POV — Barry Allen
The Speed Force
The first year passed in a single step.
The second passed in the next.
By the time Barry realized what was happening, he had experienced decades.
And yet, he hadn't aged a single day.
There was no exhaustion in his muscles because he no longer possessed muscles in the conventional sense. There was no strain in his lungs because he no longer needed to breathe. His heart no longer beat, yet he remained conscious.
He was still Barry Allen.
At least, that was what he continued telling himself.
But something fundamental was changing.
The Speed Force was no longer simply surrounding him.
It was becoming him.
Every step carried him through an ocean of possibilities. Every movement revealed another layer of existence that ordinary beings could never perceive.
Time was no longer a straight line.
It was a landscape.
And Barry was beginning to understand how to move through it.
Barry ran through a world that looked almost exactly like Central City.
Except the buildings were older.
The streets were quieter.
And the people wore clothes from another century.
He slowed as he passed a newspaper stand.
The date printed across the front caught his attention.
October 1956.
Barry stared.
"That's..."
He looked around.
A young man crossed the street carrying a briefcase. A woman pushed a baby carriage along the pavement. Cars moved through the intersection.
It was a memory.
Or perhaps a timeline.
Barry couldn't immediately tell the difference anymore.
Then he saw himself.
A young Barry Allen stood near the opposite pavement, wearing ordinary clothes and carrying a stack of books.
The younger version looked completely unaware of the enormous cosmic transformation taking place somewhere beyond his reality.
Barry watched him.
That's me.
The younger Barry laughed at something a passing woman said.
For a moment, the older Barry felt something he hadn't experienced since beginning his transformation.
Longing.
He remembered being that person.
A scientist.
A man who worried about ordinary things.
Someone who believed that the universe was enormous but fundamentally understandable.
Now he was moving through the underlying structure of existence.
Barry reached out.
His younger counterpart passed through him without noticing.
A faint smile appeared on Barry's face.
"Keep going, kid."
The world dissolved.
He was running again.
This time, he found himself in a different Central City.
A familiar skyline.
A familiar laboratory.
But the people were different.
He saw another version of himself standing beside Iris.
They were older.
Happy.
A wedding photograph sat on a desk.
Barry stopped.
He stared at the photograph.
Then looked toward the couple.
Another life.
Another possibility.
A future in which he had never become what he was becoming now.
He watched the other Barry laugh.
For several minutes, he simply stood there.
Then he continued running.
He saw a timeline where he died before ever becoming the Flash.
Another where he became a villain.
Another where he had never received the Speed Force.
Another where he was the last living person in his universe.
Some realities were beautiful.
Others were horrifying.
In one, the Justice League had fallen.
In another, the Earth had been destroyed.
In another, a different version of Derrick had consumed nearly everything.
Barry slowed at that final vision.
The image was brief.
A black-red ocean stretched across the planet.
The continents had become part of a single biological mass.
Above it, something humanoid stood beneath a dead sky.
Barry recognized the shape.
Derrick.
He felt a cold sensation pass through his consciousness.
How many realities could he do this to?
The vision disappeared.
Barry continued running.
He had begun to understand that seeing possibilities did not mean he could control them.
The Speed Force showed him potential outcomes, not guaranteed futures.
Every decision created new possibilities.
Every action changed the landscape.
But there was something else.
The more he became connected to the Speed Force, the more he could distinguish between possible futures and events that had already happened.
He was learning to navigate the difference.
And he was learning that time was far more fragile than he had ever imagined.
Barry eventually noticed that he could no longer remember the last time he had taken a physical step.
He was moving.
But movement no longer required the same process.
Sometimes he simply decided to be somewhere, and the Speed Force carried his existence there.
Sometimes he existed in several places simultaneously.
He could perceive the beginning of a movement before it happened.
He could feel the consequences of an action before witnessing its cause.
His consciousness had expanded beyond the boundaries of a single human brain.
Memories no longer appeared as isolated recollections.
They existed as part of a vast interconnected structure.
He remembered his childhood.
His parents.
His first experiences with the Speed Force.
His friends.
His failures.
But he could also perceive other versions of those memories.
In some timelines, his mother survived.
In others, his father never went to prison.
In some, Barry never became a forensic scientist.
The memories were all his.
But they belonged to different versions of his life.
At first, this nearly overwhelmed him.
He had to learn how to distinguish himself from the countless alternate versions surrounding him.
The Speed Force helped.
It didn't erase the differences.
It allowed him to understand them.
Barry eventually realized something.
His body had changed.
His mind had changed.
Even his spirit had changed.
He was no longer a biological organism powered by an external cosmic force.
He was becoming a being whose existence was intrinsically connected to motion.
A living expression of the Speed Force.
A concept given awareness.
He could still manifest a human appearance.
He could still speak.
He could still interact with the physical world.
But those things were becoming choices rather than necessities.
And with every passing year, he became more comfortable with that reality.
He wasn't losing Barry Allen.
He was expanding beyond the limitations that had once defined him.
Eventually, Barry returned his attention to the black-red organism.
For a long time, he had avoided examining it directly.
He had focused on transformation, believing that the Speed Force would eventually solve the problem.
Now he was ready.
He reached inward.
The infection was still there.
Or rather, its remnants were.
The Speed Force had been steadily dismantling the foreign biological structure.
The organism had attempted to adapt.
It had tried to consume the surrounding energy.
It had attempted to establish new connections.
But the Speed Force was fundamentally incompatible with its biological nature.
Every attempt to evolve had been met with another overwhelming response.
The foreign cells were broken apart.
Their structures dissolved.
Their genetic information became meaningless.
Their tendrils were reduced to nothing.
Barry watched the final remnants disappear.
He waited.
Nothing remained.
He searched again.
And again.
There was no biological presence.
No foreign intelligence.
No hidden connection.
No dormant infection.
The virus was gone.
Completely.
Barry remained motionless.
Then he laughed.
A genuine laugh.
"Bruce is going to love hearing that."
The relief was enormous.
He had been carrying the knowledge of the infection for what felt like centuries.
Now it was gone.
But the experience had given him something else.
Motivation.
Derrick had found a way to infect him.
And if Barry had remained an ordinary speedster, that infection might have become a serious threat to the entire League.
He looked toward the distant horizon.
I can't let him do that to anyone else.
He began running.
The Speed Force answered.
This time, the energy surrounding him responded differently.
It didn't merely empower him.
It moved with him.
As though the entire dimension recognized him as part of itself.
Barry's eyes glowed.
He had no idea how much stronger he had become.
But he knew he was no longer the same man who had entered the Speed Force.
And he wasn't finished.
POV — Batman
The Batcave
Bruce Wayne had been awake for nearly thirty hours.
The Batcave was covered in information.
Holographic displays showed Derrick's known abilities, recorded battles, biological samples, and possible weaknesses.
A separate display contained the profiles of every League member who might have been exposed to the infection.
Bruce had been working through the information methodically.
He had already concluded that conventional containment would be insufficient.
Derrick could fly.
He possessed enormous physical strength.
He could manipulate gravity.
He could generate destructive energy.
He could move at extreme speeds.
He could teleport.
And his biology appeared capable of absorbing other organisms and incorporating their abilities.
Bruce stared at the display.
The more he consumes, the more dangerous he becomes.
That was the central problem.
A conventional opponent became weaker when injured.
Derrick might become stronger after consuming the remains of his opponents.
Even killing him could be dangerous if his biology survived in fragments.
Bruce opened the recording from the laboratory.
The black-red organism expanded.
Tendrils emerged.
Spikes formed.
The creature repeatedly struck the reinforced containment glass.
Bruce paused the footage.
"Adaptive biological weapon."
He enlarged the image.
"No. That's too simple."
He considered the implications.
If the virus could consume biological material, Derrick might be able to recover from injuries by feeding.
If it could change shape, conventional restraints would be unreliable.
If it could imitate the biological structure of other organisms, identifying him through DNA might become impossible.
And if it could infect other people—
Bruce's eyes narrowed.
Then the Justice League is already compromised.
He moved to another display.
A list of possible infected members appeared.
Barry Allen.
Firestorm.
Potentially others.
Bruce had yet to confirm Firestorm's condition.
He needed to be careful.
If he approached Firestorm directly, Derrick might learn that the League had discovered something.
Bruce opened the encrypted communication channel.
"Computer, initiate secure connection to Zatanna."
A moment later, her image appeared.
"Bruce?"
"How much have you learned about the biological sample?"
Zatanna frowned.
"Not as much as I'd like. Why?"
"I need you to confirm something."
"Go ahead."
Bruce brought up the sample's molecular structure.
"Can magic affect it?"
Zatanna studied the image.
"Possibly."
"Be specific."
She leaned closer.
"From what you've shown me, this thing is deeply unnatural. It has biological properties, but its structure seems to have been altered by something beyond ordinary science."
"Can it be destroyed?"
"I believe so."
Bruce waited.
Zatanna continued.
"Some forms of magic might disrupt its structure. But if we're talking about Derrick himself, that's another matter."
"Why?"
"Because the virus appears to be his nature. Destroying a small sample isn't the same as destroying the organism that produced it."
Bruce nodded.
"Is there a particular type of magic that would be more effective?"
Zatanna considered the question.
"Possibly holy magic."
Bruce's eyes narrowed.
"Explain."
"Certain forms of divine or sacred magic are particularly effective against corrupted or demonic energies. If Derrick's biology contains those kinds of energies, holy magic might be able to disrupt some of its more unnatural properties."
Bruce immediately brought up the data collected during Derrick's confrontation with Master Pandemonium.
Demonic energy.
That was something he had already suspected.
"Could divine magic destroy the virus?"
"It might. But I wouldn't promise that without testing it."
Bruce nodded slowly.
"Who in the League can use it?"
Zatanna smiled faintly.
"You're already thinking of people."
"Yes."
"Shazam, for one."
Bruce looked at another file.
Billy Batson.
The file was old.
Very old.
Shazam had been absent for a considerable period, disappearing long before Derrick's arrival.
Bruce had made inquiries previously.
Nothing useful had emerged.
He closed the file.
"He's unavailable."
Zatanna nodded.
"Then there's Diana."
Bruce looked up.
"Wonder Woman?"
"Her divine heritage gives her a connection to powers that might be useful. She isn't a traditional spellcaster, but she has access to divine energy."
Bruce considered it.
Diana had fought gods, monsters, demons, and magical creatures.
She possessed experience that most League members lacked.
And unlike Shazam, she was available.
"Could she help contain Derrick?"
"Potentially. But I would prefer to examine the infection with her before making assumptions."
Bruce nodded.
"Arrange a meeting."
Zatanna smiled.
"I'll contact her."
"Keep it private."
Her expression became serious.
"Bruce, how dangerous do you think Derrick really is?"
Bruce looked toward the enormous display showing Derrick's recorded abilities.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then
"More dangerous than he wants us to believe."
Zatanna's smile disappeared.
"That bad?"
"I don't know his limits."
Bruce closed the display.
"And that's the problem."
The connection ended.
### The Contingency
Bruce stood alone in the Batcave.
He walked toward a separate console and began building a new file.
# CONTINGENCY: DERRICK — MAGICAL COUNTERMEASURES
He entered Zatanna's findings.
Potential vulnerability to holy magic.
Possible disruption of demonic energy.
Potential divine resistance.
He added Wonder Woman's profile.
Then he began considering how the League might respond if Derrick attacked.
Superman would be the obvious first line of defense.
But Bruce had no intention of relying solely on strength.
Derrick could adapt.
He could manipulate the battlefield.
He could infect opponents.
He could potentially consume fallen heroes.
Every confrontation had to be designed around preventing Derrick from gaining additional resources.
Bruce began listing priorities.
* Prevent Derrick from consuming fallen League members.
* Establish magical containment.
* Separate potentially infected members from the rest of the League.
* Prevent Firestorm from accessing his full abilities if compromised.
* Keep civilians away from the battlefield.
* Develop a method to identify and neutralize microscopic spores.
* Avoid direct confrontation until sufficient intelligence is available.
He paused at the final item.
Avoid direct confrontation.
Bruce disliked it.
But rushing into a battle without understanding the enemy was exactly what Derrick would want.
Bruce turned toward the computer.
"Computer, prepare a routine medical screening protocol for all active League members."
"Specify screening parameters."
"Cellular anomalies, foreign biological structures, unexplained genetic alterations, and unusual energy signatures."
"Initiating protocol."
Bruce leaned back.
He looked at the empty space where Barry had disappeared.
Come back, Allen.
He needed the Flash.
More than he wanted to admit.
Barry was one of the few people capable of matching Derrick's speed, and potentially one of the few who could investigate the infection without being detected.
Bruce turned back toward the main display.
Derrick's photograph appeared.
A calm, friendly-looking man.
A man who smiled easily.
A man who had helped save lives.
A man who had sat among the Justice League as though he belonged there.
Bruce stared at him.
You made one mistake.
His eyes narrowed.
You let me start looking.
Elsewhere
The Watchtower
Derrick sat quietly in the recreational area.
Black Canary was speaking with Hal Jordan while Cyborg examined a holographic display.
Hawkman stood near the windows.
Martian Manhunter remained unusually quiet.
And Firestorm was absent.
Derrick knew why.
Firestorm was still connected to him.
Still obedient.
Still useful.
But the situation had changed.
Barry's connection had disappeared.
The infection was gone.
And Derrick was beginning to suspect that the Speed Force had done something extraordinary.
He looked out through the Watchtower windows.
Earth turned slowly beneath them.
Beautiful.
Fragile.
Full of life.
His thoughts moved through the abilities he had accumulated.
He had spent too long waiting.
Too long pretending.
The League was becoming suspicious.
Batman was investigating.
Zatanna was involved.
And now, somewhere beyond the ordinary boundaries of reality, Barry Allen was changing.
Derrick smiled faintly.
Interesting.
He turned away from the window.
Perhaps it's time I stopped treating this world like a long-term experiment.
His eyes briefly settled on the people in the room.
There is plenty of biomass here.
And for the first time since arriving in Earth-22, Derrick began seriously considering abandoning the slow approach.
The heroes had started preparing for him.
They simply didn't know how much time they had left.