The wind blew gently over the old house.
Outside, the storm had slowed. But the skies were still gray. Fallen leaves scattered across the road.
An old garage door creaked open in the back corner of a small property in Central Plains—somewhere near Kansas.
Inside… the light flickered.
Old cardboard boxes piled on one wall. A broken treadmill. Empty soda cans—lots of them.
And in the center, surrounded by glowing monitors and a mini fridge filled with snacks—
Three armored figures sat with controllers in hand.
Clark, Bruce, and Ojaga.
They weren't flying.
They weren't saving the world.
They were playing a fighting game on a borrowed console from a flood shelter.
💥 "Hadoken!"
"Wrong franchise!" Bruce laughed.
"Still counts," Clark said, smashing buttons.
"You've frozen me three times now!" Ojaga yelled. His tail flicked in frustration.
"Tail not helping today, huh?" Clark teased.
Ojaga grinned without looking.
Then flicked the controller with his tail and knocked Clark's fighter out.
"Never mind," Clark smiled. "Tail OP."
They all laughed.
The room echoed with normalcy — just three brothers having a break after days of global disaster.
And that's when —
Everything stopped.
A wind pushed through the garage.
Cool, sharp… fast.
The screen glitched for just half a second.
Zoom!
Suddenly — a figure stood at the doorway.
Wearing red.
Barefoot.
Hair wild.
Holding a half-eaten candy bar in one hand.
OJAGA blinked.
Bruce shifted in his chair.
Clark paused the game.
The guy in red looked at them, mouth full, pointing at Ojaga.
"Yo."
"I knew it."
Ojaga frowned. "What?"
The young man stepped inside slowly, looking at all three of them in awe.
He spoke quickly, excited but casual:
"You're the guys. The ones in the sky. During the flood. The ones in black armor shooting heat beams and flying with glowing rings…"
He stopped in front of Ojaga's seat.
Then stared directly at... the tail.
He pointed again. "Especially you, dude. The tail gave you away. One hundred percent."
Clark chuckled.
Bruce stood up but didn't raise any defenses.
The stranger held both hands up.
"No need. I'm not here to fight."
"I'm Barry Allen. Uh, Flash. Kind of."
Ojaga stood too.
But before any of them said a word, Barry waved quickly.
"No no no—don't say anything."
He looked at them, smiling.
"I'm joining."
The room went silent.
Even the screen stayed paused on the game menu.
Barry nodded. "I've been watching from rooftops. I ran halfway across the country trying to decide if I should show up or not."
"That flood was insane. What you guys did? Unbelievable."
"I mean, the guy with the frost fists," he pointed at Clark.
"The black-cloak energy guy," nodding to Bruce.
"And the tail guy punching water out of the sky."
"Yeah… I need to be on this squad."
Clark stepped forward, smiling. "We were just talking about finding you."
Ojaga tilted his head. "Didn't think you'd find us first."
Barry smirked. "Speed has perks."
Bruce crossed his arms. "You sure?"
Barry shrugged.
"Look, if you've got suits, a cool hangout, snacks, and time to save the planet... yeah, I'm in."
The four of them stood silently.
Then—
Clark handed him a controller.
"We were short one player anyway."
Barry took it instantly.
"Oh, sweet. What's this character do?"
Ojaga grinned. "Punches meteors."
Barry chewed his last bite of candy.
"Perfect."