WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for The Flash #756, by Joshua Williamson, Christian Duce, Luis Guerrero and Steve Wands, available now.

The Reverse-Flash has cost Barry Allen more than any other figure in his life. Most tragically, Eobard Thawne used his Negative Speed Force to travel back to Barry's childhood to murder his mother and frame his father for the crime, setting the Scarlet Speedster up to become a forensic scientist. After enduring one loss too many, all linked to Thawne's ongoing antagonistic relationship with him, Barry has decided to take on his darkest mission yet: Murder the Reverse-Flash and stop his killing spree for good. And it is one that Barry has taken on before in his comic book history.

Recently, Barry was forced to team-up with the Reverse-Flash to take down the cosmic villain Paradox. While Thawne kept pressuring Barry to travel back in time and kill their new enemy before he made his villainous transformation to change history, the Scarlet Speedster refused to murder Paradox as a human. Ultimately, Barry's persistence won the day, with the speedsters changing history by preventing Paradox from forming, redeeming him instead of killing him. This victory was quickly undercut when Thawne brutally murdered Godspeed, Barry's old friend who had become an antihero speedster in his own right.

RELATED: The Flash: Two DC Supervillains Get Their Own Batmobiles

The Flash Reverse-Flash Plan

In the wake of Godspeed's death, Iris West and Kid Flash both notice Barry has since become more brooding and withdrawn while he contemplates his next move. As Barry meets with his protege, Iris reaches the conclusion Barry intends to kill Eobard Thawne once and for all, an assertion Barry does not visibly deny. And while it is certainly shocking that the Scarlet Speedster is willing to kill his greatest enemy, Barry has killed Thawne before.

Prior to Barry's death in Crisis on Infinite Earths, Thawne grew progressively more obsessed with replacing Barry as the Flash, even approaching his wife Iris romantically. After Iris rejected him, an enraged Eobard murdered Iris, leaving Barry in mourning until he found love again with Fiona Webb. On the day of Barry's wedding to Fiona, the Reverse-Flash resurfaced and threatened her. To keep the villain from killing his new bride, Barry shocked everyone by snapping Thawne's neck in 1983's The Flash #324. The act haunted Barry for much of his life leading up to the Crisis, with the hero even standing on trial for murder before being abducted by the Anti-Monitor.

RELATED: Deathstroke Gets His Most Humiliating Defeat Yet

Still, Eobard Thawne has been killed and resurrected multiple times over the course of Joshua Williamson's run on The Flash, so it's unclear what steps Barry will have to take to get rid of him forever. After all, Thawne has returned after being killed by both Doctor Manhattan and Iris during the course of the run. And sensing that his conflict against the Flash is reaching a murderous new climax, Thawne is already taking preemptive measures to stay one step ahead of Barry as he organizes an ensemble of the Scarlet Speedster's greatest enemies to form the Legion of Zoom. With the stage set for an epic, final showdown, Barry is about to delve into the darkest parts of himself to find out whether he has the conviction to kill his greatest enemy in what is sure to be a no-holds barred battle between the speedsters.

The Flash #756 is on sale now from DC.

KEEP READING: The Suicide Squad Got an Unexpected Assist From... a Justice League Member?