Justice League: A New Dawn

Not The Same As The Past

Chapter 6

Not The Same As The Past

Batcave

Diana, Barry, Jason, Terry, and Lex sat at the round table discussing how to stop Thawne and the history that Barry missed. Terry had introduced himself to Barry already. It wasn't a long introduction, everyone had work to do. They discussed how the Justice League fell and rose, and fell again. They also discussed the Crime Syndicate and the Justice Lords and how the both teams almost took over the world. They even discussed how Barry war slowing down and couldn't run at his fastest speeds. However, Diana, Jason, Terry, and Lex had some explaining to do on why they would create an alliance with Luthor.

"What do you mean you partnered with Luthor!?" Barry shouted in fury. "You do realize he's tried to kill Superman dozens of times, right?"

"Barry, I'm not like that anymore. Before he died, Clark and I formed a mutual respect, almost a friendship. I realized he wasn't the horrible, evil alien I thought he was." Lex stated.

"We need Lex in this fight against Thawne. If it weren't for him we'd be dead. The Flash I knew died because we didn't have plans like his'." Terry said to Barry. "Bruce and Clark died because we didn't have people like him."

Barry let out a sigh, "I let him pass." Barry turned to Luthor, "But if there's even a hint of the old you, I will take you down before you even realized it."

"By all means, do so." Lex commanded. A long moment of silence passed.

Barry broke the silence want to know more about Terry, "So, you're Bruce's son?"

"Sorta. There's was a bunch of DNA fusing and stupid crap like that." Terry answered.

Jason changed the subject, "How are we going to stop Thawne? He's going to be here soon and we don't even have a God damn plan."

"I had the Mutants set up barricades and defenses around Gotham. They can hopefully hold off Thawne and his army for a little bit." Diana said.

"Hopefully doesn't sound like a positive word." Jason shot.

"We need to kill Thawne." Lex said.

Barry grabbed Lex by the neck and Luthor started gagging, "We don't kill our enemies Luthor."

"Wait, none of you told him?!" Luthor questioned.

"Barry," Diana said as she put her hand on Barry's shoulder, "Times have changed."

"Yeah, and the funny thing is, is that I was the only one who improved as a person throughout all this. Your friends started killing their enemies, I've turned good. I may not be perfect like everyone in the Justice League used to be but I am the only one who's improved as a human being." Luthor said to Barry.

"He's right." Terry said sadly, "Times aren't like they used to be."

"So you're telling me, you all became murders?!" Barry questioned.

"Barry it's not like that. We had to, Thawne became too strong." Terry informed.

"No, you don't have to kill anyone or anything. There's always a choice. Bruce... And Clark... They'd be disappointed." Barry reminded everyone about Bruce and Clark.

"Bruce and Clark are dead. They aren't here. When they were alive times were different, times were easier." Jason said. "Move on."

"Jason..." Diana signed.

"How about we move on." Lex suggested.

"How about we don't Luthor." Barry denied Lex's suggestion. "No one are the heroes they used to be, the heroes they could be."

"Barry you don't get it, do you?" Luthor questioned. "You're connected with the Speed Force right?"

"Yes and?" Barry questioned.

"The Speed Force brought you here from the past, you can go back and change everything, make it so this never happened. But Thawne has to be dead for you to gain enough access to the Speed Force to travel back in time." Lex explained. "Thawne is the reason why you are slowing down, he's the only thing in your way from reaching your full potential, your fastest speed."

"How do you know that?" Barry questioned.

"Before she died, the Flash I knew, Danica Williams, taught us everything about the Speed Force she knew. She gave us her journals, her studies... After she died, we gave up on going back in time but you're here now which means we could change everything." Terry explained.

"No, not by killing. This isn't the way to do it." Barry denied the plans of killing Thawne.

"It has to be done Barry." Diana commanded.