The Flash Just Outwitted the Justice League's Smartest Hero | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Flash #775, on sale now from DC.

Ever since Wally West reclaimed the mantle as The Flash at the start of the Infinite Frontier era, he has been working especially close with Justice League teammate, and third-smartest person in the DC Universe, Mister Terrific. More than just their usual, shared superhero activities, the two now share a day job, with Wally now working for Michael's tech company out of its Central City facilities. And when a longtime Justice League foe makes his way to Central City, the Fastest Man Alive goes head-to-head with one the DCU's most brilliant minds leading Wally to out-think Michael as best he can.

A strange, magical glaive has crashed in the middle of Central City, embedding itself into the bustling streets. As the Justice League moves to investigate the strange disturbance, even Superman is unable to lift it due to its magical nature before he brusquely -- and uncharacteristically -- flies off to leave The Flash and Mister Terrific to deal with the matter. And as the glaive's true, corrosive nature begins to corrupt the demeanor of everyone within the metropolitan area, Terrific is converted into a villainous shadow of himself: He confronts The Flash in a high-speed showdown that unfolds in The Flash #775, by Jeremy Adams, Fernando Pasarin, Matt Ryan, Jeromy Cox and Steve Cox.

Corrupted by the glaive, revealed to emanate the insidious influence of Eclipso, Terrific resolves to put down The Flash. He observes that Wally defies the laws of physics due to his connection to the Speed Force, which allows him to travel through space and time. Nevertheless, Terrific calculate Wally has a 65 percent chance of destroying the world, and acts to eliminate that possibility. As Wally races to stop Terrific and find a way to bring him back to his senses, it becomes clear he will have to think faster than his boss can.

As Wally attempts to get close, he is literally shocked to discover that Terrific programmed his signature T-Spheres to predict and anticipate The Flash's usual running patterns, stopping him dead in his tracks with a makeshift force field. As Terrific bears down on him, The Flash deviates from his usual strategy to stump the T-Spheres' programming and catch Terrific off-guard. Instead of running directly at Terrific, The Flash quickly drills himself through the streets of Central City and lands a mighty uppercut as he reemerges on the surface, laying his boss out and disabling his T-Spheres in the process.

For Wally, who's still attempting to prove himself following the events of Heroes in Crisis, Terrific's calculation that he's a greater threat to the DCU than he is a hero certainly carries a sting. Despite that, Wally just established that not even someone far smarter than him can think faster than him, even with predictive programming of Mister Terrific's T-Spheres. And while the showdown between Terrific and The Flash may have been magically fueled, Michael Holt's words may haunt Wally beyond the Eclipso incident.

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Sam Stone is a 10th level pop culture guru living just outside of Washington, DC who knows an unreasonable amount about The Beatles. You can follow him on Twitter @samstoneshow and ask him about Nintendo, pop punk, and Star Trek.