Time After Time ϟ Barry Allen [2]

21- Reign of Crisis (pt. 3)

CRISIS ON THE INFINITE EARTHS PART FOUR

We are beyond being screwed over. We are beyond the beyond even.
"I'm going to be super honest with you, Luthor. Giving you the Book of Destiny was the worst mistake ever, in the most literal plain of existence," I had said. I had said that at one point. Its been forever is what it feels like. Barry went missing... again. I lost track of when relative to when we got here. 
   A blur of lightning flies by all of us at the failed dimensional teleporter. Barry lands beside the back wall, his face drips in sweat. "Where am I?" 
   "Barry!" I run over to him, "thank God." 
   Lex makes a scoffing noise, "there is none." 
   "Shut up, asshole," I snap at him. "Barry, where did you go?" 
   "You're at the Vanishing Point," Kara tells him. 
   "Its been months," Kate informs The Flash. 
   "No, its can't be, I just left two seconds ago... to the Speed Force. I tried, but there's... almost nothing to go to. It was like running up a mountain at mach 10, I couldn't... There's no way out." He gets to his feet, starting to stress. 
   "Barry, listen, you need to rest," Kara says. 
   "I have to try again." 
   "That's a bad idea," Sara warns. "The effort alone could kill you." 
   "Its better than staying here." 
   "Barry, you need to calm down. Okay?" I grip him by the shoulders. 
   "No. How can you stand with them when everyone we know is dead? Joe, Iris, Cisco, Caitlin and Ralph. How could you...?" 
   "How could I?" I raise my eyebrows. "I am your wife, Barry. I'm here and I'm not leaving anyone. Don't tell me otherwise, and don't... I can't believe you right now. Why would you even say that to me?"  
   Everyone is silent as we argue. We stare daggers at one another, with harsh electricity crackling in our angered nerves. I have seen Barry being close to broken before, but now he's surely snapped. How can he possibly judge me for our only option out? 
   Barry walks by me, "this isn't right, Sky. You know that." 
   "You're right. Its not, but you have to..." 
   "You're not going anywhere," Sara cuts me off. 
   "Hey, Barry, Sky's right," Kara says. "You need to calm down and rest. Maybe the Speed Force is our last hope--" 
   "It is," a deepened voice answers. "The Speed Force is the key to saving you, the key to saving everyone." 
   We all turn to a newcomer, a very pale, green cloaked... 
   "Oliver?" Barry questions. 

"Yes and no," Oliver responds. "I am Oliver Queen, but I'm something more now. I'm a spectre of the multi-verse. The nine of us will not be enough to stop the Anti-Monitor at the beginning of time." 
   "You have our attention," J'onn says. 
   "Mar Novu tried to travel to the beginning of time long ago from the planet Maltus, but instead opened a breach to an opposite anti-universe with the Anti-Monitor." 
   "And prevent the Monitor from freeing his doppelganger? I'm in," Kara states. 
   "Travel to an alien world? So in," Ryan says. 
   "Same," Lex volunteers. Kara looks at him. "Please," he rolls his eyes. "You wouldn't let me out of your sight for a millisecond." 
   "We can both get there through the Speed Force. But I can't get into the Speed Force right now. That's probably because there's no multi-verse left, but you're in tune with it so..." Barry looks at Oliver for a suggestion. "Maybe you could help with that?" 
   "What you're asking me is very dangerous, Barry," Oliver replies. 
   "Please, we've got to. Everything is at stake." 
   Oliver does not respond right away and taps the speedster's forehead. "I have unlocked the power for you." 
   "By tapping my head?" 
   "Use this power wisely." 
   "Whoa," I utter, "Oliver's got the power of a god." 
   "Not a god, Sky. Just a man with a greater purpose," he glances at us. "Do you both trust me?" 
   "Are you Oliver Queen?" Barry asks. 
   "Yes." 
   "Then I trust you with every cell in my body." 
   "Good. Now, run Barry. Run." 
   Barry and I exchange a knowing look. Then before I know it, we're at the beginning of time. I get knocked off kilter when Barry sets me down and stumble right into Oliver. 
   "How are you still here?" I ask him. "We saw you die." 
   "I'm somewhere in between, lets put it that way," the former Green Arrow replies. 
   "I just haven't seen you this pale since I used myself as a charger for your mainframe computer system's battery." 
   Oliver chuckles, "well, I've seen better days. That's for sure. How are you these days?" 
   "I've seen better days too. Back when we weren't the only living beings in existence and not waiting two hours for a Starbucks coffee." 
   "Glad to see your humor hasn't changed since I last saw you." 
   "Our battle isn't over, so I haven't crapped out yet." I glance around at our surroundings, "hey, Ollie, where are we exactly? This doesn't look like the beginning of time, this looks like Central City, or Attin City... how?" 
   "We're in a part of the Speed Force, until Barry can find you and the others. I bound us here from our memories and connections, but not for long." 
   "Okay, but I still don't get..." I pause as he starts to fade into the background. "Right. Speed Force powers." 
   "Sky, what are you doing here?" a voice questions. 
   I turn around to see Cisco and Caitlin looking at me. "Hi, guys." 
   "Where's Barry?" Cisco asks. "I thought you were stopping King Shark together." 
   "He's... around. Somewhere." 
   "I don't remember Cisco giving you a suit upgrade," Caitlin notices the more vibrant colors. 
   "Actually, Barry and I have upgrades, but that's not my point. My point is that this right now, is not a real encounter." 
   "I don't get it," Cisco states. 
   "Neither do I," Caitlin agrees. 
   "I'm in the Speed Force," I say. Then I get swept off my feet by Barry at the moment, with light streaming from all sides. I wrap my arms around him as everything blurs by. "I was wondering when you'd come back, Flash." 
   "I'd come back for you no matter what, Strike. Even if it killed me," Barry smiles. His glinting green eyes meet my brown ones, and then I'm reminded why I wanted to marry him. I always am when he looks at me like that. "And it'd kill me if I didn't get to tell you that I'm sorry for yelling at you." 
   "I forgive you," I reply. 
   "You do?" 
   "Why wouldn't I? I love you, Barry. More than you could possibly ever know." I'm placed on the ground where an apocalyptic world awaits all of us. 
   "Where are we?" Kara asks. 
   "We're in the Anti-Matter Universe," Barry states. 
   "The Monitor has already been here, at the Beginning of Time," J'onn responds. 
   "That's impossible, I got through to him," Ryan protests. "I know I did." 
   "There is no escape," a nearly robotic deep rumbles. "You have only spoken to one man across universes. There will always be one Novu who cannot be convinced, so welcome to my new creation." 
We all turn to see the Anti-Monitor raising his new begins from the ground. It was almost like he were God Himself. 

"I'd ask 'who the hell are you', but its clear this is the Ender of Worlds right here," I remark. 
   "You need to hold the line," Oliver as Spectre tells us. "We would have to rebirth the universe and make it anew. I'll light the spark while you fan the flame. We can save those in danger, but you would have to trust me. Do you trust me?" 
   "We do," I reply to him. "We're with you." 
   "Lets do this," Kara says. 
   We leap into action, ready to defend the fate of existence itself. I hurl myself into the fray of the Anti-Monitor's shadow demons, sending out a large radius of energy. 
   Teleporting from place to place on the battlefield, I hardly miss a beat in my attacks. Then all of the flying terrors fizzles out into dark vapors. 
   "Where's Oliver?" Sara asks as we regroup. 
   "There," Kate points to a field of explosive power. 
   "'I'll start the spark while you fan the flame'," Barry recalls. 
   Kara turns to Lex, "he said you would know what to do." 
   Lex takes out a page of the Book of Destiny. "This could come in handy." 
   "What? So you can be an evil mastermind and destroy us?" I question. 
   "Please, Electrical Strike, that's my goal all the time. Think bigger and brighter, if its possible for you," he retorts. 
   "Hold on, we can use the book to help rewrite," Kara responds. "We can focus on what we were meant to, our Paragons." 
   "Except you kind of missed something," Barry looks at me. "What about Sky?" 
   "I'm still here, aren't I?" I take his hand, "this is a group effort. And we're going to win." 

Author's Note: 
The moment we've been waiting for... the finale. But I kind of don't get how Oliver died twice when he's already dead. Like you die once and that's it, you're toast, unless you're an immortal being or Raz Al'Guhl (also an immortal being). 

Man, this is gonna be crazy. I'm a little behind on my Arrowverse stuff, but I'm working on it. Wait a second, does this mean that the Titans are on the same Earth, since most of the worlds emerged? That means Barry is going to probably try to kick Dick Grayson's ass, because they got some form of competition for Sky. 

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   ~ SHIELD-Avenger