Chapter 441 - Winning Affection, Losing Love.
Barry Allen, a crime scene investigator for the Central City Police department, was a bright young man.
But it was hard for outsiders to imagine that he had experienced an extremely brutal childhood nightmare when he was 11 years old.
His father, who was a doctor, was accused of killing his wife and was thus arrested and imprisoned.
This was a reality far more painful than losing his parents.
Making a child accept that his father had become a murderer.
The gentle mother died by her husband's hands.
It was really too dark.
If the background were Gotham city, it wouldn't be a surprise if Barry Allen became a super-criminal or gang leader.
He then joined Batman's huge fan club and spent years in and out of Blackgate Penitentiary or Arkham Asylum.
Fortunately.
This was Central City.
It was one of the few cities in the DC universe that could be called normal.
Even the villainous Rogues had principles, never bullying the weak.
Compared with Gotham's psychopaths, lunatics, and anti-human elements, they were simply angels.
Barry Allen, who lost his parents and was left unattended, wasn't sent to an orphanage.
Officer Joe West of the Central City Police Department adopted him and made sure he made it through college.
He was a friend of Barry's father, an honest policeman, and a warm-hearted man.
After graduating from college, Barry chose to enter the Central City Police Department in an effort to clear his father's name, who was sentenced to life in prison.
Yes, he never regarded his father as a criminal.
Because young Barry witnessed the murderer!
At that time, there were two red and yellow lightning in the room, entangled with each other!
It's just that no one believed it. They all thought that Barry suffered severe mental trauma, which led to hallucinations.
The words of an 11-year-old child simply had no weight.
Therefore, Barry successfully entered the Central City Police Department with the firm idea of reuniting with his father.
While working, he was looking for new clues.
Until the lightning bolt fell from the sky, breaking his quiet life.
The big explosion of the particle accelerator, together with the mixed liquid in the laboratory and the lightning, changed Barry's fate.
He got the Speed Force and became the speedster.
Since then, Central City welcomed the first superhero, the Flash.
Barry used the Speed Force to punish evil and fight crime while investigating the tragedy that happened in his childhood and finally learning the truth.
A future person named 'Eobard Thawne', nicknamed 'Reverse-Flash'…
He was the one who traveled to the Flash's time and murdered Barry's mother.
The real goal of the Reverse-Flash was actually young Barry.
However, the future Flash prevented him from killing Barry's mother in order to vent his anger, which caused the birth of a tragedy.
However, the Reverse-Flash ignored the space-time continuum. He was able to obtain the Speed Force by replicating the Flash's accident.
If Barry Allen didn't become the Flash, he would be affected and lose everything.
In other words, Reverse-Flash locked himself in this time and space and could never return to the future.
Because he didn't have the Speed Force anymore, he couldn't continue to travel through the infinite corridor of time and space.
In order to save himself and go home, the Reverse-Flash could only wait silently for Barry Allen to grow up and recreate the accident with his own hands so that the Flash would reappear, thus forming a closed-loop.
This was the feud between the Reverse-Flash and the Flash, becoming arch-enemies.
"I feel like I had a long sleep and a long dream."
Barry Allen, awake, took the coffee from his adoptive father, Joe.
He felt like he had a hangover, and his mind was tangled up.
He felt that there were a lot of pictures flashing by, just like a fractured memory.
"You're probably under too much pressure, Barry."
Joe held the young man's shoulder and comforted him, "But there's nothing we can do about it. We've been working on this case for 18 hours, and we still don't have a clear idea of what's going on, and people want to know the truth. The media is fanning the flames, and there's a lot of pressure on everyone."
"So, you have to work harder, Barry. and try to extract more critical clues from the evidence found at the crime scene."
Joe was an experienced cop, and he and his colleagues were recently investigating a murder case.
According to the preliminary judgment, the murderer was likely a super criminal.
"Well, thanks for the coffee and pep-talk, Joe."
Barry smiled and nodded. He finished his cup of steaming coffee and started working with Speed Force as a habit.
"Ah, this … where's my speed?"
Then, sobering up, Barry felt something was wrong.
'The Speed Force, it's gone!'
The wonderful power that wasn't bound by the laws of physics not only could accelerate Barry when he was running but also helped in daily life.
As long as he used his speed, time would slow down for him.
Barry could do his work several times over with amazing efficiency.
For example, read all the files in 10 seconds, then run around Central City twice, track the criminals through clues, and then send them to the police station.
Exam memorization, take out, doing experiments … When he wanted to sleep in in the morning, Barry would use Speed Force to wash up quickly and then rush to Central City Police Station.
It could be said that the Speed Force was simply the best tool for the Flash.
But!
Now!
It was gone!
Barry's mind was still running 'slowly' at its usual speed.
What could have been done in 1 millisecond was now done in minutes and hours.
Barry felt very uncomfortable, and he felt like a sloth named Lightning in Zootopia.
Everything was so slow.
"What's the matter, Barry?"
Joe asked, frowning.
He noticed Barry's abnormality. The other party seemed very uncomfortable.
"I'm … a little nauseous."
Barry tried to adjust his state and return to the rhythm of normal life.
"By the way, Joe, if this is a super-criminal murder case, what should we do? Get help from the Flash?"
While pretending to be working, he changed the subject and diverted his adoptive father's attention.
But then, Joe's answer left Barry completely stunned.
"Who's the Flash? What are you talking about? Were you drunk last night?"
Joe's eyes were strange; he didn't understand Barry at all.
"To confirm the identity of the criminal, of course, we need the help of 'Citizen Cold', the greatest hero of this city."
'Citizen Cold?'
Barry stared in disbelief.
'Joe isn't talking about Captain Cold of the Rogues, right?'
'When did that guy become a superhero?'
Barry felt that it was all wrong. He was filled with confusion, but no one could provide answers.
"Come on, Barry, you'd better go back and get some rest. You look too tired."
Joe shook his head and told him so.
This usually smart and witty young man was full of nonsense today. Was he drunk?
"Yeah, okay, Joe."
Barry nodded and agreed. He needed to find out what had happened.
Putting on his jacket, he ran as usual and then remembered that his Speed Force had disappeared.
"My ring …"
The ring that contained the Flash's suit wasn't on Barry's hand either.
When his thoughts were scattered, he stepped off the stairs and fell down with a roll, hitting the back of his head on the ground.
After the impact, his brain seemed stimulated, and a lot of strange memories instantly gushed out.
Without the tragic experience when he was 11 years old, his mother wasn't murdered, and his father wasn't sent to prison.
He didn't become … the Flash!
The greatest hero in the city was called Citizen Cold.
The Rogues, a group of villains, had become positive people who were admired by everyone.
'Iris …'
Barry thought bitterly.
Iris West, who should have been his wife, didn't join him in marriage but became someone else's wife.
At this moment, Barry was filled with bitterness.
He didn't know if he was doing the right thing or the wrong thing.
Winning in family affection and saving his mother.
But lost love, letting his wife marry someone else.
"No way! I have to think of a way!"
Barry struggled to get up and patted the dust on his clothes.
A bold guess vaguely emerged in his heart, but he was afraid to confirm it.
If the world had really been completely changed, only one person could help him!
'Batman!'
The brains of the Justice League!
No matter how strange things were, Batman could always accept them quickly and find a solution!
Barry, who was walking down the road, immediately reached out to stop a cab.
"To Gotham!"
He said to the driver.
…
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