Flash Beyond #4

[Glippernip]

Flash Beyond #4

Flash Forward

Part 4: Sibling Rivalry

Written by Daniel Dyer
Edited by Joel Sawyer

"Becca,” says a shocked Barry as he stands by the bed where Bart Allen rests. Iris stands on the other side of the bed with Reese. Lexy, the young woman Reese rescued from the Splicers, is sitting quietly in a chair in the corner.

“She’s... she can’t be herself,” Bart says.

Reese thinks back on his childhood, growing up with his older sister. She was always a wild one. A rebel. And downright cruel to her younger brother. Reese Allen is certain she’s just being herself.

“And the Speed Force is now... what,” asked Iris. “I mean, I still have my speed.”

“I’m no longer its keeper,” Bart answered. “This doesn’t make any sense. I was born with my powers, long before I became the ‘keeper of the Speed Force’.”

How could she do this to Dad?

“I don’t get it,” states Barry. “She wants speed but...”

“She’s still no faster than she was,” Iris finishes.

“Exactly,” Barry says.

“She’s not finished,” Reese finally speaks up. “This was only phase one. She’s not done. She’ll be finished when she’s taken the Speed Force into herself and makes us all powerless,” he says and hurries out of the room.

Bart looks at the doorway. “Iris, could you...?”

“I’ll see if he’s okay,” speaks Lexy. "It’s the least I could do.”

Bart nods and Lexy goes out of the room.

“Who is that again?”

“Just some stripper Reese brought home,” Iris says with a devilish grin.

All the color fades from Bart’s face as he pulls the covers over his head.

* * *

[Glippernip]

“Hey, Reese,” calls Lexy, trying to catch up to the young speedster. “Yo, hero, wait up!”

Reese stops and turns to Lexy. “I’m sorry for bringing you here, into this chaos that I call my life, but I need a minute alone, okay?”

“Yeah, okay, I get it,” Lexy says. “But if you need someone to talk to...”

Reese sits on the stoop and Lexy sits next to him. “It’s just... okay, see, my family’s a bit messed up.”

“Isn’t every family?”

“Not like mine...”

“Come on,” interjects Lexy, “your dad’s the Flash. A world famous super hero. You come from a long line of heroes.”

“On my dad’s side,” Reese says. “On my mom’s side... You ever hear of Deathstroke the Terminator?”

“Your sister?”

“No,” Reese replies, “the original. A mercenary... paid assassin. He’s given the entire Justice League... the prime time League... the heavy hitters... He’s given them a beaten... singlehandedly.”

“Whoa,” Lexy gasped. “Why would your sister model herself after...?”

Reese interrupts her. “He’s our grandad.”

“Oh.”

“My mom’s Ravager. She used to be Deathstroke’s ‘sidekick’. She reformed and eventually married Dad.” Reese got quiet for a minute and then continued, “They couldn’t make it work.”

“I’m sorry,” Lexy says, putting her hand on Reese’s.

“Thanks,” he says softly.

* * *

[Glippernip]

When Reese re-enters the house with Lexy, he sees his cousins in costume. They’re wearing white costumes with a thick lightning bolt down the front. Iris’s (Impulse’s) lightning bolt is red, while Barry’s (Inertia’s) is blue. Iris has a blue half-cowl with red lenses, while Barry has a red full cowl with blue lenses.

Reese picks up his costume and says, “Let’s get this done,” a hint of urgency in his voice.

“Before you put that on,” Inertia starts, “your dad wants to speak to you.”

Reese slings his costume over his shoulder, saying, “Okay,” and goes into his dad’s room. “You needed me, Dad?”

“Yes, yes,” states Bart as he watches his son shut the door. “You remind me of myself at your age. Though you have a bit more patience.”

“Me? Patient?”

“Never said patient,” Bart says with a grin. “Let’s just say there’s a reason my first codename was Impulse.”

“Dad, we can reminisce later. Right now, I gotta find...”

“Yes... Rebecca,” states Bart. “That’s why I want to talk to you. I can’t be the Flash anymore.”

“Dad, of course you can,” responds Reese. “We can fix this. You know better than me that these things are reversible.”

“It’s not about my powers,” starts Bart. “I’ve done my time. Forty years... My race is over.”

“Dad...”

Bart picks up a box next to the bed. “Linda made this for you.”

“I don’t want it.”

“Reese...”

“I’m not ready.” In one quick motion, Reese is in his Kid Flash costume. “This is me. KID Flash! You’re the Flash!”

“Son...”

“You’re the Flash! YOU!” Reese runs out, not even bothering to open the door, he vibrates through it.

“Damn...” Bart says somberly.

* * *

[Glippernip]

Eventually, the Tornado Twins caught up to Kid Flash, and the trio go on their way to find Rebecca.

“This looks the place,” Impulse says as he finds the huge cylinder in the center of the rogue’s base, “but where are they?”

“Dad was here. Doubt they’d stick around.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Inertia states. “Let’s look for clues.”

The trio zip and zoom all over the room, criss-crossing the room several times over in under a minute.

“Nothing,” Barry declares.

“Becca knows how to cover her tracks,” Impulse says.

Reese says nothing. A sneer on his face, he scans the room. He then hears a rumble coming from outside and without a word zips outside, finding a Splicer, one with a rhino’s hide.

“Hey, punk,” the rhino-man says, “here’s a message from your big sis.”

That’s when Reese notices a remote in the rhino-man’s hand. The Splicer presses a button on the remote and the building Kid Flash had just exited explodes...

Continued...