After trying several methods with no results, Thea had to give up. While invisible, she couldn't employ many of her other techniques. She had plenty of time—she could study this slowly in the future.
Unaware that someone was spying nearby, the thug was quickly defeated by the powered-up Flash, who earned his first real hero experience. The fledgling Barry Allen ran back to S.T.A.R. Labs to celebrate with his little team.
The Speed Force research having reached a dead end, Thea returned home. She had far too many things on her plate—Reverse-Flash, destined to die in this world, didn't warrant excessive attention.
Over the following days, the Flash's exploits began to spread. Media outlets everywhere started discussing this lightning-fast figure. Without question, this was a superhero—numerous rescued citizens could testify to that. However, whether they were male or female, old or young, even whether they were human or alien, nobody knew.
In just two weeks, he (or she) had defeated a metahuman who could duplicate himself and another who emitted poison gas.
Online discussion exploded. What was happening to this world? Did ordinary people still have a chance?
Not just ordinary citizens were asking—those controlling the nation's vital interests were asking too. Thea's assessment of them: a bunch of confused idiots! She claimed no knowledge about anything Flash-related, which only amplified their anxiety. They had to enter the space age immediately. Earth's technological level left them feeling very insecure.
"You know this person, right?" In what Thea had named the Hall of Justice, Batman asked, showing her several photographs.
This was quite something. Batman's advanced tech had captured Barry Allen's face, despite the friction-resistant suit and mask. In the image, the Flash had been rescuing a woman trapped in a house fire, running up the wall from bottom to top. His technique wasn't quite polished yet, his speed just a hair too slow—and in that gap, Batman had snapped him perfectly.
Image comparison, facial recognition, facial reconstruction—Batman had forcibly extracted Barry's appearance.
"Alright, I do know him. Barry Allen. He's a very kind person. One of the rare truly good people." Thea's answer was definitive.
"Why can he run so fast? Is it a mutation?" Batman asked.
"According to him, he was struck by lightning and became this way." Thea shrugged. Among superheroes, she understood Batman fairly well. This guy would definitely go home, pull out a little notebook, write this down, and rack his brains devising countermeasures. Catwoman said he only slept one hour a day, spending all his mental energy studying other people.
Still, she had some expectations for his research. After all, the Fenrir armor's high-speed targeting system could eventually hit the Flash at his peak. Who knew how high-speed this targeting could go!
All she could say about such unreasonable tech was: "Respect."
"If this yellow lightning is a friend, then what about this red lightning?" Batman tossed out a stack of photos—Gotham, Metropolis, Star City, Coast City, numerous major cities. The one common element: a red streak of lightning in each photo.
Reverse-Flash? Thea's face remained impassive while countless thoughts collided rapidly in her mind.
The Speed Force's origins had many theories. Even the speedsters themselves couldn't figure out where their power came from, let alone outsiders. However, from Reverse-Flash's fourteen years of painstaking effort cultivating the Flash, she could deduce some conclusions.
In short: with Flash comes Speed Force. When Reverse-Flash came to this world, the absence of the Flash meant his Speed Force simply disappeared. He could only cultivate Barry Allen himself.
Theoretically, nine months ago when lightning struck Barry Allen, the Speed Force had already awakened in this world. Reverse-Flash's own Speed Force should have recovered considerably.
Yet he'd been dormant for nine months, only now coming out to run. Did this mean his previous Speed Force had been insufficient? Could he only have enough Speed Force to spend when Barry was running for his life?
She wasn't a speedster and couldn't understand these cause-and-effect relationships. Thea only knew that Reverse-Flash was getting anxious. This world differed too greatly from what he knew. He had to look around to confirm his next plan.
"I'll handle him." Thea took the red lightning photos and said goodbye to Batman before leaving Metropolis.
That night, Thea flew high into the air, overlooking the Earth, quietly waiting.
She waited until late into the night when a red streak of lightning appeared abruptly at the edge of her vision. The figure kept moving through streets and alleys, occasionally stopping to search for something. Thea's super-vision could see Reverse-Flash's increasingly confused expression. This time traveler from the twenty-fifth century definitely wasn't in a good mood right now.
Thea generally felt happier when others were unhappy. Watching Reverse-Flash leave Coast City and race along the highway, she very casually strung up a magical rope across the road. The rope was colorless and invisible, blending with the surroundings.
To test the Speed Force's magical resistance, she added several trigger-type spells to the rope.
In the blink of an eye—she'd just finished setting up when the red lightning arrived. The magical rope snapped from the sudden tremendous force. Reverse-Flash's rapid run was interrupted. Like a rag doll, he rolled seventeen or eighteen somersaults on the ground.
What the hell? Reverse-Flash looked around in confusion. He could've sworn he hadn't seen anything.
Thea was laughing so hard she could barely stand. These speedsters had Speed Force protection, defying physics by ignoring inertia and acceleration. Otherwise, taking those tumbles at that speed would kill someone outright.
She still remembered her mission: give Reverse-Flash a warning. Make him behave and stay in Central City, playing with little Flash. Why was he wandering around in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?
Wearing her divine artifact robe without the hood, she revealed herself from the air, her tone cold: "Who are you, and what are you looking for?"
Thea Queen! Reverse-Flash's eyes narrowed. He wasn't out practicing his running in the middle of the night, naturally. This world just differed too much from his memories. He'd had some expectations but was unwilling to accept it, still searching for evidence to comfort himself.
His original world had no Superman or Batman. The Rot from a few months ago had scared him badly. Back then his Speed Force had just started recovering. Ordinary mosquitoes definitely couldn't bite him, but if the whole world turned into a swarm of mosquitoes, he'd just have to wait for death.
Honestly, he'd been terrified. He'd arrived at the Wyoming site earlier than Thea's group. The scene could only be described as horrifying.