Superflash - Hope and Lost Love

Chapter 25 - Invasion! (Part 4)

"Where did you go?" Powergirl asked.

"The dominator's ship." Barry said.

"What did they want with you?" Batman asked.

"They stole some of my speed. I'm still fast. Faster than Max, but not as fast as I used to be." Barry said, gesturing at Max Mercury.

"How do you know my name?" Max asked.

"I listened to your conversation earlier. Anyway, back on topic, the dominators want to destroy all of Earth." Barry said, as the group's eyes widened in shock and they gasped.

"How?" Max asked.

"A canon. A huge one." Barry said.

"Wait a minute. I don't think they stole your speed because you were supposedly the only one fast enough to stop them." Batman noticed.

"They need it for something else." Barry realised, making sense of what he saw on the ship while simultaneously slapping himself for not figuring it out earlier.

"Now we need to figure out what that is." Batman said.

"No need, I know what it was." Barry said, as everyone gestured for him to explain. "I saw this kind of a ring around the super-canon, and it was the kind of stuff that needed trillions of terajoules to power. They want to use my speed to power it, but thankfully, I escaped before they got too much, so they probably don't have enough power to destroy Earth."

"But they can destroy a lot of our world." Batman said grimly.

"Yeah. Probably Central City, because they said they wanted to kill the meta-humans, and central is kind of the home of crazy powered metas. But there is a good part." Barry said.

"What?" Batman asked, in the mood for good news.

"They probably haven't figured out how to use my speed, because Central City isn't dust yet. I'd say we have no more than a day before the dominators figure out how to insert my speed into a person." Barry estimated.

"We can't handle this alone." Powergirl said.

"No, we can't. Can one of you call the green arrow and his team. I can get backup from somewhere else. Max, can you come with?" Barry asked.

"Yeah. Yeah sure." The amateur speedster compared to Barry said.

"What are we doing?" Max asked. Max had followed Barry to an empty desert somewhere in Africa.

"We are creating a breach." Barry said.

"What are you talking about?" Max asked.

"I'll explain later, but I need you to run behind me, creating extra energy for me to create a breach with, so you can catapult me into the inter-dimensional corridor." Barry explained.

"So you are essentially going to another Earth or time?" Max asked.

"Yeah. How did you know?" Barry asked in amazement.

"I've been studying my powers. I had my suspicions." Max said.

"Nice, we are actually going to another Earth, well I am. You can't come as there may be a need for backup, so at least one speedster should stay here." Barry said.

"Why can't you stay? Come on, the chance to see another Earth? Plus, you are the better speedster. If there was a threat, I wouldn't be much help." Max said, hoping to get to go to a real parallel universe.

"Do you know how to open a breach, and do you know where to find the heroes of that Earth?" Barry asked.

"No." Max said, caving.

"Maybe I can teach you one day, but first we need backup." Barry said.

The two speedsters ran as fast as they possibly could. Almost half of Barry's speed was gone. It felt weird for him.

Soon, a blue portal opened, and Max threw Barry into it, contemplating wether or not to listen to the experienced speedster and follow, deciding in the end to obey what he said.

On Earth-38, Barry ran to CatCo, hoping to find Kara there, but at the building she saw Supergirl on a TV screen stopping an armed robbery.

Barry quickly ran to the bank getting robbed, stopping the crime before running Supergirl away from the city.

"I had that." Kara said angrily.

"I know you did, but I need your help." Barry said seriously.

"Oh, what is it?" Kara asked.

"I can't explain right now, there isn't time, but can you just wait here?" Barry asked.

"Why?" Kara asked back.

"I need to get a certain man of steel too." Barry said.

"Oh. Alright." Kara said, understanding how serious the issue would be if Barry needed not one but two super-powered kryptonian's help.

Barry sped as fast as he could to Metropolis, knowing well that every second would count in coming up with a plan, and executing it to take down the dominators. Normally Barry didn't have to worry about speed, it was actually the reverse. If he ran too fast, he could rise tearing apart the Earth.

Superman was handling a pile-up with tens of cars, and Barry quickly sped around, zipping in and out of each car, saving everyone.

"Hey Barry." Clark said.

"Hey Clark, I need your help." Barry said seriously.

Clark nodded, understanding the situation would be dire if Barry, the fastest man alive had to call for help.

"Why was your lightning greyish?" Clark asked, after he noticed Barry's lightning wasn't the same pure white as it normally was.

"I'll explain later, but we really need to go now." Barry said with urgency written all over his voice.

Barry sped Clark to where Kara was waiting.

"We need to go back to my Earth, and you need to help me do that." Barry said.

"But didn't you come and go easily without us?" Kara asked.

"Yeah, but I lost some of my speed on my Earth. It's simple to create a breach, I just need you two to create energy with me, and a blue portal will soon open up. Then we run into it, and you guys just need to follow me and not get distracted." Barry said.

"Why would we get distracted?" Kara asked.

"You may see your past and future in the trans-dimensional corridor. Even other Earths. If you just stay focused on me, you won't get distracted by these things." Barry said, before motioning to the two kryptonian's to run with him.