2 CHAPTER 1: YOUR LIFE WILL BE MUCH SHORTER

Barry sat down on the bust and sighed as he took out his notebook and a pen, from the corner of his eyes he watched Iris for a moment, they were not classmates, he met her a year ago and ever since then, something in him had definitely attached itself to her, whether or not that was his heart, it still had to be known but deep inside he already knew the truth.

Still, he couldn't help but frown slightly seeing Eddy hugging her, the two were in a relationship for quite some time.

"Barry, what are you doing?" James sat down beside him and asked with a smile on his face, he was much more excited than him in this visit to Queen Consolidated company on the edge of Central City.

"Me? Just drawing some things." Barry quickly answered as he pretends he wasn't looking at his sister.

"Wow, those are some really good drawings! How long have you been doing this kind of thing? It reminds me of those Japanese comic books."

"I have always liked manga, so I practice ever since I was just a small kid." Barry smiled. A sincere smile.

This had been his objective in his previous life, to become a manga artist, he wanted to draw stories just a good as those of Kishimoto, Oda, or Kurumada. There was something about them that made him feel really good.

Perhaps it was the idea behind them, of someone fighting to better himself and do good for the others, he admired the characters they created, and their ability in drawing and creating stories.

"It's a pity though." James leaned his back on the seat and shook his head, his white skin seemingly shining under the sunlight piercing through the curtains of the bus.

"What?"

"You're really slow Barry, you think I didn't notice? If you had gotten there earlier, maybe it would have been different."

Barry stood silent on his seat, he looked out the window and bit his lips, did James thought he didn't know that? It had always been like that, he had always been slow, the slowest man in the world. That's why he was there, to begin with, that's why even though he had knowledge of his previous life, he was still someone normal whereas he could have been a person with uncomparable future prospects.

But that's how he had always been, there was no rush if he could be happy, of all things in this world and life. It would be all that mattered and that was why he still pursued his dream of becoming a manga artist. So what if he was always slow? So what if he was behind others? He was still moving one leg after the other, he was still building up his moment, and one day he would make sure to let the whole world see how fast he truly is, how his speed is an unsurpassable barrier that will forever leave them in the dust.

'Speed... I'll one day be faster than you think... It's not just a passing thought, it's a fact.'

James patted him on his shoulder, making Barry get out of his stupor. "Relax, I was just thinking out loud. Don't take my words too seriously."

Barry could only sigh and get back to his work.

Their Vice Director got on the bus right after the driver, Mr. Crawler was a plump man with a mustache that made him look like an old English businessman from the era of the first industrial revolution, that together with his beige suit and black bow tie made him have a very unique visual.

"Kids, I'll be straight to the point because we already late, behave, follow the crowd and don't fight with each other no matter what, whoever fails to obey those rules will be punished when we get back, now I want every single one of you sitting down and remember to buckle the seatbelt."

A few moments later, the bus vibrated slightly and the familiar sound of the engine reached everybody, in less than a minute they were out of the school car park and going down the road.

Everybody was sat up in their seats, each occupied with their own things, seeing as James was talking with his friends from the football club, he put on his headphones and disconnected himself from the world around him.

With one eye open and the other closed, he looked outside through the window and imagined the things he could and couldn't see, the blurry images of what was left behind leaving a deep impression on him as the song I lived from one republic started to play on his phone.

...

"There's something I want to tell you, but it can't be here at school, so I was thinking if you'd want to go with me to the cinema."

"Sure Barry! I think that would be great, it has been quite a while since I went to watch a movie on the big screen." Iris showed off that pretty smile he had liked from the first day.

When the time came, however, the universe worked against him, traffic, police pursuit, accidents, rain, everything that could make him slow down happened.

When he got to the cinema, holding the bouquet of flowers, the cholate box, almost an hour late... He regretted it, he wasn't just slow, he was also unlucky, why did he decide to try, it was supposed to be his moment, maybe it was supposed to be him there feeling the taste of her lips.

But it was Eddy who got it, he was the one that managed to make use of the doors destiny opened up for him, Barry was just background for this scene that belonged only to them, and could he blame her?

How many times did he disappoint her in the last few months, always letting her hanging alone because he was late.

He lowered his head, turned left, and threw everything on the trash can.

In his walk, feeling the raindrops on his head and the water flowing through his eyes, there were only whispers of regret, and words meant for no one but himself.

"You should've run Barry..."

...

"This is our fate, huh... Why do you have to make things feel even more depressive..." Barry licked his lips and put down his headphone, the bus had just parked near the branch of Queen Consolidated in Central City.

The students got out of the bus, outside they were all greeted by the twisted shape of the building, it was a state-of-the-art architecture work, instead of just using the common stone blocks most building usually used for the walls, they went instead with a more modern design, making the outer walls built with reflexive glass.

They walked up the stairs, following the Vice Director, inside, a woman representing the company appeared and started to act as their guide.

The Queen Consolidate was a company focused on many areas of study, from engineering to biology, computation, and even software development. And they showed off only the best part of it.

Through most of the visitation, the students were taken to see some of the equipment they built for some special projects, it was important to make them see how science wasn't just about calculating something, it also had some fun to it.

Some of the staff spoke with them, telling them about the pleasure they had whenever they finished a project because some of them could take from months to years, and each thing they did wasn't just an accomplishment to them, it was also one for science as well.

"Alright kids, now... If you'll accompany me, now I'll show you our latest works on Bioengineering."

Hearing this, Barry noticed the smile and the ecstatic look on Jame's face, despite being the brother of a soon-to-be detective or journalist, his true passion lied in engineering, he liked to build, disassemble, and recreate anything more complex than objects made out of wood.

"You sure are excited, aren't you?" Barry asked.

"Of course! Who wouldn't!? You know, you can call me a nerd if you want, but here in the US, the number of people with research more advanced than theirs on biotech can be counted on one hand!" James' eyes were shining with each word he spoke.

Seeing his enthusiasm made him smile slightly, it reminded him of his passion for drawings, and maybe his passion for something else.

Once inside the new room, the company representative showed them things like mind-controlled drones, prosthetic arms that could be used without battery and had the capacity of moving based on the electric signals sent to the limbs a handicapped person could have lost, and many more.

Shelves on the room were filled with some colored liquid, Barry could recognize what they were after reading the label attached to one of them, each one of those flasks filled with liquid was a chemical compost of sorts waiting to be tested on something.

It was cool and all, but Barry's attention had always been around Iris. So when the opportunity arose, he put up a smile on his face and went to talk with her.

"Hey, Iris! How is it? Do you like this place?"

"Honestly, I'm not really comfortable here..." Iris looked around through the corners of her eyes.

"Why?" Although walking around did make him wish for a chair quite a bit, it wasn't so bad to the point of making him uncomfortable.

"Ahh... It's nothing, maybe I'm just imagining things, but all those armed guards..." Iris shook her head. "Anyway, I bet I'm enjoying this visit more than you."

"Ugh... I may not be into science that much, but at least this place gives me a lot of inspiration..." Barry scratched the back of his head a little embarrassed.

Iris laughed at him and the two walked together towards one of the things being exhibited in the room, it was some sort of exoskeleton with a very badass design, one that reminded him of games like Warhammer, or maybe some other Sci-fi RPGs from his previous life.

"So... Uhm... How are things with Eddy? You two seem pretty close."

"He's very sweety, Eddy thinks I don't know, but he has had this crush on me ever since we got on secondary school. Still, I think I really like him, we are not boyfriend and girlfriend yet, but maybe it could work."

Barry nodded as he heard, the expression on his face changing ever so slightly from an expression of anger to one of comprehension, or at least something that wouldn't raise suspicious thoughts from Iris.

"Seem's like you have fallen for him."

"Yeah... he does so much you know, gives me gifts, writes me poems, yesterday he showed me a song he had written for me..." Iris laughed slightly, but the happiness on her face couldn't be faked. "Maybe I really... really, like him."

"I-" Before Barry could answer, the world suddenly seemed to have slowed down, as the sound of an explosion reached him from behind, from one of the walls, a guy suddenly came and he carried a set of guns with him.

They barely had time to react, to do anything about the injured on the ground, when he suddenly pulled his weapons and started to shoot the guards of the room with supernatural precision, every bullet that came out of the gun barrel always hit their heads.

Blood spilled on the ground, it was a heist, a very loud and bold one, even for Starling City that was just a few hours away from here and had a pretty chaotic environment.

Suddenly the guy with white hair and a black eye patch pointed a gun at the students and their teacher and started shooting.

"NO!" Barry and Iris shouted when they saw that James was one of the first to get hit, although it wasn't in the head like the others, there was no way to know if he would survive that.

In what seemed to be less than a second, the guy turned his rifle towards Iris and shot, and for some reason, Barry could swear this moment felt like a million hours for him, there was almost no time to react, but when he noticed his objective, he jumped in the bullet path, and yet, he somehow managed to see it, the copper thing leaving a trail behind as it cut through the air and passing right under him, hitting Iris in the end.

He fell on the ground, his head touching the foot of one of the shelves, color completely gone from his white face. His blonde hair touching the metal frame of the shelf.

Why?

A single question went through his head as he thought about the matter while tears fell down from his face, why was he so slow, he couldn't have done anything for the others, but Iris was right next to him! Why was he so slow!? WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO AT LEAST ONCE GET THINGS DONE!?

"I DON'T ACCEPT THIS, THE GIRL I LOVE IS IN TROUBLE, AND EVEN THEN I CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT! WHY ME!? WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS! THIS ISN'T THE KIND OF MAN I WANT TO BE, THIS ISN'T A LIFE WORTH LIVING, I WANT MORE! DO YOU HEAR ME? I WON'T SETTLE FOR THIS ANY LONGER!" He cried for the amusement of the shooter.

The man walked over him, his face completely devoid of emotion, he pointed the gun at his chest and pulled the trigger after saying a single phrase. "If it's not worthy livin', I'll help ya find the path for the next life."

Before the bullet could hit Barry though, there was a sudden explosion of light, lightning arcs covered the room, making all of the flasks containing chemical composts explode, the man who shot at him had flown away, and the bullet was frozen mid-air as the world slowly decelerated up to the point where there was no movement at all.

"What... is going on?" Barry carefully stood up, under this situation, he simply couldn't think well, and his body just reacted instinctively to the situation, he looked around, trying to find something that could explain such phenomena, but there was nothing besides the lightning.

Suddenly, a voice akin to that of thunder, carrying might and honor within it resounded through what remained of the bloodied room.

"BARRY ALLEN, I'VE HEARD YOUR PLEAS, YOUR DESIRE FOR SPEED, AND TIME HAS COME FOR YOU TO MAKE A CHOICE! " The lightning gathered in front of him and took a shape similar to that of a man, although no features were recognizable. "THIS THUNDERBOLT OUTSIDE HAS THE POWER TO ENDOW YOU WITH SUPER-SPEED! BUT FIRST... YOU MUST STAND NEXT TO THE WINDOW."

"T-the window? Why?"

"ONCE THE THUNDERBOLT BREAKS THROUGH THE WINDOW, IT WILL HIT YOU AND LAUNCH YOU TOWARDS THE SHELVES FULL OF CHEMICALS."

"W-what!?" Barry listened completely shocked. "But if that happens, I'm gonna die! I'm only a human, I won't survive!"

"NOTHING IN LIFE IS CERTAIN, YOU'RE FREE TO CHOOSE YOUR OWN DESTINY, NOBODY CAN FORCE YOU TO MAKE THIS DECISION. YOU CAN LAY DOWN AGAIN ON THE GROUND AND PRETEND THAT NONE OF THIS HAPPENED, THE LIGHTNING BOLT WILL ARRIVE JUST BEFORE HE PULLED THE TRIGGER AND HIT THE MAN WHO THREATENS EVERYONE HERE, YOU'LL SURVIVE AND YOU'LL BE ABLE TO LIVE A NORMAL LIFE"

"B-but... what about Iris? What will happen to her!? How can I go on without her?" Barry looked towards the human-shaped lightning and desperately asked. "Have you told me everything? Please... I must know!"

"THERE IS ONE MORE THING..." The human-shaped lightning looked at him. "IF YOU DO SURVIVE AND GAIN SUPER-SPEED, YOUR LIFE WILL BE MUCH SHORTER..."

'Danmit... this was just what I needed, a miracle with strings attached...' Barry touched his head with both hands for a moment. "What am I thinking... I need to do this for Iris, for James, and for the others! If I live long enough to do just that, then I'll be happy!"

Barry walked towards the window, meanwhile, time seemed to flow back to just before the explosion happened, when he stopped in front of the window, the flow of time went back to normal and he was hit by the lightning just as the wall exploded.

Everyone was just as surprised as Iris and the man with an eye patch was with the lightning that appeared out of nowhere, especially Iris who saw Barry disappear and suddenly hit the shelve with multi-colored flasks at extremely high speed.

What they didn't notice though was that in a flash, the man with an eye patch was suddenly pushed back so hard that he flew away from the room, hitting one of the walls on the corridor which end up making him black out.

Unfortunately for Barry, things weren't that good, it was a moment of speed, true speed, to a point that no one could see him, but the injuries and the sudden feeling of weakness took over just after he went back to where he hit the shelves.

"Barry!" Iris and James shouted as they ran towards him, Eddy followed them as he had separated from her just to talk with some of his friends and she almost getting hit by lightning was making him freak out.

There, they stopped and looked horrified towards Barry, who was burnt from the lightning and had lots of cuts in his flash from the glass flasks, with all that weird liquid on top of him as well, at this point, none of them thought he could have survived this, not even Barry himself.

--

Secret Origins 1986 Annual 2