Chapter 5: The Fastest Man Alive

"To understand the story I'm about to tell you, you have to do something first. You have to believe in the impossible. Can you do that? Ok. well I guess as good a place to start is the beginning. For as long as I can remember I've always been running. Usually from bullies."

...

Central City, 14 Years ago

11 year old Barry Allen ran as fast as he could down the streets of Central City. Behind him, four boys were chasing him. One managed to grab Barry by his backpack, pulling him to the ground. There, the boy and his friends began kicking and punching him, laughing the entire time. Only the timely arrival of Officer Joe West ceased their attack. They ran off as Joe bent down to help Barry.

"You okay, kid?" He asked. "What happened? Why'd those kids attack you?"

"They were picking on younger kids just 'cause they thought they weren't cool." Barry answered, a hand on his mouth to cover a split lip. "It wasn't right."

Joe sighed. This wasn't the first time he'd found Barry getting beaten up because of bullies, and he highly doubted it would be the last. He pulled Barry to his feet, helping to steady him.

"C'mon, let's get you home." Joe told him.

A few minutes later, Barry was sitting in his living room, his mom gently tending to his wounds. He told her about his attempts to help the bullied kids, as well as his subsequent beating. As he finished his story, he sniffled, fighting back tears.

"I guess I wasn't fast enough." he said quietly.

"Oh Barry..." his mother said softly, gently caressing his uninjured cheek. "You have such a good heart, and it's better to have one of those than fast legs."

Barry couldn't help but smile at his mom's compliment, his smile growing a bit tense when he heard the front door open.

"I'm home!" his father called.

"We're in the living room!" His mother called out.

Barry's father came in, taking note of his son's wounds.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Barry got in a fight," his mom explained, "and won."

Barry's father smirked, giving his son an affectionate hair ruffle.

"Way to go, slugger." he complimented.

His mom let out a small cough, giving Barry's father a small glare.

"But uh… no more fighting." his dad told him.

Barry's mon shook her head slightly before sharing a kiss with her husband, much to Barry's overly dramatic disgust. Still, he smiled behind his mock revolution, grateful for both of his parents.

"But it wasn't long until I found myself running from something else. Something that I could never explain… something impossible."

That very night, Barry was awoken by loud noises coming from his living room. He looked around in a panic, his eyes falling on his fish tank. Much to his shock, the water was rising out of the tank in slow motion. Scared witless, Barry rushed downstairs to try and find his parents, but wound up finding something far scarier than floating water. His mother was kneeling in the living room, screaming his father's name as two strange blurs whipped around her. One was red in color while the other was yellow. Both were generating strange power, which seemed to have trapped his mother in a potentially dangerous situation.

"Mom!" he screamed.

"Barry!" His mom shrieked, holding out a hand to try and stop him. "No! Get away from here!"

"Mom!" Barry cried out again.

"Barry, don't let him touch you!" His mom shouted, tears in her eyes.

The blurs became faster and faster as Barry's dad came running downstairs. As his dad arrived, Barry thought he saw something within the yellow blur. A man in a yellow suit.

"Nora!" He called out, putting himself between the blurs and Barry.

"Stay back!" Barry's mom begged.

"Nora, hold on!" Barry's dad insisted before turning to Barry. "Run, Barry, run!"

Before Barry had the chance to move, the blurs converged on him. In the blink of an eye, he was suddenly twenty blocks down the street, the blurs disappearing within the same blink.

"Mom?!" He called out. "Dad?!"

Getting his bearings, Barry ran back towards his house as fast as he could.

"When I got there, the police were everywhere. They carried off my mother in a body bag, and my father in handcuffs. I tried to tell them he was innocent, but nobody believed me. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to life for a crime he didn't commit. I knew I had to find a way to prove he was innocent, but since nobody was willing to help me, I had to do it myself. It's why I became a forensic scientist."

Several months from the Present

Barry, now 25 years old, ran down the street, trying to reach the Central City bank. There, the police had taped off the area, watching over a body currently covered by a tarp. Joe West, now a Detective, looked over the body with his partner.

"Second robbery this week." Joe remarked. "Witnesses IDed the Mardon Brothers fleeing the scene."

"That makes four this month." his partner, Detective Chyre, remarked. "Where's Allen? He should've been here hours ago."

"Right here!" Barry called out.

He came slipping under the police tape, struggling to catch his breath. Joe put a hand on his back, trying to steady him.

"Miss the subway again?" he guessed.

"Uh, yeah." Barry confirmed. "That and my cab driver took a wrong turn, which I advised against but-"

"Alright, we get it." Chyre interrupted. "Just work your magic and figure out where the perps went."

"On it." Barry replied, kneeling down and looking at the nearby tire tracks. "Looks like the getaway car was a Mustang Shelby GT500. They have a rare super wide tire specific to that model.12 inches with an asymmetrical tread."

"Shouldn't be too hard to track down, then." Joe remarked.

"That's not all." Barry added. "Can I borrow a pen and an evidence bag?"

Joe pulled out both and handed them to Barry, who knelt back down and used the pen to scoop up some dirt in the tire track. He took a whiff and recoiled in response.

"Fecal excrement." Barry deduced. "Animal I guess."

"So the Mardon brothers are hiding at a farm?" Chyre surmised.

"I'll have to do further analysis back in my lab, but yes." Barry answered. "Give me an hour, and I'll have the specifics for you."

At CCPD headquarters, Barry was hard at work in his lab, going over the evidence from the scene. As the computer ran over the specks, Barry stole a glance at a news report on the S.T.A.R. Lab's particle Accelerator while also talking on the phone with Iris West, his longtime best friend.

"Sorry Iris, but there was a shooting today and your dad needs me to work on the forensics." he informed her. "I don't think I'm gonna make it to the showing."

"What?" Iris asked. "Come on Barry, I canceled a date for this."

"Knowing you, you could pick it up again in a day or two." Barry remarked.

"Not the point." Iris insisted. "Besides, wasn't seeing this accelerator thing your nerdy fantasy for the past year?"

"Believe me, I would give anything to see that thing turn on." Barry replied. "Harrison Wells' work on quantum physics is light years beyond anything they're working on anywhere else. This accelerator would open a gateway to-"

"You're doing that thing where you don't speak English." Iris informed him

"Ok…" He trailed off. "Long story short, this particle accelerator will give us a whole new way of looking at physics. It will literally change the way we think about everything."

Iris just laughed slightly.

"You have got to get a girlfriend." she declared.

"You offering?" Barry joked.

"Barry!" Joe called out as he entered the lab. "You got anything for me?"

"Oops, gotta go." Barry lamented. "Talk to you later, Iris."

"Good luck." Iris told him before hanging up.

"Uh, computer should be done processing soon." Barry told Joe just as his computer went off. "And there it is. Looks like the Mardon brothers are hiding on a farm. The fecal matter was cow manure which contained traces of oxytetracycline. An antibiotic carried by only four farms in the area. Bet you anything one of them has a Mustang Shelby parked out front."

"Nice work Barry." Joe nodded.

"Thanks." Barry replied. "So, unless there's anything else…"

"Actually, Singh told me to tell you he has some case files for you to go over." Joe told him.

Barry just sighed, slumping into his chair.

"So much for the particle accelerator." Barry lamented.

"And the closest you've gotten to a date with Iris I wager." Joe remarked.

Barry turned red as Joe clapped him on the back.

"Hey, I know you'll find a way to make it work." he declared, giving Barry a small shake. "Just keep trying."

"Uh, right." Barry sheepishly replied.

Joe then turned to leave, intent on tracking down that lead, leaving Barry alone with his work.

"Suffice to say, things weren't looking the best for me that day. But come night, my whole world was about to change."

That night, Barry sat in his lab, going over the case files Police Chief Singh had left for him. While he worked, he had the tv still playing coverage of the STAR Labs accelerator. The test was about to begin as the man behind it all, Harrison Wells, began a rousing speech.

"Thank you everyone for being here." He began. "My name is Harrison Wells. Tonight, the future begins. The work my team and I will do here will change our understanding of physics. Will bring about advancements in power, advancements in medicine, and trust me, that future will be here faster than you think."

"Maybe a little too fast." Barry remarked.

Outside his window, a storm was beginning to brew, lightning cracking across the sky. He looked out the window and watched as the rain began falling in buckets. With a sigh, Barry got up, going over to the skylight in his lab and began pulling the chain to close it up so water wouldn't get in. As he did, he heard something on the tv behind him. Alarms began to blare as a reporter came onscreen.

"The oncoming storm appears to have caused a malfunction with the particle accelerator's primary cooling systems." the reporter announced. "Officials are trying to shut down the accelerator, but so far, have been unable to regain control of the system-"

Just then, the power to the TV, as well as everything else in the room cut out. He looked back out the window and saw some bright light coming from the direction of S.T.A.R. Labs. Barry then glanced back towards a nearby shelf of chemicals, actually seeing the liquids begin rising out of their containers.

"What the-?" he let out, remembering his fish tank from the night his mother died.

Before he could think further, a large crack of thunder rang out above him, causing him to look up. As he did, a bolt of yellow lightning struck down from the sky and hit him, causing him to fly through the air and crash into the chemical shelf. The shelf and Barry fell to the ground, with Barry being doused, sparking with electricity, and unconscious.

"It's hard to describe how I felt when I got struck by that lightning bolt. It was kinda like… like every cell in my body was super charged. My body couldn't take it at first, so I ended up passing out. By the time I woke up, 9 months had passed, and everything had changed."

Lady Gaga's poker face was one of the first things to reach Barry as he returned to consciousness. His eyes slowly opened as he saw two figures standing over him. One was a woman with auburn hair, the other was a man with long black hair.

"What are you doing?" the woman questioned.

"What, he loves this song." the man replied.

"How could you possibly know that?" the woman countered.

"I checked his Facebook page." the man answered. "I mean he can hear everything, right?"

"Auditory functions are the last sensory functions to degenerate." the woman admitted.

As the man walked off, singing the lyrics under his breath, Barry sat up, gasping for air. This caused both the man and the woman to jump, and several monitors to go absolutely insane.

"Holy shit!" the man exclaimed.

"He's up." the woman called, immediately pushing Barry onto the bed as she looked him over.

"Dr. Wells, we need you down in the cortex. Now!" the man called on a

"Pulse 120, pupils equally reactive to light." The woman announced.

Barry tried to get up, the woman struggling to stop him.

"Whoa there, what are you doing?" She questioned. "Cisco! He's trying to get up!"

"Hey hey, easy." Cisco told him, rushing over.

"Where am I?" Barry asked. "Who are you guys?"

"I'm Cisco Ramon." He introduced. "This is Dr. Caitlin Snow, and you're at S.T.A.R. Labs."

"S.T.A.R. Labs?" Barry questioned. "What's going on? What happened to me?"

"You were struck by lightning." Cisco explained. "To be perfectly blunt."

Barry went to question that, then caught sight of his reflection in a mirror. Since he was currently lacking in the shirt department, it showed off a perfectly sculpted six-pack, giving him the appearance of an Olympic runner.

"Lightning… gave me abs?" Barry questioned.

"Believe me, we were all surprised." Caitlin spoke up. "Your muscles should have atrophied, but instead they're in chronic and unexplained state of cellular regeneration."

"How is that possible?" Barry asked.

Cisco quickly ushered for him to sit down.

"We're not sure, all we know is this." He began. "You were in a coma."

"For how long?" Barry inquired.

"Nine months." a new voice answered.

Barry turned, shocked to see Dr Wells entering the room in an electric wheelchair.

"Welcome back, Mr. Allen." He greeted.

"Dr. Wells…" Barry let out.

"Come along, we have much to discuss." Dr. Wells told him.

"Dr Wells told me about the accident, and just how much it had affected me and the entire city. 17 people dead, six injured including him, and S.T.A.R. Labs' Central City location dubbed a Class 4 hazard. The particle accelerator had created that storm, the very one that generated the lightning that struck me. The hospital was going nuts because of me, my heart rate being so fast that the doctors misdiagnosed me as going into cardiac arrest. Luckily, the lab was able to stabilize me, but that wasn't the end."

After hearing just how long he was out, Barry's first thoughts were of Iris and Joe. He quickly went to go find them, eventually locating them at Jitters, a local coffee shop that was a favorite of Iris'. The two were talking, just trying to have a normal conversation, then Iris caught sight of Barry entering the shop. Joe followed her gaze, his jaw dropping as Iris slowly got to her feet.

"Oh my god..." she gasped. "Barry?"

"Hey." Barry said, giving a small wave.

Iris was on him in an instant, hugging him tightly as she sobbed into his shoulder.

"You're… you're awake." Iris choked, looking at him in utter disbelief. "Why didn't S.T.A.R. Labs call us?"

"I just woke up." Barry answered. "I wanted to see you."

"Should you even be out here?" Joe questioned, looking concerned. "Maybe you should sit down."

"I feel fine, really." Barry reassured.

"I watched you die, Barry." Iris told him. "Your heart kept stopping."

Barry gently took her hand, placing it against his chest as if to reassure her.

"It's still beating." he promised.

"It's beating really fast." Iris told him.

While that was going on, a waitress was coming out of the back with an order when she bumped into someone, causing her to drop her tray. Barry turned to see the entire world suddenly go in slow motion. It stayed like that for several seconds before everything returned to normal. The waitress began picking up her fallen tray, Joe bending down to help her.

"You alright?" he asked.

The waitress nodded as Joe began gathering some shattered mugs. Iris gave them a glance, then noticed a panicked expression on Barry's face.

"Barry?" she let out. "What's wrong?"

Barry just shook his head in response, trying to shake what he saw.

"Nothing…" Barry replied. "Maybe I do need to head back to the lab. I did this way too fast."

"Here, I'll drive you." Iris offered.

"No, no." Barry quickly turned down. "I'll just walk. Maybe the air will do me some good."

He then started out the door, lightly jogging down the street. As he continued to move though, his speed seemingly increased, and he found himself all the way across town in the time it took to blink. He came to a stop, panting heavily as adrenaline shot through his body. His hands were shaking so fast they were almost blurs, every cell in his body working overtime.

"Why is this happening…" He let out, looking at his hands.

Seeing no other alternatives, he started running again, this time towards S.T.A.R. Labs in hopes they could help. It took 3 seconds to get there. When he arrived, however, he ended up crashing through the front door, then slamming into the wall.

"He's back!" Cisco called, running over to Barry. "You alright there?"

"Yeah… but I could use some help." Barry mustered.

The team headed out onto a runway for the Ferris Airfield, the owner of the company more than willing to offer her support of the sciences. There, the team set up a small tent where they could monitor Barry's vitals. As they finished preparations, Caitlin voiced her concerns.

"You don't really think he can run that fast, do you?" she asked.

"I've come to believe that anything is possible." Dr. Wells commented. "And in a few minutes, maybe you will too."

Meanwhile, Cisco went over to the small trailer parked next to the tent, where Barry was currently changing into a suit Cisco provided for him.

"How's it fit?" He asked.

Finally, Barry stepped out, wearing a red tracksuit with a helmet and goggles.

"It's a little snug." he admitted.

"Think about it this way." Cisco offered. "If you can really move as fast as you claim, nobody will see you."

"Handy." Barry commented, getting into position.

"Alright, basics." Cisco called out as he grabbed something off one of the tables. "Dr. Wells will be monitoring your energy output, and Caitlin, your vitals."

"What about you?" Barry asked.

"I make the toys, my man." Cisco commented, handing him two red button with a golden lightning bolt on it. "This is a two way headset with a built in camera. Usually used to combat battlefield impulse noise. Or in your case, potential sonic booms."

Barry took it, hooking it onto the side of his helmet. Once it was strapped on, he got into a running position on the end of the track.

"Ready?!" Wells called out.

"Ready." Barry replied.

"Set… go!" Wells yelled.

With that, Barry dashed forward at breakneck speed, knocking the tent over with a massive gust of wind. The three of them were were awestruck at what was happening before them, so much so that Cisco almost forgot to activate the speedometer. By the time he did, the numbers were already climbing to the high triple digits with no sign of stopping.

"He just passed three hundred miles per hour." Cisco reported.

Everyone was watching with jaws on the ground, up until Barry ran head first into a barrier of water tanks. Barry cried out in pain as he pulled himself up, seeing his arm bent in the wrong direction.

"Yeah, snapping your whole arm out of alignment, not as fun as it sounds. Thankfully, one of the benefits of my powers was that I was a very fast healer. What should have taken weeks if not months to heal was done in three hours. But while the benefits of my powers were pretty sweet, it wasn't long before I saw the consequences."

After healing up, Barry walked down the street to try and clear his head after the day he had. As he did so, he saw Iris sitting in front of Jitters. She saw him approaching and smiled, waving him over.

"Hey." she called out. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah." Barry confirmed. "Guess I… got up too fast."

"Well, just take it easy." Iris insisted. "I just got you back."

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." Barry reassured.

"I hope not." Iris told him. "Barry, when you were in the hospital, it scared me. I thought I had lost you and… and that I never got a chance to tell you how I really felt."

This caused Barry to stop for a moment.

"W-what do you mean?" Barry asked.

"I never said anything before because we were basically like brother and sister, and I didn't want to make things awkward." she admitted. "I love you, Barry. Not just as a brother. As… more than that."

Barry was awestruck by what he heard, wanting to hearing for the longest time, but never expecting to actually hear it.

"Iris…" Barry was about to answer.

Just then, the sound of police sirens cut him off, forcing him to look down the street and see a black mustang tearing down the street, a police car right on its tail. Thinking fast, Barry moved Iris out of the way as the car plowed past. Once seeing she was safe, Barry sped after the car, catching up to it quickly.

He then threw himself through the back driver side window, landing on the seats. He then got up, see the Mardon brothers in the front seats. Seeing Clyde reaching for a gun, Barry moved forward and yanked on the steering wheel, causing the car to swerve towards a curb and turn over. With the car crashed, the Mardon brothers pulled themselves out, with Barry following close behind.

"Hey!" Barry called out.

Mark Mardon turned towards him, holding his hand out as the sky around them started turning grey. Just then, a bolt of lightning struck from the sky towards Barry. He quickly ran out of the way, but the strike hit an oncoming car, causing the engine to blow, and sending Barry flying. Barry slowly pulled himself up to see the car in a smoking wreck and the Mardon brothers gone.

Sometime later, the police and ambulance arrived to take care of the scene. Barry just looked in solace as the man in the car was taken away with a tarp over his body.

"That poor man." Iris lamented. "He never stood a chance in that freak fog."

"Barry! Iris!" Joe called out, running towards them.

"Dad." Iris replied, turning towards him. "It's alright, I'm ok."

"What were you two doing out here?" Joe questioned.

"We were just talking." Iris told him.

"I've told you, when you see danger, you run the other way." Joe told her, looking angry.

"Joe, I need to talk to you." Barry chimed in.

"Not now, Barry." Joe snapped.

"Yes, now." Barry insisted.

Joe finally conceded and stepped aside so he and Barry could talk.

"I know who did this." Barry told him. "Clyde and Mark Mardon."

"Barry, the Mardon brothers died in a plane crash the same night you got struck by lightning." Joe explained.

"That's what everyone thought, but they survived." Barry resumed. "And… I think they, or Mark at least… can control the weather."

Joe looked less than convinced, so Barry tried to elaborate.

"When I confronted them just now, Mardon… did something, and the streets were enveloped in fog. And a bolt of lightning struck down and hit that car." Barry explained, only to still be met by Joe's skeptic face. "But you don't believe me. You never did."

"Alright, you wanna do this? Here now? Fine." Joe decided. "The Mardon's are dead. And there is no controlling the weather, just like there was no lightning storm in your house that night."

"My dad didn't do it, Joe." Barry tried to insisted.

"Yes he did, Barry!" Joe replied louder. "I knew it, the jury knew it, and whatever you think you saw last night was a scared little boys mind trying to help him forget what really happened."

"Dad!" Iris tried to interject.

"Iris, he needs to hear this." Joe insisted before turning back to Barry. "Look, I have done my best to look after you, with never asking for so much as a thank you in return. But what I am asking now, is that you for once see things for what they really are."

Disheartened, Barry walked off down the street.

"I wasn't the only one affected by the particle accelerator explosion, was I?!"

The three of them looked up as Barry walked into S.T.A.R. Labs.

"It doesn't appear so." Wells replied.

"What happened that night?" Barry demanded.

"Well, the Particle Accelerator turned on, and for 45 minutes, we all felt like heroes." Wells explained. "Then, a dimensional barrier ruptured, unleashing various unknown elements into the city. Anti-matter, dark matter, X-elements-"

"Those are all theoretical." Barry cut off.

"And how theoretical are you?" Wells commented. "We've mapped the disbursement around Central City but have no idea how many people have been exposed. We've been searching for other Metahumans such as yourself."

"I think I found some." Barry told them. "A pair of bank robbers who can control the weather."

"Ok, that is kinda cool." Cisco commented.

"This is not cool!" Barry snapped. "We have to stop them before they hurt anyone else."

"That sounds like a job for the police." Wells commented.

"I work for the police." Barry reminded.

"As a forensic scientist." Wells retorted.

"You're responsible for this." Barry threw back. "For them."

"What's important is you!" Wells proclaimed. "I lost everything that night, including my legs. But you, you healed from a broken arm in three hours. There are secrets locked in your cells that could aid mankind for generations to come, but we risk losing everything if you decide to play hero. You're not a hero Barry, you're just a young man who was struck by lightning."

Twice in one day, Barry was dejected by those he admired most. Needless to say, he was not feeling the best. Even running through the city at superspeed did nothing to help him. His thoughts kept circling back to everything Joe and Wells told him. He felt lost, and unsure of himself. He finally decided that he needed to talk to someone, and there was only one person he felt he could confide in.

"And that brings us to now." Barry concluded. "It's funny. I spent my whole life searching for the impossible but… I never imagined that I would 'become' the impossible."

Sitting across from him, stunned into silence, was none other than Iris.

"This is… wow." Iris commented. "This is a lot to take in."

"I know." Barry replied. "It's just… I'm lost on what to do, and you're the only person I felt could help."

"Well… I..." she let out a breath, running her fingers through her hair. "I wish I had an idea of what to do."

Barry just sighed as he sat down across from her.

"Maybe Wells was right." Barry commented. "Maybe I am just some kid who got struck by lightning."

"Hey, you're more than that and you know it." Iris told him.

"Really?" Barry replied. "The first chance I get to help someone, I screw it up. Someone died because of me."

"Barry, not everyone gets things right the first time." She said encouragingly. "I mean, how many times have you hit snags in your investigation?"

"More than I can count, but how many have cost lives." Barry countered.

"Just because you lost someone this time doesn't mean you will in the future." Iris reasoned.

"How do you know that?" Barry questioned.

"Because I know you Barry." Iris told him. "You've always had this innate desire to help wherever you can. To do the right thing, even when it's hard. It's… honestly one of the things I love about you."

Barry couldn't help but smile at her words.

"Don't let what Wells or my dad said get to you." Iris told him. "If using this gift to help people is what you wanna do, then I say go get em."

"You sure?" Barry asked.

"Yes." Iris promised. "Now, go get 'em."

Barry nodded, smirking before speeding off into the night, blowing a bit of Iris' hair in the process.

Later at S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry was meeting with Caitlin and Cisco.

"Look, I know you two suffered a lot due to the Particle Accelerator, but the Mardon brothers are still out there." Barry told them. "And they could be the first of several Metahumans to come for the city. I know you didn't mean to cause this, and I'm not blaming you, but someone needs to stop them. I'm going to… but I could use the help."

"I think I got something for you." Cisco suggested, walking over to something covered by a tarp.

He then pulled the tarp off to reveal a red suit with a cowl on the head that holes for the eyes and mouth.

"It's supposed to replace the traditional turnouts Firefighters usually wear." Cisco explained. "It's made of a reinforced tripolymer so it should withstand the friction of you running at superspeed."

"Nice." Barry commented. "Still… I can see the potential for cosmetic improvements."

"What did you have in mind?" Caitlin asked.

At Central City National Bank, it was business as usual. As the line for the teller got smaller and smaller, a pair of men approached the counter, with one of them just placing a piece of paper on the counter. The teller picked it up and scoffed at what was written on it.

"This is a robbery?" She read back. "Is this some sort of joke?"

"No." One of the men spoke up. "It isn't."

He then splayed his hands out, thick fog flowing out of them.

"Not at all." The first man commented, pulling off his hood and revealing himself to be Mark Mardon.

Just then, a strong wind came crashing through the windows, shattering them and causing everyone to panic. Mark turned to Clyde and smiled.

"You know, it's almost too easy these days." Mark declared.

"Tell me about it." Clyde commented, hopping over the counter and heading towards the vault. "Remember when we needed tools to bust these things open?"

Clyde then held his hands out and lightning struck the hinges of the vault, causing it to fall over.

"Now it's just a wave of the hand." Clyde remarked.

They walked in, helping themselves to the money inside. While they did that, a red blur whizzed throughout the bank, grabbing the patrons of the bank and getting them outside. The two barely noticed as they started grabbing the money. Soon, the bank was completely empty, all of the patrons and staff all the way across the block.

It was about that time that the police started to arrive, responding to the alarm. They were shocked when they found everyone a block from the scene, disoriented and confused.

"What's everyone gawking around for?" Joe asked, getting out of his car.

"There was…. This ball of lightning." One patron insisted. "There was a man inside it. He grabbed us and moved us here, all in the blink of an eye."

Joe was dumbstruck. Something he had just that day described as impossible was inside that bank right now. As he looked towards the bank, a massive wind pulsed out, tearing the doors off and shattering the windows. Thunder and lightning rang throughout the skies as the Mardon brothers came out.

"The Mardon brothers…" Joe let out before aiming his gun at them. "On the ground! Now!"

The two looked towards each other and smiled before aiming their hands out towards Joe. a bolt of lightning came down towards Joe, but before it could touch him, a red streak came out of nowhere and yanked him out of the way. He was then set down on the ground a distance away, allowing him to look up and see Barry in a red suit with a cowl, yellow lightning decals on the wrists and chest, and a white circle with a lightning bolt across it on his chest.

"Stay here." Barry insisted before dashing off into battle.

Joe watched him speed off, blinking in shock.

"What the hell?" he let out.

Barry then stopped in front of the Mardon brothers, standing defiantly.

"Stand down now before anyone gets hurt." Barry demanded. "Only warning."

"You should take your own advice!" Clyde shouted.

Clyde then shot his arms out and lightning began pouring down. Barry was quick to dodge each strike before trying to run towards them. Mark made his move by generating a gust of wind under Barry, launching him into the air. As Barry fell, he noticed he was alongside a building. Thinking fast, he started running, actually running down the side of the building and onto the street, plowing into Mark and sending him careening into a desk in the bank, knocking him out.

"Mark!" Clyde shouted, turning to Barry. "You're gonna pay for that, freak!"

"You're welcome to try!" Barry retorted. "But I'm too fast for you!"

"But this city isn't!" Clyde yelled, holding his arms out.

Just then, the wind started picking up, beginning to twist into a tornado. Barry went wide-eyed, realizing what was going down.

"Mardon, stop this!" He screamed. "You'll kill thousands with that storm!"

"So what?!" Clyde called back.

"Barry, force winds are pickin up out there!" Cisco called out over comms. "If we don't stop him soon, that twister's gonna destroy the city."

"The current's too fast to get to Mardon." Barry replied. "But what if I can unravel the tornado. I can run around it in the opposite direction."

"You'd have to clock in at 700 mph at minimum." Caitlin informed him. "We're not sure just how fast you can go yet, or how much strain it has on your body."

"Then we're about to find out." Barry decided.

Barry then began running around the tornado, harder and faster then he had ever ran before. Clyde realized what he was doing and sent a bolt of lightning flying at him. Barry dodged, but lost his footing and was thrown into Joe's police car. Joe quickly helped him to his feet, steadying him as Barry struggled to regain his senses.

"You alright?" Joe asked.

"Yeah." Barry answered. "His winds are too strong. I don't know if I can stop him."

"Yes, you can." Joe insisted.

"He's right." the voice of Dr. Wells agreed in his ear. "You're right, I did cause all this, and when I saw you, all I saw was another life I ruined. But you've proven you can be more than that. I may have caused this, but you can stop it. Now run, Barry, run!"

With that, Barry darted forward again, circling around the tornado time and time again. Clyde tried hurling more winds at him, but he just powered through. He then tried some lightning, but Barry just dashed around it. Soon, the tornado began to unravel as predicted, dropping Mardon onto the sidewalk and allowing Barry to crash hard into another car. Mardon slowly pulled himself up as he walked over to Barry and prepared to finish him off.

"You know… I always wondered if we were the only ones." he mused. "Though after this… I say we are."

He leveled the gun with Barry's head, but Joe shot him first. The crook crumbled to the ground, dead in an instant. Barry looked up to see Joe standing in front of him, gun smoking and panting slightly.

"No more." He said, lowering his gun.

Later, the police carted Mark Mardon off, with the promise of S.T.A.R. Labs constructing a cell to dampen his powers, as Barry, now in casual attire, walked up to Joe.

"Hey." He greeted.

"Hey..." Joe replied quietly, his mind still reeling from what he'd seen. "Barry I owe you an apology. You were right. About the Mardon's. About everything."

Barry feigned surprise.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"The Mardon brothers were here… and they were controlling the weather." Joe relayed. "Just like you said."

He took a deep breath.

"More than that… I saw a man." Joe went on. "A man who ran so fast he was generating lightning. The same thing you saw that night in your house. You did see something that night… and your dad is innocent."

Barry's feigned surprise became genuine.

"I promise I'll look back into this, Barry." Joe reassured. "We'll find who really killed your mom that night, and get Henry out of prison."

"Thanks Joe." Barry told him. "Really, thank you."

He and Joe shared a hug as the police worked around them.

Later that day, Barry met up with Iris at Jitters, talking about a story she wrote on what happened.

"Not to sound egotistical or anything, but this might be your best work yet." Barry commented.

"Just stating the truth." Iris replied. "Central City has a guardian angel watching over it."

"The Flash Speeds to the Rescue." Barry read. "The Flash… I like it."

"Well it was either that or the Streak." Iris commented.

"Wow, no thanks." Barry declared, both he and Iris laughing.

As they stopped laughing, Barry turned towards Iris still smiling.

"Hey…" he finally spoke up. "Remember what we were talking about before the Mardons came down the street?"

Iris slid some hair behind her ears, looking down slightly.

"A bit." she admitted.

"You… said you loved me?" Barry recalled.

"Yeah..." Iris nodded. "I did."

"Did… did you really mean it that way?" Barry asked.

Iris paused for a moment before responding.

"Yeah…" She admitted. "Look, I know it came across sudden and weird, and if you don't feel the same wa-"

Barry just cut her off by leaning in and kissing her on the lips. Caught off guard, she was initially stunned, but soon melted into the kiss. When they pulled away she looked stunned.

"Wow." she let out. "That… was so worth the wait."

"You have no idea." Barry told her.

The two wasted no time kissing again, this time holding each other quite intently. Before they could go much further, the sound of sirens filled the air, forcing them to part and for Barry to sigh.

"I gotta run." he told her.

"Go get em." Iris encouraged.

Barry nodded before dashing off, dauning his red suit and running off to save the day as the fastest man alive. As the Flash.