"In a way, you are his idol, Barry."
Dr. Norris spoke with a steady, serious expression as she addressed Barry.
"An idol?"
Barry paused for a moment, then responded.
"Before I became a metahuman, I was just an ordinary forensic scientist working with the police. I never imagined becoming someone others would look up to. It still feels unreal."
Dr. Norris nodded slowly.
"Truth and perception are not always easy to separate for those living inside the moment. But he wants to be like you. I have spoken with him, and he is not an ambitious boy."
She led Barry into a hospital office and gestured for him to enter.
"Would you like something to drink, coffee or something else?"
Barry shook his head.
"No, thank you."
He sat down while scanning the room. It was a standard medical office, filled with stacked documents and the faint scent of disinfectant that lingered in the air.
Then Dr. Norris asked a quieter question.
"Barry, what do you think Sunstar Hero was thinking when he realized the person he admired was involved in harming him?"
Barry hesitated.
"I… I do not know."
After a long pause, he added, quieter this time.
"I am sorry."
His eyes lowered slightly, guilt settling in.
He thought back to the moment Adrian and Wonder Woman fought Sunstar Hero. He had not intervened. He had simply watched.
A thought kept repeating in his mind.
I am the Flash.
No one should be faster than me.
Dr. Norris noticed his expression but did not press further. Instead, she opened a drawer and placed a document on the desk.
"This is Sunstar Hero's preliminary medical report. If no miracle happens, he will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. His spinal injury is severe, and his central nervous system damage is irreversible. He survived, but survival alone may not be something he can accept."
Her voice lowered slightly.
"He is a rebellious boy. Maybe he made mistakes, but this outcome is still too harsh. I do not know everything that happened, but I know you, Barry. You are a good young man. You understand right and wrong clearly."
She glanced toward the window, where winter trees stood bare against a gray sky.
"Perhaps you should speak with Dr. Wells. He is concerned about you. We spoke earlier, and he believes you have changed recently."
Barry frowned slightly.
"I do not know. Maybe I have changed. Or maybe I was always like this."
Dr. Norris gave a faint nod.
"I know what kind of person Dr. Wells believes you are. That is why I am speaking to you like this. I hope it does not trouble you."
Barry shook his head quickly.
"No, I appreciate it."
After leaving the hospital, Barry immediately ran toward Gotham City Government.
But Dr. Norris' words did not leave his mind.
Had he made the wrong choice?
His body blurred into motion, lightning-fast, as he sprinted through the streets.
After being struck by lightning and gaining his abilities, Barry had grown rapidly with help from Bart Allen and others. His speed had increased significantly, even approaching Bart's level, though he still had not fully mastered the Speed Force.
To ordinary people, he did not exist.
He was only a passing wind.
But as he ran, something felt off.
Without realizing it, he veered off course.
Instead of heading toward Gotham City Government, he found himself far outside the city limits.
He had entered the long stretch of road known as the 90 Mile Straight, one of the longest and most isolated highways in the region, extending over 110 kilometers.
The road was nearly empty, used mostly by long-distance trucks and the occasional reckless traveler.
A perfect track for someone like him.
Yet Barry felt no satisfaction.
He just kept running.
Eventually, he stopped abruptly.
Ahead of him lay a dead moose in the middle of the highway.
The animal's body was torn and bloodied, already dried in parts, as if it had been there for some time.
Barry stepped closer and examined it.
It was likely a North American moose, a large migratory animal that moved in herds. It probably crossed the road during migration and was struck by a truck traveling at high speed.
He noticed the deep wound in its neck.
A direct impact, no hesitation from the driver.
Either the driver did not see it, or chose not to stop.
Barry stared at it silently.
Then his thoughts shifted.
But I saw it.
I saw everything.
The moment before impact. The exact second it died.
For a brief moment, the moose in front of him stopped being a moose.
It became Sunstar Hero.
Lying on the ground.
Wounded in the same way.
Barry blinked hard.
The illusion broke.
It was only the animal again.
But the feeling remained.
"What am I doing?"
He crouched beside the body, holding his head.
The smell of blood lingered in the air, heavy and suffocating.
His mind felt unstable, fragmented.
"What is wrong with me?"
The pain in his head increased.
He had always thought by running. That was how his mind worked now. But this time, running only made things worse.
He stood up slowly.
The sky was already dimming. Sunset painted the horizon in deep red tones, stretching across the empty road like a warning.
Barry looked forward.
Then he ran again.
Not toward a destination.
Just away from his thoughts.
Back in Gotham, Adrian stood firmly in Clark's path.
"Trying to escape already, Clark?"
His voice was cold.
There was no hesitation in it, only certainty.
Wonder Woman stood nearby, having already drawn her weapon again.
"If you try to leave now, I will not allow it."
Her tone was firm, her stance unwavering.
Clark held Amy in his arms, still trying to protect her while recovering from the previous blow.
"Adrian, this is between you and me. Amy is not involved. Let her go."
Adrian's expression did not change.
"No one is not involved. That is a lie people tell themselves to feel safe."
He stepped forward slightly.
"Everyone here is part of this. Cyborg, Nightwing, Deathstroke, Black Canary. All of you chose a side. That makes you responsible."
Clark tightened his grip slightly.
"She is innocent."
Adrian's smile turned faintly sharp.
"Innocence does not matter in war."
Clark's frustration grew.
"This is not war."
Adrian answered immediately.
"It is now."
In an instant, Adrian moved.
A sudden strike, fast and precise.
Clark barely raised his arm in time, blocking, but the force still launched him sideways, dragging Amy with him as both crashed into the ground.
Concrete cracked outward.
Adrian walked forward calmly.
"You always speak of ideals. Truth, justice, protection. Yet every time pressure increases, you hesitate. That hesitation is your weakness."
Clark pushed himself up, breathing heavier.
"You are wrong."
Adrian's gaze sharpened.
"Am I?"
He stepped closer.
"You had chances to save Alicia. You hesitated. That is not strength, Clark. That is fear pretending to be morality."
Clark's expression darkened.
"That is enough."
His anger finally broke through.
He surged forward and struck.
The impact was immediate.
Their fists collided, sending shockwaves through the street. The ground beneath them fractured further, dust and debris rising.
The battle intensified instantly.
Adrian and Clark exchanged blows at increasing speed, each impact producing explosive sound and pressure waves that distorted the surrounding air.
Adrian spoke between strikes.
"You want to protect everyone, yet you fail to protect anyone properly."
Clark answered through gritted teeth.
"I will not abandon people."
Another exchange.
Boom.
Adrian was briefly pushed back.
He steadied himself, sliding across the ground.
"You confuse stubbornness with virtue."
Clark charged again.
Their fists clashed repeatedly, turning the area into a shattered battlefield.
Inside Gotham City Hall, Clark was eventually struck with overwhelming force and thrown through the structure. The building began collapsing around him, debris burying him under layers of concrete and steel.
He lay there, injured but conscious.
His vision blurred.
Then something appeared.
A figure in white light.
Jor-El.
"Kal, you chose Earth over Krypton because you believed in your convictions. Where is that conviction now?"
Clark struggled, pulling himself upward through the rubble.
His breathing was heavy, but his resolve sharpened.
He refused to stay down.
His body began to recover rapidly, Kryptonian cells reacting under stress and sunlight exposure, accelerating his healing process.
Across the battlefield, Harvey Bullock stared at the destruction in shock.
Gordon stood nearby, now changed.
The capsule he had taken had altered him completely, granting him strength far beyond human limits. He could feel it in every movement.
Barbara's voice still echoed through the communication line, urging action, urging hope.