The air in Sector 12-B was different. It was still and cold, the hum of machinery absent. Barry skidded to a halt, his boots barely making a sound on the polished floor. This wasn't a lab; it was a trophy room.
The chamber was circular and vast. In the center, on a throne of twisted, blackened metal, sat Zoom. The blue lightning that wreathed his dark armor cast long, dancing shadows that made him look larger than life.
"Welcome, Barry," Zoom's voice was a distorted growl, echoing slightly. "I've been waiting."
Barry's eyes scanned the room, and his blood ran cold. In the corner, encased in a translucent energy field, was Jesse Wells, her face pale but her eyes burning with defiance. Beside her, a man in a rust-red metal prison was chained to the wall, his head slumped forward. A familiar helmet lay discarded on the floor. The real Jay Garrick.
Zoom followed his gaze. "My insurance policy. A father's love is such a powerful motivator. And a living legend makes for a good puppet."
Barry didn't answer. His body became a blur of motion, but not toward Zoom. He moved in a zig-zag pattern, a red and gold streak that vanished from one spot and reappeared next to the prison cells in the time it took a heart to beat.
Zoom was fast, but Barry was faster. He was already placing his hands on the energy field containing Jesse. The air crackled as golden lightning met the blue-tinged barrier. It shattered like glass.
Jesse stumbled forward. "Barry?"
"Don't speak. Just listen," Barry said, his voice low and urgent. He pulled a small, smooth stone from a compartment on his suit. It glowed with a soft, internal light. He pressed it into her hands and closed her fingers around it. "When I give you the signal, you run. You take him," he nodded toward Jay, "and you run to your father. Don't stop. Don't look back."
He placed his hands over hers, channeling his power. The Philosopher's Stone flared, and a wave of golden energy shot through Jesse. Her back arched, her eyes flying wide open as a gasp escaped her lips. For a second, tiny, hesitant sparks of yellow lightning danced across her skin.
Zoom watched, his head tilted in curiosity. He hadn't moved from his throne. "What is that little trinket?" he growled.
Barry ignored him. With another burst of impossible speed, he was at Jay's prison. He gripped the metal bars and, with a grunt of effort, tore them apart like tinfoil. He caught the falling speedster, laying him gently on the ground.
He turned back to Zoom, tucking the now-dormant stone away. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with," Barry said, his voice calm. "But it's time for this to end."
Zoom let out a low, mocking laugh. He stood up, his form seeming to fill the room. "And I thought you didn't kill, Barry. The heroic Flash, so pure of heart."
A grim, cold smile touched Barry's lips. It was an expression none of his friends would recognize. "Oh, I do kill," he said, his tone flat and final. "But your fate is going to be much worse than death."
He took a step forward, his own lightning igniting, casting a warm, golden glow that pushed back against Zoom's cold blue.
"I'm going to make you my slave."
Zoom actually took a step back, the arrogance in his posture faltering for a split second. "What?"
"The Black Flash," Barry clarified, as if stating a simple fact. "The Grim Reaper for speedsters. I'm going to bind you to the Speed Force itself. You'll have no will of your own. No thoughts. Only a single, endless purpose: to hunt."
He took another step, the air cracking with the intensity of his power.
"And your first target? Another speedster I desperately want dead. One who has infested himself across so many timelines, I can't count them all. You're going to run him down for me."
Zoom's distorted voice was a whisper of horrified understanding. "Thawne."
Barry didn't answer. He just shot forward.
The world dissolved into a storm of light and sound. They were no longer two men in a room; they were two forces of nature clashing. Blue lightning and gold tangled in a violent dance, moving faster than the eye could follow. They ran along the walls, across the ceiling, their footsteps creating a staccato rhythm that was like machine-gun fire.
Zoom was brutal, all sharp angles and murderous intent. He threw punches meant to shatter bone, swiped with claws meant to rend flesh.
But Barry was fluid. He was the wind. He moved around Zoom's attacks not with brute force, but with an effortless grace that was almost beautiful. He wasn't just faster; he was everywhere. A punch would phase right through him. A lunge would meet empty air where Barry had been a microsecond before.
Barry wasn't trying to hit him. He was herding him. Containing him.
"You can't beat me, Allen!" Zoom roared, his frustration mounting. He unleashed a massive blast of blue lightning.
Barry didn't dodge. He met it head-on, a shield of golden energy erupting from his hands. The two powers collided with a deafening CRACK that shook the very foundations of the building. The golden light didn't just block the blue; it consumed it, absorbing its energy.
"You're wrong," Barry said, his voice strangely calm amidst the chaos. "This was never a fight. It's a sentencing."
With a final, powerful surge, the golden energy overwhelmed Zoom's. It wrapped around him like ethereal chains, pinning his arms to his sides. Zoom struggled, screaming in rage and terror, but the bonds of pure Speed Force energy held him fast. He was dragged to his knees.
Barry stood over him, his expression not of triumph, but of grim necessity. "The Speed Force is out of balance because of men like you. Men like Thawne. It's time to restore order."
He placed a hand on Zoom's head. The golden energy intensified, swirling around the dark speedster. Zoom's screams became distorted, deepening, losing their humanity. His blue lightning flickered, sputtered, and then began to darken, turning a deep, bloody crimson mixed with pitch black.
His suit seemed to melt and reform, becoming more skeletal, more horrific. The man known as Hunter Zolomon was gone, his consciousness erased. All that was left was a vessel of cosmic punishment.
Where Zoom had knelt, now crouched the Black Flash. Its eyes glowed with a hellish red light. It let out a low, guttural snarl that promised only an end.
Barry looked at the creature, his task complete. He pointed a finger, and a spark of gold lightning shot into the Black Flash's chest, implanting a target.
"Now run," Barry commanded, his voice echoing with the authority of the Speed Force itself. "Find Eobard Thawne. Hunt him through every timeline. Through every century. Don't let him rest."
"Enjoy the chase," Barry whispered. "Tell Thawne I said hello."
The Black Flash tilted its head, a predator catching a scent. Then, with a sound like a dying thunderclap, it vanished. The room was suddenly, deafeningly silent, the only light coming from Barry's fading gold lightning.