Chapter Text
The Legend of Central City
“Detective West?”
Joe looked away from the park across the street. He remembered bringing his daughter, Iris, there every day after school. His attention had been focused on his grandchildren before the speaker had interrupted his thoughts. The thing he loved most about this neighborhood was that he lived in an area where he could watch them play from his porch without worrying about their safety. Fifty years on the Central City police force had taken their toll on him.
“Detective West? Would you like me to repeat the question?”
“Please, call me Joe,” the older man replied. “No one has called me ‘Detective’ in almost ten years! My goodness…has it really been that long since I retired? Where does the time go?”
He chuckled.
“What did you say your name was again?”
“Cisco. I write the ‘Unexplained Mysteries of Central City’ column for ‘Central City Picture News’.”
“And why do you want to write about this case? It was a dark time for Central City. You weren’t even a twinkle in your parents’ eyes when it happened. Don’t you have any other local legends to use in your column?”
“Oh, there’s plenty of other stories I could write about,” the young man replied with a grin, “but this case went cold decades ago! My grandfather told me all about it when I was a kid. He said it was never solved, and that scientist guy, Brad-“
“Barry. His name was Barry Allen.”
“Right. Barry was never seen again. No one knows what happened to him! They never found a body. All that remained at the crime scene was a pair of glasses and scorch marks.”
Joe sighed.
“Your grandfather was right. We must have searched the area for weeks, but there was no evidence of either Barry or the so-called ‘Reverse Flash’. Barry wasn’t even from Central City, so nobody knew anything about him. We couldn’t even notify his next of kin of his disappearance. One thing’s for sure, though: the ‘Reverse Flash’ sightings ended the same night that Barry vanished. In an instant, both of them were gone! Never to be seen or heard from again.”
“So what do you think happened to them?”
“I haven’t the faintest idea, Kid. But I’ll tell you this: I don’t scare easily. Being a cop means having a tough skin. But I have never been so scared of a case like I was back in those days!”
Cisco leaned forward in his chair, pen and notepad in hand. Joe thought the kid might wet himself in anticipation.
The former detective cast another glance at the playground and sighed again.
“I remember it like was yesterday. I had just been promoted to detective, and I was on my way to my first homicide case…”