Chapter 2:
Who is the Flash?
Who is the Flash?
"Hello there. My name is Barry Allen, and I am the fastest man alive. While my friend's origin story was neat and a little dark, especially towards the end, I will tell you the origins of my power: super speed. It all started one year ago while I was a CSI for the CCPD. I was heading towards the scene of a robbery that ended badly…."
- 1 Year ago, downtown Central City, Saturday morning before the particle accelerator explosion-
"Allen, you're late, again!" Captain David Singh said as he greeted Barry, who was making his way towards the crime scene. "Allen, why are you late again? Car trouble?" He asked.
"Sorry I'm late sir, I didn't get a good night's sleep, and so everything hasn't been going well for me this morning," Barry responded as he got his equipment out of his bag.
"Do you remember what happen the last time you were late, Allen?" Singh asked as he becoming visibly frustrated. "No, sir, I don't remember," Barry replied, still getting his things from his bag.
"Well, Singh started, you were in so late and such in a rush that you spilled my coffee all over my nice jacket after you ran into me because you were late." He continued, "I had to leave the crime scene immediately to get it dry cleaned and because of the coffee stain in the jacket, getting the stain out was very expensive." "Now I have coffee in my hand again today because I need my coffee, especially at 6 am in the morning." "Please watch where you are going before you spill another cup, as I don't want to be covered in coffee like the last time," Singh said. "Oh, and Barry?" Singh asked as he was about to exam the rest of the crime scene.
"Yes, Captain?" Barry asked as he started his forensics work on the tire tracks; he found that they were leading away from the crime scene.
"I suggest you go to sleep or wake up earlier. Then, you won't be late, and we wouldn't be having this conversation." Singh replied. "Now, continue with your work on this crime scene. I would like you to tell me what the hell happened here in the next few minutes." With that, the conversation ended, and Barry continued his work on the crime scene. That is until Detective Joe West walked up to Barry and pulled him over to the side.
"Barry," Joe asked, concerned that his adoptive son has been neglecting sleep due to his late-night cold case investigations.
"Yes, Joe?" Barry replied, frustrated that the continual conversation they were having regarding this topic was getting stale, and walked towards his work. Joe followed Barry, and as he was talking, Barry just listened to his adoptive father while he worked.
"Barry, Joe whispered to not disturb the other officers examining the scene, "I know that you have been going over the evidence of your mom's murder every single night since you were hired by the CCPD," Joe said. Barry remained silent as he listened to his adoptive father continue.
"Look, I know that you can't let it go because he is your dad and that you care for him, but there is no possible way that what you saw that night was what actually happened." Joe continued on. "I mean two flashes of spinning light surrounding your mom and then your mom ending up dead because of one of those spinning lights?" "I mean, come on, Barry, I need you to stop working on a case that has already been closed and focus on the present." "It's detrimental to your health, and just like the captain said, it affects other people around you."
"Joe, I know that it doesn't make sense, and I know that it is causing issues, but I can't let it go because I know what I saw that night. Nothing will change my mind." "I joined CSI at the CCPD because of my mom's death and my dad's arrest. I joined to not only help people but to also try and look at the one case I know shouldn't have gone down the way it did." Barry responded. Barry continued, "Look, I know that my dad is innocent, and I will prove it someday."
"In any case, I am finished with analyzing the tire tracks at the crime scene. I also had a look at the victim's body, and it appears there was some sort of struggle as I found skin in the victim's fingernails. I'll have to take them back to the lab for DNA analysis, but in the meantime, a preliminary analysis of the tire tracks seems to indicate that the suspects left in a hurry." "If you look at the tire tracks, you can see that the tracks are very dark in comparison to the asphalt that they appear on." The tire spun so quickly that the resulting friction literally burned the rubber off the tires." "The getaway car is a Ford Mustang Shelby." "They are known to have asymmetrical 12-thread tires."
"Hey, would you look at this?" Barry walks over to Joe's partner to get the pen from his pocket. "It looks like animal fecal matter." "I'll have to take this back to the lab as well."
-CCPD Forensics Lab, Saturday evening a couple of hours before the particle accelerator explosion-
"Hey, Barry, I'm finally ready to go to the particle accelerator start-up you are always talking about." Iris West says as she walks into the CCPD lab.
"Hey, Iris, there was a robbery and a shooting earlier today." "Joe wants me to analyze the evidence that was found at the crime scene."
"Come on, Barry, it is your dream to see this thing start-up, isn't it?" Iris responds as they walk around the lab. "It looks like your analysis thing is done." She continues.
Joe walks into the lab to get an update from Barry. "Iris," Joe says as he walks to them both. "Please let Barry work."
"Ah, Joe, just the person I wanted to see," Barry says as he sees Joe walk into the lab. "I finished analyzing the evidence found at the crime scene," Barry said as he brought up a mapping program on his computer. "I believe the fecal matter belongs to a cow from a farm that uses antibiotics in its meat and milk." "There are only 4 that are located in the Central City area." "Two of which are located in the nearby suburb called Amity Park."
"In addition, I did more research, and it appears that the farms in Amity Park are owned and operated by Vlado." "The way Vladco came into being so fast that because of how fast the company gained prominence, it was investigated by the SEC, but no evidence of wrongdoing was ever found." "As far as the DNA is concerned, it's nothing like I've ever seen before." "It doesn't match anything that we have in our criminal database, but it doesn't look like its animal or even human DNA, to begin with." "It even has a glowing property that shouldn't show in normal human DNA." "Joe, I think I found evidence of the impossible here with this DNA finding."
"Alright, well, I am sure that I can find whoever or whatever it is that has this DNA you found at whatever farm they are hiding out in," Joe said as he was taking in the information. As the conversation ended, Iris spoke up and said, "Hey, since Barry is done with the evidence analysis can we go see the particle accelerator start?" After a few seconds of thought, Joe responded by saying yes. Both Iris and Barry then headed out the door, and Joe went to go talk to his partner so they could go hunting for the robbers.
-While Barry and Iris are enjoying themselves at STAR Labs, Wells was giving a speech to a crowd of tourists and protestors as there was a thunderstorm-
"So, Barry, did you find what you were looking for while you were in Starling City?" Iris asks as they start walking around the laboratory.
"Actually, Iris, I didn't find anything while looking around the city." "But I did come to a realization," Barry responded.
"A realization about what, Barry?" Iris asked as they started to walk down the stairs.
"I came to the realization about how I'm not in a relationship. It made me think about us." Barry explained. "You know, Barry, Iris responded as she turned to him; if you ever find someone, just know that I will support you in your decision." Just then, a thief came out of nowhere and snatched Iris's purse. "Hey, thief!" Iris screamed.
That's when Barry decided to go after the thief running as fast as he could. He eventually catches up to the thief, but the thief turns around and punches Barry's face. As Barry falls, the thief makes his way to the fence and starts climbing. Once on the other side, a police officer is standing there waiting for the thief.
-Elsewhere, at one of the farms Vladco owns, the rain is starting to pour, and thunder starts to roll in-
The two robbers arrived at the farm and parked the car. The Martin brothers had arrived at their rendezvous with their mysterious benefactor, who had sent a duplicate to the crime to help them out. While the thieves weren't caught at the scene of the robbery, they had left evidence behind. The benefactor didn't want anyone dead yet, but unfortunately, he had to step in during the theft to help them escape. When the Martin brothers finally entered the farm, the mysterious benefactor stepped out into the light to reveal himself. However, it wasn't someone they were expecting. The Martin brothers walk up to him ask who he is.
He responds by saying, "Hello there, my name is Vlad Plasmius, and I am a ghost." "I am the mysterious benefactor that asked you to steal those items for me." "I have your payment right here along with a getaway plane."
Just then, a screech could be heard, and Vlad knew the brothers would be caught. He slammed into one of them, knocking them out. Plasmius then flew to the other and grabbed the items from the bag they were in. "Now, I'd suggest that you leave here immediately," Plasmius says with a smirk as he went invisible.
Meanwhile, the detectives arrive to see the Mustang GT Shelby parked outside the farmhouse. "Ok, West, you take that side, and I'll take the other." West's partner says. West then begins to knock on the farm door. "This is the police; come out with your hands up and place any and all weapons on the ground!"
The Martin brother that Plasmius knocked out finally wakes up. His brother tells him the cops are here. As the cops enter the farmhouse, the brothers hide behind some debris and begin to open fire on the cops. One of the brothers keeps firing his pistol at the detectives while the other starts the plane and begins to drive the plane down the open field. The other brother continues to fire at the detective when a loud CRACKAKABOOM could be heard from the particle accelerator explosion downtown. Joe's partner yelled, "What the fuck was that?!" as he and Joe look up to a massive wave of antimatter heading in their direction. While they look up, the brother they were chasing continues to fire his weapon, nicking Joe's partner in his ear. He yells, "Sorry, but I have a plane to catch!" as he makes his way towards the biplane. The plane takes off, and as Joe watches his partner fade, he sees the massive explosion from the particle accelerator take out the biplane the brothers were on, completely destroying it.
-At the CCPD, the storm rages with thunder bellowing; rain pattering the roof of the precinct building-
Barry and Iris sit down in the lobby while Officer Thawne processes the thief for assault and burglary. "Oh, so that's Officer pretty-boy," Iris comments to Barry while he sits in a chair with an ice pack on his eye.
"You mean Officer Thawne?" "He's a transfer from KeyStone City," Barry replies as he gets ready to go upstairs to go over possible new evidence in his mother's death.
"Yeah, well, he sure is pretty, that's for sure." "So, what he stopped a mugger." "What is he so proud of?" Iris replies.
As Barry begins to move, he says, "Well, thanks to the mugger, our night has been ruined." "I'm going upstairs to see if I can get another look at that DNA that was found at the crime scene earlier today." "I'll see you later, Iris." With that, he walked upstairs to the lab, and the conversation was finished. As Barry entered the lab, he began looking at the evidence from the crime scene and the evidence he collected over the years.
As he begins a new analysis, he puts the radio on to hear how the particle accelerator is doing. The announcer starts by saying, "It appears there have been calls to evacuate the lab." "It appears that the storm is messing with the particle…" The feed was cut, and there was nothing but static heard as the storm cut the power to the lab. Just the power cut, Barry looked up and saw a massive explosion coming from STAR labs. As the blast approached the CCPD lab, Barry grabs the metal chain hanging from the ceiling in an attempt to close the roof window as the rain started to leak through. There was loud CRAKAKABOOM, and at that moment, Barry was struck by an antimatter-infused lightning bolt, knocking him unconscious.
Meanwhile, in the Ghost Zone, a giant clock tower looms in a dimension separate from time. Inside, view screens flicker to different events from different timelines, all converging into one. A figure floats up the view screens and says, "All is as it should be."
Next Time:
8 Months Later: What the hell happened?