Flash Beyond #5

[Glippernip]

FLASH BEYOND #5

Fast Forward, part 5:

Pit Stop

Written by Daniel Dyer
Edited by Joel Sawyer


My name’s Reese Allen, thinks the bushy-haired youth in the red and blue costume. I’m Kid Flash. Reese speeds at his opponent, a Splicer. Splicers are men and women who illegally alter their DNA, combining it with various animals. This Splicer chose a rhino. I’m the son of the Flash, and his partner. Reese gives this “Rhino-Man” hundreds of punches and jabs in a matter of seconds, all having no affect. Dad’s connection to the Speed Force (the mysterious realm which gives us speedsters our powers) has been cut off.

“Bah,” the Splicer says, backhanding the young speedster, sending him flying backward. “Give it up, Kid. You gonna waste time with me or are you going to search that rubble in the hope of survivors.”

The choice is a simple one. Kid Flash races to the rubble that was once a building. Iris and Barry then joined with me to find a way to re-establish Dad’s connection.

“Ugh,” comes a voice from the rubble.

“Barry! Iris!” Reese speeds to the buried Tornado Twins, digging them out at super speed. That’s when this happened...

* * *

[Glippernip]

Later on, as Reese helps the twins into the Allen home:

“What happened,” asks Lexy. She had been watching over Bart Allen, who still isn’t a 100% yet.

“There was an explosion,” answers Reese. “A Splicer set it off.”

“Splicer,” she gasps.

“Yeah,” chimes in Barry. “Working for Becca.”

“What’s going to happen now?” asks Lexy.

“I dunno,” replies Reese. “I need to get to work. We’ll come up with a game plan when I return.”

“I better get home myself,” says Lexy. “Thanks again for the rescue.” She then kisses Reese on his cheek.

After a moment of watching Lexy leave, Reese turns back to the Twins. “You guys gonna be okay?”

“We’ll be fine,” Barry says.

“Yeah, I think we’re old enough to take care of ourselves,” comments Iris.

* * *

[Glippernip]

As Lexy returns to her one bedroom apartment, her mind races. Not because she’s now friends with a super hero. No, her thoughts drift to the life she left behind.

She presses a button on her vid phone and an image appears. “Lexy, it’s me, Aunt Lena. I wish you’d accept my offer to help with your college tuition. You don’t have to live like...”

But before the recording could finish, Lexy presses another button, deleting the recording.

“Sorry,” Lexy says, “but I need to make my own way. Too much blood shed over that money.”

* * *

[Glippernip]

The next morning:

“Yo, Reese,” calls out Evan as Reese walks into STAR Labs. “Thought your dropped off the face of the Earth since our night out.”

“Sorry, man. Got caught up in some family business.”

“Anything major?”

“No,” Reese replies. “Just my sister’s coming to town. Making preparations and all that slag.”

“Becca? She’s hot.”

“Dude, that’s my sister.”

Evan grins. “They’re all someone’s sister, man.”

“Trust me, Ev, you don’t want none of that.”

That’s when Dr. Sanchez hurries by, a file in hand.

“Wonder what her hurry is,” Reese asks.

Evan gives him a sly grin. “Why don’t you go ask her?”

“She’s busy,” is Reese’s quick response.

“Suuurrrreeee.”

* * *

[Glippernip]

Bart Allen punches in the number on his vid phone.

“Hey, Bart,” the image says. “Long time.”

“Too long.” Bart pauses. “I think it’s time to pass the torch. I’ve lost my connection to the Speed Force and I just feel like it’s time.”

“Yeah, the twins already talked to me about the current situation.”

“Yeah, that’s another thing,” says Bart. “I need to find out why...”

“...‘the Force is not with you’,” jokes the image.

“Yeah, and Central needs a Flash.”

“I’m sure Reese is ready.”

“I know he’s ready,” Bart replies, “just have to convince him.”

“Did you feel ready when you started?”

Bart chuckles at that. “The decision to become Flash is the one thing I didn’t rush into.”

“Exactly, but I’d say you worked out alright.”

“Thanks,” Bart says. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Maybe sooner than you think,” comments the image. “Talk later.”

* * *

[Glippernip]

Reese Allen, followed by a motorized cart, full of cleaning products, enters the lab, but stops suddenly when he sees Dr. Sanchez.

“Oh, sorry,” Reese says. “Your busy, I’ll come back later.”

“No, it’s okay,” she says. “Just... there are these rumors.”

“Rumors?” Reese questions as he grabs a recycling bin.

“All throughout Central City,” the doctor answers, “that the Flash has been sidelined. Ever since the first rumor was whispered, the city has been plagued by super crime. Makes my workload almost unbearable.”

“What of the others, though,” he asks. “Kid Flash is still here and I’ve heard that the Tornado Twins are visiting.”

Dr. Sanchez looks over at Reese. “It’s different.” She looks away and continues, “The Flash has been a symbol for the Twin Cities for a century now. Ever since the first, Jay Garrick, began protecting Keystone. If the Flash is gone... if the rumors are true... it’s open season on both Central and Keystone.”

* * *

[Glippernip]

That evening, before he returns home, Reese Allen makes a stop at a great cemetery. The resting place of many great heroes. All around he sees holographic images of great men and women who gave their lives in the service of humanity.

Reese notices the image of a black man in green and black, his head shaved bald. The plaque underneath reads, “Jon Stewart. May His Light Shine Forever In The Blackest Night.” Beside that grave there was an image of a man in dark blue and black. His dark hair flowing behind him. “Nightwing. The Heir To The Night.” The next over was an image brings a tear to Reese’s eye. A man in a skintight red costume with a golden lightning bolt on his chest. “The Flash. A Hero In Times Of Crisis.”

“Sorry, Great Granddad,” Reese says, “but I’m here to see someone else.”

Reese continues on, looking at all the images of fallen heroes. So many died to save the world. He stops at the image of an older man in blue pants with a red shirt, a big lightning bolt down the front, and a silver hat covering his greying hair.

“Mr. Garrick,” Reese starts, “we’ve never met. You died before I was born.” A moment of silence and then he continues, “You started this. You were the first. I dunno, maybe the best. Others that followed may have gotten better control of the powers they shared with you, but I’ve read about you. You had real heart, real compassion. You always did what was right. And it was you who helped guide my dad and Wally. You are responsible for the men that they became. I won’t have someone like you to guide me, to mold me into the kind of hero this world needs.”

And as if on cue, a blur of red races towards Reese. “Whosaysyouwonthaveaguide,” says the blue of red at super speed.
At the moment the blur reaches Reese, it stops on a dime, the dusts flying past him and into Reese’s face. Once the dust settles, Reese looks up and sees a man in a costume similar to his dad’s and great grandad’s.

“Wally?”

The Flash grins and holds out a box. “Now, try on this. You don’t want to hurt Linda’s feelings, do you?”

Reese takes the box and less than a second later, Reese is wearing a form fitting dark blue costume, with blood red gloves and boots. His cowl, like his Kid Flash costume, has the top open, allowing his bushy hair to be seen. On the front of top half of his uniform is a huge golden lightning bolt, slanted from left to right.

“Looking good,” Wally says, and then adds, “Flash.”

Continued...