- The Multiverse needs a hero... even if he might be the last person anyone would dare expect.
Flash Forward #1 is an issue of the series Flash Forward (Volume 1) with a cover date of November, 2019. It was published on September 18, 2019.
Synopsis for "Chapter One: Incursion Point Zero"
The Space Between the 52 known Universes
Tempus Fuginaut is operating inside the space between the 52 known universes. Like all Fuginauts, he works to make this space free of dangers, ruptures and anomalies. But he never witnessed something like what is happening now: a Dark Multiverse, born from the darkest thoughts of all living creatures, is infecting the space the Fuginauts swore to protect. And because of some anomaly he cannot understand, the forces of Entropy are unable to destroy the cancerous Dark Multiverse itself.
This is the time for him to break a rule or two, for the better sake of creation, and to reach out to his comrades. Also, he must find a way to deliver a hero to the Multiverse, someone who will be able to contrast the infection which is spreading in all space. This does not mean that this hero is the one everyone expects...
Blackgate Prison. The cell of Wally West
Wally is dreaming of better times, like that day when his dear friend Roy Harper was rambling about spoiled milk found in a fridge in Sanctuary, a place where heroes went when they needed some time off. That place for Wally was a nightmare: it was inside Sanctuary he lost control of his powers. Not willingly, and not for more than a few instants, but this was enough to kill 13 innocent friends. Including Roy. Right now, he's in Blackgate, after Iron Heights was destroyed. He wears a collar making him unable to use his powers, at least physically: his mind still races one hundred miles an hour, with thoughts and nightmares never leaving him.
But for what he did, he deserves this punishment. Now he lives among people he captured himself, or that was captured by guys he knows very well. He's not the most loved guy there, and he's always in danger of being killed. But many times, villains save his life from other assaults, because they know the truth: it's far worse to let Wally live with his guilt, rather than putting the word end on his misery. Unexpectedly, Wally has a visit: he told all the superhero teams to leave him alone, from the Titans to the League, but it looks like they won't listen. But it's not a hero coming to meet him. It's Linda Park, a journalist, and in another life, in another dimension, Wally's beloved wife.
When he became part of this new reality, he was told him and Linda were never together. They even never met. And their children, they never existed. Not the best thing to learn. Wally is happy about the fact Linda came to him, trying to lift him up, to make him think it was not is fault, but a tragic incident. There's nothing to do: Wally condemns himself, and there is no turning back.
Interlude. Somewhere, on the cusp of the Multiverse
Once again, a treasure hunter, this time Tarkul of Edya 12, tries to become the new owner of the Mobius Chair, abandoned long ago. But once again, the hunter dies in the effort. It's never the man who controls the Chair, it's the Chair that controls you.
Back in Blackgate, inside Wally's cell
Wally is back from being visited by Linda, when he's attacked by Girder and Tar Pit: they bribed some guards, who removed their collars. Without his powers, it's no match for the two criminals, who will soon kill Wally West. And the speedster, after all, thinks maybe it's for the better. But then, Tar Pit breaks Wally's dampening collar, and he reacts, knocking both of them down. There's still some fight in him. And that's when an enormous creature appears, injured, he says, because he travelled to this point of reality.
He tells Wally he was chosen: the cosmos needs the fastest being in the Multiverse to help defeat an anomaly, causing the Dark Multiverse to escape from the laws of Entropy. If not stopped, all reality will be consumed. Wally must run to his fastest to save not a world, but worlds. Still, Wally refuses: first, he does not have the speed to do this, even if he wanted to. And second, he tried the hero thing, and ended up killing innocent people. Probably not his best career choice. But the mysterious being tells him he does not even imagine how far his power goes: he just used a spark of it since he was unmoored. Wally does not understand: what does he mean with unmoored?
But then, Tempus Fuginaut tells him he does not have a choice: he is destined to help the cosmos, whether he wants it or not. And so, at an incredible speed which Wally never even experienced, he's hurled inside a world which is resisting the infection of the Dark... And he finds himself in the presence of a hero, deeply injured and with blood flowing from his body. He asks what happens, but this man tells him to stay back. He must protect the citizens, and never surrender: after all, he's Superman, President of the United States of America.
Appearing in "Chapter One: Incursion Point Zero"
Featured Characters:
- The Flash (Wally West) (Flashback and main story)
Supporting Characters:
- Arsenal (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Linda Park
- Tempus Fuginaut
- President Superman (Earth 23) (Cameo)
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Blue Jay (Earth 8) (Flashback only) (Appears only as a corpse) (Cameo)
- Booster Gold (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Commander Steel (Flashback only) (Appears only as a corpse) (Cameo)
- Gnarrk (Flashback only) (Appears only as a corpse) (Cameo)
- Gunfire (Flashback only) (Appears only as a corpse) (Cameo)
- Harley Quinn (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Hot Spot (Flashback only) (Appears only as a corpse) (Cameo)
- Lagoon Boy (Flashback only) (Appears only as a corpse) (Cameo)
- Murmur
- Red Devil (Flashback only) (Appears only as a corpse) (Cameo)
- Superman (Clark Kent) (As merchandise only) (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Tarkul (Single appearance; dies)
- Tattooed Man (Mark Richards) (Flashback only) (Appears only as a corpse)
- Fuginauts (Mentioned only)
- Irey West (Pre-Flashpoint) (Mentioned only)
- Jai West (Pre-Flashpoint) (Mentioned only)
- Justice League (Mentioned only)
- Linda Park-West (Pre-Flashpoint) (Mentioned only)
- Metron (Mentioned only)
- Titans (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Dark Multiverse (Cameo)
- "The Corrupted World" (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- Multiverse (Flashback and main story)
- Earth 0/Prime Earth
- Earth
- United States of America
- Kansas
- Keystone City (Flashback only)
- Iron Heights (Mentioned only)
- Keystone City (Flashback only)
- Nebraska
- The Sanctuary (Flashback only)
- New Jersey
- Kansas
- United States of America
- Edya 12 (Mentioned only)
- Earth
- Earth 23 (Cameo)
- Speed Force (Behind the scenes)
- The Bleed (Mentioned only)
- Earth 0/Prime Earth
- Pre-Flashpoint Multiverse
- New Earth (Mentioned only)
Items:
- Dark Matter (First appearance)
- Harley's Mallet (Flashback only)
- Mobius Chair
- Tempus Fuginaut's Scepter
Concepts:
- The Sanctuary's Incident (Flashback only)
See Also