FLASHBACK TO THE NIGHT BEFORE
Barry knew then that he was traveling so fast, faster than he has ever been. Running around the pipeline, again and again, pushing his limits.
"Guys, I think I can go even faster," Barry said on the com.
"Then push it..." he heard his friend said.
Barry pushed himself to go faster, he heard his friend talked about how astonishing the results were, he felt both happy and grateful. He had been on the edge of losing his powers for so long. Suddenly a weird feeling washed over him.
"Wait a minute... something is not right, I am feeling... Woah! What is this...?" Barry saw a breach open right in front of him, speeding so fast, he went straight into the breach.
The next thing he knew was coming out of the breach onto a road, speeding on the unfamiliar road, he sped through the area. He went through a town, running in that area before returning to the place where he came out of the breach.
"Where on earth am I?" Barry thought as he walked and looks around the place where he came out from the breach, "This is not Central City, Wait, did I time travel? No, I couldn't have, I saw people holding touch-screen phones... Wait a second..." Barry saw a car facing a tree not far from him.
Barry sped forward to the car, looking around, he soon realized that the car had crashed. He saw two people inside, seemingly teenagers, a boy, and a girl, "Probably a couple," Barry thought to himself as he gets the two of them out of the wreckage, laying them down the ground. He suddenly thought of a problem, he had come to who knows where without a change of clothes or anything else, going to get help or bringing in the two kids himself like this could be a risk. Then, an idea hit Barry, he began speeding around in circles, then he shot a bolt of lightning into the sky, before doing it again and again, trying to get someone attention.
Then, he heard a car nearing the place, he went and hid behind some trees, seeing as a man got down from the car and then bringing the two kids into his car before speeding off, presumably to a hospital. Knowing that the two kids will be safe, Barry sped away into the woods.
As he sped far enough into the woods, he heard sounds of growling and grunting. Feeling both weirded out and more confused, Barry decided not to look into the matter. He only has one thought right now, to find out where in the world is he.
PRESENT DAY
Courtney and Cameron were sleeping in the bed, cuddling each other, looking so sweet and peaceful together. Then the alarm went off. Cameron turned it off sleepily before getting up. Looking at her girlfriend, sleeping so peacefully. Cameron smiled to himself, Courtney was a heavy sleeper. Thinking of the past year, she was the best thing that happened to him in the past few months. With all the things going on with his father and the ISA, it was Courtney who believed in him even knowing that his father was Icicle. Smiling, he gave Courtney a little nudge to wake her up.
"Wake up babe, you don't wanna be late for the second day of the new term..." Cameron nudged Courtney, trying to wake her up.
"Just... another five minutes..." Cameron heard Courtney groans out loud.
"Fine babe, but I gotta warn you..." Cameron looked at the clock, smirking to himself. "There are just 5 minutes before you need to leave," Cameron said, struggling not to laugh.
Hearing her boyfriend telling her that she only has 5 minutes left to prepare, Courtney shot up and began rambling when she is in a rush.
"What! Oh... I knew we shouldn't have done it last night... What on earth! I'm going to have to skip breakfast..." Courtney jumped down from the bed, running around the room to get changed and prepare for school. Then, she heard the sound of Cameron laughing.
Courtney looked at Cameron, "You were lying right?"
"What do you think? Ha! Oh, you should have seen that look on your face, it was priceless!" Cameron wheezed as he laughed.
"Oh, you jerk~" Courtney sat down on the bed and gave Cameron a little push.
"Well, you can continue to have your beauty sleep now~," Cameron said chuckling.
"You are joking right..." Courtney rolled her eyes. "You just gave me a shock and you expect me to sleep?"
"Ha! I got you good~" Cameron noticed Courtney glaring at him. "Oh, c'mon~ You know you like it when I do this..."
Courtney rolled her eyes, smiling to herself, she does love it. Others may not see it, but Cameron always tries to prank Courtney occasionally.
"Ugh... might as well head down now," Courtney said standing up again, heading to get dressed.
After taking a shower and changing, the duo head downstairs. Barbara and Pat were already downstairs making breakfast.
"Hey, Court, Cameron, you two are up early...," Barbara said as she carried a tray of food to the table.
"Yeah, we know," said Courtney as Cameron chuckles softly.
"Mmm... this smells nice Barbara," Cameron praised.
"Oh, don't flatter me, Pat did the cooking," Barbara said as she placed the tray down on the dining table.
"Yeah...," Pat said as he sat down at the table.
Cameron smiled, he always seemed to smile a lot nowadays, Courtney's family felt like his family too. Ever since his father was defeated by the JSA, Pat and Barbara were quick to embrace him and bring him into their family. They were chatting while eating at the table, as usual. He was so grateful he has them.
MEANWHILE SOMEWHERE IN THE WOODS
Barry has changed into a set of old clothes he found while running through the town, even though he knew that it was stealing, he also knew that he doesn't have a choice. Barry knew that he was lost, he knew that Central City was now vulnerable to attacks and is desperate to find a way home. His Flash suit was kept in the ring that Cisco created. It was somewhat like Thawne's ring suit. Barry then sped off to the edge of the town, making sure nobody spotted him. He walked down the aisle outside a row of shops. After a day of arriving and scouting, Barry knew that he was in Blue Valley, Nebraska as he spotted the signboard as he raced through the town the day he arrived.
"Hello..." Barry was pulled out of his thoughts as someone greeted him.
Barry looked up and saw a man, greeting him. "Excuse me, do I know you?" he asked.
"No, but it has been always the way of this town, we are open to new friends," the man said friendly.
"I see, by the way..." Barry blurted out unintentionally before stopping himself. "What's the date today, I seem to have lost count of the days..." Barry tried to think of an excuse.
"Well today is the 13th of August, 2020," the man added.
"All right... Thank you," Barry said nodding his head.
"You're welcome, hoped that helped you," the man said before walking away. Barry nodded before continuing down the aisle, thinking hard.
Barry was confused, he hadn't time-traveled, yet he was in a place where he doesn't recognize. He saw a newspaper store, he walked over to it. Feeling his pants, he felt a small amount of money the previous owner had accidentally left in the pockets. He brought a paper and began to look through if he can find anything useful.
As he read through the newspaper, a headline caught his attention, "The Red Blur". His fears were confirmed, he was spotted two nights before. "A red blur with yellow lightning was spotted streaking through the roads of Blue Valley..." he read internally.
Then, another line in the paper caught his attention. "Will the JSA solve this mystery and potential threat?". "The JSA? Justice Society of America?" Barry thought to himself. "A superhero team ... maybe they can help me, but I need to find them first... wait how come I never heard of this JSA? Unless… No… That's impossible…" Barry thought as he slowly pieces the puzzle together.
BLUE VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL
It was a normal day for the students of Blue Valley High School, going about their life as usual. Students in the hallway going about the school. It was the sight that the new girl saw as she approached her new school. Taking a deep breath, she walks into what will be her new school. As the girl walked around the school compound before school started, she saw what seems to be a normal school. As she looked around at the peoples while walking down the hallway, she bumped into a person. The new girl immediately looked up and her eyes matched with a girl wearing a green shade of attire.
"Oh! I'm sorry…" The girl began.
"Oh, don't worry, I don't mind… Hey, are you new here?" asked the other girl.
"Umm… yeah, how did you know?"
"Well, I never seen you around here before, believe me, the school is a small world…" the girl said smiling. "Oh, by the way, I'm Artemis Crock, you can just call be Artemis, welcome to Blue Valley High," Artemis introduced herself.
"Hi, my name is…" the new girl was cut off by the ringing of the bells.
"Oh shoot…" Artemis said. "I gotta head to the classroom, I might see you later then," she said before leaving hurryingly.
"Yeah, sure…" the new girl replied before heading to find her classroom.
After a while of scouting the school and asking for direction, she found it. "Gosh, how hard can it be to find a classroom? Very…" the new girl thought to herself as she knocked on the door. The teacher inside motioned her to come in.
"Miss, you're late… Wait, oh you're the new transfer student, aren't you?" the teacher faced turn from visible frustration to cheerfulness upon realizing.
"Yeah, I am," the new girl said.
"Class, I forgot to tell you that you will be having someone new with you from this term onwards. Would you like to introduce yourself?" asked the teacher, motioning the new girl to step forward.
The new girl nodded and turned to face the class, there were around 20 people in the class, all staring at her. Then, the new girl caught Artemis looking at her, waving her hand at her. She smiled then began to introduce herself, "Hello, everyone, my name is Jesse… Jesse Chambers," murmurings were heard from the class as Jesse introduced herself.
"Welcome to Blue Valley High, Mrs. Chambers, now please, find a place to settle down…"
"Hey, Jesse! You can sit down next to me," Artemis offered loudly, grabbing the attention of the class, making a few of them snicker briefly.
"Sure, Artemis!" Jesse called back. Some of the students were surprised that the new girl and Artemis knew each other. Jesse moved her desk to the space next to Artemis, after settling down, the teacher resumed teaching.
"Hmm… What are the odds?" Artemis talked to Jesse.
"Yeah... I know right?" In her heart, Jesse knew she found her first friend in this new school, in this new environment.
Later, during lunch break, Jesse was following her new friend, Artemis, as the green attired girl introduced everything she knew about the school and the town. Artemis and Jesse were at the canteen, eating and chatting.
"By the way, I'm sure you heard of the whole good guys and bad guys showdown here not too long ago right?" Artemis asked changing the topic suddenly again. Jesse became interested in hearing what Artemis had to say.
"Wait what?" Jesse asked curiously.
"You don't know, well let me tell you then, about a year ago, this group of "superheroes" popped out of nowhere and a whole lot of underground activity has been uncovered, our ex-principal was revealed to be one of the bad guys and along with a bunch of famous figures within the town," Artemis explained.
"Wow, that's weird isn't it?" asked Jesse. "In a small town like this?"
"Oh… Jesse, plenty of weird things have happened the past year…" Jesse watched as Artemis turns and looked at a table not far from them. "Take this for example," Artemis said subtly pointing to that very table she pointed earlier.
Artemis looked at the table, she saw 4 people there, there were 2 girls and 2 boys. "You mean those 4 students?" Jesse asked.
"4? There're usually 6," Artemis said puzzled.
"What's wrong with them? They look like a group of normal people to me," Jesse asked.
"Well, you see, a year ago, these people are not even friends, not even on talking terms with each other," Artemis emphasized. "You see… they were just a group of outcasts in this school, not all of them though."
"Well, maybe they just decided to be friends with each other? I honestly don't see anything weird with that, Artemis."
"Let me break this down for you Jesse. This group of friends was both special and weird in many ways as they were brought together, for seemingly no reason. Another reason is that their being friends in the first place make no sense at all." Artemis began to explain. Jesse was about to say something, but she didn't as Artemis motioned her to let her continue her story.
"Their "leader", once a new transfer student, like you Jesse, that blond girl," said Artemis pointing subtly at Courtney. "Courtney Whitmore, she was one of the few persons to have gone against the school mean girl before she left the school mysteriously," said Artemis.
"The bubbly and talkative girl, Beth Chapel, always seeming to talk to herself, annoying the shit out of quite a lot of people." Jesse nodded but she was still not seeing Artemis point.
"The quiet artist," Artemis pointed to the guy who was seemingly drawing something while chatting with the group. "Always seen to be drawing when not doing anything else, Cameron Mahkent, I hardly ever seen him talking to anyone until he "joined" this group," Artemis explained.
"Then, there is Rick Harris, used to be one of the trouble students. A year ago he hardly talked or even seen having friends, but when the blondie arrived, he began to open up to them." Artemis said while pointing to the other guy beside Beth. "By the way, rumors had it that he and Beth were dating," Artemis said. Jesse was slowly beginning to see Artemis' point of that group being weird.
"But one of the most surprising things about this group is one of the famous couples in school. Yolanda Montez and Henry King Jr." Artemis said. "Here, let me show you," Artemis showed Jesse a photo in her phone, it was a picture of a girl with two dark French-braids with another guy.
"Yolanda used to be a famous figure in this school, then something happened with her, her nudes being leaked and all. Her relationship with Henry, their break-up was both huge news to the school at that time. Yet, the biggest and the most surprising news was when these two started to cuddle around, share kisses, flirt with each other again not long ago. It was as if they never even broken up in the first place. This was weird especially after Henry breaking up with her. Her boyfriend, Henry King Jr. one of the biggest names in school, the person that everyone no one could think that will join the group of outcasts, yet he did. This group will always be seen together in school, whether in the hallways, in the canteen during lunch break or after school." Artemis explained to Jesse who now understands the story.
"Wow, you're right, it's kinda weird…" Jesse agreed with Artemis.
"I know right? But anyway, we don't really care about them but seeing them like this often raises a lot of questions."
"I see your point," Jesse said looking at the group that Artemis was talking about. "You seem to know a lot about them," Jesse observed.
"Mm… well, I do like a good mystery," Artemis smiled.
Jesse then realized something, "Artemis?" Jesse asked as Artemis cocked her head up. "Do you have any other girl-friends than me?" Jesse asked curiously. To think about it, when Jesse saw Artemis in the morning, she was talking to boys, during lunchtime, Artemis made occasional contacts with the boys that passed by their table.
"Oh… you realized that huh?" Artemis said. "Well, let just say I have more of a boy personality than a girl."
"Oh… I see, but w…" Jesse was cut off as Artemis' phone rang. Artemis picked the phone up, Jesse saw that her face expression has changed little,looking a little tense.
"Sorry, Jesse… gotta go, the… someone is calling me," Artemis stood up. "See you later, Jesse," Artemis waved before leaving in a rush.
After Artemis left, Jesse looked at her watch, seeing that there was still ample time. "I should probably look for the coach right now," she thought before leaving the table.
MEANWHILE AT THE "JSA" TABLE
Even though the group was seen to be chatting brightly, inside, they were still feeling down from the accident. Beth tried to lighten the mood up but the other's mind was still on Yolanda and Henry, hoping that they will be fine and will recover soon.
"So, did you guys hear the news?" Rick asked.
"Which news? There are so many things happening in this town nowadays…" Courtney said with Cameron nodding, agreeing with her girlfriend.
"Yeah, Rick, you gotta be more specific," Cameron said.
"Well, the past few nights, town folks reported hearing weird sound of something grunting and growling in the woods, they also reported sightings of a rather large humanoid," Rick explained.
"First a red streak, now this? Something is going to go down soon," Courtney deduced.
"The ISA had been quiet ever since we defeated them a year ago… well, we did not really defeat them, but you get the idea. Why choose now to resurface?" asked Beth.
"I don't know, but I think it is better to stay prepared, after all, they might strike back anytime," Courtney said direly.
"Hey, Rick, look there," Cameron said suddenly, pointing to the table where Artemis and Jesse were sitting. Rick turned around and saw Jesse standing up before walking away. "That's the new girl I told you about," Cameron said.
"Hmm… you're right, she does look cute," Rick agreed. Courtney and Beth glared at their boyfriends.
"Don't worry, we're loyal to our girlfriends, right Rick?" Cameron and Rick laughed after noticing the girls' concerns. "Of course, we are," Rick agreed with Cameron as rhe group continues to banter about.
THE PIT STOP
Pat was working on fixing Henry's car. It was beaten up pretty badly. Pat worked on the car while thinking about the red blur, as the papers labeled the sighting that started two days ago. Then, Pat heard footsteps outside, Pat stood up and he saw a man wearing somewhat old clothes, seemingly in his late 20's, peering into his shop.
"You need something pal?" Pat called out to the man.
"Oh, no… I'm just curious, about that car, it looked pretty beat up to me," the man replied.
"Oh, that, you don't know?" asked Pat walking out to meet the man.
"Umm… I'm new around here," said the man.
"I see, Pat Dugan, and you are?" Pat asked.
"Barry Allen, my friends just call me Barry," Barry replied.
"So, Barry, what brings you here?"
"Well, I'm just passing by…" Barry was trying to think of a way to find out the information he needed and not arising any unneeded suspicions.
"I see…"
"So, what about that car?" asked Barry.
"Umm… well, two nights ago, I was driving down the road when I saw flashes of light coming from the woods over there and out of curiosity, I went over there to investigate and I found this car, with two unconscious bodies on the ground… a girl and a boy," Pat explained. Barry immediately knew that this was the man he saw that night.
"Two unconscious bodies, were they okay?" Barry asked the question that lingered on his mind for quite a while.
"Yeah, brought them to the hospital, the girl is awake now, but the boy is still in a coma, doctors say he probably got quite a hit to his head," Pat said.
"Must be someone you know," said Barry noticing. "If not, you wouldn't drag that car back and fix it."
"You are quite observant, Barry… Yes, they were friends of my daughter," Pat explained beginning to feel that something wasn't right here.
"I see… By the way…"
"Who are you, really?" Pat asked curiously.
Barry was panicking internally and was thinking hard to find a suitable explanation.
"Okay… I'll tell you the truth," Barry began, knowing that it is a risk, but he didn't see any other option that doesn't require him to reveal his powers. "I was there at the crash site that night, woke up on the road, I only can remember my name, nothing else, I walked on the road and saw a car that crashed into a tree, I tried to get to the closest town, but halfway to it, I saw someone towing that same car, I presume that was you?" Barry tried to spin a tale.
"So, you woke up dressed like this, no memory with nothing on you?" asked Pat, he was still suspicious, then a realization hit him. Barry nodded.
"Hmm… how about you stay over at my house until you can remember something?" Pat offered.
"Really?" Barry was relieved and happy at the same time. "Thank you so much, I appreciate it," Barry said gratefully.
"Don't mention it, but don't try anything fishy, Allen, I'm warning you," Pat warned. Barry couldn't tell if Pat was joking or not.
BLUE VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL
After school ended, Jesse was with the school's football coach, Mr. Karassick. As they walked toward the field the coach was talking to her about the school team.
"Oh, and you should know, you're the second girl on the team," the coach informed Jesse.
"Really? That's fine, so who is this other girl?" Jesse asked as they approached the school's football team that was already assembled at the side of the field.
"Jesse?" Jesse heard a familiar voice, it was Artemis.
"I see you two have met, how about you introduce yourself to the team," the coach said. Murmurs were heard from the group.
"Yeah…sure," Jesse replied before introducing herself. "My name is Jesse Chambers , I'm a new transfer student, looking forward to working together with this team," she said. The team clapped, welcoming the new player.
"All right, Jesse, go and join the team as I brief you all on this terms practice and aims," Mr. Karassick said.
Jesse went and sat down beside Artemis, who nudged her softly. "Coincidence huh?" Artemis said smiling.
"It would seem so," replied Jesse.
"It is nice to have another girl on the team, hope you have skills," Artemis said.
"We will see," Jesse chuckles.
After the briefing, Jesse and Artemis were walking out of the school together while discussing their experiences in the football team. Then, Artemis' phone rang. She picked it up, Jesse saw that her face had the same look from earlier in the canteen.
"Umm… I gotta go, sorry, it was nice meeting you Jesse, see you tomorrow, bye," Artemis said.
"Sure, see you, bye," the two girls walked away in opposite directions. Jesse was thinking how great her first day in the new school had been, smiling to herself, "Artemis is such a nice girl," she thought as she walked home.
WHITMORE-DUGAN'S HOUSE
"So…" Courtney began awkwardly. "A man said he lost his memories came to you?" asked Courtney.
"Yes, Court, and I'm afraid that the ISA may be trying to strike back," explained Pat.
"So, what can we do? We only have these few leads, assuming they are ISA related, Courtney said cocking her head in the direction of Barry, who was sleeping on the couch," said Courtney.
"Well, it's better than nothing right?" asked Mike.
"I don't like this," said Barbara. "I feel something big is going to happen soon."
"Let's hope not," Cameron said while looking at the sleeping figure of Barry.
THE STREETS OF BLUE VALLEY
It was nighttime, Artemis walked down the row of shops, she looked around and make sure no one was following her, she walked down the road and went into the woods, she went deeper and deeper as if she had been there before. Then, she saw a familiar figure of a girl.
"Finally, you arrived, I've been waiting for you," the figure said.
"What is it?" Artemis asked. She was always straight down to the point type of person.
"Oh, come on Artemis, you roughly know what is this about, right?" asked the girl.
"Stop wasting my time Cindy! What is it?" Artemis was frustrated by the suspense.
"All right, cool down you feline, my father wants us, we got a new mission," said Cindy chuckling as she walked out of the shadows of the trees.
"What's is the mission?" Artemis asked.
"My father will tell us, let's go," Cindy said motioning Artemis to follow her into the woods.
UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
A hooded figure was sitting down at the table, seemingly looking through blueprints of machinery. When the sounds of footsteps were heard.
"Father, we're back."
The hooded figure turned around. "Cindy… Artemis, welcome," said Dr. Ito coldly.
"So, what is this about?" asked Artemis.
"A few days ago, my machines picked up a huge surge of energy in Blue Valley," Dr. Ito explained showing the 2 girls a chart on the screen.
"Everything is going as planned, now, we will enter the next stage of our plan."
TO BE CONTINUED