#i love chyre and morillo

[longitudinalwaveme]

Flash Video Game Concept: Wally West Edition-“Rogue War”

At long last, here is the Wally West game proposal that I promised in the Barry Allen game proposal post!

  Important Disclaimer: I am not a video game designer or regular video game player and my knowledge of the mechanics of game play is thus fairly limited. This is more of a plot proposal for a video game than anything else. While I will be selecting bosses and creating hypothetical side missions, there won’t be any detailed descriptions of how the playable characters will work. That being said, should someone with a broader understanding of video game mechanics wish to offer suggestions, I will gladly add their ideas to the proposal.

And now...onto the plot!

The main playable character for the game will be an adult Wally West (the third Flash), though Jay Garrick, Jesse Quick, and Bart Allen will be playable in side and/or bonus missions that are separate from the main game.  The game will be set in Keystone City. Linda Park and Hartley Rathaway (the now-reformed Pied Piper) will be major supporting characters; Fred Chyre and Jared Morillo will be Wally’s main support in the KCPD police department. Barry Allen can be either alive or dead, but for the purposes of the game (and because he was the star of the last game), he won’t be active as the Flash here. Jai and Irey West, Wally’s twins, will also be in the game, but they won’t be major players in the story due to how young they are and to how dangerous the current situation is…though that won’t stop them from attempting to slip away from their parents to fight supervillains at least once. There will actually be two sets of antagonists in this game: the Rogues (lead by Captain Cold and consisting of him, Sam Scudder, James Jesse, Heat Wave, and Captain Boomerang, plus the dubiously-trustworthy Top and Golden Glider, who want to lead the group themselves but have no interest in teaming up with Blacksmith in order to do so) and the “New Rogues” (lead by Blacksmith and consisting of her, Axel Walker, Evan McCulloch, Murmur, Girder, and Double Down, plus the Weather Wizard, who’s left Cold’s team). These two teams are responsible for the titular “Rogue War” as they fight over Central City; Wally will have to put a stop to the war before it destroys the city.

The game would open with narration from Wally that explains who he is, his relationship with Linda and his children, and how he became the main Flash. This narration will be full of Wally’s characteristic snark and will lead into a cutscene where Wally is shown watching baseball with Linda (and the twins). He’s bored out of his mind, and as such, he is overjoyed when the game is interrupted by a news report that announces that KCPD headquarters is under attack by the Trickster. The cutscene ends with Wally rushing to the scene…unaware that his daughter is following him. After this, there will be a tutorial/intro level with Axel Walker as the boss. This fight will allow the player to become accustomed to the controls and to Wally’s fighting style; as such, it will be less difficult than subsequent levels (justified in story terms by the fact that Axel is a kid). After the player wears down Axel’s health bar to a certain point, Irey will appear on the scene in an attempt to help her father. Her appearance distracts Wally and allows a crowing Axel to get away…but not before throwing one of his t-bombs into the evidence room at the KCPD. The player, as Wally, will have to use a very high level of super speed and precision in order to rescue Irey and a few police scientists from the explosion.

After this, the story will shift to a cutscene at the Wests’ house, where Wally and Linda are scolding Irey for putting herself in danger (while Jai unhelpfully comments about how his sister is in trouble). Irey runs to her room in tears and Wally follows her. He tells her that he understands that she just wanted to help him, and assures her that he still loves her. While he reiterates the fact that crime fighting can potentially be very dangerous and that she’ll need to wait until she’s a little older before she can become his sidekick, he then cheers her up by telling her a story of a time that he screwed up as Kid Flash. Irey promises that she’ll stay out of trouble from now on, and the two of them hug. After the cutscene ends, the player will be allowed to spend some time investigating the West house and the open-world environment of the twin cities; with the option of speaking with neighbors, flirting with Linda, playing with the twins, stopping petty crimes, carrying people’s groceries, painting fences, and generally doing all of the typical Flash things. The game will not progress until a certain number of goals have been met. This section exists to familiarize the player with the game’s map and to give them more practice in controlling whatever super-speed mechanics that the game will end up utilizing.

The game would then transition to another cutscene. Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Weather Wizard, Heat Wave, the Trickster (James Jesse), Golden Glider, the Top, and Mirror Master (Sam Scudder) are all in one of their dilapidated hideouts. Heat Wave, Cold, Mirror Master, and Boomerang are playing cards; James is watching TV; Lisa and Roscoe are kissing in the corner; Weather Wizard is reading Twain but seems to be on edge. After a bit of introductory chatter, a news broadcast comes over the TV, announcing that the Trickster has escaped from his attack on police headquarters. James, who hasn’t been anywhere near police headquarters for over two months, is initially confused, and then becomes outright livid when he sees footage of Axel causing mayhem at police headquarters. “That’s my bag of tricks that punk’s using!” Cold is more concerned with how Axel managed to get ahold of James’ gear. James is usually pretty good at protecting his equipment; no teenager could have gotten ahold of it without help. Before the conversation can continue further, there’s a knock on the door. Len opens the door to find Blacksmith and her team (importantly, Evan is not with them). She proposes that the Rogues ally themselves with her group, whereupon she will lead them to greater heights than they could ever have imagined. Spotting Axel in the group, James is furious and is the first to reject the offer, followed shortly by Cold, who tells Blacksmith in no uncertain terms that he leads the Rogues and that he’s not interested in working with them. He’s heard about her and is sure she’ll only lead them into trouble they don’t need. A fight immediately (and unsurprisingly) breaks out. The player will be allowed to control Sam Scudder (the first Mirror Master) during the ensuing fight. The Rogues, who were caught off-guard and without most of their weapons and costumes, are at a severe disadvantage (though Sam and James have a few of their gadgets, Cold has one of his cold guns, and Roscoe obviously has his innate powers). The fight won’t last for too long (primarily due to the fact that Sam’s controls would differ from the Flash’s and we need to have the time controlling him be relatively short); being put to a very decisive end when Weather Wizard switches sides and manages to zap Roscoe into unconsciousness with a lightning bolt. Cold demands to know what Mark is doing; his question is answered when the Weather Wizard goes over to Blacksmith and the two of them kiss. Blacksmith explains that she has promised to help Weather Wizard become a more capable and competent wielder of the weather wand. All that she requested from him in exchange for this power were some of his teammates’ excess technology. Mark somewhat awkwardly attempts to persuade the other Rogues that Blacksmith’s offer is a good one and that the two of them are in love, but none of them are particularly interested in what he has to say. Sam, sensing that they have to escape and regroup, opens up a mirror portal and yells for the other Rogues to go through it. Cold manages to create an ice wall to cover their escape and all of the Rogues (except Weather Wizard) flee into the Mirror Realm, with Captain Boomerang carrying an unconscious Roscoe as though he’s a sack of potatoes. Unfortunately, before they manage to complete the journey to one of their other safehouses, a second Mirror Master appears (the player will still be controlling Sam at this point). At first, Sam assumes that the second Mirror Master is a mirror duplicate of himself, but that notion is put to the lie when the new Mirror Master starts talking. “Howzitgoan?” Sam demands to know who—or what–the newcomer is, at which point he cheerfully introduces himself as Evan McCulloch, a Scottish mercenary/hitman. He explains that he’s been hired by Blacksmith and that he has orders to ensure that Rogues will be neutralized as a threat—“one way o’ the other”. Sam quickly finds and opens up his emergency escape route—the one he uses when threatened by mirror monsters and other inhabitants of the Mirror Realm—and tells the other Rogues to escape while he deals with “this impostor”. Cold hesitates, arguing that there’s strength in numbers and that they don’t really know what Evan’s capable of, but Sam insists that he won’t have any problems defeating the Scotsman. After all, how could Evan possibly be more skilled with the Mirror Technology than the man who invented it? Cold reluctantly concedes the point and gets the rest of the team out of the Mirror Realm. The player will then control Sam for a brief fight with Evan—a fight that will demonstrate Evan’s almost supernatural capabilities within the Mirror Realm. Everything that Sam is able to do in the Barry Allen game, Evan can do better, and Sam is totally unprepared for his opponent to be able to be more dangerous in the Mirror Realm than he is. Neither the player nor Sam will be able to get more than a few hits in, and, after a certain amount of time, the game will automatically transition to a cutscene, where an injured Sam will go flying out of a mirror and land in a heap in front of the other Rogues. He’s followed by Evan, who steals Sam’s remaining mirror gadgets before disappearing back into the Mirror Realm. “Ta!”  Sam has a broken arm, a bad concussion (obvious from his slurred speech and poor balance), and a few broken ribs, but, being Sam, the injury he’s most concerned about is a nasty cut across his face. When he gets a proper look at his reflection, he all but goes into hysterics. Scudder’s as vain as a peacock, and he’s horrified by what’s happened to his once-handsome face. Lisa is equally upset about the unconscious Roscoe, and Cold is livid. No one messes with his team. “This means war!”

After this cutscene ends, the game will pick up a few days later. Wally and Linda are at the Jay Garrick Park with the twins and are discussing how weird it is that there’s apparently a new Trickster on the scene when Hartley arrives. After exchanging pleasantries (and getting tackle-hugged by an overly-enthusiastic Jai and Irey), Hartley tells Wally and Linda that he’s done some digging and managed to identify the new Trickster as Axel Walker, a teenaged troublemaker who dropped out of high school a few months ago. He says that, since extensive experience with James has taught him that all of James’ tech is heavily guarded by sneezing powder, yo-yos of doom, weaponized rubber chickens, and exploding whoopie cushions, in addition to a complex security system, he is sure that Axel had help from someone with a lot of power and connections to get ahold of the technology—which in turn suggests that the new Trickster is on the payroll of someone who could potentially be very dangerous indeed. Wally asks Hartley if it’s possible that the Rogues gave Axel the tech, but Hartley tells him that it’s not very likely. The Rogues haven’t recruited anyone since the Golden Glider (six years ago), and James would never let another Rogue use his name and weapons. The conversation is interrupted by several alarms going off, and Wally has to rush off in response.

Wally follows the alarms to Central City’s First National Bank, which Double Down and Girder are attempting to rob. The player will have to fight both of them at once while also protecting civilian hostages and the police from any collateral damage. Girder has super strength and can throw a wide variety of objects at the Flash. His punches cause a lot of damage if they land, and his health bar takes half again as long to deplete when compared to other bosses. Double Down has a greater range with his razor-sharp cards, and he’s more agile than Girder, but he’s much less durable. Once Wally manages to defeat them, he snarks about how they should obviously just give up this whole crime thing, since they’re clearly not very good at it—only for both of them to suddenly disappear through a nearby reflective surface. “Blacksmith sends her regards, sucker!” Needless to say, Wally is perplexed. Girder and Double Down aren’t Rogues, so why would Mirror Master help them to escape? And who’s “Blacksmith”?

The player will next get to control Hartley as he and Linda attempt to uncover evidence as to who Blacksmith is. This section will somewhat resemble the CSI segments from the Barry Allen game. Their search takes them throughout much of Keystone, but the evidence eventually leads them to an upscale penthouse owned by one Amunet Black, an important mover and shaker in the Twin Cities’ financial circles. Hartley comments that, when he was a Rogue, he had heard rumors that the criminal network in Central City was run in part through a prominent corporation; Amunet’s company fits the bill nicely. However, before they can do too much digging in the apartment, Murmur appears and attacks them both. Hartley goes for his flute, but Murmur is close enough to him that he’s able to inject Hartley with a syringe before he can actually use his weapon. Hartley yells for Linda to escape. “Not without you!” “I’m contagious! You have to leave me here! Murmur—it’s his Frenzy Virus!” Linda still doesn’t want to leave, but Hartley insists that he can’t leave the building or he’ll risk infecting the whole city. Linda flees as Murmur pulls out a serrated knife and starts to give chase. Hartley manages to use his flute to freeze Murmur in place and Linda leaves the penthouse. With Murmur’s threat temporarily neutralized, Hartley continues his search for anything that might incriminate Amunet or hint at what her plans for the city might be. His search uncovers a trail of paperwork that leads to a Scottish hitman named Evan McCulloch. Hartley is about to photograph the evidence when the Mirror Master suddenly appears in the penthouse. Hartley naturally assumes that this is Sam, and,  while he does go on the defensive, he also believes that he has a surefire way of getting his former colleague to leave without a physical confrontation. He tells “Sam” that he’s been infected with the Frenzy Virus and that Sam should probably leave if he wants to stay alive. “I appreciate the concern, chief, but ye’ve got the wrong man.” Evan’s been immunized to the Frenzy Virus (a precaution on Blacksmith's part). He takes advantage of Hartley’s surprise to destroy Hartley’s camera, incinerates the paper trail with a laser beam, and tells Hartley that the Flash had better stay out of Blacksmith's affairs if he knows what’s good for him. Then he disappears, taking Murmur’s frozen form with him.

Hartley is able to put two and two together and figure out that the Mirror Master with the Scottish accent is probably the Scottish hitman that was hired by Amunet Black, but before he can continue his investigation (he’s already dying—what worse can be done to him?), the effects of the virus begin to kick in (something that would be reflected in the player’s ability to control the character). He sees Wally arrive on the scene just before he slips into unconsciousness.

After a cutscene showing a worried Wally and Linda standing by Hartley’s hospital bed (this happens a day or so later in story terms and Hartley is obviously quite ill), Wally speeds off to find Jay, who tells the younger Flash that, since the Frenzy Virus stems from Murmur’s own mutated blood, he might be able to create an antidote for Hartley’s condition if he can get a sample of that blood. Wally races across the city and eventually finds Murmur in a building that he recognizes as one of the Rogues’ old safehouses—alongside Girder and Double Down, who are thoroughly destroying the place. A fight predictably breaks out, made more complicated by the fact that Murmur is wielding one of Captain Cold’s guns. Murmur isn’t nearly as talented with the gun as Cold himself would be, but it still presents an added complication for Wally as he attempts to defeat the villains and to keep the battle relatively contained.  Once the player manages to best the villains, Wally will whisk them away to a room without any reflective surfaces in the hopes that this will stymy any mirror escapes. He also manages to get a sample of Murmur’s blood. He calls the police to have them hopefully arrest the trio of criminals before rushing off to Jay’s lab. Jay manages to create an antidote with it in record time (super speed is helpful for more than just combat!). He immunizes Wally with it and Wally zips to the hospital, where he immunizes everyone in the building and also manages to save Hartley’s life. Hartley even regains consciousness, though he’s clearly in no condition to go back into the field. He tells Wally that there’s a new Mirror Master, a Scottish guy named Evan McCulloch, and that he’s on Blacksmith's payroll. Then he passes out again.

Linda and Wally then return home to their twins (relieving Joan Garrick of baby-sitting duty), only for Wally to get a call from Officer Jared Morillo. “Flash? The metahumans you said you defeated appear to have escaped.” An exhausted Wally apologizes to Linda and the kids for having to rush off again before returning to the place where he left the defeated villains. Sure enough, when he arrives, the only sign of the supervillains is a note that reads “Eyeballs are reflective, too! Better luck next time, Flasher!” Morillo and Chyre are puzzled. Sam Scudder always needed an actual mirror to pull off his stunts. Wally informs them of Evan’s existence but admits that that only muddies the waters further. Evan McCulloch hasn’t had access to Scudder’s technology for that long. How could he possibly be using it to pull off feats that Scudder himself can’t? Having reached an apparent dead end, the trio depart in frustration, with Chyre noting that he’s off to visit his old partner, Julie Jackam, and her son Josh, who’s about two years old.

This would dovetail into the next level, which would take place a few days later in story terms. Wally and Linda would be dropping the twins off at school when a news broadcast would report that the Weather Wizard is whipping up a massive storm downtown. Wally promptly dashes off and engages the Weather Wizard in a fight, only to be repeatedly caught off-guard by the villain’s unusual display of competency in the use of the Weather Wand. The mechanics of the battle would effectively be a more difficult version of those used in the Weather Wizard’s boss fight in the Barry Allen game.

Weather Wizard is full of bravado and is boasting about how Blacksmith has provided him with a way to become even more powerful than he is now. Eventually, he creates a tornado and vanishes from the scene while Wally desperately tries to stop the tornado before anyone gets hurt. Once he puts an end to the threat of the tornado, Wally zips off to find the Weather Wizard and catches up with him just as the Weather Wizard rips Josh out of Julie’s arms. Wally demands to know what the Weather Wizard is doing, and Mark replies by telling him that Josh is his son. “After all, he has my eyes.” Josh’s eyes are sparking with electricity, and the Weather Wizard explains that the boy is a metahuman with natural weather-controlling powers. He wants that power for himself…and all he has to do is bring the boy to Blacksmith to be opened up. Julie is in an absolute panic and pulls her gun on the Weather Wizard, telling him that Josh is her son and that Weather Wizard can have him over her dead body. The Weather Wizard laughs her off and is about to depart when he gets a good look at his son. “He does have my eyes….my brother’s eyes.” The storm that’s been raging throughout the city dies down, and Weather Wizard actually lands. He seems to be a bit dazed; staring at his son as though he’s seen a ghost. He doesn’t even react when Julie snatches Josh out of his arms. However, when Fred Chyre moves to arrest him, Wally is blinded by a violent flash of light. By the time Wally’s vision clears, Weather Wizard has disappeared. A frustrated Wally decides to pay a visit to Captain Cold in the hopes of figuring out why the Rogues are working alongside Blacksmith.

Wally finds Captain Cold sitting in a bar with the Golden Glider, nursing a beer. The two of them react to his arrival by launching into action and Wally will have to face both of them in a boss fight. The two siblings compliment one another very well and watch one another’s backs closely. Golden Glider has aerial attacks; slicing and kicking the Flash from above. She also has a lot of weaponized tops and her own weaponized gems that she can use; Captain Cold can lay down traps and slow the Flash’s speed to a comparative crawl. However, Wally eventually manages to defeat them and demands to know why the Rogues are working with Blacksmith. Captain Cold replies by telling Wally that he isn’t in league with Blacksmith and explains that Weather Wizard betrayed the Rogues when he sided with her. He tells Wally that the Rogues are going to defeat Blacksmith personally. “No one steals my turf and hurts my people!” He tells Wally that he should stay out of his way—and to underscore this point, he manages to distract the Flash long enough to freeze him in place and flee with the Golden Glider. Wally escapes the ice and decides that he needs to go home and regroup before he can continue his campaign against the two opposing groups of Rogues. He’s really run himself ragged today!

The scene would then shift to the original Rogues, who are hiding out in the back of Paul Gambi’s tailor shop and generally bemoaning their bad luck. Although the Top has regained consciousness, neither he nor Sam are back to full health, and Sam is in a bit of a sulk over the blows to his pride he received from Evan. Most of their hideouts have been systematically destroyed by Blacksmith’s gang, and they’re running very low on both money and technology. But Captain Cold is determined to come up with some plan to take everything he’s lost to Blacksmith back…with interest. The other Rogues, particularly Sam, are rather skeptical that there’s any way they can regain their old power…at least until James hits upon the idea of calling in the Rainbow Raider to induce some fracturing into the other group. This meets with approval from the rest of the group, and James promptly calls up the Rainbow Raider to request that he help them out. The Rainbow Raider is overjoyed by the prospect of finally being respected in the underworld and eagerly agrees.

The player would then control Linda for more detective work as she returns to Amunet’s apartment in the hopes of finding more evidence to tie the businesswoman to the recent chaos in the city. She finds rather more than she bargains for when she accidentally stumbles upon a meeting of the whole gang sans Girder and Murmur (all in civilian clothes as to reduce suspicion). Murmur is off doing his own thing; the exact details of which will be revealed in a side mission. The player will have to ensure that Linda doesn’t give herself away during this sequence. She manages to stay hidden as she listens to Blacksmith haranguing the Weather Wizard for not having brought his son to her. Weather Wizard protests; arguing that she’s taught him to be powerful enough already. They don’t need Josh! Blacksmith vehemently disagrees. She calls Weather Wizard a moron for ignoring his chance at obtaining innate powers; Weather Wizard responds by questioning Blacksmith’s love for him. He was under the impression that she wanted him to become powerful to improve himself…but now it’s starting to sound as though she’s more interested in him being her weapon. Blacksmith dismisses his claims by telling him to shut up and then orders Evan McCulloch to find Josh and bring him to her—but Evan refuses. “You didnae say anything about hurting a woman and her wean when ye hired me!” Blacksmith is decidedly displeased by her hired gun’s sudden and inconvenient display of a conscience and reminds him of his million-dollar paycheck. Evan stands his ground and refuses again. “What sort of hitman are you?” Evan laughs and disappears into the Mirror Realm. “Call me when ye have a real job for me.”

As Linda carefully undercovers documentation in the shadows, Double Down furiously demands to know why Evan’s paycheck is so much bigger than his, which prompts Axel to demand why he isn’t getting paid at all. As the argument increases in volume and eventually escalates into physical violence, Linda finishes gathering up the necessary evidence and prepares herself for departure…only to run directly into Rainbow Raider, who has been using his emotional-manipulation powers in order to create tensions between the members of Blacksmith’s group since before Linda even arrived. The two of them glare at each other but decide to depart without a confrontation in order to avoid being discovered. As soon as they get out of the penthouse, Rainbow Raider zips off on a rainbow and Linda is picked up by Wally. The couple return to their home at Flash-speed and Linda shows Wally all of the evidence she was able to gather while Blacksmith’s group was arguing amongst itself. Wally congratulates his wife enthusiastically for her accomplishments and says that, with any luck, her discoveries will enable him to get Blacksmith off the street before Captain Cold can launch a counter-assault against her. The two of them then enjoy a celebratory dinner with the kids (during which Wally eats as much food as the player can get him to consume in a two-minute time limit).

Unfortunately for Wally, the wheels of justice turn slowly enough that Captain Cold’s Rogues are able to issue a challenge to Blacksmith’s Rogues. Wally doesn’t find out about this until the fight has already begun and the news begins to report on the damage that’s being caused. Desperate to contain the damage, he rushes to the scene and is faced with what will be by far his biggest challenge of the game: fighting both groups of Rogues at once, while also protecting innocent bystanders and keeping collateral damage to a minimum. (Note that the Rainbow Raider is present and fighting alongside Captain Cold’s team; Sam Scudder and the Top are absent since they’re still too injured to fight.) The player’s most important goal is to protect the civilians; defeating the Rogues is a secondary objective. During the course of the fight, Weather Wizard will defect back to the Rogues and put Girder out of the fight entirely by fusing him to a nearby car via a lighting strike. In a brief pause in the action, he apologizes to Captain Cold and receives a fist to the face for his troubles. Cold doesn’t actually knock him unconscious, though—-Weather Wizard is too valuable an ally to lose. A bit later in the battle, Evan McCulloch turns on Blacksmith as well when he sees Captain Cold go out of his way to herd the battle away from a group of civilians that includes several small children. (The player, as Wally, evacuates them all to safety not long after.) He rather handily defeats Double Down and offers his allegiance to Captain Cold, who accepts with a degree of bemusement. Evan’s defection then prompts a similar defection from Axel (who can read the room and wants to be on the winning team). Blacksmith is predictably furious, and, aware that she’s about to lose, uses her metal-controlling ability in an attempt to collapse a building on everyone. Wally has to use his speed to evacuate anyone in the two blocks surrounding the building before the building can collapse (cue hyper-speed Flash time). Blacksmith makes one last attempt on an exhausted Wally, but she’s stopped by the civilians whom Wally rescued, who gang up on her and manage to knock her unconscious. Thoroughly exhausted from their war and not particularly willing to fight an army of furious civilians, Captain Cold has Evan transport all of the Rogues away from the scene. Blacksmith, Double Down, Girder, and Murmur are left behind and are taken into police custody.

Wally rebuilds the neighborhood that was destroyed during the fighting and promises that he’ll bring in the rest of the Rogues the second they show their faces again. He gets ice cream for all of the children in the area before returning home to Linda, the twins, and Hartley (who’s just been released from the hospital) for a relaxing baseball game and a well-deserved nap.

[axlryan]

awww

[gorogues]

Spoilers for Flash #750!

You can see a few preview pages here, here, and here.  There are so many pages in the issue that it’s tough to choose which ones to include here.

This was definitely worthy of a milestone issue.  There are multiple stories: one set in the present, a Len solo story which is sort of set in the Johns era, a pre-Crisis Sam story, a New 52-esque Speed Mind story, a Golden Age Jay story, and one about Wally's new role.  Plus, of course, a bunch of gorgeous pinups.

To get things out of the way, unfortunately it is definitely confirmed that Commander Cold is dead.  Steadfast and Fuerza are alive but off to do other things, James is locked up in a cell again, and the other Rogues are loose.  David Singh appears and is surprisingly nice to Barry, and it's confirmed that he and Hartley are still together and doing well.  Roy appears briefly and is now 100% confirmed to be in current continuity (technically his previous appearances were in a holiday issue, which are often of dubious canonicity, and he'd seemingly appeared twice in Zandia but at least one of his 'appearances' there was a Psych illusion).  And Iris is working on a story about how the Flash has helped people and inspired them, so we see flashbacks of Barry saving the day from various Rogues and Grodd.

Then Godspeed shows up, and lures Barry to the Flash Museum so Paradox can confront him.  Paradox airs his grievances, and tells Barry to give up being the Flash or see everything he cares about destroyed.  Paradox sics August on Barry, and the story ends in a cliffhanger, undoubtedly to be continued next issue.  It's notable that August is surprised to learn of the future Flash who was killed by Paradox, and perhaps that'll play into him turning on his boss in the story to come...at least if his desire for atonement is real, and he's actually upset to see any version of Barry killed.  It's possible that he thinks he can play along and save Barry from Paradox even if he has to beat him up a bit.

Then we've got the Len solo story by Johns and Kolins, which is shown above.  As always, Kolins is great with the little details which don't even figure into the story but add a lot.  We see the Stanley Cup stashed in Len's filthy apartment, as is tradition.  And Len's got a computer now, which is interesting.  Some of Lisa's stuff is stored in his closet, and he's got a yearbook photo of the Rogues.  And later in the story Jai is wearing a turtle shirt, which must be a nod to the long-rumoured plan that he was supposed to become the new Turtle before Flashpoint (you may recall that he was depowered in Flash: Rebirth and resentful about it, and Eobard claimed that one of Wally's kids would ruin his life).  Jai and Irey's appearance tells us that this isn't quite in proper continuity or is set during the Brightest Day era -- but if it was set during Brightest Day, Wally wouldn't necessarily think Len's actions were directed specifically at him, since Barry would be around too.  And even the yearbook photo fudges things a bit, since we wouldn't have a costumed Lisa and a youthful Roscoe around at the same time, barring a retcon.  Though Johns does love his retcons, so you never know.

The Len story is great and a lot of fun, and shows much of what we love and maybe also dislike about that era of Len.  As always, he over-indulges on the beer even as he otherwise decries drug use (although in fairness, he doesn't say anything about drugs in this story), but that is one of his flaws and probably one of the remnants of an abusive upbringing steeped in booze.  Johns seems to be throwing a little shade at the New 52 Rogues with the line "Guys who can snap their fingers and make a snowstorm because of some meta gene, how do you respect that?  When I hold that gadget in my hand, it means something."  Agree or disagree with that statement -- I don't think it's necessarily right or wrong -- there's no question that the meta Rogues were very much at odds with the Rogues of the Johns era.  And you may recall that Johns depowered New 52 Len as soon as he got a chance to; it's pretty clear he didn't like that development.

Wally's interpretation of Len's actions is very interesting and completely understandable from his POV, but of course he's misread the situation entirely.  Obviously he doesn't know Len as well as he thinks he does.  He'd be correct if it was quite a few other Flash villains (including some of the other Rogues), but he assumes the worst of all of them and we've seen before that sometimes he's wrong.  But the Len of that era deliberately cultivated misperceptions of himself and the other Rogues to get people to underestimate him or keep them off-balance, and ultimately he's probably got himself to blame for Wally's misunderstanding.  I don't think Len would mind Wally misunderstanding him for the reasons mentioned above, but maybe Wally would treat him better if he truly understood Len's motivations.  Food for thought.

It's also nice to see Chyre and Morillo too, who are very much missed.  Chyre's been name-dropped in the Rebirth era, but I'd like to see him and Morillo actually appearing again, even if just occasionally.

The Sam story is pretty cool and has a lot of Silver/Bronze Age simplicity and weirdness to it, and wouldn't be out of place in the published stories of that era.  So I admire that Wolfman and Rossmo were able to capture those aspects in it.  The issue doesn't contain something from every era of the Flash, but this story covers the Silver/Bronze Age era wonderfully.

The Jay story is really interesting; it's otherwise a very Golden Age-inspired story with the Thinker, but then Eobard puts in a surprise appearance, taunting Jay that he'll be forgotten in the future.  It's a very Eobard thing to do, although unusual to see him taking an interest in Jay.  And obviously it foreshadows Jay's disappearance from this Earth/continuity from the New 52 until recently.  I'm very much looking forward to seeing how Jay is used now that he and the JSA seem to be back, and wonder if Eobard will continue bothering him.  Obviously Eobard's primary grudge is with Barry, but of course he's messed with other members of the Flash Family as well.  And messing with the Flash Family in general may become a hobby of his with the [spoilers for comics in May] development that he's creating his own Reverse Flash Family.

The Wally story is partly an epilogue to the Flash Forward series and partly a prologue to the upcoming Generation Zero issue on Free Comic Book Day.  In it, Wally observes different versions of continuity: the pre-Flashpoint history and the post-Flashpoint history, side by side and seemingly both still in continuity.  Or, if not still in continuity, then still existing together.  Presumably he (or someone else) will deal with that to streamline continuity, but the question is, will both versions still remain, get merged into one, or will something else happen entirely?  We may not find out until FCBD and beyond.

So all in all, this was a great issue, and fitting for a milestone.  It was great fun to see the various stories, pinups, and variant covers, and so nice to see a classic Johns-Kolins story about Len, a spotlight on Jay, and an era-appropriate story featuring classic Sam.  It's also good to finally get some answers about lingering questions in current continuity like the fate of James and Commander Cold and the missing Forces users, even if we're not always happy about the developments.  I do think Henry's killing was weirdly abrupt and has been handled as something of an afterthought so I'm not thrilled about that, but it is good to get confirmation and some finality to it.  Hopefully he isn't completely forgotten after this.

[xswestallen]

But, You’re My Dork

Summary: Iris appreciating Barry's nerdiness over the years.

When Iris showed Barry her new crystal necklace, she was hoping he'd think it was cute. She didn't think it would turn into a science lesson on how light works. Iris showed it off as they sat down for lunch in the courtyard. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the light reflecting through the crystal created a rainbow.

"Isn't it pretty?" Iris gushed.

"Yeah." Barry was smiling, but looking at Iris instead of the rainbow.

"What is it?" Iris asked when she noticed him looking at her.

Barry shrugged. "Nothing. Just wondering, do you know what causes your necklace to create rainbows?"

Iris shook her head. Barry's eyes lit up like he'd just been given an unexpected present. Iris knew why, he loved telling her about science, his favorite subject. Even though it sometimes got annoying, Iris liked listening to Barry explain things. He knew so much more than most of the other kids in their elementary school. Iris thought she learned more from hanging out with Barry than she did in the actual classroom. He had a way of making everything he talked about seem exciting. It must be the passion he feels for the subject.

"Well, the crystal acts as a prism." Barry explained. "The light from the sun is white. When the light enters the prism, the different kinds of light within white light are reflected at different angles, because they each have unique wavelengths. Each color bends through the crystal at a different angle, resulting in a fanning out and separation of white light into the colors of the spectrum."

Iris took a moment before responding to savor the look of wonder in Barry's eyes. The sun was shining so bright, it gave his green eyes the appearance of a sparkling emerald. "Huh. I never knew that."

"And did you know this is just visible light? There is light that human eyes can't see." Barry went on. "There are also colors humans can't see. Did you know that shrimp can actually more colors than us?"

"You've got to be joking." Iris laughed.

"It's true! I read about it in a book on marine biology."

"How do you remember everything we need to know for ours tests and still find a way to memorize all this other stuff too?"

Barry's pale cheeks turned a baby peach shade. He shrugged. "I just love learning, I guess."

A group of students walking by started laughing. Iris and Barry turned to see that the students were all looking at them. Some of the students were evening pointing as they laughed.

"He's talking about shrimp!" One of the girls squealed.

"Who talks about shrimp and the colors they can see? What a nerd." Another boy blurted out.

"You're such a dork, Barry Allen." A girl said as the group of students passed.

Iris was angry. Her hands had curled into fists as without her realizing it. She put a hand on Barry's shoulder. He was now blushing for an entirely different reason.

"Don't listen to them." Iris said.

Barry didn't look at Iris or say anything, he just ate his lunch. Iris could tell he was deep in thought by his furrowed brow and constant scratching of his neck. Nobody would be that captivated by macaroni and cheese and baby carrots. She didn't want to make him talk if he was uncomfortable, so she ate in silence beside him.

The lunch period was coming to end. Iris gathered their trash on a tray and took it over to the garbage can. Other students were already rising from their tables and heading back inside for their next class. Barry was still sitting at the table, without his food to stare at he was left to look at the ground.

Iris slung her book bag over her shoulder. "Come on, we don't wanna be late."

"Do you think I'm a dork?" Barry asked in a low voice.

Iris felt her heart pang. She sat back down beside him, holding his face in her hands. She hated when bullies made her best friend feel bad about himself. Sure, he liked school and nerdy things, but that didn't give anyone the right to be mean to him.

"Barry, you're the smartest and nicest person I know."

Barry's lips twitched into a smile for a split second. "But, am I a dork?"

Iris now looked down at the floor. She didn't want to lie, but she didn't want to make Barry feel bad either. "Yeah." She admitted. "You are."

Barry looked crestfallen. "I knew it."

Iris held his hand. "But, you're my dork. I like you just the way you are, dorkiness and all."

Barry tilted his head in disbelife. "Really?"

"Yeah." Iris said. "You wouldn't be you if you weren't a little bit of a nerd. It's what makes you cute."

Barry smiled fully now. Seeing it made Iris feel like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"We better go. We really don't want to be late." Iris reminded him.

---------❀---------

Iris was putting her chemistry books away in her locker. She felt a tap on the shoulder and spun around to see Abby Putman.

"Hey. What are you doing on Friday?" Abby asked.

"Umm.." Iris thought about her schedule. "I don't have any plans yet, why?"

"Me, Maria, Kelly, Chad, Tyler, Ryan, and Ashley are going to the waterfront. Do you want to come?"

"Yeah!" Iris said. "What time?"

"Seven. And uh-" Abby leaned in, whispering, "can you give me a ride? I still haven't gotten my license yet."

"Of course. I'll pick you up and we'll head over to the waterfront."

"Cool!" Abby clapped her hands excitedly. She made her way down the hall.

Iris returned her attention to her locker. She got her American literature books out and was about to close the door when the picture of her and Barry she put in the door caught her eye. He hadn't been out much the past few weeks. The anniversary of his mom's death had just passed. Iris knew how hard this time of the year was for him. She slammed her locker shut and chased after Abby.

"Abby! Abby!" Iris called.

Abby stopped and waited for Iris to catch up. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah." Iris said, catching her breath. "I just wanted to know if I can bring Barry with us on Friday?"

Abby's nose scrunched. "Oh." She said in a less than enthusiastic tone. She looked awkward, until an idea seemed to dawn on her. "He's in physics, right? I know Briggs is giving a test on Monday, so Barry will probably want to stay home and study for that."

"The test is Monday. We're going out on Friday. He'll have plenty of time to study over the weekend. He needs to have some fun too."

Abby looked unconvinced.

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Iris joked. She nudged Abby on the elbow, but Abby didn't soften.

"As if he could get any duller." Abby muttered.

Iris recoiled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look, Iris. It's not that we don't like Barry. He's nice and everything. It's just that he's a little....."

Iris glared at Abby. "Go on."

Abby sighed. "He's a total nerd."

Iris raided her eyebrows. "So?"

"So, nerds aren't fun."

"Barry is lots of fun." Iris defended.

"He's really dorky."

"I like that about him."

"Iris, you know what I'm talking about, right?" Abby pleaded.

"Barry is my best friend. If he isn't welcome, then I'm not going." Iris said flatly. "Find some other ride." She pushed passed Abby and stomped down the hall.

"IRIS?" Abby's voice echoed.

Iris looked back at Abby. "What?"

"Fine." Abby conceded. "He can come with you. Just, tell him to act cool, ok? Maybe, help him be less of a dork."

Iris smirked. "No. He's my dork and I'm keeping him that way."

---------❀---------

"TA DA!" Barry sang. He stood in the middle of the room, looking like Christmas came early.

"Wow!" Iris stepped through the door and looked around. "This is you're new lab?"

"Yep. I'll be working the forensics I gathered from Central City's crime scenes right here." Barry patted his desk chair.

"It's really big." Iris observed. "Aren't you gonna get lonely in here?"

Barry blushed. "You'll have to come and visit me." He teased.

Iris giggled. She took a closer look at the equipment Barry had already arrange in the lab.

"I'm about to run a fingerprint through IAFIS." Barry announced.

"What is that?" Iris asked. The acronym sounded like a foreign vocabulary word.

"It stands for Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System. It's the largest database for prints in the country."

"Allen," A deep voice spoke.

Barry and Iris turned to the see Detective Chyre standing in the doorway.

"Congratulations on becoming a full fledged CSI." Chyre said.

Barry beamed with pride. "Thank you, sir."

"Nice to you again, Iris."

"You too, Detective. Keep watching my dad's back." Iris said.

"So, Allen, did you get a match on those prints?"

Iris rolled her eyes. Of course Chyre didn't just come up to the lab to congratulate Barry.

"I did!" Barry exclaimed. "I was just telling Iris about how I comapred the print I lifted off the doorknob to the ones in IAFIS."

Chyre looked confused. "IFA what?"

"It stands for Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System." Iris told him.

Barry laughed. A serious glance from Chyre refocused Barry. "Umm, right. We got a match. These are the fingerprints of petty thief Jared Morillo."

"Not so petty anymore." Chyre huffed. "He stole thousands of dollars from the Central City bank last night."

"He's moving up in the criminal world." Barry joked. His attempt at humor was lost on Chyre. "Hey, it says here that Morillo used to live in Gotham. I heard reports about an environmentalist turned criminal there. She has an extensive knowledge of plants and would use their pheromones to aid in her crimes."

"You're still into that nonsense?"

Barry opened his mouth to answer but didn't speak.

Chyre took the finger print analysis results. "Thanks, Barry."

"No problem! It's my job." Barry called as Chyre left the lab. "Annnnd, he wasn't listening." Barry clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, "Cool."

Iris laughed. "Well, he'll keep you humble."

"He thinks I'm a weirdo." Barry sighed.

"Who cares? Lots of people think you're a weirdo."

Barry looked offended. "Hey."

Iris held up her hands in surrender. "I just meant that you're a nerd with some, how should I put it, interesting interests? But it's fine, you are the most adorable nerd in the world."

"Thanks."

Iris gave him a hug. "You may be a big time CSI now but you'll always be my best friend." She assured him.

"And you're dork?" Barry asked hopefully.

"And my dork."

---------❀---------

Iris heard the heated debate between Barry and Cisco from the hallway as she approached the cortex. They were so caught up in the argument, they didn't notice her enter.

"Greedo was going to kill Han anyway. Everyone knew that, he was working for Jabba. Lucas didn't need to justify Han killing him by adding that stupid Greedo shot into the re-release!" Cisco snapped.

"Kids are gonna watch the movie. Lucas didn't want them to see one of the main characters kill another character unprovoked. That's why he had to add that Greedo shot in. It was all to make the parents happy." Barry insisted.

Cisco shook his head and slammed a hand down on one of the desks. "But that cheapens Han Solo's character development!"

"How?"

"Han shooting first established him as a true anti-hero. He was being threatened, but it wasn't to the point he needed to use lethal force! Han basically saying 'screw this' and shooting his blaster to turn Greedo into a steaming pile of smithereens was how the film showcased Han as a guy who doesn't care about the rules. He does what he wants and he's impulsive."

"Letting Greedo take the first shot showed that even if Han is a scoundrel, he still has honor. He wouldn't kill someone in an unfair fight." Barry maintained.

"Han didn't give a damn about fair fights. He was rouge. Everything he did was in his own self-interest."

"Shooting Greedo before Greedo attacked wasn't in self-interest. He was more skilled with a blaster, he would've won in a fair fight and he knew it. That's why he wasn't afraid to let Greedo take the first shot. I think that's important to show how confident Han was. He essentially laughed off Greedo's assassination attempt and ended the fight with a quick pull of the trigger."

"It was unrealistic. How is an assassin like Greedo gonna miss a simple, point blank shot? Huh?" Cisco got up in Barry's face "Riddle me that?"

"UMM HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE STORM TROOPERS?" Barry retorted.

Cisco raised his finger to Barry's chest. Before he was able to explode with nerd rage, Iris's laughter caused him and Barry to look up.

"Iris? When did you get here?" Barry asked, swatting Cisco's finger away.

"Long enough to hear some very compelling Star Wars arguments." Iris said.

"It's the most controversial issue of our generation." Cisco said. "Don't try to trivialize it."

Iris only laughed harder and Barry joined in.

Cisco threw up his hands. "I cannot work with people who don't respect that sanctity of the original Star Wars! I'll be in my workshop."

Iris bent over from laughing so hard.

"He's passionate about Han's reputation." Barry said.

Iris sneered at him.

"What?"

"You went full nerd too!"

"I wasn't on the same level as Cisco." Barry argued. "Nobody is on his level."

"That's true." Iris tapped a pen on the desk. "You two are different kinds of nerdy. He's sci-fi references nerdy while you're science class nobody signed up for nerdy."

"Which kind do you prefer?"

"They both have appeal."

"That's not an answer!" Barry pointed out. "Am I no longer your favorite nerd?"

Iris pouted. "Barry, you will always be my favorite nerd. You have a special nerdy place in my heart." She rubbed his arm. "You're my dork."

---------❀---------

Barry speed into the loft. Iris jumped up from the couch and ran over to hug him.

"Did you get them?" She asked, eagerly.

Barry pulled a small box out of his pocket. "I got them!"

Iris shrieked with excitement. Barry took her hand and guided her over to the couch. She leaned against him.

"Here they are." Barry said as he opened the box.

Two silver wedding bands shone brightly.

Iris gasped. "They're beautiful."

Barry took one out. "I take you, Iris Ann West, to be my lawfully wedded wife." He slipped the band onto Iris's ringer finger. Her eyes glistened with tears.

"I can't wait till the wedding is finally here." Iris said. She lifted her hand to better admire the band. "Then, I won't ever have to take this off."

Barry smiled. "I'm excited too." He kissed the top her head. "Take it off for a second and look at the engraving."

Iris did as Barry suggested. She looked inside her band and saw the rhythm strip of an EKG. "It's a heartbeat?"

"It's my heartbeat." Barry corrected.

Iris didn't understand. "What do you mean?"

"I asked Caitlin to give me an EKG, took the results to a jeweler, and had him engrave it." Barry explained.

Iris looked at him with wide eyed wonder. "Barry!"

He took her hand and placed it over his heart. She felt the pounding and remembered feeling it for the first time after he awoke from the coma.

"This way you'll always be able to feel my heartbeat." Barry said.

"Bear, this is the most romantic idea ever. I love it!"

"I'm glad. I was worried you might think it was too......"

"Too what?" Too Sweet? Too beautiful? Too much of an example of how you're the most thoughtful person to ever walk the Earth?"

"Too nerdy." Barry murmured.

Iris threw her head back and laughed. "It is nerdy." She admitted. "But, in case you haven't noticed, I like nerdy."

Barry brushed his hand against her thigh. "Yeah?"

"Mmm hmm. In fact, I love a dork."

"I love you."

Their lips met. Iris thought his lips felt like silk and tasted like candy. She slid her teeth over his bottom lip as they broke apart.

"I want to be your dork forever." Barry whispered.