11. FLASHPOINT
The Flashpoint story would act as a sequel to the origins of The Flash and the Justice League team-up. Barry Allen will have to face another major dilemma just as things seem to be coming together for him. By now we have been introduced to the major players in this universe enough for some context, so the stakes of Barry creating an alternate timeline to completely change the status quo would feel a lot more significant. This would be a fun opportunity to see alternate versions of other superheroes, as well as establish the Flash's true nemesis: the Reverse-Flash.
After the events of Justice League, Barry Allen is back in Central City. He and Hal Jordan have been partners in crime-fighting often in the last 3 years, but this just happens to be a time when the Green Lantern is dealing with trouble elsewhere in Space Sector 2814. So Barry's on his regular grind, splitting his time between being a forensic scientist and helping Central City police deal with innovative wrongdoers, with the occasional visits to his father at Iron Heights penitentiary. Barry is starting to feel at peace with his reality, and it helps that the people of Central City appreciates his work as the Flash.
Something strange happens during one of Flash's bouts with the delinquent Mardon siblings, Misty and Mark. These young trust fund troublemakers are the children of NimbusTech chairman Marvin Mardon, whose company deals in advanced meteorological modification technology. That's how the two are able to temporarily control the weather, using equipment 'borrowed' from their father's projects.
The Flash eventually rounds up the Mardon siblings, but not before Mark sets off an explosion of lightning bolts that Barry needs to evade. Suddenly, everything seemed to freeze around the speedster. Everything he sees begin to lightly fade until the stationary people and objects become out of focus to him. Even the bolts of electricity chasing him are in suspended animation. Barry is stunned by this, as he himself doesn't seem to be affected.
Barry turns around to see… his deceased mother, alive and smiling at him. He finds himself back in their old living room, in his civilian clothes, and spends a few minutes looking around to orientate himself. Then, his mother's voice comes from upstairs. "Barry!" she calls. "Are you ready to go?"
Barry stands agape as his mother walks down the stairs. Just as he is about to say something, everything around him starts to fade out of focus again. "No no no," he utters, panicking. "No, I don't want to go yet!"
Only Barry and his smiling mother remain in a smokey gray vastness. "How are you feeling?" Mrs Allen asks. She repeats this a few times as Barry struggles to answer.
"How are you feeling?" Suddenly, the form of Barry's mother was replaced by that of a man in a suit similar to Barry's Flash costume, except it was all yellow. The man's eyes are glowing red, but this is quickly replaced by his regular, kindly eyes.
"Hey buddy, how are ya feeling?" the man asks gently. "You okay?"
"Wh-who are you? Where'd my mom go?" Barry asks.
"Ah, my name is Eobard, Eobard Thawne. I can move really fast, just like you. And relative to your time, I'm from the future," the man replies, smiling.
"The f-… the future?"
"Yup."
Eobard explains about a universal entity called the Speed Force, where speedsters like them get their power from. Only when a speedster is ready would the Speed Force reveal itself to them. The Speed Force also allows its connectors to transcend space-time, thus enabling time travel. Eobard explains that he himself had been connecting to the Speed Force, and comes across Barry at that moment in the past by coincidence.
Barry is a little overwhelmed, but thrilled to learn that there are others like him. They have a friendly, animated conversation. Eobard is at least a decade and a half older than Barry, and has had a lot more experience with the speed powers. In the future, Eobard's original time, he would be known affectionately as Professor Zoom. Barry has so many more questions to ask, but feels like he needs to get back to the task at hand. So Eobard agrees to stick around in the present for a while.
Barry learns from Eobard how to exit the Speed Force, and finds himself back in the present, running from the lightning bolts emitted by the Mardon kids. Instead of avoiding the surge of electrical energy, he lets his body absorb it. He is unharmed, and brings Misty and Mark Mardon to the police station, stripped of their weather weapons.
Barry spends the next few weeks being mentored by Eobard, who tells him that the Speed Force would give him incredible abilities like traveling through time. Barry feels inspired to learn how to tap into the Speed Force, but Eobard tells him he would need to become a lot better at harnessing his speed first.
Barry, who by this time has started dating Iris, tells her and his buddy August Heart about Eobard and the Speed Force. Iris is excited and supportive, but August can tell what Barry is really thinking. He is clearly toying with the idea of going back in time to save his mother's life. August says it's a stupid and dangerous idea. Barry gets angry, and tells August off for not understanding.
Around this time he also pays a visit to his father in Iron Heights. Henry Allen doesn't know his son is the Flash. Barry asks him about his mother Nora, a topic that they have not brought up in a while.
Meanwhile, the training continues daily. But even though Eobard tries to coach him, Barry still cannot get fast enough to transcend into the Speed Force.
One night, he is sitting in his room alone, distraught and on the verge of giving up. In an emotional outburst, he accidentally knocks over a framed photo of his mother. In a flash he tapes it back up and goes to sleep, holding it close to his chest.
Just as he goes unconscious, we see his body start to vibrate rapidly and blur out of focus.
The next day, Barry wakes up and realizes that the world isn't quite the same as the day before. At work, he gets blank stares from police captain Singh and others when he mentions the Mardon siblings. He can't find August anywhere, and a young woman named Patty claims that she is his partner. He overhears some people talking about the Flash, but in a deprecatory way, as if the speedster had always been a menace. Then Barry's phone rings, and the caller ID flashes the word 'Mom'.
Barry uneasily answers, and is startled to hear his mother's voice, talking to him as if nothing is wrong. She tells him to come over, she's preparing dinner. When he asks about his father, she confusedly, but soothingly, tells him that Henry has been dead for three years.
Barry is stunned. He tries to run but it seems his incredible speed is gone. What on Earth is going on?
In another city, a masked vigilante is taking down a band of criminals viciously. We see that it's Batman, but not quite the same one we are familiar with in the Justice League. His costume has sharper edges, his cowl has longer ears, his facial hair is less trimmed and his eyes glow red. His fighting style is less fanciful and more rugged. He continues his onslaught until he gets stopped by a green alien in a cape: J'onn J'onnz, the Martian Manhunter, who tells him 'they' need his help. This Batman curtly declines and walks away.
Meanwhile, Barry arrives at his childhood home by car and meets his mother. He is emotional, which catches Nora by surprise. They talk and bond over dinner. Finally, Barry gets the courage to tell her that the world was completely different yesterday, and that he had powers he no longer has. Nora, while trying her best to be supportive, finds it hard to believe and wonders if her son needs help. Barry assures her that he's fine, and to forget about it.
That night, back in his apartment, Barry sees a story about the Batman on the news and gets an idea. He immediately sets off on a journey to Gotham to find Bruce Wayne.
Over in Gotham, the Martian Manhunter is following Batman, trying to persuade him to join 'their' cause, because he believes the vigilante is the only one who can stop 'him'. Batman gets annoyed and turns to whip a thick Batarang at J'onn, who is caught by surprise despite being powerful enough to withstand the attack. However, the Batarang lands on the floor, sparks off and bursts into a small flame. With the pyrophobic Martian distracted, Batman gets on his ATV and rides off.
Barry Allen finally reaches Gotham, and as he has been to the Batcave a few times, manages to track the entrance. Just as he successfully enters, a man appears and stops him, gun drawn. It's Alfred Pennyworth.
In this world Alfred does not seem to recognise Barry. Trying to explain that he is the Flash, a speedster, Alfred finds it hard to believe him, and says that the Flash is a serial killer. Barry even calls Alfred by name, to which the old man finally gives pause.
But it was only when Barry says he knows Bruce Wayne is the Batman, that Alfred lowers his gun.
"Mr. Allen, Bruce Wayne has been dead for decades," Alfred says morosely.
Now it's Barry's turn to be taken aback. He asks who was behind the cowl then. Alfred shrugs and turns around, walking away. "Why don't you ask him yourself."
Barry looks down into the Batcave and realises Batman had been standing there and listening all along. His cowl had been removed, and Barry sees the face of a handsome gentleman, a lot older than Bruce, but more gruff and even less friendly.
"You knew my son," Thomas says.
Barry talks about how just yesterday his entire life had been completely different. Thomas Wayne hypothesizes something that Barry already suspects, that this was a different timeline from his. Thomas himself is skeptical, but does not rule out the possibility. Barry explains that where he came from, Bruce's parents both died in the tragic shooting, leaving him an orphan and sole heir of the Wayne empire. At least according to his Google search.
Thomas is inclined to believe him, since he did manage to find the Batcave unaided, and tells him to stay around for awhile. He chats with Alfred about another matter, the one that the Martian had been hounding him about.
"Martian?" Barry asks. "Like… J'onn J'onnz?"
"That's him," Thomas replies.
"He's a friend of mine too, on... uh… in my original timeline," Barry says. "Maybe I can help."
"You say you're a speedster."
"Yes, uh… I kinda don't… I don't have my speed right now."
"That's funny," Thomas replies. "Because a speedster is causing havoc in Central City just about now."
The massive monitor in front of them flashes to life, showing footage of a yellow blur accented by red sparks of electricity racing across the city and clashing with the police, who do not stand a chance against him. Barry wonders who this speedster could be, to which Alfred casually replies, "Soviet spy, probably."
Barry chuckled, to which Thomas and Alfred both gave him a puzzled look. "Wait, you're serious?"
Turns out in this timeline the Socialist Party in Russia never got around to voting itself out of existence. Thomas explains that the rumour is they discovered a great weapon that the Russian people themselves feared and rallied around, reigniting the Soviet era. People say it involves some variant of hydrogen fusion. Ever since, the USSR and the US have pretty much left each other alone.
However, lately, US intelligence has reported that the USSR is preparing to unleash their weapon on the world, and the impact could be catastrophic. J'onn J'onnz, who masquerades as a CIA operative, is putting together a team in case of an attack, and has been failing to recruit Batman.
"Pride goes before a fall," Alfred comments.
"The situation is beyond me," Thomas says, leering at his butler.
"So you know what the weapon is," Barry asks rhetorically.
"Sure I do." Thomas says as he brings up another video footage on the monitor.
It was of a costumed man accompanied by a band of soldiers, presumably somewhere in the USSR. Barry recognised the man's face immediately. It was Clark Kent. But instead of vibrant red and blue, the costume was a muted maroon and midnight blue. And instead of the 'S' symbol on his chest, it's a stylized 'U' with the silhouette of a hammer across it.
"Comrade Ultra."
The ship that had brought Kal-El to Earth must have landed in Moscow in this timeline instead of the Kent farm in Kansas. When they learned of his abilities, the Soviets had taken him in and molded him into a fail-safe and a central piece of propaganda.
Barry excitedly talks about how in his timeline, he had fought alongside Superman. He knows that the Kryptonian was weak against a green radioactive mineral from his home world. Unfortunately, in this timeline General Zod never attacked Metropolis, so no kryptonite was left behind and neither Thomas nor Alfred has heard of it.
Barry offers to help, but first he must regain his speed powers by recreating the accident, to which Thomas is wary about. "It's your funeral," the senior Wayne says.
Over in this timeline's Washington, D.C., a fleet of hi-tech blimps start uncloaking in the sky, eclipsing the people on the ground who gasp and grimace in terror. We hear an unmistakable sonic boom.
Back in Gotham, it happens to be a stormy day, so Alfred helps Barry set up on the roof of Wayne Manor. A huge metal rod draws bolts of lightning from the sky to it, which travels to a strapped-in Barry. Barry is electrocuted, as hideous burns form on its skin, though he is still alive. It didn't work.
Alfred tries to unstrap Barry, who stops him and weakly says he will try again. "Mr. Allen, that is suicidal. And this is coming from someone who works for Batman."
Barry insists, and Alfred sets the contraption up again, making adjustments. This time, even more bolts of lightning surges through the metal rod as we hear Barry scream in sheer pain.
In Washington, American soldiers scramble out of armoured vehicles as USSR soldiers rappel down from the blimps. A couple of US fighter jets approach D.C. airspace, when suddenly Comrade Ultra, the USSR's Kryptonian and their greatest weapon, burns the planes out of the sky. Down on the ground, a black CIA operative steps out of his car, speaks into his phone and in the veil of mass panic transforms into the Martian Manhunter, flying into the sky. We see several other super-powered beings from this timeline also joining in the fight, like Power Girl and Mister Terrific.
From the Batcave in Gotham, Thomas Wayne is watching this unfold as Alfred walks in. He tells his butler to prepare the plane, and asks about the 'fast kid'. Alfred says he's alive, but resting. Soon after, Batman takes to the sky in an alternate Batwing.
Meanwhile, Barry is lying in a recovery bed within the Batcave, where he is experiencing a host of thoughts and memories like a vicious kaleidoscope through his mind. Eventually he keeps returning to the same memory, of the night he found his mother dead in his original timeline. But an alternate, greyish memory is forcing itself into his head, one where he finds his mother rescued instead.
Before he could make sense of it, he is jolted awake. Alfred is standing by the bed.
"Mr. Allen," Alfred says, noting the burns on Barry's skin already starting to heal. "Master Wayne could probably use the help you offered."
Washington, D.C. Batman arrives and tries to take out as many blimps as he can from the Batwing, safely since Comrade Ultra is busy fending off the Martian Manhunter and his team. The city itself is being torn up by the battle. Once the last blimp starts falling, Thomas ejects himself from the plane and lands on the ground, where he helps to fight the Soviet soldiers.
Barry races into view just as the Batman is getting overpowered. Barry has regained his speed, but still doesn't have his costume, although he figures nobody is really paying attention about his identity since the other speedster in this timeline isn't very well-received. Barry saves Thomas, whose cowl had been removed in the struggle, and together they take down as many enemy soldiers as they can before turning their attention to the sky.
J'onn and his team aren't doing too well. Despite their numbers, the Man of Stal soundly defeats them. J'onn himself is the last to be taken down, as Comrade Ultra personally drives the Martian down through the concrete ground. Barry watches in horror as J'onn lies motionless, while the Kryptonian calmly levitates and stares directly at the speedster. Just then, Thomas Wayne yells out in agony.
Thomas has been shot… by American soldiers. He had sensed being targeted quick enough to avoid a killshot to the head, but a bullet had gone through the nape of his neck from the side. Barry could tell how fatal it is. Between the dying Thomas Wayne, the already dead Martian Manhunter and the ferocious, mindless Red Son Superman, Barry decides it's time he can't save the day and has to make a run for it. He quickly picks up the massive Thomas and bolts, with Comrade Ultra hot on his heels.
With some speedy tactics and fake-outs, Barry manages to lose Comrade Ultra by going faster than he has ever gone before. But just as he was about to reach the Batcave, the menagerie of alternate memories hits him again, and this time he is back in his mother's living room dressed in his Flash suit. Nora Allen is on the ground behind him, cowering in fear.
"Mom, it's me," Barry says assuringly. "I'm here. You'll be okay, I promise. I promise. I won't let him hurt you."
Barry is confused, because although he is saying all this, it's like he is consciously reliving a memory that he has forgotten. A strong sense of deja vu. He turns and sees his mother's true killer.
It's Eobard Thawne.
FLASH. Barry is back in the present, narrowly missing the stone wall and stumbling into Batcave. Alfred loses some of his composure seeing Thomas bleed out and goes over to treat him, but the senior Wayne stops him.
Thomas tells Barry that this world, this timeline isn't right. Barry should go back in time and set things back to where they were. Thomas understands the great sacrifice Barry would have to make, but there is no hope for the world here against Comrade Ultra.
Then Alfred quickly pulls Barry aside and tells him Thomas doesn't seem to have much time left. He tells the speedster about a storage area on the other end of the Batcave that contains leftover material and schematics that could be used to create a new suit. Barry, who has been in his civilian clothes ever since he entered this timeline other than the memory flashbacks, bolts off to storage while Alfred goes to comfort his master and long-time friend.
Barry finds enough material to fashion a brand new Flash suit within minutes, with some cool upgrades. Then he runs, as fast as he can… back to Central City.
His mother, Nora Allen, opens the door and gasps. He has taken off his cowl, tears streaming down his face. "There's no time," he says, emotional. He proceeds to tell her how much he loves her and his father, and that he has to go save the world, but to do that he has to say goodbye to her for good. Nora also starts tearing up, giving her son a hug to comfort him. She still has no idea what's going on, but simply says, "I love you sweetheart. You do what you must."
"Goodbye mom," Barry replies. "I love you too."
Barry goes off in a flash, faster than he has ever felt before, his deep sorrow turning into resolve, until he feels himself getting pulled in every direction. The next moment, he finds himself in a completely different dimension, a formless void of grey and red. He's in the Speed Force, and before him stands Eobard Thawne in his yellow suit, his eyes burning red, his kindly smile replaced with a menacing grin.
Thawne tells Barry that it's too late, that he has been successfully manipulated into helping the former with his plan. Thawne reveals the truth: as a speedster himself in his original time, he had always been overshadowed by the legacy left behind by Barry Allen, and wanted to obliterate it so that he would be known as the fastest man ever, dead or alive. He discovered that on top of his own powers, he can also steal Barry's speed for himself. He also figured the fastest way to do that was to find Barry and teach him to tap directly into the Speed Force, enhancing his kinetic abilities and creating a direct path to Thawne. The process would almost certainly result in Barry's death.
The final part of this story concludes with Barry racing through the Speed Force back to his original timeline, with Thawne hot on his heels, and the two engaging in an intense, high-speed battle. Barry, burning with determination from getting closure with his mother, Thomas Wayne's sacrifice and the call to save his world from the yellow speed-demon, manages to outsmart and overpower Eobard Thawne with his own speed and newly-discovered power of relaying blasts of electricity. Barry grabs Thawne by the fabric on his neck and throws the villain into a desolate part of the Speed Force from where he may never return.
With that, Barry returns to his destined life with Iris, August and his father Henry. The movie concludes with Barry lying in bed at night, clutching the taped-up framed photograph of his mother, but this time with a smile on his face.
Mid-credits:
We see Eobard Thawne lost within the Speed Force, and a visual representation of how he feels all the time streams running through him. Every change, every adjustment to any timeline interacting with the Speed Force deluges him with energy, torturing him. It looks as if this has been happening for a long time, at least relative to Thawne. The yellow suit he wears has turn into a dusty blue, and his cowl has cracked into various lines of grey. This is how Eobard Thawne will remain... until the next time someone finds him in the Speed Force.