'There appears to be some kind of lightning coming from the site of the downed Kryptonian ship!'
A young and lanky teenager lay sprawled on a faded leather couch, lathered in a fine dusting of cheese puffs. The buzz of his cellphone against the wooden coffee table brought him out of a deep sleep. He brushed the cheese puffs away and picked up the phone with a disorientated moan.
'Hello?'
'Barry its Iris…'
'Iris where are you!'
'I'm in Metropolis with Wally, have you seen the news?'
Barry suddenly noticed the news, lightning arcing from the research site in the middle of Metropolis. Suddenly worry gripped his heart, the love of his life alone in a city home to a god-like alien. It ran through his mind this could be superman, but the news kept jumping between the story of Metropolis and another concerning superman and batman. A news chopper had caught sight of superman and batman fighting on the roof of the old Ace chemicals building in Gotham's abandoned quarter.
'Are you okay?'
'I'm fine but those people downtown need saving, they need the Flash…'
'I gave that name up for a reason Iris, I gave it up so you and I could have a normal life.'
'My boyfriend is a man who was given super speed by a bolt of lightning … no matter what happens Barry our lives will never be normal, flash or no flash.'
Barry looked at the TV again, the lightning cracking off of buildings shattering their glass fronts and melting the steel supports. Iris was right, his life would never be normal again no matter how much he tried. Perhaps it was time to don the suit again.
'Alright … I'm on my way.'
He hung up and placed the phone on the coffee table in front of him. The basement hadn't been opened in almost three months, the same time it had been since he left the suit down there. He pushed the key into the lock and turned it, the door creaked open to reveal a short set of stairs leading to a dark room. He walked down the stairs and waited the bottom, gazing into the darkness. He flicked a pair of switches at his right upward and lights flickered on to reveal a large square room. Tables baring strange pieces of tech were scattered around the room and at the far right was a crescent shaped desk with a collection of vials and instruments sitting on it.
However the room's main feature was at its furthest end, a rounded computer setup with three screens sat in front of a glass case. The predominantly red suit sat on a mannequin made of perspex. As Barry approached it the case's door retracted into the floor. Barry held his hand against the lightning bolt on the suits chest plate and closed his eyes.
In a blur his normal clothes were flung onto the floor and the armoured suit had been fitted to his body. He adjusted the gauntlets around his forearms, the combat armour made a slight but noticeable weight difference. He pulled his cowl over his head felt the adrenaline surge through his body. Sparks of lightning cracked across his body as he struck a running pose and breathed a calming sigh.
'Be there in a flash…'
He disappeared from the basement in a thunderous clap and within mere seconds was speeding out of the city. With every step he broke a new speed barrier, surpassing Mach 10 by the time he crossed the state line. By the time he was passing through Pennsylvania he was only identifiable by the static he left in the air.
As he entered into Metropolis he slowed down with rush of air and clap of thunder before slowing to a standstill near the research facility looking around at the surrounding buildings. The media suddenly realised he had arrived and turned to him with almost thankful eyes. They encroached on him waving microphones at him and pushing massive cameras in his face.
'Flash, where have you been?'
'Are you here to help?'
Barry huffed and shrugged the reporters off as he thumped into a red and gold streak. Before the reporters' eyes people began massing out of thin air in front of them disorientated and nauseated. Paramedics tended to the wounded survivors and Barry re-appeared with the last one slumping on his shoulders. He passed her off to a paramedic as an older and grizzled policeman walked over to him. He wore a white shirt under a light rain coat with MCPD plastered across the front of it.
'So you're the flash of central city…'
'That's me … you must be the commissioner?'
'Aye, Commissioner Arthur Collins.'
'Any idea what's going on?' asked Barry crossing his arms.
'Haven't got a clue, the last person to go in there was Lex Luthor.'
Despite the Commissioner's heavy Scottish accent he understood the final part of that sentence, Luthor was in there. Despite not knowing Luthor too well he knew that his involvement here wasn't a good sign.
'Commissioner you need to move everyone back as far as you can, I don't know what will come of this but I have a hunch it won't be good.'
'So I'm meant to take orders from a skinny bastard in a red suit?'
'Please Commissioner, I'm only trying to help.'
The commissioner looked into his eyes and saw a flicker of someone who truly cared, right now he was open to any and all suggestions. He turned to a younger Captain and gave him a slow nod.
'Alright, let's get these people outta' here!' yelled the Captain as he rounded his men up and they began evacuating everyone.
'Do what you have to do…'
Suddenly a great crack split the sky and superman emerged from the clouds and smashed through the roof of the research facility. If superman was here something really was wrong.
'What the hell is he doing here?' gasped the Commissioner.
'Same reason I'm here, to protect the people…'
