DCU The Flash #14 Lightning Strikes Twice (Lightning Strikes Twice)

Barry's feet ran against the road, each step melting the ice frozen over.

 

Barry, I found Trickster. Text Joe this address, tell him to bring as many men as he can.

 

August had done it. Barry didn't know how he did, or why the man messaged him over Joe, but it didn't matter. Jay's words to him echoed through his mind with each step taken.

 

"You haven't failed him yet."

 

Bivolo's followed.

 

"Don't ever stop… being a hero."

 

Wally would be saved, Barry would make sure of it.

 

His body came to a halt as he arrived at the address he was texted, a mom and pop shop he'd frequented before. The outside walls were made of brick, with no windows on the second floor. Barry's head turned to his right as bright headlights came into view. As the lights shut off, Barry saw August in the driver's seat.

 

"Detective Heart," Barry said, greeting the man as he stepped out of his car. "Where's Detective West?"

 

It was only as he got close that Barry noticed the bloodstains on August's jacket. "I told a friend to inform the CCPD," he said, eyeing the building. "Let's go."

 

Barry placed a hand in front of August, stopping him in place. "Detective… are you alright?" he asked, eyeing the dried red patterns. "Why are you here alone…"

 

"Listen, Flash, we don't have time to dance around," August said, throwing Barry's arm off of him. "Wally needs us."

 

"Alright, yeah," Barry said, turning towards the building. "One moment."

 

In an instant, Barry dashed into the building, zipping around the ground floor. The dining room was completely void of color, plain tables and chairs being the only thing to fill the room. Stepping into the kitchen, Barry's blood ran cold as he spotted a crimson trail along the tile floor. Following the dried blood, Barry cracked open the freezer, gritting his teeth at the sight. "Dammit," Barry sighed, staring at the restaurant owners laying dead in the freezer.

 

"He's a psychopath," August said, peering over Barry's shoulder.

 

"Detective, I said wait outside!" Barry said, startled. "This place could be booby trapped, it's one of Trickster's mo's."

 

"We don't have time to worry about that and you know it," August said, dismissing Barry and walking through the kitchen. "It's best we leave their bodies there until this thing is over and done with…"

 

Barry grimaced at the thought, but gently closed the freezer door, the man was right about that much. 'August… what happened?' he thought, nearly asking the man in front of him. He couldn't though, his identity needed to stay a secret.

 

The two made their way through the kitchen, eventually finding the staircase tucked away in the corner of the room. "I'm gonna check for tripwires," Barry said, stepping in front of August. "It'll only be a second.

 

"Sure."

 

With a quick dash, Barry sped up the stairs, dismantling three separate wires laying along the steps. Once done, he stood at the top of the staircase, tossing the wires to ground. After nodding to August, Barry turned, opening the door to the second floor.

 

The room was large, filled with oversized toys and trinkets alike. August's footsteps could be heard behind him, but the louder sound was a metal crank from inside the room. Taking a step forward, Barry spotted Jesse, sitting in a bean bag with a weapon in his hand. Wally was strapped to the machine from the video, though it now seemed to glow.

 

'What kind of madman…'

 

"Jesse!"

 

Barry's thought was interrupted by August, who stormed into the room.

 

"August?" Wally asked, looking up at the duo. "Flash! I knew it!"

 

The sound of shifting metal was caught by Barry's ears, his eyes locking onto a moving metal plate below August's feet.

 

"August lookout!"

 

"Detective!" Barry shouted, dashing to August and pushing him from harm's way. Not a moment after a saw blade launched from the floor gap, embedding itself in the ceiling. "Are you okay?" Barry asked, earning a nod in response.

 

"I was really hoping that'd get one of you…" Trickster pouted, hopping up from the beanbag. "You've got good eyes, kid. Too bad they'll be attached to a corpse soon!"

 

"Not on my watch," Barry mumbled, dashing towards Jesse. A speed punch sent the older man backwards, dropping the large weapon he was holding. Jesse smirked, tapping the buckle of his belt. A second later, the dropped weapon exploded, adhesive like goo splattering around the room.

 

Barry attempted to dodge, but the spread of the explosion was too wide, pinning him to the wall. "Dammit!" he shouted, trying to pull himself free. His gaze caught Wally's, his heart dropping at the fear in the boy's eyes.

 

The sound of thunder from outside echoed loudly, causing Jesse to exhibit a wicked smile. "Well, since you're trapped… villainous monologue time!" he shouted with glee. "You're probably wondering, 'What? The detective is still here, he's fumbling.' Well if that's what you're thinking, you're wrong, here's why…"

 

With a press of a button, the ceiling began to open, revealing the night sky above them. Barry's eyes flickered from the forming clouds back down to Jesse. "Let him go, Jesse," he ordered.

 

"Let me finish my monologue!" Jesse replied, clearing his throat. "As you can see here, the West boy is strapped to a brilliant device built by… some guy, I don't remember his name. Anywho, the design is a special one, with blueprints made from your pal Weather Wizard."

 

"Mardon?" Barry asked, eyes widening as he realized the device's true purpose. "Jesse…"

 

"Bingo!" Jesse said, smiling wide. "His brother came to me after the breakout saying how they owe me a favor… something about those mafia folk, always with the favors... I went ahead and cashed it in early."

 

"Why…" Barry asked, trying to pull himself free.

 

"It's meant to be ironic, y'know?" Jesse explained, drawing squiggles on his chest with a finger. "The whole lightning bolt thing is your motif after all, I thought it was self explanatory."

 

"Not the device, why Wally!?" Barry shouted, pulling on the adhesive to no avail. "He did nothing to you! He's not a part of this!"

 

"Not a part of this, hm?" Jesse asked, bringing his hand to his chin. "If I remember correctly, an Iris West interrupted our little squabble, no? She wasn't a part of this either."

 

"It's not the same and you know it!"

 

Suddenly, August charged Jesse, striking him with a rising elbow. Following up the attack with a left hook, August sent the villain to the ground, now bleeding from the mouth. "Stop trying to reason with him!" August shouted towards Barry. Jesse looked up at August with a smile, earning a kick to the head.

 

Jesse rolled to the side, avoiding a second kick. Grabbing onto August's foot, he tripped the detective, pulling him to the ground. Pressing a button on his belt, his hand inflated, now mimicking a boxing glove. Slamming his hand down, he landed a brutal strike in August, tearing the man's lip open. A second strike caused a mixture of spit and blood to fly, painting the floor.

 

August blocked the third strike, using the momentum to flip Jesse over his head. Pulling himself to a stand, August kicked Jesse in the ribs, twice, before grabbing him by the collar. Dragging the man to a stand, August pinned Jesse against the wall, punching him in the face once more.

 

"How do we turn it off!?" August shouted as more thunder rolled in.

 

"Oh honey…" Jesse said, giggling, "you can't turn it off. That's the trick!"

 

August's eyes widened, his head swivelling to look at Wally. The boy was shaking in the chair, tears running down his face and mouth parted. "August?" he mumbled, staring into his eyes.

 

"Let him go… now!"

 

Barry watched as August interrogated Jesse, his eyes shifting to Wally every so often. He was stuck. His arms were bound and he couldn't phase his body out of the adhesive. He was stuck watching Wally die. Stuck watching August suffer.

 

He was stuck as another person died before his eyes.

 

A sound akin to a hummingbird began to resonate throughout the room.

 

He was stuck, unable to save even one person.

 

Wind began to pick up, swirling around Barry.

 

He was stuck while his brother fell into the same madness he was.

 

His body began to vibrate uncontrollably.

 

"Not… again!" Barry shouted, both Wally and August's heads shifting to him. "I won't sit by and watch him die!"

 

The wind in the room became stronger as various toys and trinkets were pulled into its funnel. The goo stuck to Barry was pushed off him, his body beginning to rotate at insane speeds. Barry was spinning his entire body like a hurricane, like The Top. Stopping in place, the wind dispersed, the goo splattering along the floor and walls, toys scattering around the room.

 

Another crackle of thunder sounded off, causing Barry's eyes to sparkle with golden light.

 

Barry felt time around him freeze. The blue of the lightning lit up the room as it traveled downward, directly towards Wally. It was moving fast, too fast. He still couldn't phase another person, it was too risky. The restraints were welded shut, so he wouldn't be able to pry Wally out of the chair.

 

He couldn't just stand and watch Wally die.

 

So he ran.

 

His body crashed through the brick of the building's wall, falling from the second story to the street below. His left arm was now shattered from the impact, hanging limply at his side, but it didn't matter. None of that mattered.

 

The moment his feet hit the ground, sounds of thunder resonated throughout the night. He was off. Each step he took cracked the pavement beneath him. Each movement caused every overworked muscle in his body to burn. Each second he took was another chance Wally could die.

 

'Faster,' he thought, lightning sparking off his body like a firework as he sped up even further. 'Faster, Barry! C'mon!'

 

The sonic boom that followed obliterated windows from the buildings he passed, filling the road and sidewalks with broken glass. Street signs were bent and trees fell over, as if Barry's speed was an aura, ravaging the world around him. He needed to make it, CCPD was a block away. He had to make it.

 

Prepping his right arm, Barry burst into the CCPD, blowing the doors off the building. People in the lobby were sent careening back, but all Barry could do was hope they'd be unharmed. The shard of glass now lodged in Barry's bicep went almost unnoticed as the man ran up the stairs, stumbling into his lab.

 

The rack of chemicals practically glowed in the night, each different colored vial and beaker shining brightly. Raising his stabbed arm, he began grabbing the vials, mixing them together to create one single concoction.

 

'Need to be faster than the reaction,' he thought, dipping his finger into the mixture to stir, ignoring the burn. 'Faster than lightning… Faster than-'

 

Barry capped the mixture, gripping it tightly as he launched himself out through the Lab's window, riddling his body with glass. The landing was ungraceful, Barry's knees buckling from the pressure, causing him to stumble. His hand held a firm grip on the chemicals, lightning flashing across his eyes.

 

He could see the lightning strike from blocks away, he wasn't going to make it. With a guttural scream, Barry launched forward, tearing his boots to shreds. The glass lodged in his body cracked and crumbled from the sheer speed he was going, leaving the bloody shards all along the street.

 

"Move!" he cried out as he approached the building.

 

Like a catapult, Barry launched himself through the hole he'd made with a single leap. As he reentered the building, the lightning strike was centimeters away from Wally. His body was careening through the air and he had no time to stop himself. If he crashed, it would be too late.

 

He had no options left, so he launched the chemicals forward, the vial spiraling through the air like a football. His body came crashing down onto the floor, his already shattered arm taking even more damage. As he rolled along the ground, his eyes caught Wally's own.

 

Then thunder struck as the lightning bolt connected with the vial.

 

The room exploded with light, the force sending Barry's broken body flying into the wall. August and Jesse were both knocked down, the latter's head slamming against the brick wall in the process.

 

As the light faded, Barry opened his eyes, looking for any signs of life from Wally. Tears began to fall as his gaze locked onto the ginger boy, standing unharmed from the lightning. Barry took note of the ice blue electricity that sparked off his body, giving him an ethereal glow. The corners of Barry's mouth curved slightly, a small giggle slipping from his lips.

 

He saved him.

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NEXT TIME: Homebound, a New Door Opens!

Done