WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Future State: The Flash #2 by Brandon Vietti, Brandon Peterson, Will Conrad, Mike Atiyeh & Steve Wands, on sale now
Future State has brought tragedy for many classic DC heroes, with the likes of Superman, Batman, and the Green Lantern Corps all facing disastrous new threats and status quos. But perhaps the worst yet is the fate that just befell the Flash.
In Future State: The Flash #2, Barry Allen was just turned into a Speed Force ghost by the Famine-controlled Wally West, dooming the classic speedster to merely watch on as the rest of the world collapses into chaos.
Barry Allen has committed himself to bring down his former sidekick, regardless of the cost. However, he's had fewer and fewer allies to work with as time has gone on: the corrupted Wally killed Wallace West years earlier, and murdered Jay Garrick during one last desperate attempt to restore him. Meanwhile, Bart Allen was killed while stealing technology from the Thinker, and Max Mercury has passed away from some mysterious disease. This leaves Barry Allen alone to face the corrupted Wally, using a hodge-podge of equipment, weapons, and gadgets originally constructed by the Flash Rogues. After two months of tinkering with them, Barry is finally ready to face off against his former protege.
By utilizing the technology of his enemies, Barry is able to contend with Wally despite his current lack of any Speed Force powers. Barry gets an opening to kill Wally by using technology inspired by the Turtle to fully slow him down. Barry still has hope he can save his old protegee though and reaches out to him once more. Famine tries to use this to his advantage, but Barry sees through his trickery and is able to just barely stay ahead of Famine's tactics. This is when Famine reveals itself fully to Barry, and the Flash has a terrible realization -- that Famine feasts upon hope, and has been drawing power from Flash and the rest of his allies this entire time. Using its powers, Famine is able to restore Wally's body and possess it again. But this time, it doesn't attack Barry with physical force.
Instead, the corrupted speedster uses the Speed Force to push Barry just a moment outside of time. Barry is transformed into a Speed Force ghost, incorporeal and incapable of reaching out to the rest of the world. Transformed into an ageless and endless being, Barry will have no choice but to just watch as the Horsemen continue to rampage across the world and destroy what remains of humanity. Barry ends up fading away, seemingly even unaware that CyBeast at least finds his Flash Ring and an account of what befell him.
Thanks to the fact that Barry will always be trying to find a way to overcome this predicament -- because Barry will never give up hope that he can save the day -- Famine will continue feeding on him, potentially forever. Barry has no other options but to disappear into nothingness, repeating his mantra to focus on the science, and to find hope through it. Barry's humanity has always been one of the things that separated him from the other major superheroes of the DC Universe, and his hope in a brighter tomorrow propelled him through space and time. But now, that hope has been turned into the ultimate weapon against not just him but the ones he loves. On top of that Barry is now forced to do nothing but observe the potential end of all things.