104 BARRY ALLEN PT1

"Go frame by frame, Jarvis," Bruce ordered the AI as she kept on playing the recorded footage of that night. He has this weird feeling that something isn't right. Lex died that easily, that fast? That man was stubborn and survived the time he got cancer, Amazo virus, a version fought Ultraman, and yet, this one died just like that? Yeah, the unstable explosion of the arc reactor was overpowered, but still, Bruce has this feeling of uneasiness.

So he wants to review the video that his suit took during their encounter. It's been already the third day he kept watching and reviewing and, in fact, found nothing. The footage is normal and same as what happened that night.

"Pause!" Bruce smirked as he almost jumped when he saw a glimmer. It's just at the corner of the screen but there's definitely something there at the corner. A red and yellow haze or something. He frowned but asked Jarvis to clean up the footage and zoom in as much as he could. And, once again, Bruce raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What is this?"

[Scanning...]

The AI spoke and made Bruce as impatient as ever. Even with all his patience, Bruce couldn't help himself from getting more anxious. Then, finally, it spoke after two full minutes.

[Analysis confirmed...]

[Putting the enhanced image on the screen...]

"Hahahaha!" Bruce laughed in delight and stood up as his lips made an amused smirk. "Yes. This is how it should be, or else it won't be much fun, now, would it? Thawne..." On the screen is the enhanced image of a speedster in a yellow suit and red lightning sparking around him. It was hazy, but Jarvis did its best to enhance it and they clearly could see the yellow and red lightning of a speedster. "You never make things easy. If I were to guess, you saved Luthor only because he has something you want..."

He began to spin on the chair. His legs crossed together, his hands holding each other at the back of his neck, his eyes and face were serious. He sat like this for the longest time and finally stopped.

"Kryptonite! He wants Kryptonite. He want to kill this version of Superman or the future version? But why come all the way from the future for Kryptonite? One reason could be that it's under my control and I kicked his ass, so..." Bruce mumbled to himself as he stood up, "...So, he came to the past to kill two birds with one stone. Get the Kryptonite and get rid of me at the same time. Oh, not to forget those two Kryptonite ships. He could be after them too... And he might know my real identity."

He walked around the room for a few minutes...

"Well, nanites in my body can stop him from touching me, but if he's from the future, who knows what information he has obtained about my nanites? Might as well create something new for everyone and me. It would be fun to see his face when he realizes how badly he fucked up trying to get in my way. Negative Speed Force, huh?" Bruce clenched his fist, summoning a bit of lightning around his body, "I guess, time to recruit Barry."

****

[Location: Central City]

Barry has finally decided to start his new life here in Central City and start working with the forensics lab here. Because they are not like S.T.A.R. Labs, his work isn't much, and only once in a blue moon that they'll have a difficult case for Barry to investigate. Although, due to that, his salary won't be great, it would at the very least cover for himself for now.

Just after he started to look for an apartment, and settled his new life here. Now, all Barry needs to do is wait for the necessary papers and his registration into CCPD. Barry never felt so free after his mother's death. Ever since then, he has been living his life trying to find a way to prove his father's innocence, but all ended up being dead ends and made him frustrated, unable to cope with it.

He knew his dad didn't kill his mother and one day, the truth shall be revealed. As such, Barry never gave up and dedicated all his efforts to uncovering the mystery behind his mother's death.

Beeeppp! Beeeppp! An oil carrier lost its balance and began to turn while turning to the left to crash toward the river. But there were too many civilians near the river. If an accident were to happen, a lot would die or would have to spend the rest of their lives paralyzed.

"Come on, Barry, you can do it!" Yellow lightning burst out of Barry's entire body as he went on to pull all those pedestrians to safety before that truck could even reach them. Everything stood still before his eyes as he ran and moved those civilians, "Ohhh! You little cutie..." He picked up the little puppy who was frozen near the lane with its tongue hanging out, as Barry moved her, and placed the puppy on the sidewalk and out of the accident.

Barry then turned toward the oncoming truck which was frozen before his speed. He quickly ran and took out the driver and the guy beside him, and put them to safety, "Ok, Barry. How do you stop such a giant truck, alone? Think fast, think fast." His eyes fell on the box at the back. He opened it and saw a bunch of wrenches and bolt openers, "Bingo!" He took them and began to dismantle the truck as fast as he could. His clothes were already burnt away to ashes and he didn't feel it that good to run around naked, although regular humans can't see him anyway.

In the blink of an eye, he has completely taken apart all four tires, the engine, and all of its inner components.

"Whoa! This feels so cool!" Barry blurted out as he ran into the nearest alley and hid himself behind a dumpster. He peeked out and saw the truck stopping just a few seconds before impact as its entire upper and lower chassis was nothing more than a stack of parts and metal bars. "Good! Now..." He ran to his house for new clothes, "I am late for work again," He sighed.

After changing into a new pair of clothes, Barry locked his doors and went to the office. The day was the same as usual, nothing new other than a couple of drug tests and some tests to identify some chemicals, and finally the sunset and Barry sighed. Another boring day was over. He left his office and walked toward the coffee shop. He checked his wristwatch.

It's 5:45 PM.

"Ok." He adjusted his hair and took a deep breath before pushing the door and entering the coffee shop. A wave of comfortable warmth enveloped his face and it made him smile as the scent of coffee entered his nostrils. This is indeed his favorite place to come and have a coffee and a couple of muffins.

But there's another reason, he always comes here. It is the same girl who comes here almost every day at exactly around 5:45 to 5:50 PM to grab some cupcakes and coffee and leave. Today, Barry plans to make a move on her and finally strike up a proper conversation. Well, that's what he always says to himself, and every time he tries to speak up, he kinda freezes, unable to say a single word. That girl just smiles at him before leaving.

However, today he practiced for an hour before the washroom mirror. "Hi, Iris, you remember me? I'm your classmate Barry Allen from the college..." But the more he mumbled his introduction, the stupider he felt, and erased that before thinking of something more interesting. "This place is just so popular that it's always packed, isn't it? Can't believe it's a hidden gem from Central City." Yeah, this one should do.

Barry tried to fake confidence in his voice but all that practicing that he did once more in his mind became meaningless the moment Iris turned around, looked at him with those big, deep eyes of hers, and smiled. The beautiful grin on her lips sent shivers up Barry's spine, which was beyond his control, and he didn't dare open his mouth anymore. It was not only him, as everyone inside the small café kept admiring that smile and radiating beauty that was simply hard to ignore.

As usual, she came in and left with her order.

'Aah! Crap!' Barry scratched the back of his head with a bitter smile. Every time she went out, and he couldn't talk, he cursed himself in his mind, and the more he did it, the more confident he didn't feel. He took his order and left the cafe.

***

[Barry's secret lab]

Finally, after weeks of working and gathering materials, he has managed to build his very first suit. Now, he won't have to worry about burning his clothes every time he uses his power. To him, this was not something special and something for him to be proud of, it was a mere necessity as it would waste a lot of his money replacing the same pair of clothes, again and again, and he didn't have that luxury as a Forensic scientist.

"Time to put it to the test," With a large and satisfied grin, he quickly wore it and took a run of the entire city before coming back to his lab, "Wowhooooooo! This thing is amazing and cool!" He got his mirror, "Lookin' cool, Barry, lookin' real cool," He mumbled as he took selfies in his suit and was now super confident.

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Next Ch: 105: Barry Allen pt2 [Who is faster?]

Ch: 106: A day with Pamela 

Ch: 107: VR experience with Pamela

Ch: 108: Movie night

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AN: The next few chs will be focused on Pamela.