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Future State: The Flash Vol 1 1

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"Death Race, Part One": The Castle, Checkmate's headquarters. Nearby the Swiss Alps

Quote1 The Rider -- of the Apocalypse! I am Famine! Quote2
— The Flash (Wally West)

Future State: The Flash #1 is an issue of the series Future State: The Flash (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 2021. It was published on January 5, 2021.

Synopsis for "Death Race, Part One"

The Castle, Checkmate's headquarters. Nearby the Swiss Alps

The Flash Team is inside the headquarters of Checkmate: they are without their Speed, but they stole several weapons from their enemies to fight again as heroes together. They were searching for the Thinker, and Avery was right: he is working for Checkmate, as his thinking cap's signal is strong there. They need that thinking cap, as it might be the only item able to cure Wally West from the curse he contracted. But they discover that the cap is not being used by his usual owner: Calculator took it and used it to amplify his powers. Just before the team took him down, the criminal was able to strike down Bart, killing him. They miss their Speed: Bart wouldn't have died without it.

The Speed Lab, Central City

Back in his lab, Barry must find a way to stop this situation: hope is a rare thing among Speedsters these days. Avery is even colder and angrier after they lost Bart, while Max cannot shake off the guilt of Impulse's death, as he think it's his fault, given he was the one who had to take down Calculator. Jason is fearful, something Barry thought he would never associate with Jay: after he lost his powers, time is catching up on him and he is afraid of death. Barry is not feeling anyway better, but he resists from letting out his emotions: he must prove strong and positive for the others to survive.

Wally is what makes him afraid: he never understood why, but five years before Wally changed, becoming, in a way, hungry for Speed. He consummated Barry's power, and then did an horrible thing: he attacked Titans Academy, and literally sucked life from his cousin, Wallace. Kid Flash died, and his killer was a man that for Barry is like a son. How could he stop feeling so bad? Maybe the cap will finally be the opportunity to have the real Wally back.

But there's another problem: the citizens of Central City are making a mess, as they want their Flash back. They think Central City started a no-mask campaign just like Gotham City, and they do not like that. Iris is afraid for Barry, because she thinks Wally might come for him next: she thinks Barry should stop hoping to save him. But the Flash will never lose that hope, and also thinks saving Wally will be the key to stop this riots in Central City. As Barry reaches the place where the rest of the team is, news start spreading the fact that an unnamed speedster killed members of the Global Guardians in Kahndaq.

They all know it's Wally, and Avery, Max and Jason all agree: Barry must stop hoping to save him, and start planning how to take him out of the game. Avery especially reached the breaking point. But Flash tells them he has a theory: when Wally was Kid Flash, he faced Captain Cold alone but was not ready for him. Thankfully, Barry reached him in time and helped him, stopping Snart. He taught him a Flash Fact then: if you fight an opponent clearly stronger than you, buy time. This will make him weaker, as he loses strength, and most importantly will allow backup to come. Barry thinks Wally is trying to stall, and buy time, to allow them to fight against whomever is controlling him.

If he's not right, why Wally never came to kill them in five years? After all, they are the most suited people to stop him, giving their knowledge of the Speed Force. He never did, though, and the only reason must be the real Wally West is still inside, redirecting the killing force possessing him away from his Family and friends, hoping they will be able to save him from himself. And now Barry completed the invention which might save him: a network of thinking caps, that thanks to Max's Hypermeditation techniques will connect them to Wally's Speed Force-connected brain. Accessing his emotions, they will reach the true him, and they will make him react, thanks to their emotions and will.

Fuji, Japan

Wally is in Japan, and about to kill again. Barry and the others are there, in their spiritual form inside the Speed Force. They see a phantom of the original Wally then, telling them what is happening: Famine, the rider of Apocalypse, is now Wally West. Everything he wants is to feed himself, and he cannot contrast him: he is too weak. Barry tells Wally if he can reconnect them to the Speed Force, but Wally tells him it would be too much of a risk, because Famine would hunt them down. But Wally needs this to stop: he never wanted to kill, he is afraid. Then, Famine reaches for Jay: even if he's not in his physical form, the rider of Apocalypse is able to touch him.

Barry tries to stop him, but cannot: while Famine can touch them, the reverse is not true. Famine consumes Jay, killing him and also retaking full control on Wally, who before disappearing tried to explain what is the nourishment of Famine. He promises the others he will come for them, as they fade away after experiencing the death of another member of their Family.

Back to Central City

Iris saved them just in time: she deactivated the network, so that they could get back to the physical world. Without her, Famine would have probably consumed them all. Jay Garrick was dead: the shock he felt while Famine fed on his ethereal form provoked an heart attack, which was lethal for poor old Jay. Max does not feel much better. Barry now must admit it: there's no chance to save Wally and Famine must be stopped. He knows what he has to do: use all his knowledge about the Speed Force, and all the tech he accumulated from his former enemies to build something that will kill Wally West, as too much people already died.

Appearing in "Death Race, Part One"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Captain Cold (First appearance) (Flashback only)
  • Checkmate (Single appearance)
    • Calculator (Single appearance)
  • Famine (First appearance)

Other Characters:

  • Central City Police Department (First appearance)
  • Kobra Cult (First appearance)
    • King Snake (Edmund Dorrance) (Single appearance; dies)
    • Slipknot (Single appearance; dies)
  • Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Behind the scenes)
  • Rick Flag (Single appearance) (On a TV or computer screen) (In a photograph only) (Cameo)
  • Sasha Bordeaux (Single appearance) (On a TV or computer screen) (In a photograph only) (Cameo)
  • Steve Trevor (Single appearance) (On a TV or computer screen) (In a photograph only) (Cameo)
  • Teen Titans (First appearance) (Flashback only)
    • Kid Flash (Wallace R. West) (First appearance) (Dies in flashback)
    • Red Arrow (First appearance) (Flashback only)
  • Angels (Mentioned only)
  • Demons (Mentioned only)
  • Global Guardians (Mentioned only)
    • Geo-Force (Mentioned only)
    • Jack O'Lantern (Mentioned only)
    • Nightrunner (Mentioned only)
    • Olympian (Mentioned only)
    • Rocket Red (Mentioned only)
    • Super-Man (Kong Kenan) (Mentioned only)
  • Jessica Midnight (Mentioned only)
  • Rogues (Mentioned only)
    • Mirror Master (Mentioned only)
    • Rainbow Raider (Mentioned only)
  • Task-Force X (Mentioned only)
    • Catalyst (Mentioned only)
    • Enforcer (Mentioned only)
    • Peacemaker (Mentioned only)
    • Weasel (Mentioned only)
  • The Thinker (Clifford DeVoe) (Mentioned only)
  • United States Army (Mentioned only)

Locations:

Items:

Concepts:

Notes

  • This events of this issue take place in 2027.
    • The death of Wallace West (and the possession of Wally West) took place in 2022 as it is said that it happened five years before the present events.



See Also


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