Superflash:Collison Course (Volume 2)

Chapter 16: Cobalt

From his home in Iowa, a man had long watched the news reports from around the country. He had witnessed the rise of meta-humans and aliens making their presence on Earth known. Some used their powers to protect humanity while others still only sought to cause harm. But the reports he frequently followed the most were those of Central City. It was there that the particle accelerator explosion caused the most meta-human activity. Star Labs had been the center point and with his own genius level intellect he found a way to hack their systems.

He had watched the Flash save countless lives and for a time even admired the hero for his efforts. But then one day he discovered the secret the hero kept hidden. He discovered the Flash's identity and the face behind the mask. It was the same face he looked at in the mirror every morning. Anger began to consume this man as he realized that he could have had another life. Finally he confronted the people he thought were his parents and discovered the difficult truth.

"Malcolm...you have to understand..."

"Understand what, Mom? That I have a twin out there that I never knew about? Barry Allen has the life I should. Is that why I can't access the power of the Blue Flame like the rest of you? Am I just a joke?"

"Malcolm...you're not a joke. The truth is that I lost my baby in childbirth. The Doctor that delivered him...he was drunk at the time and sought to cover up my child's death. He brought you to us and claimed that the other woman's second child was stillborn. We adopted you..."

"So you've been lying to me all my life!"

"Malcolm..."

His adoptive mother spoke but her attempts at a continued explanation fell on deaf ears. He had been used by his family to con innocent people all while his twin brother grew up happy. Barry Allen had known their true parents, lived with them and become a hero because of a fluke accident that turned him into the Flash. Furious, Malcolm decided to confront the Doctor that had caused all of this.

"Doctor Gilmore!"

"Malcolm...it's been years since you came to see me. You look well."

"Save it Doctor. I want the truth. My mother told me I was adopted. That you gave me to her because you were too drunk to save her child. You took me from my real family!"

"Malcolm..."

"Why me? Why not my brother! My adoptive family constantly taunts me for being inferior! It's because I'm not a real Thawne! Tell me it's not true!"

"It's true...all of it. I..."

Malcolm was even more furious than when he entered Doctor Gilmore's office. His anger exploded as he began fighting the man who could only barely defend himself. Before he realized it, Malcolm had attacked Gilmore so violently that the older man was down on the floor of his office, taking shallow breaths. Knowing what he done, Malcolm fled the office and soon his hometown for fear of getting caught. It wasn't long before he was traveling the world and getting in to trouble with the law. Eventually he made his way back to the States, meeting with his adoptive Grandmother.

"Hugo and the rest of our family have only tapped into the basics of what our powers with the Blue Flame can do. The power can be used to steal whatever your heart desires. I can teach you how to use the power for its true purpose."

Over the months of training Malcolm learned to place all of his anger and hatred at his brother into a talisman that he took to wearing on the chest of a uniform he made and dubbed himself Cobalt Blue. But before he could go to Central City and enact his revenge, he had to make a change. Not wanting to be mistaken for Barry, he dyed his hair blonde and donned a pair of blue contact lenses. Upon his arrival, he took a job as a janitor that worked in the C.C.P.D. offices. There he studied his brother and learned so much more than he ever thought he would.