3004 A.D.
In the year 2014, Iris West married the love of her life, Barry Allen. Barry, as it turned out, was far more remarkable than the average man: through a freak accident involving a lightning bolt and a pile of chemicals, Barry was blessed with superhuman speed. Dressed in a scarlet-colored costume, he used his powers to help those in need, eventually becoming one of the world's greatest heroes. His powers were so vast, in fact, that he was able to use highly advanced machinery to harness his speed and actually travel through time itself. On one occasion, Iris accompanied her husband to the future year of 2971. While there, she and Barry conceived and birthed a baby boy, Don. For various reasons, however, Iris and Barry couldn't stay in the future, and were forced to leave their baby in the care of trusted friends, who became Don's adoptive parents. Eventually, Iris and Barry were able to return to the future, but only to a point after Don had already grown to adulthood, married, and died, leaving only his son, Bart. Iris and Barry then decided to take their new grandson back to their time and raise him themselves. Something went wrong with the time travel process, however, and only Barry returned to the 21st century, leaving Iris and Bart trapped alone in the future.
Iris had now been alone in the 31st century for nearly five years, still unsure as to why Barry hadn't returned.
Still, however, little Bartholomew Allen kept her life full of love. At the present moment, she was checking up on him while he slept. Bart had had some rather restless nights over the past week or so, but he seemed perfectly peaceful for the moment. The dark bedroom was blissfully quiet, and Bart didn't budge at all.
Suddenly, the room lit up for a mere split-second as a yellow spurt of electricity ran across Bart's side. Iris's eyes widened, and she put her hands over her mouth in shock.
Another spark jolted across Bart. This time he winced, but stayed asleep. Then another spark. And another, and another. Bart shook and twisted in bed as more and more golden lighting bolts streaked across his sleeping body. Iris ran to the bedside, shaking him awake.
"BART! BART! WAKE UP!"
Bart's eyes shot open, and the electricity faded. "Hhuhh? Grandma? What's going on?..."
Bart apparently had no idea of what had just happened, and looked just like he always did: a little slow on the uptake, but adorable nonetheless.
Iris breathed a sigh of relief. "It's over... okay..."
Bart suddenly winced, doubled over, and screamed as he felt more power surging through his body.
"AAAUUGGHHH!!"
Iris needed to get Bart help. But who could help him? Hospitals of the 31st century were well-equipped to handle even the most unusual of problems, but Bart was—as far as Iris knew—the only person currently in existence that was tapped into the extradimensional Speed Force. Only someone who understood the metaphysical—and largely theoretical—science behind Bart's biological connection to that power could help him now. Fortunately, Iris knew one such person.
The towers of New Metropolis rose like elegant spires into the night sky. Despite being home to seventy-eight million people, the entire city seemed to be under a blanket of serenity. Even the car-like vehicles that hovered overhead were silent and gentle. The air was as crisp, clean, and refreshing as an open grassy field. Although Iris would trade anything to be able to follow her husband into the past, she did have to admit that this truly was a better place.
Iris hurriedly walked down the street, gently pulling Bart by the hand. He was groggy, and almost fell over a few times, but managed to keep his footing for the most part. Iris would have driven Bart in their car, but she thought that perhaps if he were walking, it might help with whatever was happening to him.
Finally, two blocks down, they arrived at a massive building. Set apart from the rest of the city by a whole city block on every side, it stood with a kind of regal importance. Iris hurriedly led Bart up the massive steps leading to the building's front entrance. Bart looked up at an archway above the front doors, and tried to read the words engraved in golden stone upon it: LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES.
Iris, breathing hard from the hurried stairway climb, keyed the intercom panel on the door.
"Welcome to Legion Headquarters. Do you have an appointment?" a computerized voice responded.
"I'm Iris Allen! Let me speak to someone, please!"
The artificial voice was silent, as though it were surprised and confused as to how to respond.
After a few seconds, it hurriedly replied. "Mrs. Allen, you are of course welcome here. Please enter. A Legionnaire will arrive momentarily to escort you."
A door on Iris's right slid open, and she pulled Bart inside.
The main lobby was dark and empty. Iris was getting anxious; she didn't think Bart could wait any longer.
"Mrs. Allen! Is something wrong?" a voice called from down a hallway. Iris turned to see a boy half-running to meet her. His skin was blue-green, and his hair was a bright golden sheen.
"Yes!" Iris replied. "Bart's been having... spasms. He was getting shocked by... spontaneous electricity while he slept."
The green-skinned boy's eyes widened. "Come with me. Hurry!"
The three of them stepped into an elevator and descended several floors underground. When they stopped, the doors opened to a huge laboratory. All kinds of advanced technologies covered the room, none of which Iris recognized. She guessed that it was unimaginably advanced, even for the 31st century.
"Let's get him on here," the green-skinned boy said, gesturing to a metal table shaped like a human body.
Iris and the boy helped Bart get onto the table. When Bart laid down, the sides of the table flipped around, clamping him down and covering his arms and legs. Lights along the metal coverings began to glow. Bart felt himself relax.
"This machine will help to drain the excess energy coming from his body until we can figure out what's going on," the green-skinned boy said.
The elevator behind them opened again, and three others stepped out.
"Miss Iris!" a red-haired teenage boy said. "What are you doing here?"
Before Iris could reply, a blonde-haired girl at the redhead boy's side replied for her. "Something's wrong with Bart..."
Iris was always slightly annoyed at Imra's mind-reading abilities, but this time she didn't mind as much.
"Yes. He's hurt, and I don't know what to do."
"Don't worry, Mrs. Allen. We'll help him," the third one to exit the elevator said. He was slightly taller than the others, with jet-black hair and a serious look about him.
The machine Bart was lying in began to shake and flash with electricity. Bart was going into spasms again.
"Lightning Lad! Saturn Girl! I need you over here, now!"
The blonde and redheaded teenagers ran to the green-skinned boy's side. Iris was surprised at the green one's tone; from what she understood, Legionnaires only referred to each other by their code names in battle.
"Imra, try to keep Bart calm," the green one said. "Garth, try and absorb some of the electricity off his body. You're a living battery; you should be able to take it a bit better than he can."
"Woah, are you sure?" Garth asked. "I mean, this is Speed Force energy; it's not like normal electricity, is it?"
"It's close enough. Just do it."
Garth shrugged. "Okay, whatever you say. You're the Brainiac here."
Imra placed one hand gently on Bart's forehead, and the other to her temple. She concentrated hard, trying to calm his frightened mind. Garth put his hands on Bart's chest, drawing the jumping arcs of yellow lightning into his own body. He flinched a few times, but managed to hold on.
The green-skinned boy—whose name Iris finally remembered was "Brainiac 5"—examined biological data on a nearby computer screen.
"What's going on here, Brainy?" The black-haired boy asked firmly, almost as though it were an order.
"I'm not sure, Rokk, I—... wait... hang on; I think I've got it!"
Brainiac 5 turned to the others. "His body is reacting too early to the Speed Force. If he were older when he had these powers, he'd be fine. But since he's not old enough to utilize the power yet, it's overloading. It'll kill him unless we do something."
"What can we do?" Imra asked.
"Hang on, I'm thinking..."
Brainiac 5, being the fifth-generation descendant of the computerized BRAIN Inter-Active Construct, was partially robotic. His brain contained a twelfth-level intelligence, and he was quite possibly the smartest sentient individual on the planet.
"I think I have an answer," he said. "We can drain Bart's powers to an acceptable level by having him utilize them to their fullest extent."
"Wait a minute," Iris said. "Barry used his power to its fullest extent when he traveled through time. Are you saying?..."
"Yes. We need to send him through time."
Iris felt shock tingle up her spine. "No! We can't send him away!"
"We could send you, too, actually. Back to your own time, in the 21st century." Brainiac 5 said.
Iris was confused. "But... I thought you said there wasn't any way to get me back?"
"Not before now, no. The Time Institute is making some progress, but the technology isn't quite there yet. We needed Barry for time travel before now, but since Bart now has similar powers, we have another option."
Iris sat down on a nearby chair in order to think. Could she really go back to her own time? Could she see Barry again? Would it be safe for Bart?
"I can't take this for much longer!" Garth yelled across the room.
"Please, Mrs. Allen," Brainiac said. "You need to make your decision now. I don't know how much longer Bart can survive."
"...Alright. We'll go."
Brainiac ran to a nearby machine covered with a tarp. When he pulled off the tarp, Iris gasped. It was a long, metal box with a control panel on the side and a running track along its top. Barry had jokingly nicknamed it "the Cosmic Treadmill." It was what helped Barry focus his power to travel through time. Brainiac turned it on, and it hummed to life. The track began spinning, and lights switched on.
"Move him over here," Brainiac said to the others. Rokk, Garth, and Imra helped Bart out of the machine, and slowly walked him over to the treadmill. Brainiac pulled out a syringe and gently squeezed its contents into Bart's neck.
"There. That should give him a little more energy so he can run."
Brainiac tapped a few buttons on the treadmill, setting the approximate target time and date. When he was done, he turned to Iris.
"There's a chance that this won't work. There's a possible thirty-year variance in the targeting. If you end up at a point in time before the year you originally left, you'll need to stay out of history's way."
Iris nodded. "Right. I know a thing or two about time travel." She turned to the others. "Thank you, all of you."
Rokk stepped forward. "Your husband was one of the founding members of the Justice League of America. Because of what he did in the past, the world is a better place today. It's the least we can do to help you in any way we can."
"Besides," Imra added with a gentle smile, "we think of you like family."
"It's time to go," Brainiac said. "Bart, I need you to get on top of this machine and and run, okay? Run as fast as you can."
Bart nodded. He hopped on, and began walking across the rotating mat. Iris knew how the machine worked; she simply put her hand on it and waited. The running belt began to spin faster and faster. Bart began running. The belt sped up again, and again, and again. Bart ran faster than any normal human was capable of moving. His legs were a blur. Yellow bolts of electricity arced into the machine, powering it up even more. As Bart accelerated to an extreme speed, a glowing cone of light appeared in front of the treadmill. It quickly moved to envelop the entire treadmill, along with Bart and Iris. In a deafening flash of lightning and thunder, the machine and the Allens were gone.
The four Legionnaires stood alone in the silent laboratory.
"Did it work?" Rokk asked.
Brainiac pulled out his datapad and began scanning the space that the Allens had just left empty. "...Yes. It worked."
Imra, Garth, and Rokk shared a mutual smile.
"But... wait a minute..." Brainiac added, worry creeping into his voice. "...Oh no. Something's wrong. Very wrong."
Good one :D
ReplyDelete~Kendra