Chapter 17

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The aberration awoke with a start, teeth grinding immediately as the pain echoed across his skin, the tears bubbling along his eyeline. He gritted his teeth as he shifted, something he had never been able to do in the many months here, and he pushed through the pain, craning his head to look over his body. His lips quivered in disbelief, the anti-matter was gone, all that was left was the aching in bones and the phantom pains his skin felt.

He let out a small laugh of relief, tears of joy falling from the corners of his eyes as he let himself take in the beauty of the speedforce. It looked like a breathtaking sky at the brisk of nighttime, pink, orange, and blue swirling together as lightning crackled and struck continuously. There was an oddly comforting ambience provided by the strikes of lightning and the permanent storm that dwelled within the speedforce.

Then, something odd occurred. His once ever-moving and lightning filled surroundings had morphed into one more comforting and familiar, and he realized he was standing on the street that his childhood home sat on. He dragged himself forward, heels digging against the faux-asphalt as he pushed through the pain his body was still in.

He finally arrived, standing before the childhood home in wonder, thinking of all the wonderful memories, and then the night that changed it all. He sucked in a sharp before moving forward.

He crept up the steps slowly, partly due to caution, and partly because of his limited ability to move. He pushed opened the already ajar door, smiling as he sees his mother. But that fades as he remembers that this isn't real, this is a fantasy, made to make him lower his walls and trust, but there was no way in hell he was going to be friendly when he had just spent what felt like thousands of years drifting amongst the speedforce in pure agony. "Why am I here." He spoke forcefully. "Why are you showing me this."

Nora - or the form the speedforce manifested itself in - gave him a sort of sorrowful smile before releasing a deep sigh. "You - you're not him." It spoke, and confusion was etched into the man's face. "You're not the real Barry Allen." She affirmed, and he shook his head, letting out a scoff, before the speedforce rose to her feet and stepped towards him, resting her hand gently against he cheek. He flinched, the pain echoing against his skin, but she kept her hand their and he looked the speedforce in the eyes. "You have his memories, his emotions, but you're not the real Barry Allen." She spoke calmly, keeping her hand on his face. "I know you're confused, I am too. I have no idea how this happened. There was a rupture in the speedforce from the anti-matter, a pocket of negative energy ripping you from him. One became two."

The aberration pushed her hand away, shaking his head in denial as he took a few steps back. "No, no!"  He spat. "I died for them, and you gave me a second chance, to go back to them! Why won't you let me go back to Kara?!" He shouted, and she shifted uncomfortably as a single flicker of red lightning sparked against his tattered costume. "Why do I always suffer?!" He shouted, and despite the enormous amount of pain he was in, he sped away, leaving the speedforce behind in favor of the reality outside it.

He pushed forward with vigor, every step making the aching in his body increase tenfold.  As the aberration continued to run, his peripheral vision was suddenly caught by a flash of red lightning, and he grinded to a halt, almost falling to his knees as he gritted his teeth in discomfort. Was that Thawne? "Barry..." A voice echoed with almost no weight, and it made it impossible to tell where it was originating from. "No, you're not Barry Allen." The voices
growled from the darkness on the edge of the light. "Replaced by yourself.... he took everything from you. Your life, your job, the love of your life. He left you with nothing, except isolation, agony, and torture!"

He turned away from the voice, continuing running, attempting to ignore the voice crawling towards him. "You cant deny me! See for yourself, see how the speedforce, see how I, tell the truth!" The voice finally came to a close as he exits the speedforce, dropping onto the ground outside of Star Labs, panting, holding his ribs with clenched eyes.

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