Recruitment

Disclaimer: If I owned DC, Flashpoint would have never happend.

Authors Note: The story can be viewed as a parody since the characters may act slightly OOC, but if it is a parody, then it is a (very) dark one.

Imagine a chibi version of Barry in a dark costume arm in arm with a chibi version of Hal as Parallax. Both of them are grinning like maniacs while waving flags wit "Flashpoint" and "Zero Hour" written on. Around them is a field of ash. That picture appeared in my head while readinng some comments on Scans Daily and inspired me to write something where both of them are villains (and friends, of course).

Note that the story has a timeline absolutly independend from any comic continuity, with something similar to Zero Hour allready happend while Barry is still alive.

"Which idiot thinks it would be a good idea to attack a prison during a dark and stormy night?" asked Barry Allen himself as he heard the battle sounds from his prison cell.

A few years ago the former hero wouldn't have dreamed of being in jail, but then a few years ago his wife was still alive - and so was his archnemesis.

He had been so naïve back then… thinking that everyone deserved a chance, that everyone deserved the right to live… even such sadistic scum like Professor Zoom.

But then the scum finally went too far and took his Iris away from him, murdered her right in front of his eyes and laughed about it.

It was the moment when Barry realized that he had been too soft towards his enemies.

All the years he had hold back and let them survive so that they could continue destroying lives – all in the name of justice!

But not anymore.

After all the time the memory of killing Zoom, the memory of seeing the terrified look in the face of his most hated enemy when he killed him -in the very same way Zoom had murdered Iris - the memory still made him smile.

He did avenged Iris and while it was true that he couldn't bring her back, he still could make sure that no one else would lose someone important because of some sadistic psychopaths with no hobbies.

All he had to do was to free the world from said psychopaths and to make sure that no new one would come.

Or maybe, he had thought, right after killing Zoom, he should destroy just everyone who ever murdered anyone out of anything other than self-defense and take care that no one would ever kill again.

He could create a perfect world with no crime, no victims and no pain.

A paradise.

He just had to take over and he could make it happen!

But sadly the Justice League disagreed with him and his new, better methods and stepped in his way every time he tried to take control.

Barry didn't blamed them for making him their enemy and trying to stop his plans for the ultimate utopia, for being blind and naïve – they couldn't see it yet, but once he would succeed, and turn the world into a paradise, they would see that he was right and apologize for ever fighting him.

In the meantime he tried not to kill his former friends and colleagues when they forced him to attack them – a mercy he showed only a handful of people anymore.

Sadly, almost none of them understood how much they were privileged by him.

Because usually he killed everyone who dared to stay in his way.

Holding back and showing mercy was something he did back when he was the second Flash, but that man died the moment his wife was buried and a new man appeared the millisecond he stood above Zooms dead body.

Barry was not the Flash anymore.

He now was the change that would come over the world, the coming creator of a safer, better world.

He was the Leviathan.

And only a small number of persons were allowed to oppose the Leviathan without consequences.

One of these persons was the reason he stood in a prison cell right now.

After laying down the red costume, it was taken over by the only person Barry would have allowed to wear it: Wally West.

The young redhead filled his role as the third Flash even better than Barry expected - which meant that Wally was better than perfect at it.

By now he was a leading member of the JLA and one the most popular, powerful, successful and competent heroes on earth – all with a smile that made most people – even Barry sometimes - underestimate him fatally.

In fact was he so powerful, that Barry could use all the might and power he got while battling him and the kid was still equal to him – something that filled the fallen hero with pride, even though he would never admit it in public.

Especially not after getting defeated by a lethal mix of Wally's famous puppy dog-eyes of doom and a hard punch in the face. Of course Barry did call him out on this, after he came for a visit yesterday (sure, the Flash was his enemy now, but Wally was still family and always welcome to visit him no matter what happened – besides the fallen hero still hoped that his nephew would join him someday) and got a only half-hearted apology.

Suddenly green light flashed in front of the window, followed by desperate cries from the guards, forced the fallen hero out of his thoughts and made him focus at the here and now.

Whoever the attacker is, he or she must be quite close to my cell, Barry thought. It was a shame that he had a power disruptor bond around his wrist, because he would have loved it to vibrate through the wall and have a chat with the intruder – especially after taking a look at his watch.

"Attacking a prison in the middle of a storm at midnight, seriously?" he muttered. Someone seemed to be a little bit melodramatic here.

Suddenly the cell began to shake, everything started to glow bright green and the ceiling felt to dust. Another small light shot in his direction and the power disrupter became dust as well, allowing him to see the person above him much faster than any normal human could.

And he almost laughed.

Can this man be any more dramatic?

The intruder posed like a storm god high in the air, his cape flowing in the wind, while lightning bolts shot left and right quite close to him, giving his face some interesting light effects, strengthened by him gloving bright green and wearing a wide, hundred-percently maniac grin.

For around thirteen seconds – which meant thirteen minutes for Barry - the man kept posing, throwing his hands high in the sky and shooting energy-beams in the air for no apparent reason other than to add some unnecessary special-effect, till he glided towards Barry in a ghost-like fashion.

The speedster rolled his eyes and greeted his old friend calmly.

"Hello, Hal! Or do you prefer being called Parallax now?"

He grinned even wider. "So you have heard!"

"You would be surprised what one can learn in prison." Especially if you have a regularly visiting nephew who happened to be the Flash "But why are you here? Don't tell me you just came by for a chat!"

"I want to offer you something." He said dramatically, or tried to sound dramatically, but Barry was not impressed – he had seen this man in too many awkward positions to be intimidated by him.

So he yawned slightly and said: "Would you mind skipping the melodrama and telling me what you want straight out? It's late and I'm a little bit too tiered for games."

"But I planned this moment for days! I made the perfect entrance!" Hal pouted angry, making Barry laugh for the first time since Iris' death.

"Yes, you did." Barry assured him "I especially liked how you vaporized the ceiling, nice work."

"Wasn't it? I had some issues to work up."

"Don't we all?"

"That's why I'm here, Barry." The other fallen hero said suddenly earnest. "Surely you heard about what happened to Coast City?"

"It was all over the news. I'm sorry, Hal! I would have killed this man bevor he could have destroyed your city, if I had known what he was capable of." It had been one of the most shocking news Barry had ever heard and hadn't he been in jail, he would have run to Hal and comforted him immediately. Seeing how broken his (former?) friend looked once he stopped his dramatic posing, he properly could use all the comfort the world had to offer.

"Then help me! Help me fixing it!" Hal shouted in a desperate voice "You and me, Barry! Just like good old times! We can create a paradise together!"

Working as a team? It sounded too good to be true…

"You were right, Barry. The Justice League is too weak and soft to their enemies. But we aren't! We can wipe the entire universe from our enemies and remake it, however we want to! The League may have stopped you before, just like they stopped me last week, but they can't stop both of us!"

Barry could see it, together they could succeed and fix everything that went wrong, and they could create a perfect world, an everlasting utopia! Not even the Justice League would be able to cross their plans – for that they would have to stop holding back, and everyone knew they wouldn't do that, not even against one of the best teams ever existing (such as Hal and him). Together, they would be undefeatable!

And to make it even better, he would have his best friend back at his side again.

After all the arguments they had, after all the battles they fought against each other, after all the anger and loneliness….

How could he say no?

"I'm with you." Barry said earnestly.

"You… you are?" Hal asked, obviously not expecting to need so little convincing to make his once-best friend join him.

"Of course I am. I always hoped that the two of us would work together again someday." The former Flash answered with a calm smile.

His friend responded with a (only half maniac) bright and somewhat relieved smile. "Then we're friends again?"

"Best friends."

One second later they were in each other's arms, hugging out all the fights and arguments they had since Barry had killed Professor Zoom.

"I missed you."

"Missed you, too! It was kind of empty without you."

After a while the blonde man muttered softly "I just have one condition, if that should work."

"Shoot."

"Wally won't be harmed!"

"Of course not," the brunette chuckled "I care about him too, you know?"

He did, but he still needed some reassurance, "And neither will be any civilian friend or girlfriend of his!"

"Why should I hurt them? I'm not some kind of psycho who kills someone or stuff him or her into… a fridge or something, just because that person is close to my opponents! That's just sick!"

"Sorry! Of course you're not! I'm just…"

"Overprotective?" he asked, calming down immediately "It's alright; you always were like that when it comes to Wally!"

Barry chuckled. "Guilty as charged!"

Noises of guards coming inn were to be heard and the two fallen heroes exchanged a half annoyed, half amused look.

"Looks like it's time to go!"

An hour later the – very tiered - Justice League had an emergency meeting in the Watchtower, in called by the Flash.

"We've got a big problem here, guys!" the Scarlet Speedster said nervously, while rushing in.

"Ha…Parallax just broke Ba…Leviathan out of prison! It looks like they're friends' again…best villain friends forever, or so…anyway, they killed almost every guard in Iron Heights and vaporized half the prison, before disappearing."

The eyes of his colleagues widened in disbelief and skeptic worry (Superman, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter), anger (Batman and Aquaman) or fear (Green Lantern) upon his news.

"You are sure?" the Man of Steel asked.

"I was just finishing my patrol when I saw the half destroyed prison and found the poor guard's corpses. There also was a message on the last standing wall."

He put out a video-tape and let it play and Hals voice came out:

The end is near!

Seriously? A bit overdramatic, aren't you? That was Barry's voice.

Shut up! I'm trying to sound impressive!

With doom and gloom?

Hey! Doom and gloom are awesome!

Right. Pretty sure the League will very be impressed!

Was that sarcasm?

Was it?

Barry…

Okay! But would you be impressed by "the end is near!"?

Of course not! I'm a god!

Hal…

Fine! You will do the talking, show-off.

Great!

These are Leviathan and Parallax. We have a message for the Justice League: From now on, we are a team again, more powerful than we've ever been and not holding back. Don't get in our way!

Wally stopped the transmission and added: "There is some more bantering about overdramatic talking on it, but the big message is clear: two of our most dangerous enemys just became best villain friends forever."

Seven alarmed looks were changed.

Then Kyle voiced what everyone thought:

"Crap!"

"Crap!" Unlike the story I hope :-)

Though it's not excatly one of my better works...