The loneliest, most deserted road in the world.
U.S. Route 50.
The flames scorched the sky. The sun blazed fiercely against the asphalt in late autumn, and the gray-black surface of the road was hot and dry.
A dry wind blew from Bardi's back, making the hem of his windbreaker press tightly against his calves.
"I don't want any accidents."
It was necessary for him to warn the Flash, this restless troublemaker who never seemed to learn his lesson.
If you make a mistake, your entire family will be slaughtered.
Is it because my fist is not big enough, that blowing up continents and planets without killing your family makes you think you're invincible? Or do you think you are the official protagonist of some novel or comic, never dying and always escaping at the last second, so you continue to act recklessly, thinking I won't strike?
You think I won't do it?
You think I'm not cruel enough?
Bardi stared into the distance, his expression indifferent. His voice was light, but the threat it carried was unmistakable.
If this trip back to the future changed anything—
Ha.
The Flash's expression darkened. He could see the warning in Bardi's face, and he had no doubt that if anything went wrong when they returned to the future, not only he but even his family would pay the price.
And if Bruce noticed the message he had left, if Bruce responded, the future would definitely change. They would have a fighting chance against Barmulodi.
The Flash's heart grew heavier.
Just then, a powerful hand clamped down on his shoulder.
Snap.
The hand was like an iron clamp, gripping him with a crushing force, forcing his body to bear a weight of tens of thousands of pounds.
"Let's begin. Go back."
Bardi's cold voice rang out behind him.
The Flash's face turned ashen. Helpless and worried, he controlled his metal prosthetics, crouching into a running stance.
Now, he could only hope that Bruce had seen the message he left—his two missing front teeth embedded in the tree—and realized the signal he was trying to send.
Distracted, the Flash was snapped back to focus by Bardi's warning gaze.
Placing his hand on the searing asphalt, he began to gather the yellow arcs of Speed Force. Dust around him began to float weightlessly, and the crackle of electricity filled the air.
Yellow arcs spread like electric serpents, quickly jumping to Bardi's hands, crawling along his arms and chest, eventually covering his entire body.
On the deserted highway, a surge of yellow electricity erupted.
The sun beat down mercilessly, baking the road and twisting the air.
In the next moment, a massive explosion rang out. A white sonic boom burst into existence, wrinkling and tearing the air, creating shockwaves.
Traces of yellow lightning flickered on the road, scorching it black and leaving a jagged trail extending far into the distance, like a blade slicing the heavens in two.
Once again, Bardi felt the Speed Force acting on his body. The violent, high-speed vibration wrapped around his connected magnetic field, pushing him to even higher speeds.
This speed had completely surpassed even the capabilities of a planetary-level powerhouse. The Speed Force had propelled him to the limit, to the source of time itself, to the Speed Force Wall.
At such speeds, crossing time, changing the past and future, altering people, and evolving events—such as the Flashpoint—was entirely possible.
When the surrounding environment began to distort into streaks of light, and Bardi's eyes could no longer track the changes, he glanced at the Flash beside him.
The Flash's metal prosthetics were once again glowing red-hot. The internal structures vibrated at atomic levels, on the verge of disintegration.
Ahead of them, the time-space continuum appeared, a swirling distortion of time and space.
As they had before.
Bardi gripped the legless Flash from behind and, with a surge of power, plunged into the time-space tunnel.
Inside the tunnel, everything was a turbid, blurred high-frequency image, as if hundreds of television episodes were compressed and played within a single second. Only through the power of the Speed Force could one perceive it clearly and select the correct point to enter.
Thus, it was entirely normal to experience nausea and physical discomfort during the first crossing.
Even with his superior vision and powerful body, Bardi felt a wave of nausea. It was subtle, but it was there. Ordinary humans would have been incapacitated immediately.
This was his second crossing. Bardi, learning from experience, did not focus on the images around him. Even with super vision, the surroundings were nothing but discomforting blurs at ultra-high frequency.
"Good."
Bardi's eyebrows twitched slightly. He could feel the Speed Force naturally pulling him toward his rightful time, toward his correct position.
Returning to his original era carried an undeniable pull. The Speed Force itself, recognizing Bardi's soul, would automatically guide him back on course, preventing him from veering into other eras and disturbing the stability of the universe.
This was a good thing.
But then—
A sudden change.
In the fast-moving time-space tunnel, Bardi noticed the Flash.
At the Flash's broken legs, something was happening. A faint, hazy projection appeared, as if his legs were flickering between existence and illusion.
The Flash's legs flickered incessantly, shifting between blurred reality and illusion.
The Flash's eyes brightened with excitement.
Bruce had received his message!
They had managed to change fate!
In mere moments, the Flash's legs became fully corporeal, bursting with a wild surge of yellow Speed Force energy.
"What have you changed?!"
Bardi's face darkened.
What had the Flash changed? What event had altered, allowing his legs to heal instead of being destroyed in New Guinea?
Bardi's heart sank. His killing intent surged.
"From now on, all superheroes—and their families—will have no chance of survival!"
A wild, chaotic arc of electricity exploded from the Flash. His figure blurred, vibrating at atomic levels, slipping through Bardi's grasp.
Bardi's hands clenched, gripping nothing but air.
The Flash, carried by the Speed Force, disappeared ahead of him, running out of the time-space tunnel at incredible speed.
With a face as cold as death, Bardi rushed out of the time tunnel in pursuit, murderous intent surging like a tidal wave.
(To be continued.)
***
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