Whatever Happened to The Flash?
The lunchroom of Adler High is busy today. The students don't seem to be enjoying today's mystery meat lunch. They would probably enjoy it even less if they knew what was really in it.
Barry Allen, chemistry teacher at Adler, made his way to through the cafeteria, his pre-packed lunch in hand. As he paved a beeline straight for the teacher's lounge, a small, tightly-packed ball of mashed potatoes whizzed past his head. He dodged it easily.
'Sheesh…that's what I get for being late to lunch,' Barry mused to himself. 'At least I saw it coming. If that had happened a week ago, I would've gotten creamed. Thank god for that lightning bolt.'
Barry entered the lounge and was greeted by his fellow teachers, Mr. Waid and Mrs. Broome. "Hey Mark, Jenny."
Mark smiled back at his colleague. "Hey Barry, how're you?"
Barry shrugged as he sat and spread his lunch out. "I'm pretty good, just a little bit frustrated. I can't get my kids to focus on the task at hand. Have either of you had any problems with that?"
Jenny Broome swallowed a bite of her sandwich as she nodded vehemently. "I know exactly what you mean, Barry. They just keep going on about those new heroes that are popping up all over the place. There's even one here in Central City, what's he called?"
Barry shrugged as Mark chimed in with the answer. "The Flash. Y'know, as a History teacher, I wonder what the original Justice Society heroes think about these new guys."
Barry took a drink of his soda and looked at Mark and Jenny, quizically. "Justice Society? What's the Justice Society?"
Mark looked shocked. "You don't know who the Justice Society of America is? Do you live under a rock?"
The three laughed as Mark looked at Jenny. "You know who the JSA is, right?"
Jenny nodded. "Yeah, I remember reading about them when I was in school, but you don't hear much about them anymore."
Barry finished his sandwich as Mark continued. "The Justice Society of America was a team of mysterymen during the 1940's, specifically during World War II. They fought with the Allies in Europe and on the homefront. Let's see…there was Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, The Atom, Dr. Mid-Nite, and Wildcat. The team sort of disappeared towards the middle of the Fifties. I'd guess they just retired, but nobody really knows. I've been trying to find out what happened to them for years, they fascinate me. Nobody even knows their secret identities."
Barry's interest was obviously piqued. He sat back in his chair and sighed. "Huh. Why have I never heard of these guys?"
Jenny chuckled. "Like Mark said, you just live under a rock."
Barry smiled. "And you say nobody knows who they are?"
Mark swallowed the last bite of his lunch and adjusted his glasses. "Nobody knows who they are. I wonder what they think of the new guys."
The sound was split suddenly by a medium-pitched, five-second-long tone, marking the end of the lunch period. As the three teachers left the lounge, Barry lagged behind slightly. "I wonder what they do think of the new guys…"
At the end of the day, Barry jogged up the stairs from the first floor to the third and walked briskly down to Mr. Waid's room. He knocked on the door, and Mark motioned for him to come in. Older students were tutoring younger ones on the other side of the room. Barry sat down in a chair next to Mark's desk.
"Mark," Barry started. "Do you have any books on the Justice Society?"
Mark chuckled. "Geez Barry, you really like this stuff, huh?"
Barry smiled. "I guess I'm just intrigued, that's all. Do you?"
Mark spun around in his chair to the bookshelf next to him. "Yeah, let's see…here's the best one I've got, this'll tell you anything you want to know. That's known, anyway."
Mark turned around again and handed a red and blue-cased book to the chemistry teacher in front of him. Barry took the book and read the title to himself: Heroism: The Last Days of the Justice Society of America.
Barry shook Mark's hand and put the book under his arm. "Thanks, buddy. I'll have this back to you tomorrow."
Barry entered his apartment and closed the door behind him. He set down his bag of papers and pulled the book that Mark had given him from the middle of the bag. He took his coat off, throwing it on the couch as he sat down to read. The book was about an inch thick; five minutes later, Barry was done with the whole book, and the pages were smoking. Barry put the book down and sat back in his seat, musing to himself..
'This book says that the original Flash operated in Keystone City until 1949 when his appearances just became fewer and fewer until finally he just didn't show up anymore. He didn't even wear a mask, and there are pictures of him in here, but none of them are clear enough to make out who he is. I love that costume, though; very Greek mythology. I wonder whatever happened to him…'
Barry stood from his seat and stepped over to the window. He looked out onto the street below. He watched the cars drive by and made up his mind.
'I'm going to find him.'
With that, he was gone.
Minutes later, Barry Allen entered the Keystone City Hall of Records. He walked casually up to the front desk. The woman at the desk stepped forward. "Can I help you?"
Barry smiled and caught his breath. "Yes, I'm looking for newspaper articles on the original Flash, from the 1940's, if you have any."
The woman turned to the computer in front of her and typed some things in on her keyboard. She scrolled through a few screens and finally turned back to Barry. "Alright sir, if you'd follow me. What you're looking for is too old to actually have hard copies of, but we do have quite a bit on microfiche."
He followed her to a large room with bookshelves that reached all the way to the high ceiling. They rounded a corner to find another woman with a box of microfiche slides, looking through them on a large viewing machine. The librarian stopped abruptly as the woman at the machine turned to look at the two of them. "Oh. Well, sir, it looks like someone else is using the machine right now, but if you'd like to come back later –"
The woman at the machine stood up from her chair. "No, no, that's fine, I'm just about done here."
Barry looked at her. He could only think of one coherent thought upon seeing her.
'God, she's beautiful.'
He glanced at the screen behind her and saw a picture of The Flash, standing shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the Justice Society. He stepped forward towards the machine and looked at the woman that was using it. "What're you looking for?"
She turned around to face the machine again. "I'm writing an article for the Central City Gazette on the new Flash. I'm trying to see if there's any connection between he and the original. What're YOU looking for?"
Barry thought quickly. "I'm…doing the same thing. I'm just curious, though. You're a reporter?"
The woman extended her hand to him. "Iris West."
Barry took her hand and shook it. "Barry Allen. Nice to meet you."
The two looked at each other for a moment, still holding each other's hand. The female librarian stepped back as it was apparent the two people in front of her were oblivious to her presence. She cleared her throat, and the two unlocked their hands and turned to look at her. "If you need anything, I'll be at the front desk."
She walked away as Barry and Iris turned back to the microfiche viewer. Iris sat down and Barry leaned on the back of her chair. He looked up at the screen and asked Iris, "Have you found anything?"
Iris sighed. "Nothing to connect the two, but I have learned a lot about the original Flash. He worked in Keystone mostly, occasionally coming to Central. It's very hard to pinpoint his activities to one focal point; the man could canvas all of Keystone in seconds. What's interesting, though, is that a lot of his adventures took place on the campus of Keystone University."
Barry's eyes lit up. "Could The Flash have been a student or a teacher there?"
Iris looked up at the man above her. "It's possible."
Barry scratched the back of his head and thought to himself as he looked at the screen in front of him. 'If The Flash was a student at Keystone University, I could check the records there for a list of potentials. Still, that's a lot of students to check out. I wonder…'
"Iris," Barry asked as she looked at her watch. "Is there any point when – "
Iris stood from her chair quickly, interrupting Barry. "Shoot, I've got a deadline to meet and no story to hand in. I've gotta go. But listen, Mr. Allen –"
Barry interrupted her back. "Please…call me Barry."
She smiled. "Fine…Barry, if you find anything –"
She pulled a small card from her wallet and handed it to Barry.
"- give me a call."
He took the card from her and shook her hand again. "Pleasure meeting you, Ms. West."
Iris shook Barry's hand and turned to walk away. She smiled. "Pleasure to meet you, Barry. And please…call me Iris."
Barry watched her walk away and sighed, relieved. He then turned to the microfiche machine and flipped through all of the Flash-related articles in a matter of seconds. He sat back and stroked his chin. 'Hmmm,' he thought to himself. 'In 1941 his appearances around the campus became fewer and fewer. I'd wager a month's salary that that's when he graduated from the school. Now all I have to do is get a list of the graduating class of 1941.'
Barry returned the microfiche slides to the librarian and positioned himself at a computer terminal. He pulled up a fact file on Keystone University, and accessed a school-year review from 1941. He scrolled down the class list, and his eye was caught by one of the names. 'Hmmm,' Barry thought. 'Jay Garrick…oh wow. I know who Jay Garrick is. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1961 with his theory on time travel and accel….acceleration. Speed.'
Barry sat back in the chair and looked around. He smiled as his eyes lit up. "Huh."
He sighed, somewhat relieved, and sat forward again in his seat, again placing his hands on the keyboard. Using the Internet, Barry accessed a phone book for Keystone City. He entered the last name 'Garrick' and hit 'SEARCH.' A list of five names appeared onscreen. The third name on the list was 'J. Garrick'. Barry wrote down his address on a slip of paper. He closed the program on the computer, stood from his chair, and shoved Jay's address into his pocket. He breathed in deeply and pulled the two slips of paper from his pocket, just to make sure they were still there.
'Iris West and Jay Garrick,' Barry thought to himself. 'This is the best day of my life.'
*KNOCK KNOCK*
Barry lowered his hand from the door and put it back into his jacket pocket. A few moments later a short, silver-haired woman opened the door and looked up at Barry, bewildered. Barry smiled and swallowed. "Hi. My name is Barry Allen, I'm looking for Jay Garrick…?"
The woman smiled. "Yes, let me get him. Come on in. Is he expecting you?"
Barry stepped through the door, closing it behind him. "No, actually, but hopefully he'll be happy to see me."
Barry looked around the opening hall of Jay's house. He saw a picture of a young, brown-haired man in his 20's, standing with another man, slightly older than he with blond hair. Next to the blond man stood a shorter man with brown hair in almost a boxing stance. He looked around as he heard a voice from behind him.
"So you must be Barry Allen."
Barry turned to see a tall, slender man in a golf shirt and khaki slacks standing before him. The man was aging, in his early 80's, but obviously still in good shape. Barry stood for a moment, taking in the moment. He didn't say anything. Jay smiled. "Are you alright?"
Barry blinked and extended his hand. "Mr. Garrick, my name is Barry Allen."
Jay shook Barry's hand firmly. He smiled. "Pleased to meet you, and please, call me Jay. What can I do for you?"
Jay directed Barry into the living room as Barry collected his thoughts. Jay put coffee in the machine and sat down in his chair as Barry paced for a moment. Jay came back into the living room and sat down as Barry sighed and faced Jay. "Alright…this isn't easy for me to say, so I'll just come out and say it. Mr. Garrick, I'm the new Flash, and I know you're the original Flash."
Barry sighed again as a stunned look came across Jay's face. He stood next to Barry and looked him in the eye. "You're The Flash?"
Barry swallowed hard. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."
Jay sat down again. "How did you find out?"
Barry sat next to the older man. "I did some research. It helps that I'm a chemist, like yourself. When I was growing up, you were my hero, sir."
Jay didn't say anything. Barry looked at him, worried. "Mr. Garrick?"
The older man spoke quickly. "You say The Flash was your hero growing up?"
Barry smiled. "No, sir. Not The Flash…you. Jay Garrick. Your theories and experiments made me choose the field I did. I'm a chemistry teacher. Because of you."
Jay looked at Barry. His eyes perked up slightly. "So why did you come to see me?"
"Until recently I didn't even know there WAS a Flash before me," Barry explained. "I came here because I was afraid that you…that you might not approve of my using the name. I guess I was hoping for your blessing, sir."
Jay breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "Is that all? God, son, I was afraid you were going to ask me to be your partner or something!"
Barry smiled as Jay stood again. "So you want to be the Flash, eh?"
Barry stood up next to Jay. "With your permission, sir."
Jay extended his hand, and Barry shook it. Jay smiled at the younger man. "Of course. The Flash name is yours. Run with it."
The two laughed, and Barry sighed again. He turned to pick up the bag he had brought with him. "Well, I'm sure you're a busy man, sir. I'll get out of your hair."
He turned to leave, but Jay put his hand on the young man's shoulder. "Wait, Barry. Do you have your suit?"
Barry patted the bag at his side and nodded. Jay disappeared from the room at superspeed, and seconds later he returned. He wore a red shirt and blue pants. On his feet were red cuffed boots with small gold wings on the sides. Across his shirt was a yellow lightning bolt, rising up from his belt and ending in the middle of his chest. Atop his head sat a silver bowl-shaped helmet with wings on the sides.
Barry stepped back. "Wow."
Jay chuckled. "Suit up."
Three seconds later Flash stood next to Flash. Jay smiled and yelled into the other room. "Joan?"
The older woman came back out into the living room and a look of surprise came across her face. Jay smiled at her. "We'll be back for dinner."
His wife glared at him. "'We'll?' Honestly, Jay Garrick, you might ask me about these things beforehand."
Jay chuckled. "We'll be back for dinner."
He turned to the younger man next to him. "Let's run."
With that, the two men were gone.
FADE TO BLACK
The lunchroom of Adler High is busy today. The students don't seem to be enjoying today's mystery meat lunch. They would probably enjoy it even less if they knew what was really in it.
Barry Allen, chemistry teacher at Adler, made his way to through the cafeteria, his pre-packed lunch in hand. As he paved a beeline straight for the teacher's lounge, a small, tightly-packed ball of mashed potatoes whizzed past his head. He dodged it easily.
'Sheesh…that's what I get for being late to lunch,' Barry mused to himself. 'At least I saw it coming. If that had happened a week ago, I would've gotten creamed. Thank god for that lightning bolt.'
Barry entered the lounge and was greeted by his fellow teachers, Mr. Waid and Mrs. Broome. "Hey Mark, Jenny."
Mark smiled back at his colleague. "Hey Barry, how're you?"
Barry shrugged as he sat and spread his lunch out. "I'm pretty good, just a little bit frustrated. I can't get my kids to focus on the task at hand. Have either of you had any problems with that?"
Jenny Broome swallowed a bite of her sandwich as she nodded vehemently. "I know exactly what you mean, Barry. They just keep going on about those new heroes that are popping up all over the place. There's even one here in Central City, what's he called?"
Barry shrugged as Mark chimed in with the answer. "The Flash. Y'know, as a History teacher, I wonder what the original Justice Society heroes think about these new guys."
Barry took a drink of his soda and looked at Mark and Jenny, quizically. "Justice Society? What's the Justice Society?"
Mark looked shocked. "You don't know who the Justice Society of America is? Do you live under a rock?"
The three laughed as Mark looked at Jenny. "You know who the JSA is, right?"
Jenny nodded. "Yeah, I remember reading about them when I was in school, but you don't hear much about them anymore."
Barry finished his sandwich as Mark continued. "The Justice Society of America was a team of mysterymen during the 1940's, specifically during World War II. They fought with the Allies in Europe and on the homefront. Let's see…there was Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, The Atom, Dr. Mid-Nite, and Wildcat. The team sort of disappeared towards the middle of the Fifties. I'd guess they just retired, but nobody really knows. I've been trying to find out what happened to them for years, they fascinate me. Nobody even knows their secret identities."
Barry's interest was obviously piqued. He sat back in his chair and sighed. "Huh. Why have I never heard of these guys?"
Jenny chuckled. "Like Mark said, you just live under a rock."
Barry smiled. "And you say nobody knows who they are?"
Mark swallowed the last bite of his lunch and adjusted his glasses. "Nobody knows who they are. I wonder what they think of the new guys."
The sound was split suddenly by a medium-pitched, five-second-long tone, marking the end of the lunch period. As the three teachers left the lounge, Barry lagged behind slightly. "I wonder what they do think of the new guys…"
At the end of the day, Barry jogged up the stairs from the first floor to the third and walked briskly down to Mr. Waid's room. He knocked on the door, and Mark motioned for him to come in. Older students were tutoring younger ones on the other side of the room. Barry sat down in a chair next to Mark's desk.
"Mark," Barry started. "Do you have any books on the Justice Society?"
Mark chuckled. "Geez Barry, you really like this stuff, huh?"
Barry smiled. "I guess I'm just intrigued, that's all. Do you?"
Mark spun around in his chair to the bookshelf next to him. "Yeah, let's see…here's the best one I've got, this'll tell you anything you want to know. That's known, anyway."
Mark turned around again and handed a red and blue-cased book to the chemistry teacher in front of him. Barry took the book and read the title to himself: Heroism: The Last Days of the Justice Society of America.
Barry shook Mark's hand and put the book under his arm. "Thanks, buddy. I'll have this back to you tomorrow."
Barry entered his apartment and closed the door behind him. He set down his bag of papers and pulled the book that Mark had given him from the middle of the bag. He took his coat off, throwing it on the couch as he sat down to read. The book was about an inch thick; five minutes later, Barry was done with the whole book, and the pages were smoking. Barry put the book down and sat back in his seat, musing to himself..
'This book says that the original Flash operated in Keystone City until 1949 when his appearances just became fewer and fewer until finally he just didn't show up anymore. He didn't even wear a mask, and there are pictures of him in here, but none of them are clear enough to make out who he is. I love that costume, though; very Greek mythology. I wonder whatever happened to him…'
Barry stood from his seat and stepped over to the window. He looked out onto the street below. He watched the cars drive by and made up his mind.
'I'm going to find him.'
With that, he was gone.
Minutes later, Barry Allen entered the Keystone City Hall of Records. He walked casually up to the front desk. The woman at the desk stepped forward. "Can I help you?"
Barry smiled and caught his breath. "Yes, I'm looking for newspaper articles on the original Flash, from the 1940's, if you have any."
The woman turned to the computer in front of her and typed some things in on her keyboard. She scrolled through a few screens and finally turned back to Barry. "Alright sir, if you'd follow me. What you're looking for is too old to actually have hard copies of, but we do have quite a bit on microfiche."
He followed her to a large room with bookshelves that reached all the way to the high ceiling. They rounded a corner to find another woman with a box of microfiche slides, looking through them on a large viewing machine. The librarian stopped abruptly as the woman at the machine turned to look at the two of them. "Oh. Well, sir, it looks like someone else is using the machine right now, but if you'd like to come back later –"
The woman at the machine stood up from her chair. "No, no, that's fine, I'm just about done here."
Barry looked at her. He could only think of one coherent thought upon seeing her.
'God, she's beautiful.'
He glanced at the screen behind her and saw a picture of The Flash, standing shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the Justice Society. He stepped forward towards the machine and looked at the woman that was using it. "What're you looking for?"
She turned around to face the machine again. "I'm writing an article for the Central City Gazette on the new Flash. I'm trying to see if there's any connection between he and the original. What're YOU looking for?"
Barry thought quickly. "I'm…doing the same thing. I'm just curious, though. You're a reporter?"
The woman extended her hand to him. "Iris West."
Barry took her hand and shook it. "Barry Allen. Nice to meet you."
The two looked at each other for a moment, still holding each other's hand. The female librarian stepped back as it was apparent the two people in front of her were oblivious to her presence. She cleared her throat, and the two unlocked their hands and turned to look at her. "If you need anything, I'll be at the front desk."
She walked away as Barry and Iris turned back to the microfiche viewer. Iris sat down and Barry leaned on the back of her chair. He looked up at the screen and asked Iris, "Have you found anything?"
Iris sighed. "Nothing to connect the two, but I have learned a lot about the original Flash. He worked in Keystone mostly, occasionally coming to Central. It's very hard to pinpoint his activities to one focal point; the man could canvas all of Keystone in seconds. What's interesting, though, is that a lot of his adventures took place on the campus of Keystone University."
Barry's eyes lit up. "Could The Flash have been a student or a teacher there?"
Iris looked up at the man above her. "It's possible."
Barry scratched the back of his head and thought to himself as he looked at the screen in front of him. 'If The Flash was a student at Keystone University, I could check the records there for a list of potentials. Still, that's a lot of students to check out. I wonder…'
"Iris," Barry asked as she looked at her watch. "Is there any point when – "
Iris stood from her chair quickly, interrupting Barry. "Shoot, I've got a deadline to meet and no story to hand in. I've gotta go. But listen, Mr. Allen –"
Barry interrupted her back. "Please…call me Barry."
She smiled. "Fine…Barry, if you find anything –"
She pulled a small card from her wallet and handed it to Barry.
"- give me a call."
He took the card from her and shook her hand again. "Pleasure meeting you, Ms. West."
Iris shook Barry's hand and turned to walk away. She smiled. "Pleasure to meet you, Barry. And please…call me Iris."
Barry watched her walk away and sighed, relieved. He then turned to the microfiche machine and flipped through all of the Flash-related articles in a matter of seconds. He sat back and stroked his chin. 'Hmmm,' he thought to himself. 'In 1941 his appearances around the campus became fewer and fewer. I'd wager a month's salary that that's when he graduated from the school. Now all I have to do is get a list of the graduating class of 1941.'
Barry returned the microfiche slides to the librarian and positioned himself at a computer terminal. He pulled up a fact file on Keystone University, and accessed a school-year review from 1941. He scrolled down the class list, and his eye was caught by one of the names. 'Hmmm,' Barry thought. 'Jay Garrick…oh wow. I know who Jay Garrick is. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1961 with his theory on time travel and accel….acceleration. Speed.'
Barry sat back in the chair and looked around. He smiled as his eyes lit up. "Huh."
He sighed, somewhat relieved, and sat forward again in his seat, again placing his hands on the keyboard. Using the Internet, Barry accessed a phone book for Keystone City. He entered the last name 'Garrick' and hit 'SEARCH.' A list of five names appeared onscreen. The third name on the list was 'J. Garrick'. Barry wrote down his address on a slip of paper. He closed the program on the computer, stood from his chair, and shoved Jay's address into his pocket. He breathed in deeply and pulled the two slips of paper from his pocket, just to make sure they were still there.
'Iris West and Jay Garrick,' Barry thought to himself. 'This is the best day of my life.'
*KNOCK KNOCK*
Barry lowered his hand from the door and put it back into his jacket pocket. A few moments later a short, silver-haired woman opened the door and looked up at Barry, bewildered. Barry smiled and swallowed. "Hi. My name is Barry Allen, I'm looking for Jay Garrick…?"
The woman smiled. "Yes, let me get him. Come on in. Is he expecting you?"
Barry stepped through the door, closing it behind him. "No, actually, but hopefully he'll be happy to see me."
Barry looked around the opening hall of Jay's house. He saw a picture of a young, brown-haired man in his 20's, standing with another man, slightly older than he with blond hair. Next to the blond man stood a shorter man with brown hair in almost a boxing stance. He looked around as he heard a voice from behind him.
"So you must be Barry Allen."
Barry turned to see a tall, slender man in a golf shirt and khaki slacks standing before him. The man was aging, in his early 80's, but obviously still in good shape. Barry stood for a moment, taking in the moment. He didn't say anything. Jay smiled. "Are you alright?"
Barry blinked and extended his hand. "Mr. Garrick, my name is Barry Allen."
Jay shook Barry's hand firmly. He smiled. "Pleased to meet you, and please, call me Jay. What can I do for you?"
Jay directed Barry into the living room as Barry collected his thoughts. Jay put coffee in the machine and sat down in his chair as Barry paced for a moment. Jay came back into the living room and sat down as Barry sighed and faced Jay. "Alright…this isn't easy for me to say, so I'll just come out and say it. Mr. Garrick, I'm the new Flash, and I know you're the original Flash."
Barry sighed again as a stunned look came across Jay's face. He stood next to Barry and looked him in the eye. "You're The Flash?"
Barry swallowed hard. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."
Jay sat down again. "How did you find out?"
Barry sat next to the older man. "I did some research. It helps that I'm a chemist, like yourself. When I was growing up, you were my hero, sir."
Jay didn't say anything. Barry looked at him, worried. "Mr. Garrick?"
The older man spoke quickly. "You say The Flash was your hero growing up?"
Barry smiled. "No, sir. Not The Flash…you. Jay Garrick. Your theories and experiments made me choose the field I did. I'm a chemistry teacher. Because of you."
Jay looked at Barry. His eyes perked up slightly. "So why did you come to see me?"
"Until recently I didn't even know there WAS a Flash before me," Barry explained. "I came here because I was afraid that you…that you might not approve of my using the name. I guess I was hoping for your blessing, sir."
Jay breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "Is that all? God, son, I was afraid you were going to ask me to be your partner or something!"
Barry smiled as Jay stood again. "So you want to be the Flash, eh?"
Barry stood up next to Jay. "With your permission, sir."
Jay extended his hand, and Barry shook it. Jay smiled at the younger man. "Of course. The Flash name is yours. Run with it."
The two laughed, and Barry sighed again. He turned to pick up the bag he had brought with him. "Well, I'm sure you're a busy man, sir. I'll get out of your hair."
He turned to leave, but Jay put his hand on the young man's shoulder. "Wait, Barry. Do you have your suit?"
Barry patted the bag at his side and nodded. Jay disappeared from the room at superspeed, and seconds later he returned. He wore a red shirt and blue pants. On his feet were red cuffed boots with small gold wings on the sides. Across his shirt was a yellow lightning bolt, rising up from his belt and ending in the middle of his chest. Atop his head sat a silver bowl-shaped helmet with wings on the sides.
Barry stepped back. "Wow."
Jay chuckled. "Suit up."
Three seconds later Flash stood next to Flash. Jay smiled and yelled into the other room. "Joan?"
The older woman came back out into the living room and a look of surprise came across her face. Jay smiled at her. "We'll be back for dinner."
His wife glared at him. "'We'll?' Honestly, Jay Garrick, you might ask me about these things beforehand."
Jay chuckled. "We'll be back for dinner."
He turned to the younger man next to him. "Let's run."
With that, the two men were gone.
FADE TO BLACK