Disclaimer: All rights to 'The Flash' and it's characters go to DC Comics. This story is for fun, not money or profit of any kind. The author of this story owns nothing, save for any original characters created by them.
This is a fun little one-shot I came up with, to serve as an introduction to a new story I'm going to write, (although I'm not sure when I'll get around to it).
Also, this story takes place before the episode "Invasion", and there isn't much action or fighting in it; just a fun short story.
The Flash: Lightning Collision
By Goliath101
My name is Barry Allen, and I am the fastest man alive. To the outside world, I'm an ordinary forensics scientist. But secretly, with the help of my friends at S.T.A.R. Labs, I fight crime and find other meta-humans like me. After defeating Zoom and saving the multiverse, I ran back in time and created the alternate timeline: Flashpoint. I restored the timeline to how it was, only to find things weren't as I left them. I brought new threats to our world, and I'm the only one fast enough to stop them. I am the Flash!
It was a fairly mundane morning in Central City. The sun was shining, which lifted everyone's spirits. After everything that had been happening with Savitar and Dr Alchemy, a quiet day was what everyone needed.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, in the Central Cortex, Dr Caitlin Snow was going over data on the monitors. She was hoping to use the data from the Flash's recent fights to help Cisco reinforce Barry's Flash suit, which was in it's usual place in the Cortex's alcove. Cisco Ramon was sitting nearby adjusting his vibe goggles with a small soldering tool. Looking over Cisco's shoulder was H.R., the Harrison Wells of Earth-19, who was twirling one of his drum sticks and sipping his coffee.
"H.R., do you mind?" Cisco asked, rolling his eyes.
"Mind what?" H.R. asked blankly.
"Uh, creeping over me, for starters?" Cisco said flatly. "It's a bit distracting."
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure thing, Francisco," H.R. replied cheerfully.
Abruptly, and without warning, a glowing blue breach opened in the entry way of the Cortex, causing everyone to jump. "Whoa, that was totally not me," Cisco shouted, nearly dropping his Vibe goggles. They had come to know very well that breaches were caused by someone or something traveling throughout the multiverse. Caitlin quickly sent an S.O.S. text to Barry.
A blue blur trailing pale golden lightning with the occasion streak of blue lightning roared out of the breach at high speed and streaked around the cortex, scattering papers around before coming to a stop in the middle of the room. The breach vanished and the speeding blur faded away to reveal a figure kneeling with their back to the startled Caitlin, H.R. and Cisco. "Wow, that was unexpected," H.R. exclaimed breathlessly.
The figure shakily stood up, and the two scientists noticed the figure was feminine, with brown hair tied back behind her head and fair skin. "Wow," the figure sighed as though out of breath. "I'm back!" She turned around to face Caitlin and Cisco and gave a dazzling grin. "Caitlin, just how fast was I going?"
Caitlin and Cisco shared a wide-eyed glance of uncertainly before returning their stares at the new comer, whom they did not recognize. The girl was young, about Barry's age, and wore a speedster suit similar to the Flash suit, only her's was a deep blue instead of red, and had bright golden trim. Unlike Barry, she wore no gloves and her golden lightning bolt symbol was noticeably different in both shape and the lack of a circle around it. On her head sat a polished, silver kettle helmet with two stylized golden wings on the sides, just like Jay Garrick's helmet, and a dark blue mask over her eyes similar to Jesse Quick's and Green Arrow's.
The female speedster frowned as she noticed the look on Caitlin's and Cisco's faces. "Uh, guys? What's wrong?" she asked, looking between the two. She then glanced at H.R. who had a similar look of confusion on his face.
"Certainly nothing wrong with you, girl," Cisco said, struck by the female speedster's looks.
"Cait, Cisco, it's me," the female speedster said, gesturing to herself, a concerned look slowly crossing her face.
Suddenly, Barry sped into the room and came to a stop between Caitlin and Cisco. "Guys, what's the prob-" he stopped mid sentence when he noticed the female speedster in the cortex, who looked equally startled to see him. "Uh, what the-? Who are you?"
"Who am I?" the female speedster repeated, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "I'm the Flash; who are you?"
Barry shared a concerned glance with his three allies. "You're the-?" Barry stammered, not certain he had heard her correctly.
"The Flash, that's right," the woman nodded. "Now who are you?"
Barry sighed softly, a look of disbelief in his eyes. He could only think of two possibilities: One; this was another ploy by Alchemy, or Two; she was from another Earth. And since he didn't recall seeing this woman in Flashpoint, he assumed the latter. "My name is Barry, okay? Barry Allen," he said. "I know this might be hard for you to believe, but I think you might be on the wrong Earth."
"The wrong Earth?" the newcomer repeated, her frown deepening.
Barry continued, "I know what you're thinking; believe me, we've all been there. You're clearly a speedster, like me. Now, can you tell us who you are? To know you're not a threat." Barry was trying to choose his words carefully, for several reasons. They had no idea who this female Flash was or whether she was a friend or foe. He also could tell she looked to be about 50/50 on bolting.
"You expect me to tell you about myself, when I don't know who you even are?" the young woman said, crossing her arms.
"Please try to understand, we're just being cautious," Caitlin said, keeping her voice calm. "After all, you just ran through a breach without warning. We're trying to understand what's going on, we just need you to trust us. But we need to know we can trust you, as well."
The female speedster looked hard into Caitlin's eyes, studying her. Glancing at each of them for a moment, she seemed satisfied with Caitlin's words. Sighing softly, she removed her helmet and eye mask, and said, "My name is Natalie Thompson, and I'm the fastest woman alive."
"Huh, I guess Jesse has some competition," Barry muttered. H.R. was looking back and forth between Barry and Natalie, who were having an intense speedster stare down.
"Okay, everyone," H.R. said, chuckling nervously. "This whole intense feeling in the air is getting really... intense. Can you two just, you know, relax a tad, maybe?"
Natalie looked at H.R., and sighed. She relaxed slightly, and said, "He's right. Nothing will get solved if we're all wound up." She turned to look at Barry and said, "Sorry, uh, Barry, was it? This is all just a little troubling for me. I know about the multiverse; I've just never ran to another Earth under my own power, before."
Barry chuckled inwardly and nodded in understanding. "Trust me, I do indeed know the feeling," he said.
"Is there anything I can do to prove I'm not a threat?" Natalie asked.
"Well, would you mind if Caitlin ran some tests?" Barry asked, shrugging. "We've had a lot of... strange cases with meta humans popping up out of no where, lately. See, there's this villain called Alchemy that's been turning regular people into metas and sending them after us. If you really are from another Earth, we have ways of confirming it. So far, Alchemy hasn't used anyone from the multiverse to come after us, yet. So, that would be a start, I guess."
Natalie sighed softly in frustration. 'How do I end up in these situations?' she thought to herself. "Fine," she nodded.
Soon, Caitlin was running all the tests she knew when it came to the multiverse on Natalie, who had changed out of her Flash suit and into a S.T.A.R. Labs shirt and sweat pants and was now sitting on one of the medical beds in the Cortex. On the other side of the room, Barry and Cisco were quietly discussing the subject of their visitor. "Hot as she is, what if this is a trick?" Cisco asked. "What if she's another one of Savitar's evil, cultist, nutty puppet followers?"
"I've thought about that," Barry said, the feeling of unease settling over him more heavily. It wouldn't surprise him if Savitar and Dr Alchemy would try to use a different tactic to strike at them. All of the other meta-humans that worked for him tried to kill them, and made it clear they were enemies from the start.
"Hey, fellas, come on," H.R. shrugged and sipped his coffee. "How about the benefit of the doubt? I mean, she hasn't done anything bad."
Caitlin soon finished her tests and swiped her tablet to bring up her findings on the larger screens around the Cortex. "What did you find?" Barry asked.
"I can confirm that she is a speedster, which we already knew, of course," Caitlin said, pointing to the screens, which showed Natalie's blood work. "She definitely has the Speed Force in her system." Swiping the tablet, she continued. "And she is indeed from another Earth; I found her doppelganger." The screens brought up a picture of the same woman, albeit with shorter hair. "The Natalie Thompson on our Earth is a librarian in Keystone city. The Natalie here in S.T.A.R. Labs says she used to work at a chemical research lab before becoming the Flash on her Earth."
"Well, that solves that question," Cisco said. "Now, how do we figure out if she's good or evil?"
"You know, 'she' is standing right here," Natalie said, shooting an angry glare at Cisco. Then, a look crossed her eyes as if a light bulb went off above her head. "Actually... Cisco, do you have vibe powers, here?"
"Yeah...," Cisco answered, frowning uncertainly. "I'm guessing I do on your Earth, too?"
"You sure do," Natalie confirmed. "Both you and Caitlin, actually. We are quite the dynamic trio, the three of us. Although, my Caitlin doesn't particularly care for the whole 'vigilante' lifestyle."
Caitlin's eyebrows raised at that revelation. She was terrified of her cold powers; of being overwhelmed by them, turning into Killer Frost. That's why she kept them suppressed. She wanted nothing more than to be rid of them. She shuddered at the mere thought of what might happen if she lost control.
"That doesn't help your case, you know," Cisco shrugged, not impressed with Natalie's claim. "We've met evil counterparts of ourselves, before. For all we know, you three are, like, the 'Trinity of Terror', or something."
"An excellent name for a book," H.R. said, as he tipped his hat to Cisco.
"'My case'?" Natalie scowled, slowly losing her patience with the whole affair. Her fists were clenched at her sides so tightly, her knuckles had turned white. "What, am I on trial, here? I never had any intention of coming to your world in the first place, you know. All I want is to go home. And don't even think of trying to lock me in the pipeline. If you have one here, that is."
Barry suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for her. He new that frustration. The feeling of having no one believe you. He also understood that they had to be careful, of course. Yes, they had no idea who this girl was, and yes, she could be a threat. Zoom had drilled that feeling of paranoia of visitors from other worlds into them, but... They had also encountered good people from other universes, too. Like Harry and Jesse, and Supergirl and H.R.
Sighing, Barry made his decision. "Alright," he said. "We'll give you the benefit of the doubt, Natalie. You asked Cisco about his powers earlier; why?"
"If you guys want proof that I'm not evil, vibe me," she said.
"Uh, yeah, I suppose I could do that," Cisco said, mentally face palming. Why hadn't he thought of that earlier? He decided he had been entranced by Natalie's looks and it didn't dawn on him. Yeah, that's what it was, he told himself. He walked over to Natalie, who held out her hand and he took it, allowing his powers to flow to the surface.
Cisco's sense of reality shifted; more like violently jerked; and through his vibe-visions, he saw Natalie as the Flash running through her city. He saw flashes of her fighting the Captain Cold and Heatwave of her Earth, as well as her saving people, although she wasn't wearing the Jay Garrick-style helmet, oddly. He then saw his and Caitlin's doppelganger in a cortex similar to their own, as well as Natalie's Earth's doppelganger of Harrison Wells, who was leaning on a walking cane for support.
Suddenly, his vibes shifted to a different view. He saw Natalie as the Flash, now wearing the familiar helmet, chasing another speedster, one wearing a sleek all-white uniform with golden metallic trim. Golden-white lightning was arcing off of his body violently, and he was clearly faster than Natalie.
The vision switched to four bodies laying on the ground, and the other speedster standing over them. Natalie was running towards him, a look of fierce anger and determination on her face. Right before she reached him, Cisco's powers cut off and he jerked back to reality. He had seen enough. He felt a headache that usually accompanied his vibes coming on and shook his head. "What did you see?" Barry asked.
"Well, she's definitely not evil," Cisco confirmed, causing Natalie to beam and everyone else to relax.
"Oh, whew, good to know, am I right?" H.R. grinned, twirling his drumstick. "Cause, ya know, there was that whole period where we were all like, 'Is she good? Is she not?'. I think this calls for another round of cappuccinos, on me!" He quickly left the room to fetch more coffee.
Natalie watched him leave with an odd expression on her face; a look of confusion mixed with unease. "Your Harrison Wells is really... weird," she commented.
"Yeah, he's kinda out there," Barry shrugged.
"Actually, he's not even the Harrison Wells from our Earth," Caitlin commented. "He's from Earth-19. Our Wells was an evil speedster from the future pretending to be the real Harrison Wells. Then there's Harry, from Earth-2, who helps us out from time to time."
"Huh," Natalie frowned, not certain she understood all of that. "Anyway, I'd like to get home, as soon as possible..." Suddenly, her stomach growled loudly. "Uh, after I get some food. I'm starving. Like, I could eat an entire pizza parlor-level of hungry."
"Well, you burned through nearly all of your energy when you came through the breach," Caitlin said, looking over her tablet at Natalie's scans. "You'll need to get your calories back up before we can get you home safely."
Barry grinned at that. "I think we can definitely help you," he said. "I'll be back in a few." Barry whooshed out of the room trailing a gust of wind behind him.
Meanwhile, Caitlin offered to fetch Natalie some water and a few of the special energy bars she and Cisco had created for Barry and left Natalie in the cortex with Cisco, who hadn't said a word since vibing her. He turned to her with a concerned look on his face. "Who was that other speedster?" he asked quietly.
Natalie visibly froze at the question and turned to Cisco. "What other speedster?" she asked, her own voice barely above a whisper.
"When I vibed you," he answered. "I saw you chasing him."
Natalie sighed, sitting down on a nearby stool. She suddenly had the appearance of a very weary person about her, as if she was gripped with a mixture of sorrow and guilt. "I'm sorry, Cisco," she said. "I forgot; of course that's how you saw him..." She took a deep breath she stared at the ground, as if reliving a painful experience.
"Godspeed is... well, he's a very dangerous speedster, and he's my problem to worry about, not yours," she explained.
"Godspeed? That's his name?" Cisco asked. "Loving the name, but he looked like more than a problem. You know, we've fought our share of bad speedsters, before. It's kind of our area of expertise. Matter of fact, we're kind of dealing with a nasty one called Savitar, right now." Another evil speedster besides Savitar, Cisco mused internally. Boy, the multiverse sure loved it's baddies, didn't it?
"I appreciate the offer," Natalie said, shaking her head. "But Godspeed is my responsibility, and I have to stop him for myself." Before Cisco could press the matter further, she changed the subject. "So, does Caitlin have powers, here, too?" she asked.
"Yeah," Cisco nodded, glumly. He decided to let the subject of Godspeed go, for now. "But she can't use them."
"Why not?" Natalie tilted her head in confusion. "My Caitlin doesn't have any problems with her powers."
"Because she might turn into Killer Frost," Cisco explained, rolling up a chair next her. He told her about Caitlin's doppelganger from Earth-2, and how her own powers affected her. Natalie listened intently, taking in the information Cisco was giving her. "Her cold powers make her evil."
It was Natalie's turn to scoff. "I doubt that," she snorted. "I already told you that the Caitlin on my Earth has powers, and she's no killer. My Caitlin Snow is many things, including my best friend, but she's certainly not evil. Or this Killer Frost you talked about. But, this is the multiverse, so if it's true for your world, then I'm sorry."
"Sorry about what?" Caitlin asked as she returned to the cortex, causing Cisco and Natalie to jump. Caitlin was carrying a large glass of water and several of Barry's speedster bars.
"Uh, nothing," Natalie said, taking the glass from Caitlin. "Thanks."
"It's no problem," Caitlin insisted. "If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been the Flash on your Earth?"
"Oh, a couple of years," Natalie shrugged. "One night, the night the particle accelerator at S.T.A.R. Labs exploded, and I was struck by lightning. It put me in a coma for a few months. When I woke up, I could run at super speed, and the rest is history."
A gust of wind entered the cortex as Barry returned, his arms filled with pizza boxes. "Fresh pizza from Coast City," he announced, grinning. "Supposedly the best pizza on the west coast. I don't know what you like on your pizza, so I got a variety."
"My hero," Natalie returned the grin, quickly taking some of the boxes from Barry's arms.
"So, how do you think you wound up on our Earth?" Caitlin asked.
"Mmm, Cisco; I mean my Cisco, and I were working on our powers," Natalie said between bites. "He would open a breach to somewhere on Earth and I ran through it. And Caitlin and Wells would time how long it took me to get back. It's an idea my Dr Wells had."
"That's actually not a bad idea," Cisco said. "But I- he must have opened a breach to the multiverse by accident, causing you to wind up here."
"Sounds about right," Natalie said. "My Cisco doesn't have the best grasp of his powers, yet. Think you can pull the same trick to send me home?"
"You know it, girl," Cisco nodded. "By the way, where did you get that helmet?" He pointed to Natalie's winged helmet sitting on a silver medical table nearby. "You weren't wearing it when I vibed you."
"It's a recent addition," Natalie replied, smirking. "I couldn't take that cowl you originally made, so I went with just the eye mask. Later on, after my encounter with the Ultra-Humanite, I decided I needed some sort of helmet for protection. Cisco went through a few versions, until I settled on this one."
"What's the 'Ultra-Humanite'?" Barry asked, frowning.
"The Ultra-Humanite is a nine foot tall, bipedal albino gorilla with the transplanted brain of an evil super genius," Natalie explained. "It's a long story; don't ask."
H.R. had returned by this point and had been interested in Natalie's tales. He decided to broach a question that had been on his mind. "So, what is my twin like on your Earth?" he asked, sipping his latte. "Is he as shockingly handsome as me?"
"He's the head of S.T.A.R. Labs, and a genius," Natalie shrugged. "He brought me to S.T.A.R. Labs after the accident while I was still in a coma. My Caitlin and Cisco always say he used to be very different, before the accident. His wife was killed in the blast, which is something he never got over. He was injured trying to save her, and he walks with a cane now, because of it. He's very reserved and quite cold, but he's brightened up a bit."
"I can relate to what he's going through," Caitlin said with sadness in her voice, thinking of Ronnie. She wondered if her counterpart on Natalie's Earth went through something similar, but she chose not to broach the question. Perhaps the Caitlin Snow of Natalie's Earth had never even known Ronnie Raymond. Besides, some wounds hurt too much to reopen.
"Well, that took a somber turn," H.R. said glumly. He then decided to change the subject. "So, how did you decide, 'I want to become a super hero'?"
Natalie shrugged as she bit into another slice of pizza. She never really thought about it, that much. "I guess when I first realized I had these powers and could control them, I actually felt like I had the chance to do something that mattered for the first time in my life," she said. "Like I actually mattered, in a way. It wasn't easy at first, though; my Dr Wells was very much against the idea. But, he came around, eventually."
Natalie then wiped her mouth with a napkin, an raised an eyebrow. "Uh, you know," she said with an uncertain grin on her face. "Since we know we're all on the same side, now... Would you mind if I compare our two Earths? Maybe check out the web?"
"Uh, yeah, go for it," Barry shrugged, deciding there was no harm in it.
"Sweet!" Natalie said and zoomed over to a nearby computer and began reading at super speed. She frowned as she scrolled through everything from world history to popular culture. "Wow, some of this is so different from my world," she said in amusement. "Huh, JFK was never assassinated on my Earth. Wait, you guys don't have zeppelin airships? Hmm... what is with this world's obsession with zombies?"
Soon, after exchanging more stories, the pizza had vanished and Natalie felt back to her full strength and she was once more itching to get home. Caitlin ran one more quick test to confirm that the female speedster's energy was back at one hundred percent. "Well, I think I've interfered in your lives long enough," Natalie said, stretching her arms. "Besides, I've got my own world to get back to. Baddies to put away, people to save, you know; the whole nine yards. Sorry if I've caused too much of a disruption."
"No worries," Barry said. "It's just nice to meet another speedster that doesn't want to kill us, for once."
"Couldn't agree, more," Natalie said. "You know, I don't really have that much experience being in other universes. So I'm thankful I landed here, on a world similar to my own, and not some horrible, evil world."
"Hey, before you go, Natalie," Cisco said. "Uh, you're not, like, available, are you? Are you seeing anybody on you're Earth? Cause, if you're not-"
Natalie gave an uncomfortable smile, not certain how to respond to that. "Sorry, Cisco," she said. "I just don't think that would work. It might make my Cisco upset. We went out a couple of times. Didn't really work out. But, we're still close friends; after all, we've binge watched all the Star Wars movies, like, five times. "
Cisco held a hand over his heart in his usual dramatic fashion. "Oh, ouch," he groaned. "I got no game on any Earth! Why am I always friend-zoned?!"
"Must be the one constant in the multiverse," Barry teased Cisco, who shot him a murderous glare. Caitlin stifled a chuckle and H.R. did the same.
Soon, everyone was gathered down in the S.T.A.R. Lab room that had been dubbed 'The Breach Room'; where Cisco usually worked on his vibe powers. Natalie had changed back into her Flash uniform and was carrying her helmet under her arm. Cisco, meanwhile, was narrowing down the vibrational frequency of her Earth.
"Well, Scarlet Speedster," Natalie said to Barry with a vibrant grin. "I guess this is it."
"I guess so, Cobalt Comet," Barry returned the grin. "Make sure you don't run to the wrong Earth."
"Yeah, that would suck," Natalie chuckled. She turned her gaze over to Caitlin and walked over to her.
"Thanks again for your help, Dr Snow," she said. "I mean it."
"Don't mention it," Caitlin smiled.
"Also...," Natalie said, uncertain on how to proceed. "I don't mean to pry, but Cisco told me about the problems you've had with your powers. I also know you've had some unpleasant experiences with doppelgangers in the past." Caitlin looked uncomfortable with the subject. She did not want to even think about her powers, much less discuss them with a friendly, yet virtual stranger.
"But you're not a killer in every universe," Natalie continued. "My Caitlin had a difficult time adjusting to having her powers, too, but she persevered and got control over them. Maybe I could bring her here sometime? She might be able to help you."
"I don't want help controlling them, though," Caitlin replied, shaking her head. "I want to get rid of them."
Natalie nodded, sadly. "Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me," she said, softly. She knew better than to push Caitlin Snow, on any Earth. She also respected the decisions of others, even if she didn't agree with them. Natalie could see this Caitlin was just as stubborn as her own and that this Caitlin's mind had been made up.
"Alright, Natalie," Cisco announced. "I think I've got your Earth narrowed down. One breach to Earth-92, coming right up!" He raised his arm and activated his powers to create a glowing and undulating breach into the multiverse.
Walking over, Natalie frowned. "Earth-92? You know, Cisco," she said teasingly. "From my point of view, my Earth is 'Earth-1', right?"
"Yeah, yeah," Cisco rolled his eyes. "Well, you're not on your Earth, now are you, little miss blue?"
Smirking, Natalie placed her helmet on her head and took a deep breath. She felt relieved to be going home, and to tell everyone that she had ran to another Earth. Also, to rub in that it was Cisco's fault. Looking over her shoulder once more at everyone, she tipped her helmet, and said, "See you guys around."
"Safe journeys," Barry replied.
In a flash of lightning, Natalie bolted through the breach back to her Earth, and the breach closed. "Well, that was neat," H.R. commented. "A nice little distraction, huh? And no fighting, this time! Hey, that's gotta be a first for us."
No one could argue with that. Barry wondered if Natalie got home without any difficulties. The Fastest Man Alive also wondered if he would encounter The Fastest Woman Alive, again. He never ceased to be amazed by the multiverse. Maybe he and Cisco would pop over, sometime. But, he put those thoughts aside, for the time being. Savitar and Dr Alchemy were still out there. And who knows what the future held with them on the loose?
End
So, this was a first for me; creating a character of my own is not something I usually do. I really wanted to write a short story about the Flash and the multiverse. Anything can happen, and literally nothing is impossible. I actually had a dream about Team Flash encountering a female Flash from another universe who wore blue instead of red as well as a helmet like Jay Garrick's, so I ran with the idea!
Another point I need to clarify: Natalie is NOT a gender-bent version of Barry Allen. The only similarities they share is that they are both speedsters and they are both called the Flash. They are very different people, with different ways of handling things. Something to look forward to!