Disclaimer: The Flash is (c) DC Comics.

Thawne: Everything He Wanted

(A Vignette)

Eobard Thawne was ecstatic. It had worked. It hard actually worked!

He finally had wanted he had longed for after so many long years.

He was just like The Flash now, and it felt incredible.

The electricity flowing through his body.

The bliss. The speed.

The Speed Force felt amazing.

He had just finished his costume too. He had opted to change the coloration a little bit. Primarily yellow with a bit of a red instead of primarily red with a bit of yellow. A touch to make the look a little bit his own instead of appearing to be another imitator or wanna-be.

Over the years, Eobard had been shunned and teased for his fixation on what others believed to be nothing more than a legend.

Something that was made up.

As a child, Eobard never let the bullies get to him.

As an adult, Eobard ignored his coworkers at STAR Labs that bashed him for believing in "crackpot science" and "chasing myths"...

Not once did Eobard allow them to break his beliefs, and it had all been worth it now that he was a Speedster.

Although, he couldn't quite decide what he wanted to do with his new abilities. The list that he had made over time was so very, thoroughly long.

He started with the basics.

A little revenge here and there. Bullies reap what they sow.

Stopping thugs from robbing gas stations and grocery stores to alleviate boredom.

Giving the Orwellian (in his mind) Central City Police Force beat-downs for profit and fun.

In Thawne's mind, he was a hero.

And where was the harm in a hero having a bit of fun?

Before he received his blessing, Eobard was typically seen as loser by others. In his mind, he was never given a chance in a world that clearly had it out for people like him.

He always returned home to his apartment at the end of the day feeling exhausted and meek.

Expecting mail that never came.

Reading books and other printed media, because of the energy rations that came with living in the impoverished slums of Central City with little else to do.

Those days were gone now.

With his powers, Thawne was capable of generating more than enough electricity for himself.

And ever since he had gained his powers, he had somehow gained a secret pen pal along the way.

Sometimes, Thawne would return to his apartment to find a package waiting for him inside. Over and over again. A few personal letters, a few gifts, a few relics for Thawne's growing collection of superhero memorabilia.

Until one day came along when Thawne's anonymous pen pal decided to set history into motion once more.

The unassuming Thawne opened the envelope waiting for him that day expecting the usual, but...it wasn't.

Thawne stared at the old newspaper in front of him on his coffee table.

There was a photo of The Flash, the ACTUAL Flash, engaged in a fight with a genuine supervillain. The scarlet speedster crackling with Speed Force Energy as he delivered an epic, heroic uppercut to the villain's jaw.

The photo was taken from an angle where the villain's back was to the camera, but it was enough for Thawne to know who it was.

"That's...that's MY costume. I'm...fighting The Flash?" The words left Thawne's mouth without even realizing it.

The headline read: "The Flash Thwarts His Reverse Doppelganger."

Confusion flooded Thawne in that single point in time. His brain couldn't quite process it all the way at first.

In the following days, Thawne's mystery pen pal kept leaving newspaper articles for him. All of them detailing some epic, high-stakes battle between The Flash and "The Reverse-Flash" where The Flash always came out on top.

Headline after headline came:

"Flash Stops Reverse-Flash From Reversing The Flow of Time"

"Flash Apprehends Reverse Flash and Acolytes"

"Flash Closes Singularity Over Central City"

No matter what the Thawne of the future did, no matter what plans he concocted to warp the past, The Flash would always always best him.

Not even a lifetime of mockery, parental abuse, and not having a single person that believed in him could have prepared Thawne for what he had learned from his mysterious pen pal.

What had been staring him in the face over the last few weeks when the newspapers started coming.

Thawne KNEW that he was a hero.

He even had PROOF that he would go on to meet his idol!

But...

It was his future that had been painstakingly mapped out, and it was a future lined with failure.

The very last newspaper was awaiting for him on one randomly selected day; the headline was highlighted and everything:

"Professor Zoom Kills Journalist Iris West, Husband unavailable For Comment."

Written over the photo taken at the funeral of the journalist on the front page in bright blue ink was a simple, clear message:

"Find The Treadmill. Decide Who You Are."

A final mystery left by the pen pal. Not a single letter, package, or newspaper was left in his apartment ever again. That was okay.

Thawne knew what he had to do now, and he had a of work ahead of himself.

And maybe a fair amount of work to do behind him as well.