I hear him, before anyone else.
It’s a hum that vibrates below the frequency of the known universe. Diana’s about to fall to the Furies. Bruce’s mind is already gone.
It will take me three nanoseconds to free Bruce. Five picoseconds to help Diana.
My feet twitch. Yellow lightning covers my being. I run towards Diana, but I only get as far as three metres.
The Black Racer gallops towards me, scythe in one hand, spear tucked on his back. The Apokoliptian God of Death has chosen me as his target. He never misses.
“God, give me strength.”
I am off. The world blurs. Colors and light vanish as I break the lightspeed barrier.
I run the race I was born to race. I run the race where I am destined to die.
I need to survive until Clark arrives. He is the only one who is old enough to fight off the primal forces of cosmic entropy, now controlled by Darkseid.
In space, Hal is fighting off the forces of Sinestro and Nekron. He will use the power of the Seven Lantern Corps to break through the blockade. It will take them three hours to get back to Earth.
I will die three hundred times by then.
I am the Flash. I am the fastest creation alive. The Speed Force is faster than thought itself.
“Mom and dad, you can’t hear me. But I love you so much.”
I run and blend into realities. My signature changes as my identity changes.
I am Barry Allen, born in 1943. I became the Flash when I was doused with chemicals in my crime laboratory.
I am Wally West, born in 1973. I receive the speed force from my uncle Barry after he dies in 1985. I join the Justice League in 1997.
I am Iris Allen, born in 1992. I am Kid Flash, the newest member of Teen Titans.
The Black Racer is never far behind. Sometimes, he changes into Zoom. Sometimes, into Savitar.
I never look back.
“I fight for everything that matters. This is the hardest thing I will ever do. My legs are starting to vaporize faster than they regenerate.”
The Racer gets me for the first time when I stop to save Supergirl from the Anti-Monitor in 1985. He gets me the second time when I vibrate through Superboy Prime in 2006.
He kills me the third time when I stop myself from changing my past in 2011.
He kills me ten times more before I start getting faster.
I am not human anymore. I am lines on sheets of paper. I am code written on MacBooks. I am words typed on smartphones and typewriters.
“Iris. I failed you. I couldn’t save you, after all these years. Wally, please do better than me.”
I am you, reader, as I jump through your life, running from your birth to death. Your first fight, your first heartbreak, your last breath. I run through it faster than it takes for you to comprehend that you exist.
I am the writer, channeling his limited creativity to use English as an escape vehicle for my soul. I cycle through archetypes and dopplegangers. Quicksilver, Johnny Quick, Hermes. Everything past is prologue, and everything next follows my footsteps.
I have died 70 times by the time I see Gardner Fox drafting Jay Garrick’s origins. I die my 100th death when Grant Gustin dons my costume for the first time.
“I have got to keep running. Can’t stop. Can’t ever stop. Live, Run, Die, Repeat.”
I am joined by hundreds of other Flashes in my race. They all join me to die and become one with the Speed Force.
I return back to my multiverse after 240 deaths. Three thousand Flashes run behind me. The total Flash death toll numbers in the millions.
“Barry, you aren’t alone. We will always remember you. You were the best of us.”
I look to my right to see Wally and his two fully grown twins. Bart races past them temporarily before falling back.
“Thank you Grandpa for being awesome.”
My non-existent heart starts to break. I have seen the universe being born and destroyed a million different ways. My pain and torment defy words.
But this? Seeing my legacy stretch across universes? This makes it all worth it.
I see the Clark of my reality zooming back to Earth 0. He is so brave and selfless. He has just fought Mandrakk, the vampire of worlds, and won. The Superman corps follows his blazing trail.
I catch up to Clark, and struggle to keep up. I can’t help but chuckle. Bastard is older than any of us, but he still keeps getting stronger.
“Clark, I will always be faster than you.”
Clark smiles. “Yeah Barry. But I did beat you in the Boston Marathon twice.”
I grin as I die three more times. My speed is breaking the boundaries of human imagination. “Please, Clark. Those were for charity.”
My lightning turns blue and white. My vision turns red. Clark is a dot in my rearview mirror once again.
I race towards Darkseid, who stands over Bruce’s lifeless body. He is about to dodge his own Omega beam, the beam that can kill Gods.
Orion jumps out of a boom tube and heads towards Darkseid. The man is about to murder his own father.
The Black Racer kills me for the 299th time. I laugh when I come back.
“Time for the final lap.”
I pass through Orion, picking the God bullet from the barrel of his gun. I accelerate it past the speed of thought. I lodge the bullet straight into Darkseid’s skull.
The Black Racer’s scythe brushes my hair. I turn on my heels and disappear into the Bleed, before returning three seconds later.
Three seconds. Three eternities. I buzz with the energy of creation.
5 Flashes remain by my side. Wally, Jay, Jesse, Bart, Wallace. They break off and slowly return to their own timelines as I reach peak velocity.
I run straight towards the Black Racer. I am going out. I feel sad. But I shouldn’t. I saved everything one last time.
“There’s always…space for dreams. Time…for hope…”
I pass through the Black Racer and change my vibrational frequencies to capture the Omega Beam. The Beam passes through both of our bodies.
The racer goes one second earlier than I do.
“Iris. My love. I come to you. Thank you.”
I am ash and bones.
I am Barry Allen. This is how I died, on June 16th, 2028.
My suit falls to the ground. Clark arrives a second later and scoops it up, along with Bruce’s corpse.
Diana looks at him. She has just beaten the Furies and broken Barda’s jaw.
“Where were you?”
Clark cannot answer. He looks up at the sky. “Come. We have to fight and save the world, from this final crisis.”
Clark saves the world after two more hours. The Lanterns rebuild the world in ten more days.
Three months later, twenty-nine-year-old Wally West dons my old suit. Red lightning envelops his form as he races into the horizon.
“I am Wally West. I am the Flash. I am the fastest man alive.”