Issue 23: "Flash of Infinite Worlds!"

[HoM]

[HoM]

The Flash
Issue #23: “Flash of Infinite Worlds!”
Written by David Charlton (From concepts developed by Brandon Herren)
Cover by Brandon Herren
Edited by Charles HoM

Dedicated to Brandon Herren, friend, co-founder, inspiration!

David

[HoM]

“Are you sure you’re up for this, Barry?” Dr. Ray Palmer made some last-minute adjustments on the gleaming construct, shooting a glance over his shoulder at his friend. “I mean, I could[/i] get Clark to do this…”

Barry Allen crossed his arms over his chest as he walked around the machine. “Ray, you know as well as I do that there’s no guarantee that Clark could work up the kind of speed necessary to power the treadmill; I’ve already made it work once before, I can do it again.”

Ray Palmer straightened up, wiped his hands on his lab coat and frowned. “That was a near thing. The Kanigher prototype never worked again after that. Now, I’ve almost completely re-designed the thing, but the physics we are working with here are almost all theoretical…”

“The first one worked[/b],” Barry reminded him. “It carried me through time--- right to the end of the world, and back!” [Editor’s Note: See The Flash # 5 to find out what Barry’s talking about!] Besides, you’ve been working in this cosmic treadmill contraption almost non-stop for the last two years. I have faith in your brilliance, Dr. Palmer.”

Glancing around once more to confirm they were alone in the lab, Barry raised his fist, and from his special ring came a burst of red fabric. There was a blur, and before Ray Palmer could even blink, there stood before him the Flash!

“Now, let’s get this show on the road; Iris is making pot roast for dinner, and I promised to be home in time to give Bart his bath.” Without hesitation, he stepped up on the machine.

Ray rolled his eyes, but could not contain a grin. “You’ve been hanging around with Hal too much; you’re starting to sound like him.”

Barry returned his friend’s grin.

Ray walked around the front to show him the control panel. It looked like the dashboard of a fighter jet, only no joystick.

“Alright, I want to go over this one more time.” Ray used his ‘professor’ voice, and fixed Barry with a serious expression. “The ‘cosmic treadmill’, as you call it, is powered by a tachyon drive, located on the undercarriage. The fuel cell of charged tachyons is here,” he pointed to a phial built into the dash of the control panel: it was filled with a glowing blue liquid, filled nearly to the top. “The speed you generate charges the tachyons, and allows the machine to enter the timestream. If this is empty, the treadmill won’t work, so always leave about half a tank to get back!” He remonstrated sternly. “These knobs here control the direction you move once you are transchronal--- push this way to move forward in time, the other way to move backward. Your own speed will determine how fast it takes to move from Time A to Time B--- the further into the past or future you want to go, the faster you will have to run, and the more tachyons it will use.”

“I got it.” Barry replied patiently. They had gone over this dozens of times already.

Ray nodded, and went to his station of monitoring devices, donning his goggles.

“I say we start with a small jaunt for now.” He suggested as Barry begin to jog slowly. “Why don’t we try just a few minutes into the future? Ready whenever you are.”

“See you in a few minutes, then!” Barry waved and was off. His legs became a mere smudge of color as he set the controls for two minutes forward.

Without any kind of fanfare, crack of thunder or burst of light, the Cosmic Treadmill, and the Flash simply winked out of existence.

[HoM]

“Well, that was boring,” the Flash declared as the Treadmill re-appeared and he decelerated. Only a few seconds had passed for him, but Ray’s chronometers read two minutes later.

“But it worked!” Ray whooped. He’d been holding his breath almost the entire time.

Still running, though at sub-sonic speed, Barry checked the fuel-cell: still full. He called over to Ray, who was still busy examining the data pouring in: “Be back in a minute,” He accelerated and adjusted the controls. “I’m gonna take her for a spin!”

Ray Palmer looked up in panic: his instruments had picked up a photonic disturbance--- an unexpected, and monstrous[/i] solar flare!--- and there was no telling how that would react with the Treadmill’s tachyonic field! “NO! BARRY, STOP!”

But his friend could not hear him over the hum of the Treadmill. In a split second, it was too late. And this time, there was sound and fury! The Flash was still smiling as the Treadmill exploded out of reality as if it were a stone crashing through a window! Ray Palmer was forced to duck and cover his eyes, a wave of nausea passing over him like a child in a tsunami. For a moment, he was too stunned to even lift his head. But when he did, when the chronal reverberations subsided, he saw that he was alone. There was no sign of the Cosmic Treadmill--- or the Flash!

[HoM]

Barry woke up, sprawled out on the floor with the Cosmic Treadmill on its side and sparking alarmingly. He climbed to his feet, one hand on his aching head, looking around the lab for Ray.

“What in the Blue Blazes happened---?”

That’s when he realized he was no longer in Ray’s private Ivy Town University lab. He stood on the floor of a lecture auditorium, with a couple hundred shocked faces looking down on him. The lecturer, a young Asian man, was staring at him in alarm.

“Uh, sorry for the interruption, folks.” Barry said into the stunned silence. “I was helping one of your distinguished fellows with an experiment, but it seems we hit a little snag---.”

“Who are you?” The young Asian lecturer approached cautiously, looking Barry up and down as if he were an alien specimen.

Barry grinned, unsure. “I’m the Flash, fella. From Central City…?”

The lecturer’s expression grew more dubious.

“From the Justice League…” Barry was starting to feel a little silly. Even the students were exchanging confused looks.

“Look, I’m just going to go find Professor Palmer, and we can get this machine back to his---.”

“Professor Ray[/i] Palmer?” The Asian lecturer pressed, his brow furrowing even more.

Barry nodded.

“Dr. Palmer retired years ago, mister. I’m his successor, Dr. Ryan Choi,” then the square-jawed Asian man leaned-in and whispered for only Barry to hear: “Plus I know the Flash--- and you are most definitely not her[/i].”

Barry did a double take. He looked over at the Cosmic Treadmill, no longer sparking now, but quiet. Ray had retired ten years ago? Was he in the future? And why did this guy think the Flash was female…?

“Please watch the Treadmill for me, Dr. Choi,” Barry asked, then showed them all why he was called the ‘Fastest Man Alive.’ He ran up the stairs and out the door, leaving a flurry of floating papers in his wake. Out on the sun-lit quad of Ivy Town University, he skidded to a halt in front a newspaper box. He picked up the latest copy of the Daily Planet and scanned the front page, expecting to find a date ten years or more in the future.

But it was dated March 16th, 2008. The same day he woke up to that morning.

And that wasn’t the only unusual thing he found. He missed it at first glance because the masthead was the same, but apparently, the paper had been renamed the Daily Star… And the editor was someone named James Olsen…? Flipping through it at superspeed, he came across an article about city council elections, written by a Jonathan Kent…

“What in Blue Blazes is going on here?” He wondered aloud.

[HoM]

The Flash took off, leaving Ivy Town behind in a blink, and headed for Central City. He had a deep foreboding. Ray had warned him about the consequences of time travel before they even started: the least little thing might change the past, transform all of history… Had Barry somehow caused all this? But he hadn’t even gone into the past…!

Central City lay straight ahead, and he breathed a little easier as he navigated familiar streets and byways. But before he could make his way to the home he shared with Iris and Bart, he pulled up short: police had cordoned off a section of downtown, beyond which was a mess of torn-up road, over-turned vehicles and dozens of little fires.

He pulled up to a halt next to a familiar police captain, who looked more startled than usual at his arrival.

“Captain Broome,” Barry acknowledged him cordially. “Who do we have today? Gorilla Grodd? Big Sir?”

“Who the devil are you?” Captain Broome gaped at him, as if he were looking at a ghost.

“I’m the Flash…?”

“No, you’re not,” The cop snorted, then pointed into the distance. “She’s the Flash!”

In the evacuated area, Barry watched as a creature of molten rock reared up and roared, coming down with a massive two fisted blow where his foe had just been. That she was a speedster, there was no doubt: she was moving so fast that only Barry could track her movements. She was clad in a familiar red costume, though the design was sleeker, the lightning bolt more stylized… She circled the shambling tar-pit of a creature, lapping it a hundred times per second, drawing all the oxygen from its burning body. The creature howled in frustration, but its movements became stiffer and stiffer, until finally it solidified into a solid piece of greasy, black tar.

The crowd cheered, many of them chanting the name of the Flash. Barry could only stare in shock as the heroine sped up to the police line, the tell-tale Flash grin of a job well done on her face.

“He’s all yours, gentlemen!” She told them, “Tell the boys at Iron Heights to build an extra-special cell for this weirdo…” Her voice trailed off, and her smile faded as her gaze fell upon Barry.

Their eyes locked. Two pairs of identically-shaped eyes of soft blue widened in surprise.

“Dad…?!?”

For what felt like an eternity, Barry could only stare back at his daughter. The daughter he did not have[/i]! Then he did the only logical thing he could: he ran.

[HoM]

At first he feared she would follow him, but the shock of his appearance must have left her as stunned as he, and he was half-a-world away before she could figure out what to do.

He needed to figure out was going on here, so he ran, slipping into the speedforce until he was a phantom, a trick of the light running through the cities of the world, vibrating his particles through the Great Wall of China in one instant, and through a polar glacier in the next.

The Cosmic Treadmill was designed for time travel, but something had gone wrong. It was still March 16th, 2008, but things were… different. Time did seem to have moved, progressed. Ray was retired, somebody named Jonathan Kent was writing for Clark’s old paper… and his adult daughter was the Flash!

So why did she look so shocked to see him?

Barry Allen was not sure he wanted to know.

[HoM]

A quick trip through Gotham further puzzled him. This was not the city he had left behind, but one of law and order. Middle-aged Police Commissioner Bruce Wayne worked long hours into the night at his office[/i], while a terrifying--- and young!--- Batman patrolled the streets and rooftops at the same time. In Metropolis, Superman, too, seemed younger, and his costume was different. Updated, he thought. More… Modern.

A new generation seemed to have taken the stage.

Without realizing it, he ended up in Keystone City, on a hill overlooking the Flash Museum. It was late now, almost full dark, and in the distance he could clearly make out four bronze statues before the museum steps.

Four Flashes honored… Three others to have worn the ring before this latest incarnation. He wondered if one of them was him. He didn’t want to get any closer and confirm it.

“Barry?”

He turned at the sound of his name. A costumed figure was coming towards him, moving slowly, cautiously. Moonlight glinted off a silver helm.

“Thank Heavens, Jay!” Barry felt himself relax a little. At last, a familiar face. He moved forward to greet his friend and mentor--- then gasped as he saw who it really was. The costume was similar, including the Hermes-helm, but the colors were different: instead of red and blue, there was mostly yellow and red. Same silvered sideburns, but a different face, a face no less familiar, however…

“Uncle Barry?!?”

“Wally[/i]?!?”

[HoM]

Barry Allen embraced his wife’s nephew, clinging to him as if he were some sort of anchor to reality. The two men pounded each other on the back, then sprang apart, to look at each other, neither appearing to believe their eyes.

Wally West had aged--- and aged well--- but he was clearly older than Barry now. And his costume seemed to honor Jay Garrick, the first Flash--- Barry hoped that nothing had happened to his mentor!

“Barry, I can’t believe it’s really you! When Carrie told me what happened this afternoon…”

Carrie. His daughter’s name was Carrie. Carrie Allen. He liked the sound of that.

“Wally, listen to me: I’m not sure what’s going on here, but I think it’s all my fault. Ray Palmer and I were experimenting with something called a Cosmic Treadmill, which is like a time machine, but there was an accident. I don’t think I traveled through time, but everything is different! Events seemed to have progressed, but time itself hasn’t moved forward.”

Wally doffed his helm, and ran a hand through his graying hair, frowning.

“Yesterday,” Barry went on, “You were eighteen years old! Bart was still a baby, and Iris and I hadn’t even had a daughter yet. At first I thought this was all a hallucination, an attack by Abra Kadabra, but there were too many things he wouldn’t know, secret identities and other little details. But this is real, and we need to fix it!”

“Fix it?” Wally’s frown deepened. “Fix what[/i]? What’s wrong, exactly? And I still don’t understand: how are you still alive? You disappeared 23 years ago!”

Barry was at a loss for words. Disappeared? He had a feeling it was going to be something like that. And of course Wally wouldn’t think anything was wrong, if this was all he had known…

But this wasn’t right. He had to change things back to the way they were.

“Wally, where’s Jay? We’re going to need his help if we’re to fix this.”

“Jay who?” Wally asked.

“Jay Garrick, the first Flash…!” Barry was starting to get extremely frustrated.
But Wally only shook his head, “Uncle Barry, Jay Garrick is a character in a comic book you read as a kid. His exploits inspired you to take his name after your accident at the lab. You[/i] were the first Flash!”

[HoM]

Barry Allen needed to slow down. Revelations were coming at him--- the Fastest Man Alive!--- too fast. He turned away from Wally and dashed down the hill, taking a superfast tour of the Flash Museum. What he found was evidence of a similar, but subtly different world. The Flash emerged on the public scene in 1956, becoming the protector of Central City against the likes of Captain Cold, Gorilla Grodd and Professor Zoom. He was a founding member of the Justice League of America, and in the mid 60s, took on a sidekick dubbed Kid Flash--- who would become a founding member of the Teen Titans. The discrepancies were minor, as long as one discounted the much earlier timeline.

As he navigated the corridors and exhibits of the museum, he took in the details of the Flash’s storied career: his defeat of Abra-Kadabra, his team-ups with various heroes, and chronicles of his adventures spanning almost 30 years, some of which he recalled from experiences of his own, but others that seemed to lay in the future for him. But some were curiously absent. Where were the newspaper clippings about the Apokolips Invasion, for instance? And what was this about him killing the Reverse-Flash…?[/i]

Wally had been following behind at a respectful distance, but he joined Barry at the framed newspaper article outlining the murder trial of the Flash.

“This is ridiculous.” Barry told him fervently. “I would never…”

The older speedster placed a comforting hand on his uncle’s shoulder. “Forget it, Barry. It was all a trick, anyway.”

“What’s the rest of the story?” Barry was looking around, indicating the whole museum. “I see exhibits and artifacts devoted to more than fifty years of Flashes, but they’re all different people. One of them is you, I assume, as Kid Flash’s career seems to end at the same time, but there are two others afterward. And what happened to me in 1985?” His chin jutted forward defiantly, as if to say he could handle any bad news.

“There was a great crisis,” Wally answered, and there was no mistaking the pain in his eyes. “We don’t know much, actually. I… I think I should just show you.”

[HoM]

They left the museum and sped across town, to a cemetery where the families of Central City were laid to rest.

The headstone read: Bartholomew Henry Allen, beloved husband and father[/i], and below the dates: “So that others might live[/i]…”

Next to his grave was Iris’; her death date was a year before his.

Barry’s voice hoarse with emotion, all he could do manage was a few words. “Tell me.”

“She didn’t really die then,” It wasn’t Wally’s voice that answered Barry, but a higher, female one. Barry turned to find his daughter walking towards them, her mask lowered to reveal soft brown hair the exact shade of Iris’. This time Barry didn’t run, but watched the young woman approach, his mind racing to assimilate every new revelation. “You were reunited with her a thousand years in the future, but not for long. She was pregnant with me when you left to return to 1985, to face your fate in the crisis. History doesn’t record exactly how it happened, but you helped to stop a monster from destroying all of time and space… You died a hero, dad, saving the lives of billions. But you did die. I feel your spirit in the Speedforce… So will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on here?”

Barry was at a loss. He shared a look with Wally, who was equally confused, then looked back to the plaintive, vulnerable face--- so much like Iris’!--- of his daughter. He pulled off his own mask, glancing back at Carrie.

When the answer came, it came from yet a new voice. “The answer is as simple as it is bizarre,” The man practically sprang[/i] into existence, a familiar red and blue form rapidly expanded from microscopic to full-sized in the space of a few seconds. But this was not Ray Palmer who had appeared before them, clutching a gleaming device that resembled nothing so much as a barbell. “This man is not our Barry Allen. At least not the Barry Allen who was your father, Carrie.”

“Dr. Choi?” Barry gaped at the man who now appeared to be the Atom.

“It’s okay, dad,” Carrie reassured him, interlacing her hand with the Atom’s. “Ryan’s one of us.”

And more than that[/i], her show of affection seemed to indicate.

“Atom, would you care to explain that last comment, please?” Wally asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Of course, sir,” said Choi respectfully. “After the Flash appeared in my classroom a few hours ago, I noticed that certain of my most sensitive instruments had picked up a curious energy signature. This energy signature seemed to emanate from the Flash and linger as a kind of afterimage, reacting strangely with positive matter particles in the air around him. I have been tracking his whereabouts the last couple of hours, trying to verify my findings with long-range magnetic-resonaters, and have determined one significant fact that leads me to only one unbelievable conclusion.” The Atom paused here, as if uncertain if he should propose such a preposterous explanation. But Carrie gave him an encouraging smile, and he went on: “All of my scans indicate that this Barry Allen is indeed an identical genetic match to your father, Carrie, except for one crucial and anomalous fact: his molecules are vibrating at an entirely different speed from every other object in the universe[/i], leading me to only one hypothesis,”

“The Fox-Schwartz Theory!” Wally and Carrie gasped at the same time.

Barry stared at them blankly.

“About fifty years ago, two theoretical physicists posited the existence of multiple planes of reality,” Wally explained, looking to the Atom to back him up. “Alternate dimensions, if you will, all co-existing in the same space and time, only vibrating at different speeds. They called this construct a ‘multiverse’, and theorized that there could be an infinite number of realities, all existing side-by-side, though separated by their unique cosmic modulation.”

Barry scratched his head, “So, this is Earth, too?”

“Yes,” Ryan Choi answered. “Though not yours. No doubt you’ll have noticed some differences, though many similarities: perhaps our two Earths have very similar modulations, though they cannot be identical, so realities are not identical either. Somehow your experiment on the Cosmic Treadmill allowed you to cross the barriers of the Multiverse, bringing you here.”

“I don’t belong here, I have a wife and son back on my Earth,” Barry Allen told them, flicking a glance at Carrie, who frowned quizzically, “I have to get back home to them.”

Ryan Choi’s face became thoughtful. “Well, theoretically it’s possible to send you back the same way you got here, on the Cosmic Treadmill, if we could replicate the exact conditions of the experiment… We can pinpoint your reality by matching it to your molecular resonance, but I have an expert studying the device right now, and the energy we would need to power it is immense; I don’t know of any way we could generate it again. How did you do it the first time?”

“I ran.” Barry shrugged.

“Hmm.” Dr. Choi frowned. “Simple acceleration shouldn’t be enough, otherwise we would see similar effects with super-colliders.”

“That was Barry by himself, though.” Wally interjected. “Is there room on this Cosmic Treadmill for three speedsters…?”

“Compound hyper-acceleration?” Carrie raised an eyebrow, glancing at the Atom.

Ryan Choi thought about it for a moment, a slow smile spreading across his face. “Well, it goes against everything we know about General and Special Relativity, but so does the Fox-Schwartz Theory. Besides, I’ve heard that Green Lantern power rings are capable of trans-luminal travel, so who knows! We’ve never let the impossible stop us before…!”

[HoM]

Once again, Barry Allen found himself in a private Ivy Town University laboratory, and the “expert” that Dr. Choi mentioned he had working on the Cosmic Treadmill was none other than Ray Palmer himself! Ray greeted his old friend with a crushing hug and an emotion-choked moment of disbelief.

“My god, you really are him,” Ray held Barry at arm’s length, and looked him over with glistening eyes. “It’s like looking back through time…Incredible!”

For Barry, it was just the reverse: this Ray Palmer was identical to the one in his universe, only aged considerably. His hair was bleach-white, and the face behind the thick glasses was creased but familiar. He must have been over seventy, his superheroing days long passed.

“You look good for an old man,” Barry told him good-naturedly. “My Ray will be glad to hear it,”

Ray Palmer nodded, something like a bittersweet smile stretching his mouth. “Looking at you, it’s easy to forget…” His words trailed off, and he backed away slowly, returning to the Cosmic Treadmill to join his prodigy and successor Dr. Choi as they prepared it for use.

“Something I said?” Barry turned to Wally.

“They were close,” Wally told him. “I mean, you and he, er… our[/i] Barry Allen and Ray Palmer were close. The Flash was important to a lot of people,” Wally looked solemn. “More like loved, I’d say. Even your Rouges remembered you fondly. I caught Captain Cold bringing flowers to your statue at the Flash Museum one year… It was hard for me to step into your shoes.”

And for a moment, there was something in Wally’s eyes that made him seem like a teenager again, something that brought a well of parental emotion surging up in Barry.

He grasped the older man on the shoulder. “I couldn’t be more proud of my Wally--- and the man he will one day grow to be.”

Wally kept his face carefully composed, but his eyes were bright as he nodded. “I never got a chance to say thank you,” he said so only Barry could hear.

“For what?”

“For making me a hero.”

Barry’s shook his head, his own eyes bright now. “You always were; I just gave you the costume.”

At that moment, Carrie approached, decelerating from superspeed and shrugging off her mask again.

“Dad, some folks wanted to see you off,”

In the adjacent room, watching through an observation window was a thick crowd of people in bright costumes, staring at him in wonder. There was Clark, in something that must have been traditional Kryptonian dress, the only indication of age being some gray at his temples and a tighter squint to his eyes. He was surrounded by his children, a perky-looking young girl and a son proudly bearing the “S” shield on his chest. There was a gray and craggy-faced Bruce Wayne, shirtsleeves rolled up and wearing a badge. A majestic-looking ageless Diana stood there as well, but a younger woman with hair the color of spun gold wore the tiara and lasso of Wonder Woman. Hal Jordan was nowhere to be seen, but a dark-haired Green Lantern stared out at Barry, balancing a child on his shoulder. The bearer of the Firestorm matrix was obviously female, and gawked as if staring at a legend. A still-lovely Dinah Lance stood with her daughter, a new Black Canary bearing the unmistakable insouciant smirk of Oliver Queen, who--- like Hal Jordan--- was forebodingly absent. There was an iron-gray Dick Grayson, an immortally beautiful Donna Troy, an ancient and regal-looking Aquaman and his family--- and a dozen others: a teary-eyed Ralph Dibny, a serene and otherworldly J’onn J’onzz, a stern-looking Katar Hol, Zatanna, Booster Gold, Red Tornado…

Barry stared back at them in equal wonder and fascination. On some very real level, these were[/i] his dearest friends and comrades. He saw it in Diana’s broad smile, in Clark’s wink, and in the almost imperceptible nod from Bruce.

“There here to see me off, huh?”

“Of course,” Wally told him. “You’re the Flash.”

The lump in Barry’s throat got a bit bigger.

“It’s time,” Dr. Choi announced, as he and Ray stepped away from the ready Cosmic Treadmill.

Barry, Wally and Carrie approached the device, stepping onto the track without hesitation. It was wide enough for two abreast, and the others took up position behind Barry.

“If our calculations are correct,” Ryan shared a quick glance with his predecessor, who nodded, “the three of you need to reach the speed of light, squared, before the tachyon generator can be activated--- and before it does, Wally and Carrie need to get off the treadmill, otherwise they will be carried away to your Earth, Mr. Allen.”

They all nodded tightly.

Ryan went on. “Once they’re off, you’ll need to maintain the speed long enough for the tachyonic field to reach full-power.”

“How long should that take?” Frowned Carrie.

“About 1/8 of a nanosecond,”

Wally frowned now as well. “At the speeds will be going, time stretches and dilates. In the speedforce, 1/8 of a nanosecond will seem like a minute or more…”

“No problem,” Barry told them. “You’ll have already given me the boost I need; I can take it from there--- you two just get off when I tell you.”

“Dad, maybe we should---.”

“That’s an order, young lady.”

Carrie Iris Allen snapped her mouth shut abruptly and unexpectedly--- to her, even--- much to Wally’s amusement. She found herself unable to contain a rueful smile.

“Alright, then,” Barry looked to Ryan and Ray. “Anything else?”

“Just Godspeed, my friend.” Ray’s voice was thick. “It was good seeing you again.”

Barry nodded, and glanced one last time out the observatory window at the assembled heroes; as one they saluted him. He acknowledge it with a sharp nod, and a promise to himself to always be worthy of that honor.

“Let’s get this show on the road, then,” Barry cleared his mind and turned to the task at hand. “Iris is gonna kill me if I’m late for dinner again.”

[HoM]

The Flashes started running.

To the onlookers, they quickly became a blur. The sound barrier was broken in the first second, the boom shaking the lab; on the other side of the observation window, Kyle Rayner’s little son covered his ears but grinned; Ralph Dibny yelled: “Go, Barry, go! [/i]”

The Cosmic Treadmill rattled and shook, and there was a pounding like a runaway locomotive in the lab. Ray and Dr. Choi checked their instruments: they were approaching the speed of light, the tachyon generator humming and building uppower. The forms of the speedsters became indistinct, merging together into little more than chromatic waves.

Charged particles crackled around the Treadmill, like little bits of lightning. It seemed impossible that the whole contraption didn’t just fly apart into a million pieces.

Then they broke the speed of light and together traveled faster than any of them ever had before.

[HoM]

Barry Allen felt a surge of adrenalin unlike any he had ever known. The part of him that was connected to the speedforce was superalive, charged with a bliss that can only come when a human exceeds the limit of their existence. He glanced behind him and saw that Wally and Carrie wore similar expressions of exultation; he grinned back at them. They were in a vortex of time/space, buffeted on all sides by chronal winds and non-Euclidean images.

He felt lucky. He was almost home, but he was thankful for the glimpse he had been given of what felt like the future: Wally was a worthy successor, and Carrie a daughter he could be proud of. He thought now for the first time on his counterpart in this universe, a man more than two decades dead. Barry Allen had died saving them all, they had told him. He died a hero. And that wasn’t such a bad way to go.

He thought of Bart and ran faster.

The instruments on the control panel indicated that they had hit Target Speed. Barry turned to the others and called out: “It’s time!”

“Just a bit more---.”

“No! It’s alright, Wally! You did it! You both did: You got me home! [/i]”

“Dad---.”

“I love you both!” Barry Allen smiled for them, “Now get out of here!”

With a last, lingering glance, as if trying to hold the image of him in their mind for later days, they veered abruptly away; Barry knew they would reappear safely on their Earth--- though they might have to take a few laps around the world before they could lose enough momentum to stop!--- and he hoped he would see them again one day.

He jabbed the activation code for the tachyon generator.

One-eighth of a nanosecond. Such a little amount of time, even in the warp field of time/space in which he existed now. He just needed to maintain the speed of light squared for 1/8th of a nanosecond, and he would be home…

On his own now, he rode the wave of momentum and compound-speed that was Wally and Carrie’s last gift to him. But, to his horror, it didn’t seem to be enough! A glimpse at his instruments showed a deceleration, back towards the Target Speed: if he fell below before the generator reached full power, he wouldn’t be able to cross the dimensional barrier, he wouldn’t be able to get home…

Then his blood chilled, and this had nothing to do with him slowing down. With a dread certainty, he knew that there was something behind him[/i]. He felt the presence at his back like an old enemy, a constant reminder. He didn’t have to look to know what was behind him, pursuing him like a tireless force of the cosmos. It was fate, death, and inevitability all rolled into one.

It was the Black Flash.

The entity was on the Treadmill behind Barry, keeping pace with him, his dark garments sucking all light and hope out of the universe. Its gaunt, parched face was stretched in a rictus of a smile, and a thin, wasted hand reached out for Barry, skeletal fingers millimeters from raking his back…

“You’re not supposed to be here…![/i]” came the sepulchral voice, echoing in Barry’s mind. “You’re dead, I took you long ago…[/i]”

Panic gripped the speedster. He gaped over his shoulder at the horrific apparition, noticing at the same time that his speed was dangerously close to the point of no return. It was slipping away, and he had been so close.... The Black Flash had come for him.

“No!” Barry raged at him. “I don’t belong here! It’s not my time…![/i]”

The laughter of the Black Flash filled his ears, filled all the universe. Barry Allen put his head down, ignored the death at his heels, and ran faster than he ever had before.

One-eighth of a nanosecond. He was nearly there, he just needed to stabilize his speed, keep it above the red line… He accelerated, wondering if this was what it felt like to Jay when he had been absorbed into the speedforce.

Then something wondrous happened: his steady deceleration stopped right on the brink--- in fact, he picked up[/i] speed. He glanced behind him in amazement: the Black Flash was no longer reaching for him, but was watching him--- and running effortlessly at speeds not even Barry could match!

The Black Flash was helping[/i] him!

“Your race isn’t over yet, speedster[/i],” said the creature, his frustration clear. “But you are on the narrow path, and we will meet again at the finish line! [/i]”

The prophecy lingered in the air just as the tachyon field blazed to life. Light flared and a noise like the swelling ocean echoed in Barry’s head…

And the next thing he knew, he was tumbling off the Cosmic Treadmill and crashing across a hard cement floor.

“Barry!” came a familiar voice. “Thank god you’re back! Are you alright?”

Strong hands were helping him to sit up. After-images flashed before Barry’s eyes, and he had to rub them to clear his vision. He was sprawled out on the floor of the lab, a concerned-looking Ray Palmer kneeling at his side. A Ray Palmer with rich brown hair and an unlined face.

Barry craned his head towards the observation window; the room beyond was empty and dark.

Relief washed over him, and he allowed Ray to help him to his feet.

“Dr. Palmer,” he said. “If you don’t take better care of your eyes, you’re going to need glasses eventually…”

And at Ray’s quizzical expression, Barry laughed.

[HoM]

EPILOGUE

“Amazing,” Ray Palmer said for the third time that evening after Barry had recounted his experience. His wine glass was untouched in his hand, his mind racing through dozens of possibilities.

“Yes, dear, you said that already,” Jean Loring stood behind his armchair, and ruffled his hair affectionately; he hardly noticed, so absorbed was he in this thoughts.

Iris had invited them, along with the Dibnys, over for dinner, and now they lounged on couches and in arm chairs while Barry regaled them with his day’s adventure. Barry was standing by the mantelpiece, sipping from his own glass, while his wife sat on the couch, cradling their son, Sue Dibny tickling little Bart’s feet.

“Amazing is just about the right word for it,” Ralph Dibny chimed in from the kitchen where he was picking on the remains of the pie they had for dessert. His head appeared in the living room, his elongated neck stretching back to the other room. “I mean think about it: a whole other m--- that ‘s a guy I’d love to meet! I could find out if I’ll lose my hair, or if I get fat…”

“One of you is more than enough!” Sue admonished her husband with affectionate exasperation.

“You don’t lose your hair,” Barry told him with a lop-sided smile. “But I’d lay off that pie.”

A round of laughter followed and the rest of Ralph’s body joined them in the living room.

“This Earth-2, for lack of a better designation,” Ray piped up, “Is most likely no anomaly. There must be hundred, thousands, no--- an infinite[/i] number!--- of alternate realities out there. A multiverse[/i] of possibilities…!”

Barry nodded, remembering Wally’s words about the Fox-Schwartz Theory. “Yes, all co-existing in the same space and time, only vibrating at different speeds.”

They could all see the scientist in Ray Palmer champing at the bit to get back to his lab. “You know, with a few modifications, I think I can get the Cosmic Treadmill to---.”

“How come you didn’t see yourself?” Iris asked in a soft voice. She had been unusually quite all throughout dinner, and wore a concerned expression now as she passed Bart to Sue and rose to her feet. “I mean, you saw Wally, right? And a daughter of ours--- what did you say her name was: Carrie? You saw Ralph and Ray and all the others… Where were you and I in all that?”

Barry watched his wife approach, his mouth open but no words ready. He had left out certain things about his trip to what Ray was calling Earth-2: namely, his and his wife’s fate and his encounter with the Black Flash… He knew the information was conspicuous by its absence, and he knew that Iris knew it as well.

He didn’t want to hurt her. A pretty lie of a happily-ever-after fate would ease her mind, save her endless worry every time he put on that costume. She was staring up at him, her eyes clouded and probing. What was to be gained by telling her the truth?

What would he lose by not[/i]?

He took her into his arms, pulling her close to him, and said: “The Barry Allen of Earth-2 gave his life saving his world, fighting for what he believed in. Iris, I only hope that when my time comes, I’m the same man.”

Iris’ eyes filled with tears, but she stared bravely up at the man she loved, as if he’d been given a death sentence. He kissed her forehead, glancing across at the now still room. His friends were stunned and speechless; Bart gurgled in Sue’s arms.

“It doesn’t have to happen the same way,” Ralph broke the silence. “I mean, not every[/i]thing was the same, right? This is a different universe, not a future timeline!” He looked to Sue for support.

“Ralph’s right,” she added with a tentative smile. “The proof is right here with Bart. You had a boy, Iris. If that turned out differently, than why won’t something--- everything[/i]!--- else?”

Ray and Jean nodded their agreement, but Barry and Iris only had eyes for each other. The look they shared said it all: Barry Allen was who he was, and there was no changing that: a man of integrity and compassion. A man who would always give his all to right a wrong or fight injustice. He was a hero. He was the man Iris West had fallen in love with, and there was no changing that.

His smile held the promise of finite summers with Bart out by the lake, and warm winter nights cuddled with her by the fire.

With tears streaming down her face, and their closest friends gathered around them, she told her husband she loved him… but she didn’t tell him about the new life growing within her, about the daughter she had long dreamed about who would greet the world in eight short months… Now was not the time; she would tell him later, and there would be only joy in him, and not trepidation for the future. To Barry Allen, this was not a harbinger of death. Her husband was not that man. He was a hero, and he would face whatever came his way with hope and courage. And she would be at his side to face it with him. He gave her the strength to do that; his smile[/i] did that.

Carrie… She had always liked that name…

[HoM]

THE END!

[HoM]

To learn more about Earth-2, read Justice League Legacies, premiering soon at the DC3!

For a look at just some of the worlds that exist in the multiverse, the DC3 awaits your readership!

And for more on the multiverse, and the crisis that is brewing inside the multiple Earths… Pick up Zero Hour, coming *very* soon to the DC2!

[HoM]

Click here for The Flash #23's letter page!