My name is Barry Allen, and I am the fastest man alive. When I was a child, I saw my mother killed by something impossible. My father went to prison for her murder. Then an accident made me the impossible. And I became the Flash. I used my powers to find the man responsible for my mother’s death. I thought I would finally get justice for my family. But I failed. It’s been six months since the Singularity. I’m on my own now. Decided it’s better that way. Keeps the people I care about safe. There’s only one thing I can do now. I run.

The Nuclear Plant Crime scene

Six months since the Flash saved the city and team Flash went their separate ways. Caitlin started working at Mercury Labs, Cisco was at CCPD with Joe developing a Metahuman Task Force, Project 32 now known as Lea Snow was also as CCPD but as a CSI with Barry. As for Mushroom, them and Ghost would spend all night ghost hunting. Tomorrow was Flash Day, a rally for Central Cities hero and the mayor was giving him the key to the city. But Barry wasn’t up for the rally, he was more focused on his work. Both him and Lea were at the Nuclear Plant looking over a body that was found this morning.

Joe tried to make conversation with Barry but no luck, ever since the Singularity Barry has been distant. “Anyway, Joe, the victim?” Lea asked.

“Got it. The victim. His name is Al Rothstein. He’s a welder here at the nuclear plant. Coworker found him dead this morning.” Joe explained.

“Petechiae on his face and the whites of his eyes, and this bruising around his neck…”

“Oh, so he was strangled.” Joe interrupted.

“Mmhmm. By someone very strong and very large.” Barry finished.

“Or something?”

“Joe, this wasn’t Grodd. And before you ask, Grodd still isn’t answering me.” Lea stated.

Even though Lea was now talking normally, she still sometimes uses her telepathy to chat. She had been sending Grodd messages in hopes to talk to him but he hasn’t been answering her. Barry told Joe that he’ll see if he can find more on the case. Joe mentioned Flash Day and told Barry that he hopes that he’ll make an appearance but Barry hadn’t decided yet. Barry was sure that he deserved a reward but Joe thought otherwise. Barry just walked away; little did he know that someone was watching him and Lea.

Jitters at night

Barry was using his speed to rebuild jitters. Mushroom was with him just cleaning up the dust and debris. The two didn’t speak to each other though so there was some awkwardness in the air. Iris soon came in and saw the two.

“You know, if you ever decided that you didn’t wanna be the Flash, you have a good future at being a contractor.” Iris said to Barry. She waves at Mushroom who waves back.

“Thanks.” Barry chuckles. “Yeah, we’re just trying to put it all back exactly how it was before the…” He trailed off as he looked at Iris. “You know.”

There was some awkward silence. Mushroom grabbed some paper and threw it away as Barry grabbed his water bottle.

“Seems like a lot of local businesses are being rebuilt at night. In secret.” Iris states as she looks at the two. Barry shrugs as he drinks some of his water. “I was thinking about writing an article about it for the paper.”

“Don’t please. It’s the only thing Barry calls me for now.” Mushroom says.

“Look, people have heard the stories. They’ve read the articles. They’ve maybe even seen the red streak racing past them, but they’ve never seen the Flash, Barry.” Iris stated.

Mushroom snickered, “The red streak? That’s what you were called?”

“Sis, don’t change the subject.” Barry said, “And Iris, I know why you’re here. You came to talk me into going to the rally? Cause I’m–I’m not gonna go.”

“People just want to thank the man who saved Central City.”

“Well, they can’t, cause that’s not me. You should know that, better than anyone.”

Iris sighed then she handed Barry the flier for Flash Day. “Central City believes in the Flash. So do I.” she said then walked away.

Mushroom walks over as Barry stares at the flyer. He looks over at them noticing that they walked over. They gently took the flyer out of his hand knowing he didn’t want to look at it anymore.

The day of the Singularity.

Flash started running in the middle of the opening of the singularity. He was running in the opposite direction which was stabilizing it. But down in the city, it was pure chaos, people running and screaming in fear, some were getting caught in the pull but Ghost and Lea would help them. Now all that was left was for Stein and Ronnie to merge the inner and outer event horizons through which only Ronnie and Stein could do if they separated while in the eye of it. The amount of energy from the fissure should do the trick Ronnie kissed Caitlin, knowing that this might be the last time he'll see her before he and Stein merged into Firestorm and started to fly to the singularity.

Flash was there when he saw what Firestorm was planning to do. It worked, the singularity was closed but it came with a grave cost. Flash managed to rescue Stein but Ronnie was nowhere to be found, he was gone. Caitlin was left broken hearted; her newly wedded husband had sacrificed himself to save the city.

Jitters present day

Barry snapped out of his flashback from six months ago; he still blames himself for Ronnie’s death. He believed that Ronnie was the true hero that day, not the flash.

“Let’s just continue.” Mushroom says making Barry look over.

He nods as the two get back to working on fixing Jitters togethers.

The Flash Rally the next morning

Almost everyone in Central City was at the park for the Flash Rally. Most if not everyone was dressed in red and yellow and was waving red and yellow flags around. Cisco, Joe and Lea were by Joe’s cop car and leaning on it. Cisco commented on how Joe looked like he was expecting trouble but he said cops always expect trouble. The three noticed that even Caitlin was here by an ice cream truck. Lea went over to Caitlin to give her company. It seemed like everyone but the Allen siblings were there. Mayor Bellows started giving his speech; during his speech Mushroom showed up beside Iris. However, someone else in the crowd had plans.

Bellows had announced that he would now be giving the key to the city to the Flash. The crowd cheered and waited for the Flash to show up. When they all thought he wasn’t going to show, Flash zoomed onto the stage. People were cheering and chanting the Flash’s name as he walked over to the mayor. But just as he was about to accept the key; someone screamed in fear then Flash looked up to see that someone had thrown a hot dog cart coming his way. Thankfully he managed to rescue the mayor and dodge the cart. People were running in fear but Flash saw the culprit, a man in a black hoodie.

The guy walked over to the face removing his hoodie to reveal a black mask that covered most of his face. “The man who saved Central City, hate to rain on your parade.” the man spoke.

Flash ran over and tried to attack him but the man just punched him and he went flying into a police vehicle. Mushroom ran over to check on him as the police started shooting at the man. The man took off his hoodie as the bullets bounced off him. The man pushed one of the police cars at someone. Lea ran over and pulled the person out of the way. Cisco stood by Joe’s car with his eyes wide as he got a vision of the man but it soon went away.

“Cisco? Cisco! The Boot!” Joe yelled at him.

Cisco grabbed something from Joe’s car and handed it to him. It was already loaded so Joe shot it at the man. A clamp went around the man’s ankle and sent electricity through him. Instead of the man falling to the floor though the man started growing in size and broke the clamp. “Cisco, you said this thing would take him down. He’s not going down.” Joe said to Cisco.

Joe told Cisco to run and he did. Flash looked around for anything he could use then he saw the gas tanks from the barbeque stand. He grabbed two of them then flung them at the man then Joe shot tanks resulting in an explosion. Flash managed to save Joe from the debris but he got hit himself. The man started to shrink down to normal size then his mask came off, revealing his face, Al Rothstein. Joe was just as shocked as the Flash, the guy was found dead yesterday was alive and a meta. He got annoyed then he just left. 

CCPD Station

After the attack, Cisco, Lea, and Joe left for the station to figure out how Rothstein was even alive. However, the coroner's office stated that Rothstein’s body was in the morgue all night so not a zombie, he’s an only child with no siblings, and the night the accelerator exploded, he was on his honeymoon in Hawaii.

“So we’re looking for a guy who’s really strong, can grow twice his size, and just happens to look exactly like the guy he murdered?” Joe asks.

“Seems so.” Lea answers.

“I would think this meta was really cool if everything about him didn’t just terrify me to my core.” Cisco says.

“Is that what happened to you?” Joe asks. “You looked really spooked there for a minute.”

“Uh….”

Before Cisco could answer Iris walks over.

“Hey. So, the hospital next to the Flash Day rally? The X-ray CT machines all failed at once. Was that because of you?” Iris asks.

“I did not do anything that would cause that.” Cisco answers. “I’m 92% sure.” The other 3 just look at him. “I’m gonna go make that 100. Excuse me.”

Just as Cisco left, Iris told Lea and Joe that they needed to talk. Iris knew that Barry can’t do this alone anymore. Joe didn’t know how to talk Barry out of his plan, he was just trying not to push him further away. “Well, maybe Barry has been so successful at pushing you, me, and everyone else away because we keep letting him. Let’s not let him.” Iris stated.

“What do you suggest?’ Joe asked.

“Well, ‘if you keep getting ‘no’ for an answer, stop asking question.’” Iris said, quoting her own father.

“I say that. Are you quoting me to me?”

“She’s not wrong. You are a smart person Joe West.” Lea complemented. 

S.T.A.R labs Cortex

Barry speeds into S.T.A.R labs since he got an alert that someone came in. To his surprise everyone but Catlin was there. He looked at everyone shocked and confused.

“What are you guys doing here?” Barry asks.

“Working.” Iris answers.

“So, Caitlin was right.” Cisco says.

“Yes, all humans contain small amounts of radiation due to contact with cell phones, microwaves, televisions, et cetera. Our bodies are natural conductors.” Stein explains.

“I think our meta’s been sucking up all the radiation around him and using it to power himself.”

“Which is why the X-ray machines at the hospital failed the day of the rally.” Iris realizes.

“So if we wanna find him, we gotta look for places without radiation.” Cisco says as he starts typing.

“All right, guys. I don’t want any of you here right now.” Barry says.

“Too bad. Because you’re getting us big bro.” Mushroom says.

“You need your partners. You need your friends and sister.” Joe says.

“Barry, everyone in this room cares about you, but we also care about this city. We all want to make a difference, and that means fighting meta-humans, and that means working with the Flash. You can’t deny us that. Not anymore.” Iris stated.

Cisco located radiation near a hazardous waste reclamation plant which should be blooming with radiation but it’s at zero. “That’s where you’ll find your Atom Smasher.” Stein said.

Cisco looked at Stein, “Because he absorbs atomic power, and he, well, smashes.” he explained.

“Come here.” Cisco says proudly and hugs Stein. He let’s go “That’s a great name. Welcome to the team.”

“Thank you.”

“Great. Guys, thank you. You can go now, all right?” Barry says.

“Barry, you need to let Cisco and Stein figure out a way to stop this guy.” Joe says.

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes you do.” Mushroom says. “Or did you forget about the piece of metal I had to pull out of your leg?!”

Barry doesn’t listen and grabs his suit before speeding out of the lab. Lea notices Barry left his communication system behind and that he was on his own. Mushroom groans in frustration.

“I sometimes feel like the older one with how he acts sometimes.” They say.

Thankfully, Cisco was able to hack into the surveillance cameras of the reclamation plant but Barry was struggling against the Atom Smasher. He had Barry in a choking grip, Joe stated that he could possibly make it but Cisco stated that he won’t. Stein gave Cisco the idea of him hacking the alarm system, it worked. The alarms distracted Atom Smasher, giving Barry time to escape and run. Barry ran all the way back to S. T. A. R. labs but he was breathing heavily then he passed out in the hallway.

Flashback to Barry as 11 years old and Mushroom as 10 years old

Mushroom and Barry were both sitting at the table at Joe’s house. Joe puts a bowl of mac and cheese in front of them both but neither made a move to eat it.

“No thank you” Barry said.

“Iris says mac and cheese is your favorite and that Mushroom usually eats whatever you do.” Joe says.

“I’m not hungry.”

“It’s been six months, you two. You got to eat, kids.”

Barry pushed the bowl away. Mushroom watches before doing the same.

“It’s a good move, being angry all the time. I get it. You both miss your mom and dad, and you wanna show them that you’re strong. Being mad makes it easier. And Mushroom, you feel like you need to follow Barry because you don’t know how else to feel. Tougher thing to do would be to let yourself feel. It’s ok to be sad. You can be sad. Your parents will understand if you’re not strong all the time. That is why I’m here.” Joe explains.

Barry suddenly gets up and hugs Joe tightly followed by Mushroom. Joe hugs the two back.

“It’s ok, kids. I got you two.”

S.T. A. R. Labs medical bay

Barry was brought into the medical bay after Msuhroom had found him passed out. Them and Joe waited by Barry’s bedside until he woke up. He looked around for the others but Joe told him that he figured that he wouldn’t want an audience when he came to. Joe finally listened to Iris, for six months he has been giving Barry his space to work everything out and come back to them.But today proved that Barry would rather just get himself killed. “It’s better than getting my friends killed.” Barry muttered.

“Alright, Mr. Pity Party. I’m gonna say this just once.” Mushroom stated, “No one is gonna tell that it wasn’t your fault when it was. But guess what? You weren’t the only person making decisions that day. All of the rest of us were there too. Eddie and Ronnie, they chose to help you stop Wells, and stop that Singularity. It’s on all of us, bro. So quit hogging all the blame and regret. We gotta live with it. Move on.”

“You always find a way to insult me yet also comfort me.” Barry says weakly. Mushroom and Joe smile a bit. “What do I do now?”

“Well, I know that you've been rebuilding Central City at night.” Joe says.

“With Mushroom.” Barry smiles.

“That’s just bricks and paint.” Joe continues. “Maybe you should start trying to rebuild things that really matter.”

Barry nods and was about to get up. Mushroom pushes him back down causing him to groan in pain.

“After you heal.” They say.

“Can you come with me in case she punches me?” Barry asks with a small smile.

“Of course.”

Mercury Labs at night

Caitlin was alone in her lab when Barry and Mushroom walked in. She was surprised to see them; Barry really wanted to see her. Lea had told him that she was with Caitlin at Flash Day when he was surprised that she would even show up. “You, better than anyone, know I wasn’t the hero that day.” Barry said to Caitlin.

“Of course you were.” she said.

Barry took a deep breath, “Cait, Ronnie died saving me, and I should’ve saved him, and I’m–I’m so sorry.” he said, sadly.

“Barry, I know that you did everything you could. It wasn’t your fault.” Caitlin’s voice started breaking, “I don’t blame you for Ronnie’s death, I blame myself. When Ronnie first became Firestorm, he asked me to leave Central City, and go somewhere that we could have a normal life. And I said no. I couldn’t leave S. T. A. R. Labs, Dr. Wells… you. If I had gone with him, Ronnie would still be alive. Being at S. T. A. R. Labs just made me think of that.”

“Here.” Barry takes a handkerchief out of his pocket.

“Oh, you carry a handkerchief now? What are you, 80?”

Barry hands it to her with a small smile at her joke. The USB drives fell out. Mushroom walks over and picks it up as Caitlin wipes her tears away with the handkerchief.

“What’s that?” Caitlin asks.

“Uh, it’s uh…” Barry takes a deep breath. “Apparently, in the case of his death, Wells had some kind of, um, living will.”

“And you haven’t watched it yet?”

“No…” Barry takes the USB stick out of Mushroom’s hand. “No, I’ve been too afraid.”

“What if we watch it together?”

Caitlin hooked up the USB drive to her computer and the video began to play. To their shock, the recording was of him freely confessing to being their mother’s murder. This was it, this was what Barry needed to free their father from Iron Heights. Barry quickly called Joe and told him to have everyone meet up at S. T. A. R. Labs. Mushroom squealed in delight and hugged Barry tight. “The nightmare is over. We finally get our dad back!” They said, excitedly.

Barry chuckles and lifts Mushroom up a bit in the hug before putting them back down. They let go of the hug.

S.T.A.R labs cortex

Barry had told everyone about what happened. Joe called the DA and they had a pretty good chance of getting Henry out. Iris quickly hugged Barry before letting go.

“Okay. Well, that still leaves Atom Smasher to deal with.” Barry says.

“Last time you faced him, it did not go well.” Stein says.

“No, it did not. I clearly can’t stop him by myself and as my sister would say, I am a dumbass for trying. So how are we gonna beat him?”

“Well, ever since I was shown a drained radiation tag, which I haven’t been able to stop thinking about, thank you, Cisco.” Caitlin said.

“You’re welcome, Caitlin.” Cisco says.

“If this guy likes radiation so much, I say we give it to him.”

“And this time, you, Barry Allen, aren't doing it alone. Mushroom and I will be joining you.” Lea stated.

“You don’t have a suit.” Cisco pointed out.

“Actually, I have one. A little something I’ve been tinkering with.”

Outside 

Atom Smasher saw Flash’s makeshift signal which led him to the Flash and Ghost. Cisco came up with it, said that he had gotten the idea from a comic book somewhere. This time, Flash and Ghost played a little cat and mouse with Atom Smasher. They led him to the nuclear power plant where Project 32 was waiting for them. Her suit was a white suit with golden battle armor, a telepathic crown in the middle of her head and a mask over her eyes. Atom Smasher showed up looking bigger and followed Barry. When Barry got close enough to the door to a chamber, moved out of the why quickly so Project 32 could use her power to push Atom Smasher inside.

Cisco made sure that the doors were shut and turned it on. With all of that radiation in that room, Atom Smasher won’t be able to absorb it all. It was working, he was getting smaller and smaller until he was back to normal. Once the radiation was cleared, Flash went inside and asked him why he wanted to kill him. But all Atom Smasher mustered out was, “He promised me, I’d go home, if I killed you.”

“Who promised you?” Flash asked.

With his last dying breath he said the name, Zoom.

The West house the next day

Barry walks into the house with Henry to see that everyone was there to greet Henry home. Everyone cheered that he was home and out of jail. Mushroom ran over and hugged their dad tightly as he lifted her up. The two let go to enjoy the celebration and the party. Barry and Mushroom barely left Henry’s side during the party. Stein tapped on his glass of champagne getting everyone’s attention.

“Gather around, everyone, please.” He starts letting everyone gather around to hear him. “Looking at all of you, thinking how far we’ve all come, and remembering those who are no longer with us, I’m reminded of a Hebrew word used during times of graduation. Kadima. It means…Forward." He raised his champagne glass. “Forward.”

“Forward.” Joe says, raising his glass.

Everyone soon followed, raising their glasses of champagne and saying forward. They all clanged their glasses together with the person next to them before taking a sip. Henry had to slow down with the drinks since he hadn’t had alcohol in 14 years. Barry suddenly had this idea of him and his dad looking for an apartment for the two of them and Iris has been doing research on how he could get his medical license back so he can start his practice up again or he could come and work with them at S. T. A. R. Labs.

But he didn’t want to, he wasn’t planning on sticking around. He asked Barry if he and Mushroom could be all that they are becoming with him here. “You’re the only family that we have left.” Barry stated.

“And these guys are what? Chopped liver?” Mushroom jokes.

The three of them chuckled, “They need your help too, Barry.” Henry stated. “When you or your sister need me, I will be here, but right now, Central City doesn’t need you to be Henry Allen’s son. It needs you to be the Flash. And your sister, the Ghost. My kids. The superheroes. I need you to tell me that it’s okay.”

“Dad, we’ll be ok.” Mushroom stated. The three of them went into a warm embrace.

S. T. A. R. Labs

Barry and Mushroom walk into S.T.A.R labs from saying goodbye to their dad. Joe is standing there waiting for them.

“You dad get off okay?” Joe asks.

“Yeah, we just dropped him at the station.” Barry answers.

“You good?”

“I don’t know.” Barry shrugs as Mushroom just shakes their head. “It just feels like every time I win, I still lose.”

“Well…” Joe takes out the key to the city from out of his pocket. “It’s not bad.”

“No, it’s not bad.” Barry takes it and looks at it with a smile. “This is pretty cool.”

“I never would have imagined my dork of an older brother would get the key to the city.” Mushroom chuckles.

“It’s really cool. Come on.” Joe says.

The three of them walk into the cortex where everyone else was.

“Hey, guess what? I added a little upgrade to your suit.” Cisco says. He shows he changed the ebloum on the suit to a gold lightning bolt with a white background. “It’s just like the one from the future newspaper Gideon showed us.”

“The future what now?” Lea and Mushroom asked.

“I’ll explain later.” Caitlin says

“I was thinking, you know, we shouldn’t fear the future anymore, right?” Cisco says.

“No, and it’ll be here faster than we think.” Barry stated.

“Well, see, I like it. The lightning definitely pops more against the white.” Stein commented.

“And S. T. A. R. Labs is now safer than ever. Increased security and surveillance. Re-coded, double firewalled, electronic lock sets. So no more unexpected visitors entering the cortex.” Lea explained.

She spoke too soon because a man walked in. Joe raised his gun at the guy but the man said that he knows Barry. The man introduced himself as Jay Garrick, and their world is in danger. Another mystery adventure awaits.