment in Keystone City. “Iris?” He called out to no response.
He got out of bed and nearly immediately Eobard Thawyne walked into his room carrying a tray with fried eggs, bacon, pancakes, orange juice and coffee. “Don’t get up so soon, you haven’t eaten yet.”
“Thawyne! What are you doing here?” Barry jumped up into somewhat of an attack position.
Thawyne laughed in his standard deep maniacal laugh. “Allen, I thought we should have a chance to talk and I picked this as a neutral location. In this reality Iris died in the plane crash with everyone else. You still became The Flash, but you never married and never had anyone to hold you down. Barry Allen died that day. Only The Flash exists here.”
“What are you trying to prove, Thawyne?”
“I actually would prefer if you called me Professor Zoom. And I am not trying to prove anything, Allen. I only want to ask your help.”
Barry opened his mouth to shoot off another insult, but something stopped him. “What could the great Professor Zoom: Champion of The Reverse Speed Force possibly need?”
Thawyne smiled. “My goal has always been to create a better world and now I have the tools at my finger tips. God created man in his own image… we can create the entire world in ours. All it takes is to deconstruct this one. You’ve always had the power, why not use it?”
Barry looked away from Thawyne and out the window where he saw a city that was in distress, more so than the actual Keystone City of his reality. “You’re a broken record, Thawyne.”
“You’ve always had the power to become a God, why are you so hesitant to become one?”
“Well, seeing as you’ve wanted to play God since before you got your powers, I think you can handle it for both of us.” Barry flashed Professor Zoom a dangerous look that would scare even the bravest man.
Thawyne scoffed. “Your desire to remain on the straight and narrow is going to be the end of you, Allen. You won’t be able to stop me this time… this time it’ll be your Children, your wife, your nephew and after I’m done with them, I’ll finish you.”
Before Barry had a chance to react, the man from Barry’s dreams from years ago busted through the door with a gun drawn on Thawyne. He was wearing the same golden mask and the same red cloak from when he last saw him on the island. “End this, Zoom!” Rather than wait for an answer, he took two shots that landed in Thawyne’s shoulder and neck. The wounds splashed out blood, but quickly metabolized and healed.
“You!” The man took another shot, which hit between Thawyne’s eyes. This one knocked him down, but before he hit the ground, the wound had healed. “I’m getting bored of this, Psycho Pirate.”
“Well, I’m not.” He shot him two more times in the stomach, but the wounds nearly immediately did the same thing.
Thawyne stood up and got between Barry and the Psycho Pirate. “This isn’t over, Allen. I’m not going to lose again.” With that he created a portal with a lightning bolt and dove into it.
Barry looked to the Psycho Pirate. “Who are you?”
“That’s not important right now. What’s important is the message I have for you. In order to leave the island, Professor Zoom killed Max Mercury. Max is not the Speed Force, but he embodies it, so it’s currently in the process of breaking down around us. All of the realities that the Speed Force keeps apart are going to bleed into each other and that will prevent Flashpoint from happening.” The Psycho Pirate spouted out words at a mile per second.
Barry stood there looking at him with a look that bordered between skeptical and shocked. He only understood half of the words. Flashpoint for example meant nothing to him. But three words rang out in his head. “Max is dead?”
“Yes.”
Barry stood there for a second to take in what he had just been told. “What can I do?”
“The anomaly that’s positioned over your house; only you have the power to close it. That will save the Speed Force.” The Psycho Pirate walked towards the door, but paused for a second. “Barry… take care…”
Barry nodded affirmatively at the man. As The Psycho Pirate left the room, it began to swirl around him and before he knew it, he was back on Jay Garrick’s front lawn. He was on the ground with Iris, Jay and Wally surrounding him “Barry? Barry, are you alright?”
He didn’t answer them. He simply stood up and put his mask back on. “I know what’s going on. I know what I have to do. I have to stop Professor Zoom and save The Speed Force.”
***
The Time Ship slowed to a complete halt and the swirling background of the abyss began to melt away and the company saw that they were in the middle of Washington DC. The more the group looked around the more they realized that something was wrong. The whole city had a grey hue over it; a fog created by smoke, debris and ash. “My Dad brought me to Washington DC when I was a little girl. This isn’t Washington.” Dan Allen spoke up as she picked up a small pebble that had landed on the ship and tossed it out.
“In my time, Earth is nothing more than one large city, but I’ve seen pictures, this is nothing like Washington.” XS was the next to speak.
Impulse stepped to the edge of the ship and cracked his knuckles. “Okay, Max. Point me into the direction of who to hit.”
Kid Flash rolled her eyes. “Boys,” She sighed. “But really, Max? What happened?"
Everyone turned to Max who had a worried look on his face. “I… I… don’t know.” He looked to the controls on the Time Ship, but everything appeared to be normal.
The Guardians of Flashpoint frantically began to look around. Just then a piece of paper floated gracefully through the air and landed right on the deck of the ship in front of Jessie. She cautiously picked it up and turned it over to read. She gasped and threw it over to The Flash.
“Reelect President Eobard Thawyne. 1993.”
To Be Continued
