“This is going nowhere fast.” Wally rubbed his
temples as he looked at the crude map he'd drawn himself. He was
sitting inside an empty flat. It had been hollowed out by the Flash's
battle with the Human Top.
“I think we're doing okay, all things considered,
Wally,” the red-skinned alien woman said, scratching at her
face a little. She had cuts and bruises down her features. Everyone's
eyes gently slid across the room every few moments to focus on Barry,
who sat in the corner, his wrists letting his hands dangle over his
knees.
“I'm worried about him,” the red-skinned woman
said, tapping Wally on the shoulder. He smiled up at her, and patted
the back of her hand.
“Meenai, I'm sure he's fine. He's just a little out of
it...” He looked at his former mentor and then back at the
red-skinned Goddess before him. Her short dark hair reminded him of
Karen. He shook his head and looked away from her for the moment,
pointing to the centre of the Map.
“Okay, I'm going to need everyone who can to gather round and
have a look at this. That means you as well, Barry. We'll drop the Top
off at the Hospital on the way around, but we're going to need to try
and sort things as we go.” Wally pulled his cowl up, a sort
of metaphysical way of saying he wasn't Wally any more. He was The Flash.
Maybe he was trying to preen himself and show he was capable to Barry,
or maybe there was more than a passing attraction towards Meenai.
“This is a map of the city, and I've had to divide this and
do it on my travels, so it may or may not be correct. You'll have to
just trust me, right?” Wally looked up at the few who were in
action after the beating the Top gave them. Most of these people were
Flashes in their age, and they didn't have to deal with the deluge of
mental people trying to murder the Flash in this time frame.
“This is something I don't understand,” Barry
began. Wally looked up at his mentor and gulped. Here comes the
difficult question.
“The Flashes of Earth, you, Jay, Bart even Johnny, your
powers got stripped or even changed slightly, but why haven't the rest
of the Speedsters?”
“What do you mean, Barry?” Wally asked, scratching
his forehead.
“You can still run, but Johnny, Jessie and I can't. Why is it
these other Flashes from across time and space can all still run as
well?”
Wally's jaw dropped. It was so obvious a question – Why
hadn't he already asked he. He'd been so lost on the logistics of the
event that he'd not bothered to ask some of the most basic and obvious
questions. This was why Barry was always the greatest Flash, he had the
attention to detail and the Forensic training before he was even a
superhero; it made him better than he already was at being the Flash.
Something Wally had taken a long time to come to terms with.
“I don't know, Barry, but I intend to find out. The main
priority at the moment is protecting the people – We can find
out why the Flash Family was changed the way it was
afterwards,” Wally said with a confidence and power he didn't
know he had in him. Especially when he was talking to Barry.
Glancing across the Aliens and to Barry and the badly beaten Victorian
Flash, who was also known as Reginald the Red. Something Wally noticed
about all of the Flashes before him was their only common element, the Lightning Bolt.
Stylised in a number of different effects on various costumes and
clothing items, the colours changed, and the people within the
costumes, but the lightning bolt was the only constant.
“The city has been split up, for all intents and purposes,
into different areas affected by different types of Speed Force, Yes,
that is as strange as it sounds,” Wally offered a smile to
anyone who would return it. He shied away a little, as it was only
Meenai who did return his grin.
“It looks like the Police Station was at the epicentre of
part of it, half of the station is affected by localised temporal
distortion, or something to that effect, and the other have super speed
without the control. So we've got really, really fast police men and
women working with super slow ones. It's probably as frustrating as it
sounds, I doubt they even realise they're moving that slow.”
“So, what are you saying we actually do about this,
Wally?” Barry spoke up, towering over the women gathered
around Wally. His face was gaunt and emotionless again, and Wally found
it a little off-putting.
“Well, aside from trying to use our various powers, if we
have various powers at this point, to try and limit the damage control,
I want parts of the city separated. I know I'm not normally one to
think of the practicalities of this stuff, but what happens when
someone who is moving at Super-slow-motion wanders into the areas where
there are super speedster's zipping around without any training in
their abilities? We're going to see an influx of people at the
hospital. Then all sorts of questions get asked,” Wally
answered, putting the map down on the floor and standing up.
“Super speedster's would bleed out at however many times
faster they are than a normal human. It would take drugs longer to
affect the ones who're moving super slow, etc,” Meenai
answered, without provocation. Wally gave her a thumbs-up and nodded.
“Top of the class. That there, girls and boys is a Flash Fact.
Don't forget them.” He offered Barry's maudlin face a wink,
but with very little response.
“So, we're going to try and fix the city, and make it work
again. Keystone's a big place, but it's going to be getting pretty
full, so here's the plan. We need Ghetto's for the time being, until we
can work out a way to get everything back online power wise, and get
food, water and other resources to people, we're going to need to keep
like for like, even if that means mixing races,”
“Lord,” The Victorian Flash turned his nose up at
that comment, and was met with an icy stare from Wally.
“Don't look like that, we live in an enlightened age. Races
mix, have babies, we're all better for it. So either undo the
petticoat, Reggie, or clam up and stay out of the way.” The
Victorian Flash turned away from the accusing stares of the other
Flashes and looked at the floor.
“As I said, like for like. Super fast with super fast,
Vibration with Vibration, and anything else. Any exotic power users,
any Flashes, you send them to me and we make it work as a Flash Force.
Any questions, No? Alright them, time to move out, people.”
Wally pointed towards the door and picked up the map.
“Very uplifting,” Meenai said as she strolled out
of the room with Wally. He smiled at her as a burst of speed and wind
came hurtling down the street, two streaks of Red. It landed before
Wally and Meenai, revealing the forms of Jesse and Karen Starr, also
known as Power Girl.
“Karen?!” Wally shouted, as he sped towards her
wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a kiss. Something she
didn't readily refuse. Meenai turned away and Jesse arched an eyebrow,
putting a hand on her shoulder.
“Don't worry, he's very, very fickle. You'll have your chance
in about a week or two,” she said with some concern mixed in
with some venom. Meenai pulled her shoulder away, as Wally broke away
from Karen.
“How did you find me?” he asked, looking into her
eyes. She sighed, and tapped the side of her head.
“Your city is surrounded by the Storm of the Century, Wally.
How could I not know you were involved in some way? I flew here as fast
as I could, but I couldn't get through the storm. In fact, the only way
I managed to get in was through Jessie here.” She pointed
towards the Blonde woman, who had her arms crossed over her chest.
Meenai had already left on her task, thanks to the disappointment of
Wally kissing Karen and Jessie's bitterness.
“How did you see her if she couldn't get
through?” Wally asked, as Jessie snorted.
“I just knew, Wally. Just like I knew where you were. I think
it's something to do with this storm. I can...feel the other Flashes
that are running around the city. There's so many of us,” she
said, before locking eyes on Barry. She rushed over to him, throwing
her arms around his shoulders.
“You're alive! This really is a Flash Family
reunion.”
Wally's otherwise happy face took on a slightly grimmer look.
“We're going to need to put that on hold for the moment, I am
afraid Jessie. We need to get ourselves motivated and this city picked
up from the floor. Come on Karen, you can help with this.”
“Your wish is my command,” she responded
sarcastically.
“What the Hell
is this?” Throwing his gun onto the ground and removing his
glasses, Captain Cold rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“What d'ye mean?” the Mirror Master replied,
picking his teeth with a shard of shattered glass. In the corner of the
room, Weather Wizard sat, quietly muttering to himself.
“I mean, what is
all of this?” Captain Cold turned around to the Master, and
ran a hand over his forehead and through his hair.
“Hrm. Flashes, Flashes everywhere, but not a bead to
shoot.” Heatwave slowly walked through the door of the old
warehouse. Behind him came a procession of other Flash villains,
villains who'd been stuck in Keystone as the storm hit the city. At the
back of the group, catching the Weather Wizard’s eye for a
moment and stopping his babbling,
“How did this happen?” the ace faced villain known
as Double Down asked, glancing across the room. There were so many
villains in the room, all looking shell shocked and confused.
“I don't know, but I am going to find out how,”
Captain Cold said. He turned to the others, and pulled up his hood.
“This is our city!” Mirror Master slammed his fist
down on the table before him, and looked up at the assorted and worried
looking villains.
“Doesn't look that way any more, does it Evan?”
Cold looked over at the Scottish super-villain, who turned his
attention to the floor. If the Rogues were an army, then Leonard Snart
was the General. Nobody was more respected than Captain Cold was, and
nobody was as “Hard” as he was, if you believed
what Evan spread about him.
Half of it was untrue, but the other half…
The other half could curdle milk.
“Come on,” He picked up his gun and walked towards
the exit of the warehouse.
“Heatwave, Mirror Master. We're going out, time for us to try
and get to the bottom of this,” Leonard Snart looked across
the room to the Weather Wizard. He was staring at the Captain, his face
drained of blood, and beads of sweat dripping down his face.
“Worried?” Leonard whispered to himself, making
sure he locked eyes with the Wizard.
“You should be,”
Wally skidded to a halt in the central park area of the city. The wind
lashed rain against his body, and his joints ached from the atmospheric
interactions that went on around him. He felt slightly light headed as
Karen dropped down next to him, her blonde hair sticking to her face
and her features marked with some anger at the weather conditions.
“Why here, Wally?”
He turned his head slightly and half closed an eye.
“Not sure. Feel like some thing’s pulling me here;
something that's related to all of this.” He turned around,
as Max, Jessie, Barry, Meenai and Johnny were already standing around
in the park.
“What is it?” Wally said, jogging towards the
others. He looked at the burn marks in the asphalt pathway and the
scorch marks that zigzagged across the grass.
“Ohhh… This is really bad,” Wally said,
cradling his chin for a moment.
“You worked that one out too, huh?” Johnny added.
Max nudged him in the ribs, as a few other Flashes made their way
towards the dead grass.
“What is it? Why is a bit of burnt grass got everyone looking
so sullen?” Karen asked, as Wally took her hand in his.
“Black Flash,” he said to her, giving her hand a
squeeze and then kneeling down to look at the burn marks.
“Black
Flash?” she asked, scratching her chin.
“It's a sort of theoretical element of the Speedforce.
When Speedsters run faster than they've ever run before, the urge to
let go and transcend the mortal coil into pure energy is overwhelming.
If you manage to do it, like myself, or like Wally, you can skip off
the edge of the force. The Black Flash is basically death in Flash
form,” Max answered, pulling his mask off as his wrinkles
seemed to cut deeper into his face than normal.
“So, you can outrun him right?” Karen asked. Wally
did a half nod, not quite ready to commit.
“Sort of, Karen. I outran him, but most people don't. I'm
sort of special, but I should have realised this really. If all the
Flashes are realised then the Black Flash is going to be around here
somewhere as well. Stupid!” Wally slapped a palm against his
forehead and sighed loudly.
“We can't get drawn into this now, we need to continue and
concentrate on the city.” Wally shook his head as more and
more Speedsters began to show up. He didn't realise how many there
were. So many different body forms, and costumes. So many different
Speedsters come to pay their respects and show reverence towards the
Black Flash. Something Wally didn't exactly like the idea of.
“Come on. Johnny, Jesse, try and get a look at these people
and give them our address...or any address. Something where we can meet
again,” Wally directed. Johnny nodded and Jessie simply
crossed her arms in defiance.
“No,” She replied, the sting of her voice and words
leaving a mark on Wally's tired psyche.
“No?” Wally shook his head and walked over towards
Jessie. “I'm getting pretty sick of this, Jessie. Now isn't
the time for the Zulu stand,” he said, trying to guide her
away from the others. She stood her ground, and pushed Wally away.
“You can't just order us around because you're the Flash,
Wally. You're not the Flash; you're just A Flash, now. You're no more
special than anyone else here. God, Dad, Max and Barry all have a good
twenty years on you, what do you have going for you?” Jessie
asked, a few of the Speedsters zipping away from embarrassment, and
others moving closer to get a better view.
“So come on Mr. Big yellow boots, tell me why we should
listen to you and not, say for the sake of argument, me?”
Wally's face crumpled, and anger began to boil in him. He pulled his
cowl down and stood facing Jessie, as the rain beat down on their
bodies.
“Because the city is a wreck and I'm the one trying to
rebuild it and make people safe instead of rebuilding my shattered ego.
Because the only thing that made me good is now floating around in
hundreds of other people,” Wally said simply, turning on his
heels and walking towards Karen.
“Dammit Wally, you don't get to say that and walk away! Come
back here!”
“Nope,” Wally said, waving over his shoulder before
breaking into an ever-increasing run. “Nope.”
Karen shot after Wally, but as he began to accelerate. She managed to
maintain a pace beside him, as he leapt over a spinning car, and
doubled back, using his own abilities to sap the momentum of the
vehicle and remove the people from its innards before it collided with
a lamppost.
“Wally, what's gotten into you?” Karen asked, as
she banked out of the way of two super-slow people making their way
through the now fenced off area where they lived.
“Whatdoyoumean?” he asked, barely looking up from
his path.
“This all smacks of fascism, Wally. You're separating people
based on their attributes.” Karen turned her head to look at
Wally, who's face was stoic and grim.
“I can't actually believe you're telling me that I am a
fascist, Karen. Think about the logistics of this, the Speed Force is
spitting electricity, rain, winds and god knows what else into my city.
Every person who lives here is under my protection, and they're all
getting elements of my powers.” He looked up at her, his blue
eyes glossy with tears yet to be expressed.
“You think I don't know the applications of my powers? What
people would do with them? These people have no control, no
limitations. There's nowhere for these people to go. They could end up
exploding into human shaped photonic messes if I don't do
something.” He skidded around a corner, vaulting over the
flames that had spread from the burning fuel of the alien spaceship
that had fallen over despite the updraft Wally had created to try and
tip it onto its side.
“So, this is a temporary measure, Karen. Temporary as in I
won't be forming any death camps or telling people to only breed with
other people with super speed.” He shot her a glowering look
before he sped off faster than she could follow.
He was going to lose her and he was going to find somewhere to think.
Somewhere quiet in all of this mess. He followed the streets of
Keystone like a map, speeding down their sidewalks and erecting the
appropriate defences to prevent other powered humans from mixing with
others. There was no use having people who sapped momentum interacting
with Vibrators. What if they sucked all their speed away and trapped
them within solid matter?
Of course there was nothing to prevent the Vibrators from passing
through the solid matter of the fencing, but there was only so much he
could do at this point. Damage control was paramount.
As the other Flashes shot past him, he stopped in place, the rain
beating down on his costume, as he stared over the edge of the broken
bridge where it all began. He pulled his cowl down and balled his
fists. Anger, fear, sadness. They were washing against him the way the
choppy water below was crashing against the jagged fragments of metal
that used to be the bridge to Central City.
Bart. Jay. Where were they?
Karen landed a few feet behind him, opening her mouth to say something.
Wally lifted his hand before she spoke, and turned to face her.
“Sorry,” he started, looking at her wet hair
clinging to her features. Even as the rain pelted down and the thunder
and lightning cracked in the distance, she was still beautiful.
“I should hope so too,” Karen spat, her anger
getting the better of her. She walked towards him and slapped him in
the shoulder.
“You're an idiot, Wally West.” She shot him a
half-annoyed glance before looking over the edge at what Wally was
looking at.
“What’s down there?” she asked, looking
at the Flash as he rubbed his aching shoulder.
“This is where it all started for us, Karen,” he
said, his voice full of regret.
“Where you got your powers? I thought you got them through a
chemical accident?” she inquired, looking up from the violent
swirls below.
“No, I mean this event. This...Speedforce Storm. It's where
the Flashes were when the Bridge went down, it's where we were last
altogether. Bart and Jay, they've...vanished, I guess. It looked like
they were dragged into the water, but, I get the feeling that they
didn't drown.” He looked longingly at the water, like they
might emerge at any given moment.
“I don't think they're down there, Wally,” Karen
said after a minute or two. “X-Rays aren't showing anything
alive down there anyway. Lots of dead fish and other marine animals.
Seems like such a shame.”
“A Shame? You're damn right it's a shame, Karen. I don't like
any loss of life, but the fact that my city is the biggest shambles
since the Earthquake in Gotham, and I've got what could potentially be
a super speed epidemic on my hands, I don't really think I'll qualify
that in the “shame” column.” He shot her
an angry glance, which soon turned into a downward look of
embarrassment.
“Seems you've got to be quite an idiot since I've been away
from the city, Wally,” Karen said, walking towards him and
cupping his face, pushing his cheeks up against the bones. “I
think you might need me around to keep you in check.”
Wally's crushed features turned to a smile as she released him. He
rubbed his jawline gently, and looked into her eyes.
“I've missed you Karen. Seems like you're one of the few
people to actually get me.” He beamed. They shared a gentle
kiss for a few moments before it was interrupted by the red-skinned
alien Speedster.
“Flash! We need you!” she screamed, as her feet dug
trenches into the ground before her. She was breathing heavily, and
looking at the pair of them with disappointment.
“Meenai? What's the matter?”
"Something's happened to one of the Flashes," she shouted, and gestured
for him to follow. Wally shot Karen an apologetic look before taking
off after the alien.
"I swear Wally West, I didn't fight my way through a storm and an even
worse ten minutes with Jesse Quick just to chase you around the city..."
Wally and Meenai skidded to a halt before the apartment block. On the
steps of the building, amongst the usual rubble and puddles that
littered the area, stood a small group of people. All Flashes. Pushing
his way through the electric red woman, and a man dressed in blue with
large green swirls across his body, he made his way to the
front of the group and stared at what was before him.
The Victorian Flash, who's top hat lay crumpled and bloodied on the
steps below him, had a large staff driven through his chest. Blood
dripped down the steps towards the bottom of the apartment building,
and mixed with the already dirty and muddy water below. Wally stiffled
a grunt of irratation, as he wrapped his hands around the staff that
was firmly lodged in the chest of the fallen hero.
Yanking it out, to the sound of scraping bone and sucking flesh, he
looked at the bottom.
A thunderbolt symbol.
Dropping the Staff onto the ground, Wally rubbed his temples. He could
feel a headache coming along. Who would be stupid enough to kill a
Flash? Why would they kill this
Flash, and more importantly, was this a one off or was this the
beginning of hunting moving targets?
He glanced at Meenai and muttered under his breath.
"Congratulations Keystone, you've managed to kill a Flash within hours
of them all congregating in this city.
"Send out a message again, Meenai. I need to see every Flash this city
has to offer, and I need to see them now. Anyone wearing a lightning
bolt, needs to be seen and get clearence from me to operate in my city,
Okay?"
Meenai stretched forward to break into a run, but was stopped by
Wally's hand on her shoulder.
"Meenai...Just be careful okay? We need to find who did this as soon as
possible, and we need to make sure they don't hurt anyone else. Contact
Johnny Quick first, he said he was going to be at the police station."
"What about you?" She asked, as he pulled his hand away.
"I'm going to find Barry, and Max. I get the feeling that Max might
know more about this situation then he is letting on. As for the rest
of you…" Wally looked at the Flashes gathered around the
fallen Flash, "you need to guard the body, and make sure he's not
disturbed too much. I want Barry to have a look at him before he's
buried."
A mixture of grim determination and a look a betrayal washed over
Wally's face before he shot off into the distance. Meenai sighed to
herself and pushed some of her short black hair from her face, before
speeding away in the opposite direction, leaving the Flashes gathered
around the Victorian hero to move him to a better location.
Next
Issue: New Flashes! New
Designs! New Murderers...
