DC : Crisis of infinite hunger : Chapter 14

Chapter 14 : The Paradox

Big Belly Burger – Present Day

The greasy aroma of fried food lingered in the air, mingling with the hum of chatter and munches of regular fast food goers. Barry Allen sat at a corner booth, hunched over a tray stacked high with burgers and fries. His red and gold suit stretched uncomfortably around his growing frame, the swell of his stomach pressed against the table. He barely noticed. His focus was on the next bite, the next wave of satisfaction that came with it.

A bell chimed over the entrance. A gust of wind swept through the restaurant.

Barry's napkin dispenser rattled, and a blur of yellow and red appeared before him. Barry blinked, his mouth still full, as he recognized the figure standing in front of his table.

Eobard Thawne. The Reverse Flash.

Barry barely lifted his head, swallowing another mouthful. "Not now, Thawne."

Thawne didn’t move. His breath was heavy, ragged. His usual intimidating stance looked... different. His yellow suit, normally sleek and streamlined, pulled tight around his midsection. The red lightning bolt on his chest curved awkwardly over the visible roundness of his stomach.

"You," Thawne growled, his voice low and brimming with fury. "What have you done?"

Barry sighed and wiped his fingers on his gloves before reaching for another burger. "What are you talking about?"

Thawne slammed both hands onto the table, making the tray jump. The other diners turned toward the commotion, but Barry barely reacted.

"Don’t play dumb with me," Thawne snapped. "You’ve changed something. And now, it’s happening to everyone."

Barry furrowed his brow and swallowed. "Thawne, I have no idea what you’re going on about. If this is another one of your games—"

"This isn’t a game!" Thawne’s voice rose with frustration. He gestured at himself, his gloved hand shaking. "Look at me, Allen. Look at what’s happening. I’m slowing down. I’m... gaining weight. And it’s spreading. Everyone I’ve encountered, everyone *you’ve* encountered—this isn’t normal!"

Barry hesitated, his mind flashing to Wally, Hal, Iris… No. That didn’t mean anything. It couldn’t.

"I didn’t do anything," Barry said, pushing his tray aside. "If something’s happening, I don’t know what it is."

Thawne’s expression darkened. His fingers twitched. He took a step back, glancing down at his own body. His breaths came faster, his suit pulling even tighter.

Then, his stomach pushed outward.

Thawne’s breath hitched. He staggered slightly, gripping the edge of the table for support. Barry could only watch, stunned, as Thawne’s frame expanded before his eyes. His normally skin-tight suit stretched, seams straining. A look of horror crossed his face as his gut surged forward another inch, rounding out his torso.

"No," Thawne whispered. "It's getting worse."

Barry stared at him. "Thawne… what’s happening to you?"

Thawne’s hands clenched into fists, his jaw tightening as his face twisted with rage. "I’ll find out," he growled. "I’ll find out what you did, Allen. And I’ll undo it."

Then, in a crackle of red lightning, he vanished.

The Speed Force churned violently around him. Thawne pushed himself forward, the electric currents tearing past him in wild, chaotic waves.

"It started with Allen," he muttered, forcing his legs to move faster. "If I can figure out where it began, I can stop this… whatever this is."

The timeline blurred around him, a shifting stream of past and present. But something was wrong. He could feel it.

His body felt heavier.

He gritted his teeth and pushed harder, but his movements weren’t as fluid as they should have been. He wasn’t cutting through the Speed Force with precision—he was slogging through it, weighed down by something he couldn’t outrun.

He looked down.

His gut bounced with every step.

His limbs felt thick, uncooperative. His suit, once perfectly contoured to his lean form, was now stretched awkwardly around his swelling frame. The weight was still coming on, spreading through his body as he ran. His stride shortened. His arms felt slower, his legs heavier.

"No," he snarled. "No, no, no—"

The Speed Force snapped back against him.

Thawne lost his footing and crashed out of the timestream.

Undisclosed Lab - 1 Week before The Flash is infected

Cold metal pressed against Thawne's cheek. He groaned, his breath shallow, and struggled to push himself up. His arms barely moved under his own weight.

Something was wrong.

"Well, well," a voice mused from the shadows. "It seems I have a guest."

Thawne’s eyes darted upward. The room around him was dimly lit, lined with cold, humming machinery and monitors that pulsed with strange data streams. In the center of it all, perched in his mechanized chair, was Clifford DeVoe.

The Thinker.

DeVoe’s eyes flickered with interest as he observed Thawne’s bloated, helpless form sprawled across the floor. A slow smirk curled on his lips.

"The Reverse Flash," he mused, rolling his chair forward. "I see you are now living up to your name, you are quite the reverse of the flash now aren't you."

Thawne snarled and tried to lunge at him. His body barely shifted.

The Thinker chuckled. "Fascinating." He tapped a button on his chair, and mechanical arms extended, lifting Thawne effortlessly onto a reinforced examination table. The moment his back hit the surface, thick restraints locked around his limbs.

"No," Thawne rasped, thrashing weakly. "You… don’t understand."

DeVoe ignored him, studying a holographic scan of his body as it flickered above them. "A pathogen? No. Something more intricate. Your body is undergoing rapid metabolic shifts… Ah, but not in the way one would expect. Every excess calorie, every ounce of energy is being stored."

He leaned in, studying Thawne’s distended midsection. "Oh, Thawne. You’ve brought me quite the gift."

Thawne’s stomach churned. "You can’t—if you use this—"

"Start a chain reaction?" DeVoe smiled. "Yes. I’m counting on it."

He turned back to his machines. The lab hissed as canisters sealed, the gas inside swirling ominously.

Thawne watched helplessly.

He had tried to stop the anomaly. Instead, he had ensured its creation.

As the Thinker wheeled the canisters away, the lab’s dim light cast long shadows across the room. Thawne lay motionless, his body sinking into the table as he grew larger and larger.

A week later, Barry Allen sped toward an alarm blaring at an abandoned Central City laboratory.

A gas leak.

A single breath.

The cycle began.