5. The Return of the Flash
◎Ludwig: I won’t eat barbecue for the whole month◎
“Is this the Joker’s new trick?” Batman took off his mask. His tough exterior cracked, revealing Thomas underneath, already worn and scarred.
Thomas reached out his hand. He wanted to touch this child who was almost a replica of his son—even if fake, it was enough. He missed Bruce terribly.
But when he looked at his own aging, scarred hand and then at Ludwig’s delicate, fair face, his hand suddenly froze in midair, overwhelmed and helpless.
This was no longer the healing hand that once saved lives, these hands were stained with blood. How could he touch such an innocent child?
Ludwig said nothing. His gaze held no pity. Like visiting a long-lost relative, he smiled and pressed his face gently into Thomas’s palm.
“Maybe this is a trick from a new world,” Ludwig comforted the old man. He had endured too much sorrow and pain, losing his loved ones and child, his once perfect family shattered overnight. He deserved this moment of peace.
Ludwig didn’t expect Thomas to believe him right away, but his presence calmed Thomas down—and that was good. At least Barry now had time to explain.
Barry got up from the ground, watching the interaction between the grandfather and grandson, and said from behind Thomas:
“Mr. Thomas, I know something that can prove whether what I’m saying is true.” Barry picked up a ring that had fallen to the floor at some unknown time. Inside it stored his Flash suit.
“Watch closely, Batman.” Barry opened the ring, and indeed a yellow uniform appeared.
Even Ludwig was surprised. He clearly remembered the Flash’s costume was red, and his enemy, the Reverse-Flash, wore yellow.
“I get it—this has to be Reverse-Flash’s doing,” Barry clenched the yellow suit in his hand, teeth gritting with anger. “Reverse-Flash must have changed the past! We need to find out exactly what he did.”
Thomas rubbed his forehead. This whole thing seemed like a farce. “What a ridiculous delusion. You’re more suited for Arkham than the Joker.”
“No, you don’t understand.” Barry shook his head and began to tell Thomas about his life destroyed by Reverse-Flash.
“…Originally, Bruce survived in that alley and became Batman. I have no idea what Reverse-Flash did to make the world such a terrible place.”
“Wait, what did you say?” Thomas heard something that shocked him.
“Yes, Grandpa, in my timeline, my father is still alive.” Ludwig deliberately left out parts of Barry’s story that contradicted his own—for example, that his grandfather Thomas did not die in the alley, and that his father is not Batman yet.
Ludwig was sure that Batman was not Bruce. Most of the time, Bruce was busy studying and taking care of his two children, he didn’t have time for a second job.
So, are he and Barry from two different worldlines?
From what it looks like, yes.
Are he and Thomas from two different timelines?
Ludwig doubted it. If they were from two different timelines, then Bruce’s existence or absence shouldn’t affect Ludwig. But if they were from the same timeline, and Bruce was dead, then Ludwig, as his descendant, shouldn’t exist either.
But the reality was that Ludwig did exist. Although he felt like he could disappear at any moment, he indeed existed.
Yet Ludwig was definitely affected by this. He couldn’t use his superpowers. In this extremely dangerous world, he could only rely on the methods his father and brother taught him to survive.
“So, in your world, Bruce survived and became Batman, right?” Barry and Ludwig’s words were like a light illuminating Thomas’s life.
Originally, he thought Ludwig was a child Barry brought along who just looked like Bruce, Thomas didn’t believe any of Barry’s claims.
But… what if it was true? What if Barry could change all this? What if his child could survive?
As long as they could save Bruce, Thomas would do anything!
“I will help you,” Thomas said firmly, “as long as you can save Bruce.”
Ludwig tilted his head, looking at his grandfather with confusion. Just a moment ago, Thomas looked completely skeptical—so why was he agreeing to help now?
Barry was confused too, but since he needed Batman’s help, he didn’t comment on Thomas’s sudden change in attitude. As long as Thomas was willing to help.
“Do you believe us now?” Ludwig asked, his eyes shining brighter than sapphires, full of puzzlement.
Ludwig was not as easily trusting as he appeared on the surface. Since he could read minds, he naturally could sense all the darkness hidden in people’s hearts. After losing his mind-reading ability, he became even more distrustful of relationships between people.
So he was very curious about how Thomas managed to believe such a flawed excuse.
Even if that excuse was true.
“No, I don’t believe it,” Thomas said, always treating this child who looked so much like Bruce with a bit more kindness. He even reached out and gently touched Ludwig’s head.
“But… what if? What if what you’re saying is true? What if Bruce can survive? I can’t miss such a chance, even if it costs me my life.”
Ludwig looked at the pain on the old man’s face and felt very sad inside. He had once seen the same sorrow on Bruce’s face. When he first gained the ability of an out-of-body soul experience, Damian and Bruce also had expressions like this, not understanding what was happening.
Especially since they were still fleeing with Damian at the time.
“I wish I still had my powers.”
Ludwig sighed softly. He always hated those extraordinary abilities of his, which made him and his family seem out of place. But at this moment, he desperately wished for those hated powers to return.
“So I could change everything that happened in the alley.”
The boy’s hope went unheard by anyone. Thomas was still talking with Barry about what to do next.
“First, I need to get my powers back.” Barry made a rough plan. According to this plan, he needed a large amount of potions and one very important thing:
A bolt of lightning.
Ludwig thought this was not a good idea. Thomas had put him in a safe place, and now he was dragging his head, watching Thomas adjust that chair that looked like a torture device.
“Is this really going to work?” Ludwig tugged at the blanket on himself and asked Barry, who was already sitting in the chair.
Coincidentally, the sky was dark and filled with thick clouds, and lightning flashed between them, ready to strike at any moment.
Beneath the dark clouds, the chair designed to collect lightning was set in place, and Barry was ready to sit down.
“You’re truly crazy,” Thomas said about Barry, but he still helped him onto the chair.
Barry kept a good attitude, but both Ludwig and Thomas could clearly see his nervousness. Even so, he remained determined.
When the thunder roared, Thomas flipped the switch, and lightning struck precisely on Barry. The vial of potion shattered from the energy of the lightning, and the liquid inside spilled over Barry, instantly igniting a huge flame.
Ludwig jumped down from the safety platform and, together with Thomas, put out the fire on Barry.
The first thing Thomas did after extinguishing the flames was to cover Ludwig’s eyes, he couldn’t let the young Ludwig see such a tragic scene.
However, Ludwig caught a glimpse of Barry’s terrible state in that brief moment.
Barry’s entire body was burnt to a charred red-black color. The air was filled with a disgusting smell of roasted meat—that was the result of skin burned by lightning and flesh seared by the flames.
Ludwig swore that for the rest of his life, he would never eat barbecue again.
But despite all that suffering, Barry still did not become the Flash.
As a doctor, Thomas immediately began emergency treatment without hesitation. Ludwig also insisted on staying by Thomas’s side to assist him.
However, things grew worse.
Even Thomas noticed that Ludwig’s hand, when handing over the surgical knife, passed through the cold operating table several times.
Ludwig was disappearing.
After a long rescue effort, Barry finally regained consciousness. The first thing he said upon waking was,
“I need a bigger lightning bolt.”
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Ludwig strongly opposed the idea.
“Stop it, you’ll die!”
Barry just smiled. He didn’t even dare to laugh out loud. If he moved too much, the pain would break through the morphine-numbed brain and strike straight at Barry’s soul.
But Barry still firmly chose to try one more time.
Barry sat back down on the chair, while Ludwig stubbornly insisted on standing with Thomas.
He grabbed the corner of Thomas’s hanging cape and tightly held onto the edge of the blanket embroidered with Bruce’s name.
Thunder roared again, and this time the lightning was even stronger than before, its force directly knocking Thomas to the side and causing worried Ludwig to stagger.
Ludwig fell from a high place, but his reaction was fast — almost the moment he sensed he was about to be thrown, he instinctively fired the grappling hook he had taken from the Batcave. The metal hook scratched loudly as it caught onto the building above, securing firmly. Ludwig used the momentum to swing himself back up.
Once Ludwig was steady, he looked down with concern. For a moment, he thought he saw Thomas also get thrown. He didn’t know how Thomas was doing.
And Barry — he was now Ludwig’s only hope. As long as he figured out what was happening to Barry, Ludwig could regain his superpowers and go home.
Ludwig searched from above for a while before finally seeing Thomas and Barry, who had just landed.
Barry, wrapped in bandages, was holding Thomas as they touched down. His body was still reddish, but his spirit was clearly much better.
At this moment, he proudly and confidently told Batman,
“I told you, I am the Flash.”
—
【Author’s Note】
Ludwig: Not eating barbecue is impossible — Dad doesn’t cook, and eating takeout all the time gets boring too.