SLOW BURN PART I:

PROLOGUE:

GOTHAM

“That was great, Dad! I want to be Zorro when I grow up!” The boy, nattily dressed, danced around, fighting with an imaginary sword. His parents walked quietly behind him, arm in arm.

“Bruce, always remember that fighting is for the weak-minded. You should wield your intellect instead.”

“What does ‘wield’ mean, Dad?”

Before Thomas could answer, a voice spoke from the shadows. “Ask your dad what ‘Give me all of your money.’ means, kid.” A man with a gun in his hand stepped from the shadows, reeking of liquor and unwashed clothing.

Quickly, he reached for the pearl necklace adorning Martha Wayne’s neck. She pulled back and screamed, and the man raised the gun as if to hit her. Without a thought, Thomas stepped forward, using his height to make an imposing figure. He reached for the gun, missing completely and managing to snag Martha’s necklace. Pearls spilled to the ground with that rat-atat-tat of a machine gun, and Thomas was suddenly all too aware of the menace behind the eyes of their attacker.

“Big mistake, pal.” The man raised the gun, and ground the barrel slowly against Thomas’s forehead. He began to pull the trigger, and . . . it was over.

In one instant, Bruce Wayne’s life was about to change, and in the next, it didn’t. The gunman and gun had disappeared – the street was empty save for a few newspapers drifting in the wind. Thomas was shaken, but fine, and Martha’s pearl necklace was in pristine condition around her neck like nothing had ever happened.

As the family began hurrying to the car, Bruce whispered, “Dad, I saw red.”

“So did I, son. So did I.” Thomas said, reflecting on the irony of his previous words and his conflicting actions of that evening.

COAST CITY

Abin Sur entered the Earth’s atmosphere faster than he could calculate, spinning out of control. Using all his strength, he managed to right the ship, but didn’t like what he saw. At his speed and angle of descent, he would have an almost impossible chance of a safe landing. As he strapped his harness into crash position, he suddenly felt a sharp pain lancing through his body. Looking down, Abin noticed that one of the creatures who ambushed him must have hit him, because a large cut across his abdomen was threatening to spill his intestines throughout the cabin. Quickly, he used his ring to create a bandage to hold the pressure in. If he could land safely, he just might be able to survive long enough for help to arrive. If.

The consummate pessimist, Abin began preparing for his demise. This preparation was not a religious ritual or even a personal ritual – it was the goal of looking for his replacement. As the clouds whipped by, Abin directed his ring – the most powerful tool in the universe – to find him a suitable replacement for the sector that is – was – his as a member of the esteemed Green Lantern Corps. Mountains loomed and the geography began to take shape as Abin received flashes of potential recruits on Earth . . . a schoolteacher . . . an architect . . . a test pilot. Suddenly, a large beep sounding from the control panel broke his concentration. The proximity warning indicated that he needed to make his choice quickly, or there would be no Green Lantern for this sector.

The ground began rushing in at an amazing speed. Abin gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, bracing for impact, and began concentrating with all of his might. Concentrating so hard, in fact, that he didn’t even notice the ship begin to slow down. By the time he did notice, his vessel was slowly descending, less than 100 feet from the ground. Checking his visuals, Abin couldn’t find anything that was causing this anomaly. The landing was the softest that ship had ever seen, and with a flash of insight, Abin realized that he actually might live!

The ship’s door opened outward, and Abin began to unstrap himself from his harness. In his haste, he scraped his wound harshly, and began to lose consciousness. As his eyes blurred shut, he caught a vision of . . . something red.

ELSEWHERE:

In Denver, Dr. Erdel’s matter transporter that he had erringly pointed towards Mars is reduced to rubble as it begins to malfunction.

Oliver Queen’s unconscious body, the result of a shipwreck, appeared in a Star City emergency room.

On Paradise Island, Queen Hippolyta decreed that the world of man is peaceful enough and does not yet need to meet the Ambassadors of Themyscira.

In Smallville, Kansas, Jonathan and Martha Kent pulled over at the sight of something streaking out the sky and crashing into the cornfield next to them. They got out of the car and rushed over to what appeared to be a small ship, showing no concern for their own well-being. The ship opened like a flower, and a child is lying within. The Kents gasped, and before they can react further, the rocket and child disappeared from view. All signs that there was a crash have been erased and the Kents are left sitting in their truck, wondering if it even happened at all.

KEYSTONE CITY

Two men in crimson suits stand over a crib, watching a small baby with black hair and blue eyes play with a stuffed green ball.

“What do you think, Jay?” the younger man asked the older man. “What should we call him?”

Jay, an older gentleman wearing a silver cap that looks like it belongs on a Roman God, leaned over the crib and tickled the chin of the young boy. “Let’s call him Barry Junior, after you.”

Barry picked up the child “That’s a great idea. Iris will be amazed. Welcome to the Flash Family, son.”

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