Chapter 1: The End and the Beginning
Jack's final battle in the Justice League game was going poorly. His hands trembled as he gripped the controller tightly, beads of sweat forming on his brow. The relentless onslaught of Darkseid's forces had overwhelmed his in-game team. Superman was low on health, and the AI controlling Wonder Woman and Batman wasn't doing much better. Jack knew this might be his last chance to defeat Darkseid and complete the game's final mission.
"Come on, just one more hit," he muttered under his breath, fingers moving like lightning across the controller's buttons.
The screen flickered, and for a moment, the entire game froze. Jack's heart skipped a beat. Not now! His console had been overheating lately, but he had ignored the signs, hoping to push through to the end of the game. Now, it looked like his overconfidence was about to cost him everything. He slammed the controller down in frustration, prepared to reboot the console when—
Pain.
Searing pain shot through his chest, causing Jack to gasp in agony. The world around him spun, his vision blurring at the edges as he clutched at his chest, trying to understand what was happening. Was it a heart attack? No—this was something else, something deeper. It was like his very soul was being ripped from his body.
The world went dark.
Jack felt himself floating in an endless void, weightless and formless. There was no pain here, but there was no comfort either. It was just… nothing. His mind raced as he tried to make sense of what had happened. Was this death? Had he really just died playing a video game?
As he drifted in the void, Jack became aware of something—an energy, powerful and chaotic, swirling around him. It was like lightning, crackling through the emptiness, searching for something. For him. He felt the energy collide with his soul, and for a moment, it was as if his entire being was being rewritten, changed on a fundamental level.
The game. It was the game.
Jack could feel it now—the game file that had frozen in those last moments before his death had merged with him, becoming part of his very soul. He could feel the characters, the world, the essence of the Justice League universe seeping into him, altering his existence in ways he couldn't yet comprehend.
But it wasn't just the game.
A new force surged through him, more powerful than anything he had ever felt before. It was wild, untamed, like the very fabric of reality was being ripped apart and stitched back together. Jack felt himself being pulled through space, through time, through something far greater than anything he could understand. It was as if the universe itself had grabbed hold of him and was dragging him somewhere else.
Suddenly, the void around him shattered.
Jack found himself standing in a place that defied explanation. It was a plane of pure energy, crackling with lightning and shifting with every moment. Time didn't seem to exist here. There was no past, no future—only an endless present, filled with raw, untamed power.
He was in the Speed Force.
Jack had read about the Speed Force in the comics, in the games, but seeing it—feeling it—was something entirely different. It was overwhelming, like being caught in a storm that never ended. And in the distance, he saw him—a man running through the chaos, surrounded by streaks of red lightning.
The Flash.
Jack watched in awe as Barry Allen, the fastest man alive, raced through the Speed Force. But there was something strange about it. Barry wasn't just running—he was chasing someone. Another version of himself. Jack realized in that moment what he was witnessing.
It was the event that had caused the Flashpoint Paradox.
Barry had gone back in time to save his mother, but the consequences had been disastrous. The world had been thrown into chaos, and now, Barry was trying to undo his mistake. Jack watched as the two versions of Barry collided, creating a shockwave that rippled through the Speed Force, sending waves of energy crashing in all directions.
Jack felt the shockwave hit him, and in that moment, something inside him changed. The energy of the Speed Force fused with his soul, merging with the game file that had already become part of him. It was overwhelming, like his entire existence was being rewritten once again.
And then, just as quickly as it had begun, it was over.
Jack felt himself being pulled away from the Speed Force, dragged through space and time, hurtling toward something he couldn't see. The world around him blurred, and he saw a light—bright and warm, beckoning him forward.
A sound reached his ears, distant at first but growing louder with every moment.
It was a baby's cry.
It was his cry.
Jack gasped as the realization hit him. He had been reborn.