This is in response to Karry Beta's Karry Challenge. I figured since no one seems to want to do anymore, I'd come up with my own.
Disclaimer: I own nothing
The world slowed down. Barry is begging Savitar to put Iris down. To take her place. But Savitar is not deterred. This is the moment. The moment where everything Team Flash has been attempting to prevent has failed, and he rises from the ashes.
It worked. Months of planning all for nothing. Every step in their planned has been carefully accounted for. The speed bazooka, Killer Frost, nothing can stop him now.
As he lifts Iris in his hand, taunting the Flash to even take a step forward. There is nothing he can do, but watch the love of his life die, just as he had predicted from the beginning, and he will be born.
"You stuck me in the Speed Force for an eternity of hell. Now welcome to yours." Savitar announces to Barry. Joe not even a thought to his mind that he is pointing a rifle at his head. It wouldn't do anything either way.
"No, don't do this," Barry pleads, his hand stretched out. "Don't do this!" "Now, finally I am free of you!" Savitar tells him, raising his hand to release the blade to plunge into Iris, Barry's pleads fall on deaf ears.
"Barry…" Iris calls out, sobbing, almost trying to say something. "I'm begging you just…" Barry tries again. "Barry!" Iris calls out once more. Her chest heaving as she takes in her final moments.
"You lose, Barry," Savitar says, saying his name with so much hate that it might as well have been venom. With that, he extends his blade from his suit, pulls it back, ready to commit the final deed.
Lightning sparks around Barry as he rushes forward, trying to stop him from accomplishing his task. "No…!"
Try as he might, Barry knows he won't make it. They failed. He failed. For months, he's known about this moment. That this will be the final time he will ever see Iris again. And he wasted so much of it blinded by his desire to be the hero, when he should have been spending as much time with her as possible.
In his slowed perception, he takes in everything. The glow of his lighting behind him, Joe still pointing his rifle at Savitar, even the swaying of the trees from the wind he creates as he runs. And finally Iris. Beautiful, perfect Iris. The Iris he was supposed to be marrying.
As he runs, memories flash before his eyes. He finds it ironic since it's the one who is dying that gets flashes, but he supposes that a part of him is dying as well.
He sees Iris from the first time they meet. Going to school, after school, watching TV. He sees all the birthdays, Christmases, Halloweens and their matching costumes. He sees them talking before the particle accelerator, and her being mugged. All the times they've met when he was the Flash and she didn't even know it. And the time when he confessed his feelings to her.
As he reaches the stairs, more memories begin to come, but they are pushed to back of his mind as he watches Savitar jam his blade through Iris's back and protrudes out of her torso.
With that, Savitar leaves in a flash of white lightning and Barry catches her in his arms as she falls. She's dead before she even touches him. He knows it, because there's a small part of himself not there anymore.
One second. Not even a second, a span measurable in Planck time. He was so close. He was so close and he failed her. He failed them.
But denial keeps him from accepting it. With Iris in his arms now, he begs her to open her eyes. To give any indication that she is alive. He touches her face, shaking her lightly as if she is only asleep. Tears begin to form in his eyes and his vision becomes blurry. He remembers his future self tell him that when she takes her final breath, it will feel like an eternity. He doesn't even get that. There's no breath. No twitch, not even a thump of her heart.
Her eyes are closed and despite the hole in her chest and the blood seeping out of it, Barry thinks to himself that this is the most peaceful he has seen her in a long time.
Once the reality of the fact that she is dead, Barry pulls her closer to himself, unwilling to let her go. Thoughts swirl around in his head. 'She's dead, I failed, What's Joe going to say?'
He holds Iris for a few moments longer, unaware that they others have arrived and are right behind him. When he finally rises from his position, he looks to the others with raw determination. There are no words that need to be spoken, as Barry lifts Iris's soaking corpse in his arms and flashes away to STAR Labs. There's work to be done.
It takes a while, but they manage to locate Savitar in the middle of the forest. When they see Savitar attempt to splice himself across time, and fail, they come out to face him one last time.
With the help of Wally and Jay, they chase him all over, trees falling and ground ripped out from where they run. Finally they come to a stop.
Wally and Jay are elsewhere and Barry is sprawled across the ground in front of Savitar. "You thought you could stop me? It doesn't matter what happens now. Iris is dead! You failed, and I live! There is nothing left but time!" Savitar gloats as he has Barry on his knees, at his feet.
Once he has soaked up the feelings of victory, he turns away to kill the rest of Team Flash and lay siege to Central City.
In anger, Barry lifts himself up, and phases into the suit, pushing his time remnant out. The lights from the suit flicker from blue to red, giving a more sadistic tone.
"I'm going to kill you!" Barry shouts. "How does it feel? To get so close only to see your world crumble before your eyes!"
The time remnant simply stares at him with an open eye. "It's written," he says. "Nothing's written!" Barry denies.
Savitar rises and tries to fight, only for Barry to overpower him with his metallic suit, his drive for revenge powering him through and strengthening his attacks. He brings Savitar to his knees in front of him. Extending the same blade that killed Iris, Barry can't help but think it's poetic justice.
Savitar simply smirks. "Do it! You kill me, you become me! No matter what you do, it will always come back to this. Me, here, on this ground, alive, while Iris is in a box. You can't escape destiny Flash! Look at yourself, you're a monster!" he ends, his smirk still plastered on his face.
Barry's fist trembles. He doesn't know what is right or wrong anymore. Just as he is lowering his raised fist, he pushes it forward in a sharp motion, sinking it into Savitar's torso. He collapses on the ground, blood gushing out of him in waves. Barry can't help but feel the smug satisfaction of his small victory.
With his blade dripping blood, he vibrates his body so fast that he destroys the suit. Looking down to stare at his own, half-burned face, Savitar's smirk still stays on him.
Looking up to see his friends, Cisco and Caitlin, gaze upon him with horror, he promptly ignores them as he picks up the dead body to get rid of. He doesn't feel like talking right now.
It's a few days later. The sun is shining with not a cloud in the sky. People from all over have come to say their final goodbyes to Iris. Oliver, Sarah, Dig, even Kara from Earth 38.
They are all just standing in front of the tombstone with Iris's name on it. They watch as the coffin is brought out to display, they all place a rose on top. They watch as it is lowered into the hole, and begins to be covered in dirt. They watch as the soil begins to dry from the heat of the sun, and they watch as people begin the leave and say the apologies to the family.
The sun begins to set and the only ones left are Barry, and Kara who volunteered to stay with him, and Joe and the rest of Team Flash mourn over their fallen comrade.
Eventually, they move to a bench where they can still see the new addition to the cemetery. Barry gazes forlornly to the tomb, with Kara rubbing his back in comfort.
Finally, Barry tears his gaze away from the headstone and looks to Kara. Feeling his pent up feelings of depression come out, Barry buries his head into Kara's chest and releases heart wrenching sobs.
Kara simply holds onto Barry as he lets out his feeling of sadness, even at the cost of her new shirt being ruined.
As Barry begins to settle down, he starts to talk to himself, "It's all my fault, it's all my fault that she's dead. I caused this." Kara is able to hear his mumbles with her super-hearing and lifts Barry's head to face her.
"Barry, listen to me. This is not your fault." she begins. "But it is." Barry insists. "Savitar is me! He is the one who killed her, and I am the one who will become him. There's no escaping fate."
"Barry, we all create our enemies. And I believe in you. You won't become that person." Kara tells him.
"And how do you know that?" Barry asks.
"Because I know you, Barry. You are Barry Allen. You are the bravest, most selfless, and caring person I know. And things may seem hard, but they get better. I promise." Kara reassures him.
"It just feels like everytime I win, I still lose. I killed Savitar." Barry reveals. "I killed him, and it felt good. I looked into his eyes, and I saw a life. One with hardship and pain, but a life. And I took it away. And every time I think back to that moment, I am filled with glee as I remember the feeling of sinking that blade into his body." Barry looks down in shame. "What am I supposed to do with that?"
Kara looks at him for a moment, staring deep into his eyes as she thinks of her response. Finally, she comes up with, "There's nothing wrong in taking satisfaction in your enemies downfall. It's part of being human. No one is completely without their flaws." She looks at him with caring eyes.
"You'll see. As long as you have hope, and the people around you believe in you, you will never be stuck in that endless pit of darkness. I believe in you Barry, don't you ever forget that." She places a kiss on his forehead as they drift into a comfortable silence.
With only the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves of the trees, they both lean into each other. Breaking the silence, Barry speaks. "I know we're here for me, but, I believe in you too Kara Danvers. And if you ever need a shoulder to cry on yourself, I'm always there for you." He smiles to her. She smiles back. "And I'm always here for you too," Kara develops a teasing smirk. "Scarlet Speedster,"
They both let out a small chuckle. "Oh, so that's how it is, huh Girl of Steel?" Barry responds.
"Race back to STAR Labs?" Kara challenges. "Are you challenging me to a race Supergirl? Because you will lose," Barry says her condescendingly. "I think I am Flash. What are you going to do about it?" Kara smiles to him.
"I say," Barry stands and crouches down to his knees. "On your marks," Kara joins him on the ground. "Get set," he continues. Both ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. "GO!" they both yell out, and a strong gust of wind tears through the area.
In the streets, streaks of blue and yellow are seen, side by side, although Kara knows that he is holding back just for the sake of it.
Smiles on both their faces and they see their destination in the distance. For the first time, Barry isn't plagued with thoughts on what could have been with Iris focuses on the here and now.
Life goes on. The world keeps turning. There's no single moment. There's no way of knowing what the future holds in store. But he knows that with friends like Kara, he'll get through them. Because there is no one way of doing things. Because that's life. There's only one thing about it that we all know, and that it's unpredictable.
If anyone were in STAR Labs, specifically the Time Vault, well, the room itself would remain the same. But if anyone were to ask for a newspaper, specifically for April 24, 2024, they would see it change.
The title remains, "FLASH MISSING IN CRISIS!" The contents are still all there. Word for word. But if anyone were paying attention to the byline, they would see the name, Julie Greer, flicker out of existence. Only to be replaced by two bold words.
KARA ALLEN
So that's that. Honestly, I'm not very happy with how this turned out. Today was just the last day of the challenge and there were only three entries, so I figured I would try my hand at it. I was never even planning to do this. This is my first work ever. And to be honest, I never thought I would ever make a story and see the end of it. Even if it was just a one-shot.
Anyway, tell me what you thought of it. It doesn't matter either way to me. Thanks for taking the time to read it. Bye.