Issue 19: "The Long Road Home: The Final Race"

Keystone City,

Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man and world’s second best detective knocked out a third class villain named Kobra with a single, stretched punch. He then flattened himself, and waited for someone. When Razorback, another third class villain, stepped in him, he quickly moved, bringing him down. Ralph then disarmed the Rogue, and threw him against the giant machine in the middle of the cemetery.

“Ralph? Is everyone okay?” Asked a voice in his ear.

“Yeah, Hunter. We’re fine. Well, I haven’t really accepted the fact that I am helping villains for the benefit of two cities, but apart from that, it’s okay.”

“What is the situation down there?”


While Dibny talked, unbeknownst to him, a puddle of tar gathered under his feet. “Well, Clown, Razorback and Kobra are done. I haven’t seen Rathaway for a while and with Cold is the same. Boomerang is fighting Heatwave. Also, not to brag, but I single handedly defeated both Gi-” Suddenly, like in an explosion, the Elongated Man was thrown into the air, propelled by the Rogue known as the Tar Pit. When he landed, Girder stepped on him, and then both of the villains attacked him.

“He, the Elongated Man had thought he had beaten us!” Tar Pit said, laughing afterwards. “How naïve!”

“You are nothing, man. You’re outdated, and no one wants to you.” Girder said, punching Ralph straight in the face. “I even heard that that San Francisco team wouldn’t accept you!” Ralph smiled, and stretched out of the grasp of the two titans. “Three things guys. First one, never try knocking out a rubber man.” He dodged another fist. “Second, it was Plastic Man who tried out for the San Francisco team. Not me. And finally…” The great detective covered his ears. “Have nice dreams.”

Both villains turned around, just in time to see a man with a green cape and sunglasses starting to play the flute. Soon, both villains were sound asleep.

“Thanks, kiddo.” Said Dibny. “Now, tell me, why did you join the Rogues? This really doesn’t look like a good place for you.”

“Well, Mr. ... uhm, Elongated, there’s something I’ve got to say.”

Keystone City,

Heatwave burned a boomerang. Captain Boomerang destroyed one of Heatwave’s guns with one of his weapons. The two were badly hurt, with deep cuts and third degree burns. But they kept fighting.

“You treacherous bastard.” Heatwave said. He took out a boomerang that was stuck in his feet. “After all we did, you go back with Cold! I can’t believe it!”

“It is me who am surprised. We were supposed to be a family. A blackmailing, murdering and robbing family we were, but a family nonetheless. And then a guy who is supposedly from the future comes, and you change your sides just like that! “

“Oh, you really believe I sided with Kadabra. No, no. I sided with Trickster.” Heatwave burned the last one of the Captain’s boomerangs, and approached him slowly. “I sided with me.”

He pressed the gun. Fire emerged from it, but a tornado engulfed the flames. A man with a yellow and green suit appeared in front of both of them, smiling. His eyes were blood shot, and a thin line of a yellowish liquid ran from his mouth. His hair was a mess, and his suit was broken. “Hullo there, fellas!”
“Top?” Asked Boomerang, amazed.

“Sleep, Digger.” The body of the Rogue fell to the floor, hard. “It is not with you that I seek revenge.”

Heatwave walked slowly away from him, pointing his gun. “Get away from me, you freak. I’ll burn your head, and your insides with just a finger movement.”

“My head is already in flames. Look, I was fine 10 minutes ago. Now I’m not. This has been happening for a while now.” Heatwave’s gun exploded, burning his hand. “Oh, telekinesis. I love it. Now, as I was diddily diddlyoh saying-oh, I went, and hit my Gulliver to a rock until I had the answer to my pains. This started with that time traveler. And the flops. You know those.”

Heatwave was afraid, and could do nothing but stare at the madman’s eyes. “What are you talking about? What flops?”

“The ones I did to you with my Gulliver! I was the first one that Kadabra recruited. I did the unnamable with those rat filled heads of yours! Things I am very proud and happy of! And then the headaches started! I think I have not much life left. So I am redeeming. And you shall be the first one, because of the event with my momma and pappa. The pain will be excruciating, and I’ll try to break some nerves with this, but please, do not shout. It just happens to ruin the moment!”

“Oh my God!”

Elsewhere,

A scream of pain and a flash of lightning broke the silence. Kadabra appeared in the middle of a primitive jungle, the smell of dirt and the scent of animals strong in the air. He looked around, and then looked at himself. He was glowing and his hands were shaking.

A blur appeared in front of him and punched him in the face. He tried grabbing it, but failed. “Where have you brought me, Flash? I am the one supposed to do the tricks, speedster!”

Another punch to the face sent the magician back. The Flash materialized from thin air, grabbed Kadabra and sent him flying against the trees. “Apparently, we are in the prehistoric age, Abra. I used the speed force to send us traveling through the ages.”

Kadabra grabbed Barry by the wrist and smashed him against the floor. He then continued to punch him. ”I am still supercharged with energy, you fool! I can win, whenever and wherever!”

Elsewhen,

“Oh, Flash, I admire your persistence. But I’ve still got a few cards up my sleeve.” Barry tried to tackle Kadabra, but the villain disappeared. His voice still could be heard. “Now, for my next trick, I’ll need an assistant.” Kadabra moved his hands, and the energy appearing from them starting taking form. It was human-like, with a big head and thin body. Lighting emanated from the chest. “Flash, this will be my assistant, the new Flash! Now, go, my servant! Time for the big disappearance of the night!”

The clone ran after the scarlet speedster, and the race began. They went through great lakes, deserted zones and giant groups of great reptiles. They dodged tar pits, climbed volcanoes and went right through mountains. They circled earth many times to count, and both the Flash and the energy speedster seemed that they’d never give up.

A bolt of energy appeared out from nowhere, and hit the Flash, blinding him for a second. That’s all it took. The scarlet racer came down, and his clone grabbed him. Kadabra grabbed Barry’s face, and smashed it in the mud. “Good bye, Speedster. This thing will blow you to bits.”

The clone started to glow. The air around them started to heat up. But then, both Kadabra and the Flash started to vibrate, accelerating each second. Textures lost definition, and colors lost their shine. Everything went gray, and then disappeared, including the energy clone. The explosion destroyed a whole valley.

Both of them appeared in an ice desert. Barry stood up and started to speak. “Still supercharged. Kadabra, if we don’t stop this, we might burn ourselves out! If we continue skipping through the ages, God knows what could happen! To us, to the world!”

Kadabra slowly took his hat off, and pointed it at the Flash. The villain smiled. “I won’t burn. You, you’ll burn.” He threw his hat to the air, and the piece of clothing exploded. A little hole appeared, and it started sucking everything near it. “Black hole explosives. You fall in there, and you’ll atoms will be smashed and destroyed, Flash.”

The speedster ran as fast as he could, trying to escape the gravity of the field. He knew this wouldn’t be over soon.

Elsewhen,

The desert in the Midwest was harsh, but these two combatants felt nothing. They had been fighting through the ages. It seemed to be around the 1850s. But with Kadabra trying to slice him in a half, it was really difficult to know for sure. The fight was still even, and anyone could win.

Kadabra appeared a rifle out from nowhere. “This is an atom gun, Flash. Shoots tiny ionized particles faster than light, able to destroy mountains with minimum effort.”

The Flash grabbed the weapon and destroyed it before Kadabra could press the trigger. “It may shoot faster than lightning, but I’m still faster than you.”

“Oh, Flash. This fight has gone too long. I can see you start wearing out, right? Yeah, I smell victory already.” Kadabra tried punching Flash, but the speedster easily dodged.

“It is you who is wearing out. I’ve still got contact with the speed force. Your machine is broken with the fight, and you’ve got no tricks left.” The Flash grabbed one of Kadabra’s shoulders, and pressed it, dislocating the arm. The villain howled in pain.

“Still, I’ve won. You’ll never be able to get back to your own age, you’ll be lost forever!” The magician tried one last time to destroy the speedster with an energy blast. He jumped against Barry, but the Flash quickly pressed the ring he had. Chemicals expanded his costume, which wrapped up the magician and blinded him for a while.

“ Bye, Kadabra.” The Flash vibrated, and then punched his enemy. Abra started vibrating quicker than ever. “I’m passing you kinetic energy at great speeds. If what we experienced is correct, and with a little help from Jay’s teachings, I’ve theorized that this would continue your trip across time faster. Say hello to the end of times for me, I haven’t visited it in a while.”

“Oh, speedster. Ignorance is truly blissful. If you only knew that there’s still some…” And without ending that sentence, he disappeared. Against all odds, but still, with a little help from his friends, he had perseverated. But Kadabra had been right. The fight had left him almost powerless, and arriving at his age would really be difficult.

But before he could start speeding up, a portal opened in front of him. A familiar face walked right out of it. John Fox, super speedster, was standing there in the cosmic treadmill. “Want a ride home?”


A lightning bolt without the thunder marked the return of the fastest man alive. He appeared bent over in front of his mentor’s grave. When he looked up, he saw no signs of the giant machine that Kadabra had used to steal the speed force. How had someone gotten such technology, he had no idea.

Barry tried to run, but a cramp in the legs brought him down. The pain in his chest was intensifying. He was really tired and hurt. He fell down in a cold puddle in the soil, but he managed to see a man walking by.

“Len…” Barry managed to say.

“Flash.” Captain Col said. “I got poisoned. I see you are not so fine yourself. Look, don’t worry about no one else attacking you, I’ve sorted it out. You can even talk to your friend the Elongated Man to confirm it. I saved your goddamn cities. Now..,” Len grabbed the Flash and carried him in his shoulders. “You won’t tell anyone about this. And no special treatment for me because I helped you, okay?” Len elbowed Barry in the stomach, hard. “That would take all the fun away.”

Epilogue 1

Heatwave, Mirror Master, and Captain Boomerang were sitting in the warehouse, drinking beer and watching television when Cold arrived. He placed three checks in the desk. “This week’s payment. Except yours, Heatwave, I’ll still be holding it.”

Before their leader could go, Boomerang stood up and asked something that everyone had wanted to ask for a while. “How is she?”

“She hasn’t woken up.” He said, and then cleared his throat. Talking about his sister in that condition was hard for him, and even more after the news the doctor had told him.

“And what about Weather Wizard? Is he coming here anytime soon?” Asked Rory. He had his both hands bandaged, and a patch in one eye. He had several stitches across his face, and his feet had been burned with his own gun. After the Trickster, he had the worst beating.

“He is not coming back for a while. Extended vacation.” Len was about to leave, but he stopped at the door. “Is the Rathaway kid still locked in his door?”

”Yeah. That kid gives me the creeps. All the time with his flute melodies, and the scratches in his room. Even those little glasses annoy me!” Heatwave said.

“Will he be ready for this week’s robbery?” Captain Boomerang asked.

Hark Rathaway, millionaire heir entered the room with a flute in one hand and a rat in the other. He always had one of those critters near, they apparently loved his music. “Yes, I’ll be ready, Lenny. I’ll be ready."



“Police, I’m the Elongated Man. There’ll be an attempt to rob Central City Platinum Bank this weekend. The Rogues will be there. Yeah, yeah… Who told me?” Ralph smiled. “Anonymous informant, sir. Believe me, he is one of the good guys.”

Final Epilogue

The Weather Wizard was resting on the roof of the hospital. He had one arm broken, and a swollen eye, but those weren’t from his fight with the Flash. That had been Cold. He was about to leave, when a hand stopped him.

“Trickster.” The Rogue said, coldly.

“It’s Jesse, Mark. I heard that they don’t want you anymore in the Rogues, that’s why I’m here. We need to stick together, as long as they accept us back.”

“I don’t want to have anything to do with you, Trickster!”

“I heard why they don’t want you. And I checked down there. I held a doctor at gun point and asked for some tests. I can tell you things, Marky Mark.”

The Weather Wizard turned around. His face was different than before. “You promise that you won’t start another one of your crazy plans?”

“I am the man with the plan, Marky! I can’t stop! So, can I join you, or we split?”

“You can join, Jesse. Now tell me…”

“She’s a girl. Lisa is having a little cuddly baby girl. Congratulations, partner.”