He arrived in moments, and saw the hole in the wall that the robot made. It wasn't difficult to track the robot through the building, and down into the lower level, into the Red area, where secret research was kept under high security. The security wasn't enough to stop this robot, however. It tore it's way to a certain storage vault. Flash arrived just as the vault door was being torn off it's hinges.

Wally had no idea what was inside the vault. When he saw the glass booth with a man inside it, he was stunned. The man in the box was hard to see through the dark tint of the glass, but he appeared to have a Mercury-type winged helmet, just as Jay Garrick - the original Flash - used to wear. Why should Barry have a man in a box hidden in his vault? Was it a real man? Maybe an android? What was it?

The robot was about to break open the glass when the Flash decided it was time to stop being a spectator and intervene. He vibrated himself at super speed and ran through the robot. He turned the robot into an accelerated molecule bomb. Flash backed up and the robot exploded. Fragments of it sailed all over.

Including inside the remains of the glass booth. Flash realized he had been careless. When the robot exploded, parts of it shattered the glass. But the strangest part was that the occupant of the glass booth was gone! Flash looked around but couldn't find any trace of him. Who was he? What was he? And where had he disappeared to?

Thurgood went to the lab to thank the scientists he had hired. They were all criminals or fugitives of some type. When Thurgood got hold of one of the robots that had been built by the mysterious man known as the Mad Thinker - for a good bargain price - he hired these men to rebuild and reprogram it. The robot was not important in and of itself. It was merely a means to an end. The end being the death of the Flash! And if the being Thurgood was trying to free had gotten loose, the end would come soon!

The following must be kept secret, for the good of everyone involved. The events leading up to the incarceration of the subject in the stasis cage in Vault 6 are an unfortunate and unique series of events. Before I proceed to relate these strange events, let me stress that the man in the cage must never ever be released. He is crazy and powerful and can cause serious damage to the world and particularly to myself and my loved ones, like Wally and Bart. And my friend Jay. He'll kill us all or die trying. No cage could hold him, and so here he sites, in a long, dreamless sleep, in a vault, deep underground. As I study the secret of speed, I hope to one day find a way to remove his power and therefore free him.

And now, the details of the case. The day I met my greatest foe, and how I met the man who would become my mentor - Jay Garrick, the original Flash.

Barry Allen hadn't been the Flash for very long. It was only a few months since he had gotten his super speed and he was still experimenting with it's limits. He had created the flashy red costume and named himself after the legendary hero who had once been a member of the Justice Society. The Flash!

Actually, he was enjoying his new life as a superhero. Not only was it exciting, but it gave him a satisfaction to get criminals off the streets. And most of all, as a scientist, he was having a great time studying himself, and the nature of his powers. He was his own favorite lab rat.

In recent weeks, the Flash had been teaming up with another young hero called Starman. He wasn't the Starman of the 40's. Like Barry, he was carrying on the legacy of a great man. They had met weeks ago when they were forced to team up against an alien menace. They took a liking to each other, and recognized in each other the pressure they were under to live up to the legend they had chosen to name themselves after. The two young heroes had teamed up several times since then.

Flash was racing to Opal City, which was Starman's base of operations. They had a usual spot where they met. The Flash arrived first and waited for Starman to arrive. After a time, the Flash started to wonder if there was a problem. He took a quick spin around the city. His hunch turned out to be correct. He found Starman battling a villain called Locus.

Locus was a nerdy math teacher who developed the ability to create solid geometric shapes out of the energy of a dimensional vortex. As the Flash arrived, Starman had been caught in a solid cube. Starman blasted the cube from the inside with energy of his cosmic rod, but he couldn't pierce it. The Flash thought that if he could take out the Locus, the geometric shapes would vanish. Locus was floating in the air on top of a circular disk he had created, via concentration, from dimensional energy.

Flash ran towards him, grabbed a ‘No Parking' sign that had been knocked over in the fray, and used it as a poll vault. He kicked Locus in the back. Locus fell off the circle. He panicked, and the cube around Starman vanished. Locus created a group of tiny floating geometric shapes that acted as little buffers. They slowed his fall so that he landed softly. He was about to turn his fury onto the new arrival, but the Flash was on him too quickly. The Flash pelted him with super-speed blows before he could even think of a counter attack. The Locus fell, defeated.

Starman put his hands on his hips. "Showoff!"

"You're just jealous," Flash countered.

Suddenly, Locus started to glow. Flash and Starman looked at him, confused.

"What's going on now?" Starman asked.

"I have no idea!" Flash exclaimed.

The glow around Locus got brighter. The Flash was getting worried. "Maybe I should get him out of the city."

"I wouldn't touch him," Starman said. "I'll take him."

Starman used his Cosmic Rod to levitate Locus out of the city. The Flash ran along with his flying partner. They stopped in the hills near Opal, where the Opal observatory was. "I hope this is far enough away," Starman said.

Locus was absorbed by light and exploded into colors. At the spot where he had been laying was some sort of vortex, a portal into the unknown. Ever the scientist, the Flash got closer to take a look inside.

"I wouldn't get too close," Starman cautioned.

Flash turned to say something to Starman, but a red streak shot out of the vortex and knocked the Flash over. it whizzed around like a deranged comet. It was too fast for Starman to get a good look at it. He went over to the Flash, who was sitting on the floor, clearing his head. "You okay?" Starman asked.

"I'm fine," Flash answered. "But what are we in for now?"

"It's moving to fast for me to see," Starman said.

"Let me get a closer look," Flash said. The Flash raced off and tried to catch up with the speeding being, be whoever it was dodged and avoided him.

"Hey, listen!" Flash yelled. "No one wants to hurt you. I just want to talk. If you speak English. I'm the Flash."

Suddenly, the being skidded to a stop. The Flash finally got a good look. He had a winged helmet and a familiar costume, with a lightning bolt on the chest. The Flash recognized him and was excited. Wow! he thought. It's him! It's the original Flash! The one from the JSA! I've always wanted to meet him!

The man in the helmet looked at him. "The Flash?" he repeated. "You're not the Flash."

"Uh, no. Not the original," Flash said. "I'm carrying on the legacy. I hope you don't mind."

"You're carrying on the legacy of the Flash?" the being asked.

"I'm trying to do justice to a great legend. To one of the greatest heroes ever," Flash said with a smile.

To his surprise, the being gritted his teeth and looked hatefully at the Flash. "So, you want to carry on the Flash's legend, do you? Well here's what I say about that."

The being suddenly shot forward and leveled the young Flash with a super-speed punch. The Flash dropped, stunned. "Die!!" the being screamed.

He grabbed the Flash by the leg and started to drag the dazed speedster along the ground. "You're going to suffer, boy!" the being said.

But then the speeding attacker was tripped up by an explosion. He looked to see what the source was. He spotted Starman pointing his Cosmic Rod in the being's direction. "Let him go!" Starman ordered.

The being laughed. He started darting around at incredible speed, circling like a shark, moving too fast for Starman to hit. "Let's see how tough you are," the being said.

Starman tried to focus on the red streak. He took to the air to get some distance, "I don't know why you're doing this. When you were in the JSA, you were a great hero. Why are you attacking us?"

The speedster stopped directly underneath Starman and started spinning. He created a tornado spout that rose up and engulfed Starman. The young hero with the rod was spun helplessly in the cyclone.

"Hey!" the Flash yelled, getting to his feet. "If you've got a problem with me, then deal with me personally."

The being stooped spinning. "A problem? Boy, you have no idea what a problem is. You're about to experience a serious problem!"

"Why are you doing this?" Flash asked. "I always idolized you."

"Did you? Would you die for me? Because you're about to!"

The two speedsters shot forward and locked up. They battered each other with lighting fast blows. They zigzagged around the area, hitting each other with everything they had. But Flash was getting the worst of it. His opponent was actually faster than he was. And he knew how to use his speed better. Naturally enough, since the original Flash had been around since the 1930's. He had plenty to practice. The young Flash would have thought that age would have slowed him down but no such luck. The Flash was getting his butt kicked and he didn't know how to stop it.

Starman recovered. He scanned the horizon for any sign of the tow speedsters. He couldn't see anything. Every so often he thought he saw a red blur out of the corner of his eye, but by the time he focused on it, it was gone.

Then he saw something tumbling along the ground. Something red. It rolled quickly and finally came to a stop in front of the observatory. Starman flew over to the spot. He saw that it was the Flash. Starman kneeled. Flash was badly beaten and unconscious.

The other speedster popped into view. "That's what will happen to anyone who calls himself the Flash! I'll let you both live so you can tell everyone. Soon, there will be only one!"

The speedster vanished. Starman picked up the Flash and carried him into the observatory.

"Awful," Flash answered. "And embarrassed. I got my clock cleaned. Where are we anyway?"

"Inside the observatory. I know the owner."

An older man walked in. "So how's the patient?"

"Vital signs strong and steady," Starman answered.

"Thanks for the use of your sofa," Flash said.

"Not a problem, young man. We costumed types have to stick together."

"You're not wearing a costume," Flash said.

"But I used to," the older man replied. "My name is Ted Knight. And once upon a time, I was the original Starman."

"You were Starman?" Flash said, surprised but pleased.

"I certainly was. But I gave that up long ago. I have a good successor right here."

He patted the young Starman on the shoulder. "I do what I can to live up to you," the younger Starman said.

"You do it very well," Ted said.

Flash sat up. "So maybe you can tell me why your old pal the Flash went bad."

"Yes, Starman was just telling me about that," Ted said. "And I've been thinking it over."

"Come to any conclusions?"

"I don't think it was the original Flash you fought."

"You don't? Why not?"

"simply because I know him. We keep in touch. He's a good man. He would never attack you like that."

"But he looks like the old Flash," Barry said.

"That's why I think your opponent is Rival!"

"Who's Rival?" Starman asked.

"Rival is the name of an old enemy of the first Flash," Ted said. "He looks almost identical. Same costume and all. decades ago he vanished into something called the speed force. I think when Locus' energy exploded, it opened a vortex to the realm of the speed force and allowed Rival to escape."

"I guess I owe the first Flash an apology," Flash said.

"Apology accepted," said a new voice from the doorway.

Everyone looked at the newcomer. He looked a lot like the foe that the Flash had just fought, except older. He had gray hair and crows feet. He there was a distinct look of nobility about him.

"Hello, old friend," Ted said.

"Hi Teddy, old pal. How's tricks?"

"Is that . . . " Flash asked.

"Yep," Ted answered. "That's the real McCoy. I called him."

"Allow me to introduce myself," the newcomer said. "My name is Jay Garrick. I used to be the Flash."

Wally sat back and thought about what he was reading. he had a feeling he knew what had escaped from the glass tube, and it wasn't good news. But why had he been locked up there? Wally needed to know more. He continued reading, dreading what he'd find out.