ACT ONE
EXT. CENTRAL CITY
ROOFTOP – NIGHT
VIBE stands close
to the edge of the roof – Central City glowing beyond.
But Vibe isn’t
looking out at the city, he’s focused on a tablet showing him an image of the city
that he could be seeing live if he’d just look up. Only this image is covered in transparent,
pulsing circles of all colors – red, purple, blue, etc.
VIBE
Flash, you read me?
FLASH (O.S.)
I
read you Vibe. But where are you? You weren’t at S.T.A.R Labs when I suited up
for patrol.
VIBE
I’m
a superhero now --
He raises his head -- looks out on the city ponderously.
VIBE
And
I’m in the best place a superhero can be when he’s lookin for trouble.
FLASH (O.S.)
You’re
on a roof again, aren’t you?
VIBE
You
bet buddy. You bet.
FLASH (O.S.)
You
know you can’t actually see anything from up there.
A BEEP pulls Vibe’s
focus back to the tablet.
On the tablet, one
of the pulsing blue circles has gone solid.
VIBE
It’s
better for the Vibe Atlas.
FLASH
Vibe
Atlas?
VIBE
A
map of the city that shows me all the potential troubled spots. Like my powers, in tablet form. It can better detect metaphysical anomalies
closer to their sites of origin.
On the tablet, one
of the pulsing blue circles has gone solid.
VIBE
Oh
no. Blue.
FLASH (O.S.)
Blue? What does that mean?
VIBE
A
time rift.
FLASH (O.S.)
Where?
VIBE
Fiftieth
Street and Marks.
FLASH (O.S.)
On it!
EXT. CENTRAL CITY
JEWLERS – NIGHT – CONTINUOUS
The large display
window of a jewelry store – a window to the most opulent diamonds, rubies and
opals – reflects a blue portal.
On the portal, a
top-heavy dude walks through. His torso
is bulging, while his legs are comically scrawny. He looks greasy, wears rags – this Mad Max
ripoff is “EEL” MADDEN.
EEL
Central
City. Still standin.
On the storefront.
EEL
Looks
like easy pickins.
Eel walks toward
the jewelry store display window, fingering a club at his belt.
He pulls out the
club, raises his arm, and just before he reaches the glass window –
The ORANGE
LIGHTNING CRACKLES in front of him, blinding him for a second. And when he opens his eyes, he sees The
Flash!
FLASH
That’s as far as you go
pal.
EEL
Huh,
I knew about the green guy in Starling. The
hawk girl and the shrinking man who fly around with the space cowboy, I know
they started around now. Funny, none of
the history vids show a red…streak.
FLASH
(knowingly)
You’re
from the future.
EEL
Bingo,
kid. Eel Madden, occupational scavenger,
lifelong board game enthusiast, and a soon to be filthy rich time refugee.
FLASH
Refugee? You think you’re staying here?
EEL
Oh
yeah. 2058. But it’s much better now than when I come
from.
FLASH
What
happens to Central City in 2058?
EEL
Destroyed. Worse than that, a wasteland. And it’s survival of the fittest.
FLASH
So
that’s why you’re here. You’re not one
of the fittest.
EEL
Excuse
me?
Activating that
speed, Flash races around Eel, grabs the back of his shirt, spins and hurls him
back into the blue portal.
FLASH
(into his earpiece)
Cisco, you hear that?
VIBE (O.S.)
Codenames
Flash!
FLASH
Priorities
Vibe!
VIBE (O.S.)
Fair. You’re right.
It’s this rooftop. I get lost in
myself up here.
Another long beep
is heard.
FLASH
Another one?
VIBE (O.S.)
Fortieth and Stern.
Flash takes off.
EXT. CENTRAL CITY
SAVINGS AND LOAN – CONTINUOUS
The place has seen
better days.
A gaping, blue
portal is open in front of it and Eel Madden glides out, this time on futuristic
looking roller blades with little engines attached.
The Flash appears
in front of the Savings and Loan. He
takes a look at Madden – really takes him in.
FLASH
Ok. This is new.
EEL
Can’t stop me if you can’t
catch me.
FLASH
You
really wanna play this game? I’m the
fastest man alive.
EEL
Faster
than this?
Eel holds up a
TRIGGER and hits a button. The little
engines fire up, spewing blue flame out from behind them, and Eel blades forward,
gaining speed.
The Flash just
shakes his head – then takes off. He
grabs Eel’s arm and pulls.
Eel quickly turns
from the Savings & Loan storefront, being redirected back toward the blue
portal. He raises the trigger, it’s gone.
Barry, back at a
stop in front of the Savings & Loan, raises the trigger in his hand.
FLASH
Oh look, a turbo setting.
Barry pushes the button. The flames on Eel’s blades go from blue to
red. He races even faster toward the
blue portal. And he’s going, going –
poof.
FLASH
Enough fun for one night.
(He puts his forefingers to
his ear)
Cisco,
how can we see what’s going on in 2058?
Another long beep.
FLASH
Really?
VIBE (O.S.)
Sorry Barr, thirtieth and
Conway.
FLASH
Thirtieth?
These portals are opening up just ten
blocks south and one block east of each other.
Are we being led somewhere?
VIBE
Don’t
know, but you better hurry.
Flash races off.
EXT. CENTRAL CITY
CREDIT UNION – NIGHT – CONTINUOUS
The Flash appears
to find the blue portal open and Eel already breaking into the Credit Union.
FLASH
Eel,
you have terrible taste in places to rob.
EEL
But
I got great taste in guns!
Eel turns around
to reveal a long-barreled gun with a spray-nozzle at the end. It’s connected, via hose, to a receptacle on
his belt.
EEL
You definitely won’t catch
me this time.
He points the gun
at Flash and fires.
Pathetically, a
small stream of thick liquid dribbles out.
FLASH
What is that?
EEL
Grease.
FLASH
Seriously?
EEL
Try catchin me now.
Flash moves toward
Eel -- slips a little. He waves his arms
for balance, finally steadying himself.
ON Flash as he
looks up at Eel, surprised this actually worked.
EEL
Hahaha.
Eel lets this
laugh go on too long – giving Flash enough time to slowly move backward.
Flash rubs his feet
on dry sidewalk with his super speed.
Eel is still laughing.
Then, with Flash
speed, Flash turns around, runs up the building behind him, gets a quarter of
the way, kicks off, launches through the air, leading his charge with a closed
fist.
Eel doesn’t have
time to stop laughing before he’s knocked out.
Flash lands, picks
up an unconscious Eel, speed-spins in place and launches him back into the blue
portal.
Flash comes to a
stop, only to hear the sound of CLAPPING from somewhere.
Out of a dark
alley next to the Credit Union, an old man walking on a cane shambles toward Flash. He’s ancient, hunched over so far he can’t
even look up as he walks. This is DOYLE
FOX.
DOYLE
Incredible,
Mr. Flash. I had hoped my portals would
lead you to me without drawing any unwanted attention from the future. I’m glad I trusted more in your incredible
gifts. You truly are Central City’s
hero.
FLASH
Who
are you?
DOYLE
My
name is Doyle Fox Mr. Flash.
FLASH
Just
Flash. Why did you do all of this? People could’ve been hurt.
DOYLE
I’m
sorry, I did not mean to cause trouble.
On the contrary, in fact, I lured you here in the only way I could, to
help you prevent trouble. A great
calamity.
FLASH
Does
this have anything to do with what happens to Central City in 2058?
DOYLE
It
has everything to do with it. I know how
to save your city from the terrorist threat that will destroy it.
FLASH
How?
Doyle holds up a
pen-looking device with a button on top.
DOYLE
Push
this button.
VIBE (O.S.)
Did he just tell you to
push a button?
FLASH
He told me to push a
button.
DOYLE
Who are you talking to?
VIBE (O.S.)
Well that’s not at all
suspicious.
FLASH
I agree, but what if he’s
telling the truth?
DOYLE
It’s
rude to ignore someone who’s trying to help you save the world.
VIBE (O.S.)
We
need to do our own assessments of the future before we do anything else.
FLASH
And
how do we do that Cisco? We don’t have a
time machine. Am I supposed to run into
the future, take a look around, and then report back?
DOYLE
Push
the button.
VIBE (O.S.)
Can
you do that?
FLASH
No! At least, not without the cosmic treadmill.
VIBE(O.S.)
Right. Been a while since we had that thing.
FLASH
That’s
my point. What if I can save Central
City right now?
VIBE (O.S.)
Think
about what you’re saying, Barry. A time
hopping loon just shows up, tells you the world is doomed, and says it can be saved
only if you push a weird button? Why can’t he push the button?
FLASH
That’s a good point.
That’s a good point.
(To
Doyle)
Why
can’t you push the button?
DOYLE
I’m
not a Flash. Only the Flash can save
Central City…by pushing this button.
VIBE (O.S.)
How
convenient. Barry, this whole thing is
fishy. We need time to figure things
out.
FLASH
But
there’s never enough time, Cisco. Ever
since we started doing this, we’ve held back.
Watched. Studied. Tried to think our way through Dr. Wells,
Zoom, Savitar. Nothing we came up with
ever worked. The only thing that worked,
was my speed.
VIBE (O.S.)
I
get it Barry. But trust me here, the sane
thing to do is wait. Being impulsive
could put us in more trouble than we’re already in. And we still don’t even know that we’re in any trouble.
FLASH
You’re
right. We have no idea if the future is what
these guys have said it’s going to be.
We gotta wait.
VIBE (O.S.)
Thank
you.
Doyle holds up a tablet-device
that shows a news report from 2058. That
report cycles through images and video of Central City – it’s destroyed,
ravaged, a wasteland.
DOYLE
Is this enough to convince
you?
Barry takes the
tablet into his hands, watching in horror.
VIBE (O.S.)
What’s he showing you
Flash?
DOYLE
You
can wait of course. Take the tablet,
test what’s on it for authenticity. And
you’ll find it holds up. Still with time
to stop things. But the truth is, time
is not your enemy here. Your enemy is
something else. Someone else, to be precise. Who’s just waiting to be let loose on the
world. In this time, he’s no one you’d
ever know, with no reason to come into contact with him. But I assure you, he’s aware of you. And he’s waiting for the day you die to
unleash a plan he’s putting together even as we speak.
Doyle raises the
remote with the button again.
DOYLE
But
if you push this button, his plan can’t be carried out. It will be neutralized. And he’ll never see it coming.
Flash looks from the
screen to the button – button to the screen.
Finally, the horrors on the screen get to him, and he shuts his eyes.
When he opens
them, he finds the screen has gone dark.
He looks up, and is shocked to see his hand holding the trigger, with his
thumb having pushed the button.
DOYLE
Thank
you, Mr. Flash. You have saved our city.
FLASH
How?
DOYLE
That
trigger releases a neurotoxin that will slowly be released, over years, into my
cerebral cortex. My younger self, in
this time, will get to live up until the day you die, before I can unleash a deadly weapon that would destroy this
city. I’ll be able to enjoy life, but be
taken out of it just before I can do any real damage.
FLASH
You
destroy Central City?
DOYLE
That’s
right, Mr. Flash. And you’ve just saved
it --
On Flash as he
registers the horror of what he’s just done.
DOYLE
By killing me.
END OF ACT ONE
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