Barry Allen (Earth-929)

"Dreams are what make us who we are; our dreams define our paths in life. But what if you had two dreams - what if you had two paths? You think life is tough; you think what you do is hard? My wife comes home at night, wondering which Barry she has to deal with. Each day I grow stronger, so does he. The thing inside me? The Speed Force- it knows that; and so should you. This is not a request; this is a command. If you put the gun to my head, you better fire. Because if you don't, he won't have as much mercy as I will."

- - Barry Allen to Batman

A Fast Learner
Born to two minimum-wage earning parents from the country, Bartholomew Henry "Barry" Allen was three weeks early. Surprisingly, the child was healthy upon delivery and was 8 lbs - a perfect weight. The doctors cleared him from the hospital without any medical treatment, and the family took him back home to their house in Fallville, Iowa. For the first three years of his life, Barry grew up on a farm. After his father was promoted to a Union manager, however, the Allen family packed up their bags and moved to Central City.

As Barry grew older he found a strange facination with the city life. He loved the addictive rush of the cars and sounds, and loved the glow of the lights at night. In true fasion, Barry did well in school. Similar to his father's gifted science skills, Barry found his niche to be in the lab. Growing up almost dirt-poor did surpsing wonders to Barry's self esteem, and he found himself pushing his work every day. Growing and excelling, the young boy soon became the top of his class. Around 7th grade, Barry fell in love with crime shows and detective books. A lover of a good mystery novel, Barry began pursuing a life of discovery and realization. The superhero mystery from Gotham City, known only as the Batman, fueled this love as well. He strived to become a hero and a pro detective; just like the Dark Knight.

The Birth of a Demon
Attending Central City High School, Barry advanced in every area. A true prodigy in math and science, the



young boy found himself being offered scholarship after schoalrship. During this time, however, Barry was transforming into a handsome young man, and found himself very attracted to one beautiful young girl: Iris West. Barry had known Iris since the fifth grade, in where he had developed an almost life-long crush on her. After years of chasing her, the girl had finally taken a notice in him. Though they were both competeing for a full-ride scholarship to Harvard, they soon fell in love and made plans to spend their lives together after the two finished college.

These dreams were cut short however, after Barry's parents died. In a fatal car accident (involving Barry driving), the two were silenced into the grave, leaving Barry alone in life.

The trauma and blame of having caused his parents' death split Barry down the middle. He developed DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder), otherwise known as Multiple Personality Disorder. Barry found himself struggling with a childhood demon he had seen in nightmares; a man with beautiful features, just like him, but with a villainous, crude agenda. At first, Barry found it easy to control this other-self, whom he had cleverly named "Zoom" (given his quick and unexpected way of appearing). After a while, however, he found that Zoom would come and go whenver he pleased; and lately, he had wanted to stay for quite a while longer.

One night, while over at Iris's house, Zoom took over. Using charm and wit, he seduced Iris and they spent a sweet, passionte night together, loosing both of their virginities in a decision Barry hadn't wanted to make till marriage. Zoom made sure to drug Iris before the act, so that she wouldn't notice the lack of protection involved. Barry was powerless and felt helpless inside of the controlling Zoom, as he impregnanted Iris and washed away the couple's hopes and dreams.

Nine months later, Simon Colman Allen was born.

Detective Work
After the birth of he and Iris's son, Barry was shunned by both his classmates and Iris's parents. With Iris refusing to give the child up, she insisted that Barry continue the scholarship competition; she stated that she would drop out in order for him to go to school. Before Iris could resign however, Barry dropped out himself and the prize was instead given to Iris. Despite her protest, Barry promised to raise the child while Iris went to school.

Iris left Central City for college, and Barry kept the apartment that he and his parents had been living in. Going to community college online, Barry worked here and there, earning money to pay for baby-sitters and rent. Though it was terribly hard, Barry lasted two years, before applying to a police precinct in downtown Central City. The officers looked at his track record and (minus never going to college), hired him as their resident lab officer. Barry found he and Simon's living conditions improved as the young man's salary grew larger. Two years more were spent as Barry finished his online classes and recieved a bachelor's in chemistry. Soon, Barry was at the head of the precinct and was solving crimes far from the regular calibur.

Two more years passed, and Iris finally returned to Central City. Relieved and surprised she was, to find that Barry and Simon were doing quite well. After applying to the CCPD as well, Iris too recieved a job as a lab worker; however, she was surprised to find that she was an employee of Barry. The two worked well together, and soon found themselves with loads of money. They bought a nice pent house deep within the city, in the medical district, and raised their son well. Eventually, the two married and Iris West became Iris Allen.

All seemed well, and Barry had gone six years without an incident from Zoom. Maybe he had gotten over his trauma after all...

Or maybe Zoom was simply waiting for another traumatic incident to happen.

The Accident


Working over time one stormy night, Barry found himself swamped with work. He wanted badly to go home to Iris and Simon, to see them and hold them. But a recent murder case was keeping him late in the lab. Trying to fabricate a new formula, in hopes that it would recreate the substance on the bullet from the gun, Barry accidentally knocked down a whole shelf of chemicals. The shelf fell ontop of him, dousing him in the substances. The true harm, however, came from the electrical blast that struck the rods in his lab. Electrocuting him to the max, Barry's entire body was fried to the bone - nearly disintegrating him.

When he awoke, Barry was in the hospital. His burns were fully healed and no scars were visible on his



body. He had grown a beared and his entire body felt rejuvinated and healthy. As he tried to lift himself up, he found his hands and legs vibrating at unnatural speeds. His heart was pounding so quickly that everyone in the hospital could hear it beating inside of his chest. A nurse came to check on him, but when she arrived he was gone.

Barry dashed down the street, his legs moving at lightning speed; he was going faster than anything he'd

ever seen before! Barry flew down avenune after avenune, bulevard after bulevard, street after street, He ran up the sides of buildings and cars and eventually made his way into the long country fields outside

Central City.

Barry was now the fastest man alive.

The Demon Comes Out to Play
Despite the lack of trauma Barry recieved from his accident, there was still enough from the intial shock for Zoom to feed off of. One morning, after a heavy, tired-night's sleep, Barry awoke in a dark alley. Bodies were littered around him; unconcious men with broken bones and bloody skulls. Barry was appalled at what he saw and the only thing he could think of was Zoom.

Barry knew that Zoom would love to take control of him and feed off of his new found powers, and so he went to S.T.A.R. Labs - a residential, well-known meta lab - to ask for help. At S.T.A.R., Barry met up with a definitive metologist - Walter Stone. Walter was informed of Barry's DID as well as his knew super speed, and began experimentation right away. At first, they tried the basic psychological means of trying to cure MPD. After failed attempts, and a backlash from Zoom, the procedures morphed into trying to find ways to remove the metagenes from Barry himself.

This was unsuccessful as well.

Barry left a three week stay at S.T.A.R. Labs with fewer answers and more questions than when he arrived. Dr. Stone informed him that he would be working on a serum to supress the effects of the MPD, but that Zoom was as much a part of Barry as Barry was.

Over the weeks it took to manufacture the serum, Zoom grew more powerful as Barry did. As Barry trained his body and grew along with his powers, so did Zoom. One night, Zoom attacked Simon in his sleep. In an attempt to strangle the baby, Barry regained control after Iris knocked him out with a frying pan. Taking the baby away with her to her parents, she informed Barry that she would not return until he fixed his "problem."

Distraught and depressed, Barry returned to S.T.A.R. when Dr. Stone informed him that the serum was ready. The serum, however, was a fail. Zoom grew even stronger thanks to the enhancing effects of the liquid. As the serum seemed to take over, Zoom took control. For days Barry did not return. Zoom robbed banks and stores, bringing all the money back to S.T.A.R. Labs where he threatened Stone with death if he did not create a suit strong enough to withstand Barry's constant action. After weeks of fabrication, Stone finally finished the suit - it was yellow, with red in the linings, and could withstand all the force, friction, and stress that Zoom would ensue upon it. Using the name that Barry had created for him, Zoom - who looked just like Barry - began a violent life of crime.