WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Flash: Fastest Man Alive #4, by Gail Simone, Clayton Henry, Marcelo Maiolo, Rob Leigh, Cully Hammer and Andrew Marino, now available.

The Flash has access to the Speed Force, one of the most powerful reservoirs of power in the DC Universe. Thanks to the Speed Force' power, the Flash can defy the laws of physics, travel faster than light, speed forward and backward across time and shift from reality to reality. With the Speed Force, the Flash conquered the Anti-Monitor, rewrote reality, and maintained the constant flow of the space-time continuum.

However, the Speed Force isn't a purely positive force. There is one huge drawback to the power that when used by someone like Eobard Thawne, the Reverse-Flash who rules the world of The Flash: Fastest Man Alive #4, where he's using the Speed Force's addictive qualities to manipulate an entire population of people.

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In Thawne's alternate 25th century future, Thawne has spread the legend of the Flash through various edutainment media. Beyond that, Thawne reshaped his society to exist around his fanboy love of Barry Allen and his world, which led to him allowing the whole population of the planet to gain access to the Speed Force.

The citizens of Zoom City are given temporary access to the Speed Force, as permitted by its ruler Thawne. So long as they don't use the force outside their permitted time periods -- coordinated by colored clothing -- they are allowed to indulge by speeding along. Because of the freedom, excitement and sheer zeal of these few moments of superspeed, the residents of Zoom City worship Zoom as a god, erecting statues to his honor and name.

However, as we learn through Shift -- Lt. Beth Arden of the Speed Force Resistance -- the people of Zoom City don't really love Zoom so much as they love the power he allows them to use. Many of them are addicted to the sheer appeal of speed travel, which Barry Allen admits is incredibly addictive. That is not to say the Speed Force is chemically addictive. In the same way that adrenaline junkies chase their next high via daring stunts, those who have tasted the Speed Force want to travel as fast as the Flash again and again, to the point where they'll surrender their freedoms to an evil overlord to gain a second, third or fourth chance of it.

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The Speed Force is not so addictive that it drives people into sheer madness. As we see, people are willing to only use the Speed Force when allowed to in their designated time periods, in part because Zoom has troops who will shock them and possibly kill them, as Barry learned firsthand. However, the addiction does drive them to give up their personal freedoms to a madman.

However, this begs the question: does this negatively impact the Flash or other core speedsters? For the most part, that doesn't seem to be the case. The Flashes all get chances to use the Speed Force on a regular basis, often for the betterment of others. While the Flash and DC's other core speedster heroes might chase that adrenaline rush from time to time, they have responsibilities that compel them to use that need for speed for the betterment of society.

Unlike addiction to the drug Venom, the Speed Force doesn't seem to alter the chemistry of one's brain to make them need that "drug." Therefore, there's no need for the Flash to detox from the Speed Force anytime soon. While the citizens of Zoom City might have had their wills broken by the Speed Force, the same can't be said for Barry Allen.

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