POV: no one
The day Barry Allen was brought to the central city emergency room was a day not many will forget. When he was brought in the night he was struck by lightning no one could touch him. The machines couldn't read his vitals and when they did the results were impossible. His heart is beating so fast it hardly registers on the machine.
The staff at the hospital tried everything to stabilize him, but it wasn't till the third day that he finally stabilized. His heart returned to a somewhat normal beat just about three times as fast and no one was being shocked anymore.
It wasn't till the fifth day that Barry Allen finally woke up, but he wasn't the same anymore.
POV: Barry
When I was stuck by lightning I believed that was the end of me. What I didn't believe was that when I opened my eyes I would be in a world of lightning.
It was breathtaking. There's so much color some I'm sure don't even exist in our world. There's also this pull telling me to come home. It feels like my mother is calling me.
The closer I got to the voice the less conscious I felt. I was almost there when a hand grabbed me by the shoulder.
"Hey, you don't want to do that yet kid." Said the man who grabbed me. Turning around I see a tall elderly man in a red suit with a yellow lightning bolt across his chest. The weirdest thing about him though was his hat. It was like a bowl with wings.
"W-who are you!? W-who am I!?"Barry asks the man confused with a throbbing headache.
"My names Jay Garrick kid, and I'm just like you. A conduit for the speedforce." The man now called Jay said.
"The what force?" Barry asks with a frown.
'Sigh' "Look kid I don't have much time and neither do you. You feel a pull right telling you to come home. I need you not to listen to it, I need you to remember who you are Barry. Who you love and what you fight for." Jay Garrick said truly feeling his age.
Barry could see Jay begin to dissipate into lightning. He reaches for the man in hopes of learning more about what this is.
"WAIT! You can't go yet. What is this place and what am I!?" Barry exclaimed looking desperate for answers.
"Don't worry kid, I know you'll figure it out. That's part of the journey you know. The only thing I can tell you now Barry is that the future is gonna be filled with battles some you win some you lose, but no matter what Barry I need you to run. Run Barry Run and remember who you are!!" Jay said finally disappearing infront of Barry.
Barry takes a deep breath and pushes down the feeling of being called home. He knows the voice calling him isn't really his mother, but it does feel good to hear her voice again.
"I don't know if you're really my mom or some messed up siren, but I need you to know that I love and miss you everyday." Barry said getting down in a running position.
There was lightning in his eyes as he begins to run toward the end of the tunnel.
When he finally makes it to the end he crosses the barrier to return to the real world. As he crosses the barrier he jolts up in his hospital bed.
'Gasp' taking long deep breaths Barry controls his breathing. The first thing he notices is not colorful shades of lightning like the dream, but the smell of a hospital.
Sitting up in his hospital bed Barry begins to think about what happened in that strange dream. As he was reminiscing of it the door slides open with a nurse walking in. When she sees him awake she drops what she was doing and calls for a doctor.
Not even a minute later an older woman walked in. "Well what do we have here. You're finally awake huh sleepy head." The doctor said with a slight smile on her face.
"Who are you?" Barry questioned.
"I'm Doctor Skye. I've been taking care of you while you've been asleep." She said checking his vitals.
"How long have I been asleep exactly?" Barry asks with a frown wondering how many days of work he was behind.
"Not long actually only about 5 days give or take." The doctor replied with a shrug.
"Five days. Damn I probably have a bunch of paperwork waiting for me at the lab." Barry said with a sigh
"That's what your worried about not the fact you've been in a coma for almost a week.?" She asks with an eyebrow raised.
"Well yeah, do you know how late I'm there doing paperwork. I normally don't leave the office till around midnight." Barry said with a frown remembering all those late night at the lab.
"Well it seems you're in perfect health. Which should be impossible given what's happened the last few days." Doctor Skye said with a frown wondering how this was possible.
"What do you mean it should be impossible?" Barry asks slightly nervous at her response.
"Well kid I'll give it to you straight you shouldn't be alive today. Now hold on I know that sound bad, but listen to what I have to say." The doctor said raising a hand to silence the question about to come from my lips.
"Look when your were brought in you were in bad shape. Not only were you unresponsive we couldn't even touch you without getting shocked. That's wasn't even the most concerning part though. No what was even more concerning was your heart, it was beating so fast it should have given out." She said with a slightly concerned face
"You're lucky to be alive today kid. I guess you got some guardian angel looking out for you." She said with a smile
Barry just sits there dazed taking in all that she said. He thinks back to when he was in the storm when Jay pulled him back from becoming one with it.
'If Jay wasn't there to pull me out, to help me remember I don't think I would be alive right now.' Barry thought with a smile remembering Jay.
"Thank you for taking care of me while I was in a coma, but I would like to leave if I can." Barry said hopeful that he could leave now.
"That's shouldn't be a problem. You seem to be in perfect condition as strange as that is." The doctor said.
"Well I'm ready to go." Barry said standing up and looking himself in the mirror.
"Uhh did lightning give me abs?" Barry exclaimed. Now while Barry was never a stick figure and has a healthy workout routine he has not ever had abs.
"We believe that instead of atrophy like all normal lightning victims your muscles seem to be in a chronic and unexplained regenerative state." The doctor said still confused on the logic of it all.
"Let me get you some clothes you can wear." She said turning around and walking out the door. A few minutes later she returned with a long sleeve gray shirt and some jeans.
"Here you go. Just come to the front desk to check out when you're done changing." The Doctor said leaving the room to give me some privacy.
Barry quickly clothes and heads to the front desk. Where the receptionist helps him finish up all his paperwork till he's free to leave.
15 minutes later
We see Barry walking down the street towards his apartment. Along the way he starts to feel weird. At first it was just a tingle a slight shock going through his body. Then it was his heart beating so fast he thought it was gonna burst from his chest.
Barry quickly leans on the wall next to him holding a hand to his heart when he realizes his hand is vibrating so fast that it's almost not visible. He remembers what Jay said about figuring this out being part of the journey.
Barry takes a deep breath and thinks of his life till now the good and the bad. Then he thinks of his mother how he promised he wound catch her killer and free his dad. As he does this the vibrating stops.
There still that little shock though. Lighting up every nerve and neuron. So much so that the world looks as if it has stopped in time.
He remembers what he did to escape the lightning storm. He ran so fast it was as if he was lightning itself. Taking a deep breath and getting in a running stance as lightning begins to spark off him hitting the walls and ground.
As he takes his first steps the world seems to hold its breath. He runs so fast the world is a blur there's only him and the feeling of lightning coursing through his veins. Anyone walking down the street only sees a red blur with bits of lightning coming off.
Barry high off the feeling doesn't even notice where he is. He doesn't even know that he's hundreds of miles away from home. He doesn't realize that everytime he runs faster there's a boom of him breaking the sound barrier. He doesn't know that now he's being watched.
After finally realizing whats happened he slows down enough to find himself in a desert. Nothing but sand and rocks as far as the eye can see.
"Oops." Barry said scratching his head with an amused smile which quickly dropped when he realized he had no idea where he was.
"Damnit Barry you just had to lose track of time." Barry says frustrated with himself.
"Well no point in sulking. I guess I just pick a direction and run till I find a town or something." Barry says with a sigh.
It only took Barry about 2 minutes before he found a town where phones actually work. Turns out Barry ran all the way to Nevada.
After finally figuring out where he was and how to get home. Barry races off again this time keeping track of where he was. It doesn't even take 5 minutes to get back to central city.
Once Barry finally reaches home he begins to feel like he's starving. Going inside the house he opens the fridge grabbing whatever he can eat. Even after all the food in his fridge he still feels hungry. He begins to peice together what's happening, how his speed while amazing comes with a downside of his metabolism being off the charts. Deciding what he has isn't enough he speeds to big belly burger and gets five doubles and three large fries with two cokes.
Finally feeling full Barry begins to do the math of what he just ate to calculate the total number of calories he would need a day. The answer is an astounding 10,000 calories. Barry begins to fear his wallet won't last long at all.
Trying to think of a way around this Barry thinks of protein bars. He believes he can make something similar with the right ingredients.
While thinking of his new food problem he also begins thinking of what he's gonna do with these powers. He always wanted to help people and solve crimes that's why he became a CSI not only to help his father, but others as well. Now with these powers he could do so much more for the city.
"It was a uniform of some sort." Barry hums in thought recalling what Jay wore in the storm. Reaching to his side where a notebook and pencil are.
He sketches a suit reminiscent of Jay's suit with some changes. For one he got rid of the bowl and added a cowl. Deciding to do away with the giant lightning bolt in the center of his chest and instead use a smaller one in a while circle. He added little lines of yellow to match his lightning.
"Now I just have to make sure the suit is friction proof. Otherwise I'm going to be going through a lot of clothes." Barry said with a sigh looking down at his shoes and shirt that have slight burn marks on them.
He remembers an article he read a few months ago about a suit made for firefighters to better help combat the heat. It was exactly what he was looking for. Sadly, it's crazy expensive to buy. So he does a deep dive on the internet reading thousand of words a second.
He finally finds what he's looking for an old stark article talking about a protect Howard Stark was overseeing. They called them unstable molecules. They were able to adapt and change depending on their environment. Sadly at the time of discovery the technology at hand was not up to par with what was needed. In the end they could only make a piece the size a hand.
"With today's technology I should be able to make this work." Barry said scratching his chin. " I might just have too go dumpster diving to get the parts, because there's no way I'm affording this on a cops salary." Barry frowns at the thought of having to dumpster dive again. He hasn't done this since he was 15 trying to make his own computer.
Getting up and doing a quick stretch. Barry has two ideas that need to be realized. One is his food, he needs to make some special calorie bars in order not to die of starvation. Then the hardest of the two make his own unstable molecules with trash from the dumpster.
"Cmon Barry it won't be that hard." Barry says trying to give himself a pep talk.
Turns out it was that hard. It's been a week of constantly scavenging anything he could find that might be useful. During that time he was able to make his calorie bars quite easily actually. The unstoppable molecules on the other hand were another story. He was nowhere near close to complete yet.
Just as he was about to turn back for the day and head home he heard a scream about a block away. Quickly dropping what he was doing Barry makes his way there.
Down the alley Barry can see three men pushing a woman to the ground. As he's about to step in he realizes his face is completely exposed. Looking back he sees a clothing store. He quickly runs inside grabbing a bandanna and leaving $5 and some change. Back at the alley it's as if they haven't even moved.
(This is what he's wearing right now just imagine he has a bandanna on.)
"Well well what do we have here. A cute little thing like you shouldn't be walking the streets alone." Thug 1 said with a nasty perverted smile on his face.
"Yeah why don't you come with us. We can keep you safe from all the weirdos out tonight." Thug 2 said looking her up and down lingering on her chest.
"I'm not going anywhere with you I'd rather die!" The woman said now standing on slightly shaky legs.
"Well it's a good thing we're not asking slut. Now come here before I have to hurt that pretty little fa—. Thug 3 began to say only to disappear mid sentence.
The other two look around for what could have done this. Only to see a man wearing a bandanna with some elbow and knee pads.
"Who the fuck are you!" Thug 1 said getting angry not believing this man just made on of his partners in crime disappear.
"It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is you letting the young lady go and walking away." Barry said still concealed by the bandanna.
"I don't give a fuck who you think you are! You don't get to come here and make demands of me!" Thug 1 exclaimed angrily pulling out a gun along with thug 2.
"Come any closer and we'll blow your fucking brains out along with the slut!" Thug 2 said holding a gun to the woman's head.
"And how do you plan on doing that with no gun?" Barry asks with a head tilt.
"W-what what is this!?" Thug 2 said no longer holding a gun to the woman head, but a banana.
"I'll give you the option of backing off and waiting for the police or I can do what I did to your friend to you. You choose before I make the choice myself." Barry said intimidating the two remaining thugs.
"W-we ain't going back to jail again." Thug 1 said ready to fight along with thug 2.
"Well if you want the hard way who am I to disagree." Barry said and in a flash of yellow the two thugs were down on the ground by their friend a few feet away.
Looking at the woman who seems to be studying her mysterious savior. Barry decides to ask if she's okay or if she's in need of medical care.
"Are you alright ma'am? Do you need me to call and ambulance or someone?" Barry asks a few feet away from her as to not startle her. Now being so close Barry can confidently say she's the most beautiful woman he's ever met.
"I'm okay thank you. Now the bigger question is who or what are you." The woman said holding out a recorder.
"You're from the news!?" Barry exclaims slightly nervous now.
"Yes, my names Iris West I work at Central City Citizen and you just gave me my first Pulitzer. Now can you answer the question, who or what are you?" The now named iris west asks.
Barry begins to think of how to get out of this situation and says the only thing that comes to mind.
"I-I-I have to go and walk my goldfish. We do so every Friday!" Barry said in a rushed tone before completely disappearing from her view.
"WAIT! That's a horrible excuse also it's not even Friday it's Tuesday!" Iris yells at him. "Damn Iris you let him get away. Don't worry I'll find you soon enough 'Flash'. You're gonna win me a Pulitzer." Iris said with a smile already scheming on how to get an interview with him.
As she leaves the alley she see the three thugs on the ground tied up with zip ties. Walking up to them Iris kicks them in the balls telling them they deserved that before walking back down the street passing the cops responding to the call. Telling them of what happened and filing out a report.
When Iris finally makes it back home she falls back on her bed and just stares at the ceiling. Thinking about what happened. About what could have happened had the mystery man not been there. She trembles slightly and then remembers that it's okay that it didn't happen. She was saved. She ends up falling asleep with a small smile on her face thinking about finding the mystery man.
Meanwhile Barry is freaking out. He knows that a reporter will never let this story go. How could they it would not only be an amazing story, but it would also set them up for life especially if they have proof.
Barry takes a deep breath reminding himself that she didn't see his face and the chance of running into her again is slim to none in the city like central city.
"There you go Barry deep breaths." Barry inhales than exhales a few seconds later. Calming his already beating heart. Going to the fridge and grabbing a new calorie bar. Taking a bite of it he sits down and thinks about what happened.
"You wanted this Barry. You wanted to help people and you knew this was gonna happen eventually." Barry said to himself.
'Sigh' "Alright Barry let's see what's next for the unstable molecules." He said standing up and walking to the guest room that he turned into a mini lab.