New Jersey.
Peggy's apartment.
Adam, Peggy, and Sheldon were still deep in their video call.
Seeing Sheldon teetering on the edge of a meltdown—and to avoid getting the stink-eye from Sheldon's mom—Adam jumped in to steer the ship. "Alright, enough about chess. Let's get back to multiverse talk. Sheldon, you ready for this? I actually met God this time. And I brought back proof. Peggy saw it and finally believed me!"
"God?" Sheldon's face twisted into a smirk. "Adam, I thought your IQ had leveled up, but now you've got me doubting again. Proof? What kind of proof could you possibly have?"
"You braced for it?" Adam shot Peggy a look, both of them biting back grins as he played up the mystery. "This is wild, top-secret stuff—just the three of us. You can't breathe a word to anyone."
"…"
Lisa, silent as a ghost, slipped off to the corner.
"OK," Sheldon said, curiosity piqued.
"Chin up, buddy—don't let it drop when you see this!" Adam teased with a laugh, then angled the video call screen toward a projector and hit play.
The projection flickered to life, revealing a figure standing with his back to them—none other than the Flash.
"The Flash?" Sheldon mused, stroking his chin. "With his speed, crossing multiverses isn't out of the question."
"I'm the Flash, the fastest man alive," the figure said. "Pretty sure I took a wrong turn at Earth."
"Hmm, that voice sounds kinda familiar…" Sheldon muttered, squinting.
"You're saying parallel multiverses are real?" Projection-Adam stepped into frame, facing the Flash with a look of total disbelief.
Eyeroll—yeah, the acting was on point.
"Yep, absolutely," the Flash chuckled. "I've accidentally zipped through a bunch of 'em already. Let me break it down for you." He strolled over to a whiteboard, grabbed some chalk, and started doodling circles. "Picture this: multiple Earths. On one, the Nazis got taken out by a team led by some curvy, big-chested dude. On another, pianos aren't for playing—they're murder weapons. Scott Joplin's stuck jamming 'Maple Leaf Rag' with a tuning knife…"
"Cool," Sheldon nodded, lips pursed like this all made perfect sense.
"Then there's an Earth ruled by giant, genius beavers," the Flash went on. "I popped in there once—total madness. Humans slaving away, building dams everywhere to keep the beavers happy. If I wasn't so fast, I'd be stuck hauling logs too!"
"Whoa!" Sheldon grinned, shaking his head in awe.
He was starting to buy it. These wild ideas and epic scenes? Not just anyone could dream that up on the spot.
"So you just bolted over from that parallel universe?" Projection-Adam asked.
"Yup," the Flash said, waving his hands for emphasis. "All these universes share the same space but vibrate at different frequencies, so they're invisible to each other."
"Yes! YES!" Sheldon's eyes lit up. "But if you're fast enough, you could crack open a gap and hop between them!"
The Flash in the projection echoed the exact same logic.
"But how'd you get that fast?" Projection-Adam grinned. "What, struck by lightning too? Oh, wait—we've got Flash comics here. Are you Barry Allen?"
"Nope," the Flash said, shaking his head with a smile. "When I got here, I zipped around the planet, skimmed your comics. I didn't get my speed from some particle accelerator explosion or a lightning bolt. My origin's more like your Reverse-Flash. IQ 187—never met anyone worth my time. But physically? Weak as a twig. Got bullied my whole life. I warned them: 'Keep it up, and I'll snap, turn into one of those comic-book supervillains.' They didn't listen. After snagging PhDs in physics, chemistry, biology, philosophy, math, mechanics, and electronics, I'd had enough. My world had a Flash once. I cracked the Speed Force formula, claimed it for myself, and boom—new Flash. But I'm not Barry Allen…"
He turned around, yanked off his mask, and revealed a face that left Sheldon reeling. "I'm Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper!"
Adam and Peggy locked eyes on the video call's Sheldon, watching his reaction unfold.
And oh boy, it was gold. Seeing his own face staring back, Sheldon's jaw dropped, eyes bugged out, one hand clapped over his mouth, the other jabbing at the screen. Adam caught a glimpse of Sheldon's arm—goosebumps all the way up. The dude was shook.
Adam tossed Peggy a smug glance. "Told ya."
Peggy smirked back, nodding—thrilled with Sheldon's meltdown and hyped for what came next.
Seeing Sheldon borderline catatonic, Adam paused the video. "Sheldon, breathe, man! Deep breaths. You good to keep going?"
"It's ME!" Sheldon dropped his hand, eyes still popping, pointing wildly at the projection. "I'M THE FLASH!"
"Well, parallel-universe you is," Adam corrected, barely holding in a laugh. "He's the Flash."
"PLAY IT! NOW!" Sheldon barked, fully hooked.
"Alright, alright!" Adam hit play again.
In the projection, Adam hammed up his own shock, mentioning how this Earth's Sheldon Cooper was his buddy. After some back-and-forth, he asked, "In the comics, the Flash keeps jumping universes to find his mom. What's your deal? Don't tell me your mom…"
"No way," Flash-Sheldon laughed. "Messing with timelines? That's a disaster waiting to happen. My mom and grandma are fine—totally alive. My dad? I check in on him across universes. He's chillin' with his Lone Star beer, so I leave him be. Why do I hop universes? It's for her…"
He held up a gorgeous bird, stroking it gently, voice thick with emotion. "The ivory-billed woodpecker—my one true love. The last one in our world died in my arms. I've crossed countless universes just to see her again."
Adam and Peggy stared at video-call Sheldon, unblinking.
And right on cue, Sheldon let out a horrified shriek: "NOOOOO!!!!"
(End of Chapter) 😱✨