I wish I could make this moment last forever. 
The Flash (Volume 3) #12 is an issue of the series The Flash (Volume 3) with a cover date of July, 2011. It was published on May 11, 2011.
Synopsis for "Case Two: The Road to Flashpoint, Part Four"
Flash and Hot Pursuit are at odds. Hot Pursuit claims that a disaster is coming, which can be traced back to a chronal anomaly in this time. Hot Pursuit believes the anomaly is Kid Flash and is willing to kill the boy to safeguard the timeline. The Flash is ready to fight on his principle.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, Patty Spivot has come face-to-face with the actual anomaly - Professor Zoom, who just changed from a boy to an adult in front of her, and is also responsible for a spate of bizarre deaths. He mentions that after all his recent adventures, he has worked out that the Speed Force, once you strip away the connotations of lightning, is essentially compressed time - kinetic energy, entropy, motion, and the ability to subvert them. He killed those people to get a handle on his powers. He also discovered that he can catch glimpses of other peoples lives as he kills them. He plans to kill her on the off-chance he can learn something he can use against the Flash... meanwhile she has been able to warn the Flash. Flash, Kid Flash and Hot Pursuit set off to catch the villain, with the Flash taking first of all to save Patty.
Zoom tears off Hot Pursuit's helmet, and is shocked to discover that the hero is a version of Barry Allen, his archnemesis. Furthermore, while he cannot use this powers against Barry because Barry has to remain to power the Speed Force, he can use his abilities on this unconnected Barry. He does, and Flash returns to the scene of the crime just in time to swear revenge for the murder of his alternate. The three surviving speedsters take off, but Zoom ducks into a crowd and disguises himself as a far older man, leaving the two heroes perplexed and lost.
In the police station, Barry checks on Patty. Although Patty is unscathed, she feels she made a mistake in coming back to Central City, revealing that when she worked as Barry's assistant, she had a crush on him. However, she felt that since he was obsessed over his mother's case, she felt that she had to back away until Barry could close that chapter of his life. But when Barry finally became more open, he fell in love with Iris. In that moment, Iris appears, and Patty leaves, not wanting to have an awkward moment.
Later on, Barry and Iris are having a talk in coffee house. She is concerned because he is turning into a workaholic again. He explains that he grew out of that because he managed to stop blaming himself for his mother's death. However, with the revelation that Professor Zoom - one of his enemies - traveled through time and killed his mother, those feelings have come back. Iris says that he has friends and family, and he can forgive himself for the actions of his enemy.
Later that day, Barry goes to leave flowers on his mother's grave and apologize for his part in her death. As he walks away, Professor Zoom goes there. contemplating everything he learned that day, he decides to use it - and pushing his power as far as it will go, he causes a flash of red lightning to streak across the sky, causing everything to change - in a flash...
Appearing in "Case Two: The Road to Flashpoint, Part Four"
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Notes
- This issue is reprinted in The Flash: The Road to Flashpoint.
- This issue is a direct narrative predecessor to Flashpoint, in that we actually see the action of Professor Zoom which causes the timeline to change. Flashpoint's first issue was released the same day as this one.
See Also