Battle at Sea

The following day was sunny and clear, but it wasn't the light of the sun breaking through Barry's window that awoke him. Rather, it was the voice of his seagull friend.

Cisco sounded more chipper than usual as he flew into Barry's bedroom via the open window and exclaimed, "Barry, wake up! Wake up! I just heard the news! Congratulations, pal, you did it!"

I did what now? Barry wondered as he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

Hartley groaned and retreated into his shell. "What's this moron babbling about?"

Cisco laughed, thinking Hartley was kidding around. "Don't be such a stick in the mud! You know what I'm talking about! It's the talk of the kingdom that Iris is getting herself hitched this afternoon!"

Barry shot up and his jaw dropped. Iris was what?

"You know, she's getting married!" explained Cisco. "And it's obvious as to who the lucky groom is!" He wrapped his wings around Barry's neck in an attempt to hug Barry. "The best of luck to you, Bar! I've got to go now, but I'll be there for the big moment. I wouldn't miss it!"

Cisco then flew out the window.

Barry was stunned by what he'd just heard. Iris was getting married? Did that mean she'd chosen Barry? Barry's heart leapt at the prospect and he found himself unable to deny the urge to do something spontaneous for Iris.

After giving Hartley a quick hug, Barry quickly dressed in his best clothes and combed his hair all neat and then ran down the stairs in eager anticipation. If Iris had indeed chosen Barry, then he was going to ensure her happiness and show her how much he cared. His mind was abuzz with thoughts and ideas of showing Iris his love, but then Barry was snapped out of his thoughts and froze in his tracks when he heard voices. Carefully, so that he wouldn't be spotted, Barry hid behind a pillar in the upper hallway as he watched the scene down below unfold.

Joe was downstairs and in front of him was Iris. She was standing beside a tall nobleman with dark ginger hair, and he had his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"Well, Iris, I've got to admit. I was wrong. This mystery man of yours, does actually exist," said Joe. But Joe didn't sound thrilled as he shook the stranger's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Gideon. Congratulations on your engagement.

What?! Barry couldn't believe what he was hearing. This stranger…Gideon…was claiming to be Iris's rescuer? That was impossible! Barry was the one that saved Iris's life! How could she believe this imposter was the one she was looking for? And how could she choose him after everything she'd said and done last night?

"We wish to be married as soon as possible," said Iris.

Barry's heart shattered into a million pieces at these words and he found himself unable to breathe. Iris was marrying Gideon? It couldn't be true! Barry wished it were nothing but a dream, but it wasn't. Iris had chosen her true love and it wasn't Barry.

"Yes, of course, sweetheart. How soon would you like the ceremony?" asked Joe.

"It's all been arranged. The wedding barge departs at sunset," said Iris.

No! Unable to bear listening anymore and having no desire to be seen, Barry inhaled sharply and then ran off to cry, unaware of what was truly happening between Iris and her fiancé.

XXX

Later that afternoon as the sun began to set, turning the sky into a beautiful explosion of red and gold, the wedding barge departed from the castle.

Everyone who wished to attend had been invited and was there to witness the wedding ceremony of Iris and her beloved prince. Everyone that is, except for Barry. Though Barry had been invited to attend the wedding, he'd declined the invitation and spent the rest of his day alone, nursing his broken heart. He was too upset to do much else. Barry couldn't bring himself to pretend to be happy about Iris's wedding when his heart was broken and he knew what was going to happen after sunset. It was too much to bear.

As Barry watched the wedding barge sail away from his hiding place on the docks, his legs shook and he sank to the ground, his body shaking with silent sobs. Barry then buried his face in his arms and wept.

Hartley crept up behind Barry and snuggled close in an attempt to comfort Barry. Linda came up to the surface and reached for Barry's hand, taking it in her own and giving it a comforting squeeze. They didn't know what else to do as they knew no words would take away Barry's pain. The sight of Barry's broken heart was breaking their own and they were fighting the urge to cry with him, as they didn't want to make it worse.

Barry was grateful for Hartley and Linda's comforting attempts and lifted his head for a few moments to give them both a tiny smile to show it. But still, the tears kept streaming down Barry's cheeks as he watched the wedding ship and all of his dreams and hopes for the future leave forever. As soon as the sun had fully set, Barry would become a merman again and return to the sea. It was killing Barry inside to watch it happen, but despite all the pain Barry was feeling right now, he didn't regret the choices he'd made.

In the last three days, Barry had gotten to experience life on land as a human, Barry had found his father and gotten to know him, Barry had also finally gotten close to Iris and knew for a moment how it felt to love and be loved in a romantic sense and he'd enjoyed every moment of his time on land. Barry only regretted that he didn't have more time to spend with his loved ones.

No matter the pain, love is worth any price we pay. It's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. Nora's words rang through Barry's mind. Even now while Barry's heart was broken, he agreed with his mother's belief about love.

Barry also held no anger towards Iris for not choosing Barry as her husband. Barry had told Iris to follow her heart and that's exactly what she'd done. Barry had hoped that Iris's heart would lie with him, but clearly it was Gideon. Despite his heartbreak, Barry refused to be selfish and interfere with Iris's wedding. If this Gideon fellow was the one she loved and wanted to marry, then so be it. Barry would respect her choice. If you truly loved someone, you'd let them go and that was exactly what Barry was doing. He only wished he'd been able to say good-bye.

"Barry?"

Barry looked up to see Henry kneeling beside him, looking both sympathetic and sad.

"I heard about what happened. I've been looking everywhere for you. Is there anything I can do for you?" asked Henry, softly.

Barry nodded and then he buried his face in his father's shoulder as he held Henry tight. All Barry wanted in that moment was to be with his father for as long as he could. Henry didn't speak, he just returned Barry's tight embrace and rubbed soothing circles on Barry's back. Neither father nor son attempted to let each other go.

XXX

Meanwhile, Cisco was flying around the wedding barge, humming the wedding march to himself when he heard something strange.

It sounded like Barry's voice, but it lacked Barry's emotions, which aroused Cisco's suspicions. Cisco followed the sound of the voice and peered in through the window. Cisco saw a stranger dressed in a groom's attire singing himself in front of the mirror on the vanity in a rather smug tone.

What a handsome young groom I'll make
My dear, I'll look divine
Things are working out according to my ultimate design
Soon I'll have Harrison's grandson
And the oceans will be mine!

When the stranger looked his reflection in the mirror, Cisco was horrified to see Eobard's reflection of the stranger's face.

"The Sea Warlock!" gasped Cisco. "Holy carp!"

If Eobard was here, then that meant Iris was marrying the Sea Warlock in disguise! But there had to be another reason to it. Cisco had seen Iris's interactions with Barry. She'd been falling in love with the little merman for his heart and character, not for a voice or lack thereof. Thinking fast, Cisco flew around the wedding barge looking for Iris. Soon enough, Cisco found her in her dressing room, looking stunning in her bridal gown, but then Cisco saw Iris's eyes. There was a golden light in Iris's eyes and no emotion that Cisco could see. That proved Cisco's suspicions. Iris was marrying Eobard in disguise and not of her own free will!

"Oh, holy carp!" exclaimed Cisco. "They're going to—I gotta—BARRY! BARRY!"

Quickly, Cisco flew to the pier where Barry was and then he struggled to catch his breath.

Barry broke apart from his father's embrace and stared at Cisco in bewilderment, as did Linda, Hartley and Henry.

"Barry, you're not going to believe what I saw! I was flying—" began Cisco.

"Of course you were flying," interrupted Hartley, irritated. "Get to the point!"

Cisco ignored Hartley. "I saw the watch—the warlock was watching the mirror and he was singing with a stolen set of pipes! And Iris's eyes were all gold and empty like she's under mind-controlling spell!" he screeched.

"Cisco, slow down!" said Linda. "What're you saying, exactly?"

Cisco let out an exasperated squawk as he grabbed Hartley and began banging him against the pier. "Do you hear what I'm telling you?! Iris—is—under—a—spell—and—is—marrying—Eobard—in—disguise!"

Hartley was now seeing stars.

Barry was shocked. Iris was marrying Eobard and not of her own free will?

"Are you sure about this?" demanded Henry. Generally he was a gentle man, but if this seagull was wrong and Barry's heart was about to be broken again, Henry would have no qualms about having the castle cook serve seagull a la king for supper.

Cisco frantically nodded. "When have I ever been wrong when it's something important?"

"We can't let this happen! We've got to stop him!" said Linda.

Barry stood up, furious and ready for a fight. He was a fool, a complete and utter fool! Barry knew the stories of Eobard's black heart, he knew what Eobard had cost Nora, he should've known better than to trust Eobard! But Barry had been too caught up in the promise of true love to see past Eobard's lies. Eobard had never intended for Barry to win Iris's heart, he'd just been setting up Barry to fail so Eobard could use Barry as leverage against Harrison for revenge! Well, Barry wasn't about to let that happen. The sun hadn't fully set yet, which meant there was still time before the spell granting Barry his legs became undone. Barry could still save Iris.

Barry then leapt into the sea, momentarily forgetting that he couldn't swim well as a human.

Henry leapt into action. He cut the ropes that kept his rowboat tied to the dock and tossed it to Linda, who caught it. Henry then grabbed Barry and pulled him into the boat.

"Linda, think you can get us to the ship quickly?" asked Henry.

"I'm not as fast as Barry, but I'll try!" said Linda. She tied the rope around herself and began swimming as fast as she could.

"I'll get to the Sea King and inform him of what's happening!" said Hartley, with renewed determination. "Birdbrain, find a way to stall that wedding!"

Cisco saluted Hartley as the crab dove into the sea. "Right away, captain!"

They had to succeed, they just had to!

XXX

Meanwhile, on the wedding barge, the ceremony was taking place.

In front of many guests, Iris was walking down the aisle with Eobard. Everyone was smiling at the sight of their princess getting married, everyone except for Wally. He was standing next to his tutor and glaring at Eobard. Wally didn't know how, but he just knew something was wrong with this picture. In Wally's opinion, Iris wouldn't be marrying this jerk she'd just met when she was clearly in love with Wally's merman friend unless something was seriously wrong with her. Unfortunately, no one would listen to Wally's suspicions, so he was forced to be quiet.

However, it didn't stop Wally from sticking his tongue out and glaring at Eobard as the man passed Wally by on the way to the altar. Eobard glared back and 'accidentally' stepped on Wally's foot in retaliation before returning his gaze to the altar just up ahead.

Once at the altar, Eobard felt rather smug as Iris recited her wedding vows. He glanced over his shoulder and smirked when he saw the setting sun. Just a few more moments and then Eobard would be able to enact the next part of his plan.

"Do you, Gideon, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?" asked the priest.

Eobard was about to reply when the sounds of Cisco's cawing and that of many more animals hit Eobard's ears. Suddenly, a flock of birds took a nosedive at Eobard before attacking him. The wedding ceremony quickly fell into chaos as the army of creatures, both land and sea, that Cisco had summoned, scared the living daylights of the wedding guests and attacked Eobard.

Pelican after pelican doused Eobard with seawater before he could do anything. One pelican dumped a large lobster on Eobard, which pinched his nose with its great big claw. Eobard didn't get a chance to yelp in pain before he was silenced by a large bunch of starfish that covered his mouth and the rest of his body. With great difficulty, Eobard began pulling them off.

"Get off of me, you slimy little—!" roared Eobard, but he was cut off when one of the seals began bouncing him like a ball. Eobard was tossed from one seal to another before landing in the wedding cake, creating an even bigger mess.

Eobard was on the verge of hexing the entire wedding party when a school of dolphins suddenly leapt up and squirted more seawater at him, soaking him to the bone. Barry arrived at that moment, but no one noticed him get onboard. They were too busy watching as Cisco then cawed so loudly in Eobard's face that he nearly went deaf. Eobard lost his temper at that moment.

"Why you—" Eobard grabbed Cisco by the throat and attempted to throttle the seagull as Cisco struggled to get Eobard's pendant off Eobard's neck.

Deciding to take action, Wally ran to Eobard, leapt onto his back and then bit the Sea Warlock's neck, causing Eobard to cry out in pain as he released Cisco. The resulting force caused Eobard's pendant to snap off Eobard's neck and then shatter into a million pieces.

With the shell destroyed, the spell on Iris was broken. The golden glow left Iris's eyes and she shook herself as her head became clear. "What…what's happening?" she murmured. She felt as if she was waking from a very long dream.

From the shattered remains of Eobard's pendant came a golden glow and the beautiful sound of Barry singing.

"Ah…ah…ah…ah…" The glow went straight for Barry's throat and moments later, Barry finished singing, his voice clear and sweet as a bell.

Iris stared at Barry in amazement. "Barry?"

"Iris," said Barry, smiling as he relished being able to speak again. "Oh, Iris…"

"I can't believe it! You can talk!" Iris ran straight into Barry's arms and he swept her into a tight embrace that she returned.

"Iris, get away from him!" yelled Eobard. The Sea Warlock covered his mouth and looked horrified at the sound of his own natural voice instead of Barry's stolen voice.

Everyone ignored Eobard.

Iris looked into Barry's eyes. "I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner. All this time I've been searching for the one who saved my life and it was you all along. I'm so sorry. Can you ever forgive me for being so blind?"

"Of course," said Barry. In Barry's mind there was nothing to forgive. All was well. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. You have no idea how badly I wanted to."

Iris made no verbal reply. She just smiled again and gently placed her hand on Barry's cheek, as he pressed his face into her palm. No words needed to be spoken between them. They understood each other perfectly.

"Iris, no!" screeched Eobard.

As Barry and Iris leaned in closer to one another for their long-awaited kiss, Barry gasped sharply and collapsed to the ground in agonizing pain as Eobard's spell became undone. Barry's clothes disappeared, his gills returned and his legs became a scarlet tailfin. He was a merman again.

"You're too late!" cackled Eobard.

Iris was rendered speechless as she stared at Barry in shock. Barry was a merman. It explained everything about him that Iris had wondered about, but she was still dumbfounded by the revelation of Barry's secret.

"I'm sorry," said Barry, his voice thick with emotion. "I never wanted you to find out like this."

"You're too late!" screeched Eobard.

The skies became dark with storm clouds, thunder rumbled and boomed and lightning split the sky as Eobard's disguise spell became undone, revealing his true form, which shocked everyone onboard the wedding barge.

Eobard blasted away any who dared try and stop him from reaching Barry, including Henry, who was wounded in the leg and rendered unconscious and then Eobard grabbed Barry.

"Sorry about this, Princess, but your boyfriend's mine now!" said Eobard, mockingly as he dove into the sea with Barry.

"Barry!" cried Iris.

XXX

Despite his efforts, Barry could not break free of Eobard's tight grip on his arm as the Sea Warlock dragged him down to the ocean floor.

"Let go of me, you monster!" yelled Barry.

Eobard glared at Barry, his bright red eyes glowed with anger and hated. "Silence! If you want to get out of this alive, you'll do exactly as I say! I couldn't care less about you, you pathetic little merman! It's not you I'm after. I've much bigger fish to fry!"

"EOBARD, STOP!" roared Harrison.

Out of nowhere came Barry's grandfather, seething with anger as he held his trident against Eobard's throat. Barry had never been so glad to see his grandfather before.

Eobard, however, didn't seem the least bit perturbed by Harrison's presence. "Well, if it isn't my beloved brother. Long time no see, Harrison. You're looking well," he said, sweetly.

Harrison didn't take kindly to the thinly veiled patronizing in Eobard's tone. "Let Barry go!"

Eobard's face darkened with rage. "Not a chance, Harrison! He's mine now!" Eobard snapped his fingers, causing Zolomon and Zoom to appear and hold Barry back and Barry's contract to appear. "It just so happens that your precious grandson made a deal with me and signed a contract."

"What?!" exclaimed Harrison, shocked. He looked at Barry. "Barry, tell me you didn't!"

Barry couldn't deny it. "I did," he confessed. "I'm sorry, but I love Iris and I was desperate! I didn't know what else to do! I never meant for this happen!"

Harrison didn't reply. He just blasted the contract with his trident, but nothing happened.

Eobard looked smugger than ever. "Oh, come now, brother. You should know better than that! The magic infused my contracts makes them legally binding and completely unbreakable, even for you. Now, if you want Barry back, then I suggest you try a more civilized approach or I might just decide to get rid of this brat like I got rid of his mother."

Harrison stared at Eobard in confused shock. "What?" he whispered.

Eobard grinned as he snapped his fingers and then for the first time since that terrible day, Barry saw the figure in yellow lightning.

"It was you!" cried Barry. His tone was a mixture of shock and anger. "You were there that day on the surface! You killed my mother! Why?"

"Because your mother betrayed me!" hissed Eobard. "She begged me to make her human so she could be with that pathetic human mongrel and I granted her wish. All she had to do was get me the trident, but no. Nora couldn't bear to betray her precious father no matter what it cost her so she regened on our bargain! Well, I couldn't allow such an insult to live, now could I? But I had to wait for the opportune moment, and what better moment was there than when you and she were on the surface yet again?

"I'd watched you for years, so I knew you were the perfect leverage. What better way to get revenge and drive a wedge between you and Harrison than to get rid of Nora while she was on land with you, yet again? If Nora's life ended on the surface, Harrison would only believe a human was responsible for her death and it'd push you away from him and into my open arms. And it worked! You practically did my work for me!"

Harrison felt a wave of guilt and shame. All these years, he'd blamed humans for Nora's death, allowed his grief and anger to drive a wedge between him and Barry and all along, it'd been Eobard's fault that the tragedy had occurred. Eobard had played Harrison like a puppet. Oh, Neptune, how had Harrison become such a fool?

Barry was silent, but his eyes were dark with anger and red with tears as he glared at Eobard.

"Enough with the games, Eobard!" growled Harrison. "What is it you want?"

Eobard smirked and there was a glint in his eyes. "Well, now that you've mentioned it, you know I've always been one with an eye for a bargain. I would be interested in a trade-off."

"What?"

Eobard flicked his tentacle and suddenly Barry was in a golden whirlpool that was slowly turning him into a polyp.

"The only grandson of the great Sea King is a very precious commodity, but I might be willing to make an exchange for someone even better," continued Eobard. "You, perhaps. It's very simple. Sign the scroll and Barry's free, or else he comes with me. So, now the question is, which would you rather be, Harrison? King of the Sea or a grandfather to this little boy?"

Barry frantically shook his head, silently willing Harrison not to accede to Eobard's demands.

XXX

Meanwhile, on the surface, things were getting bad.

The sudden storm had caused Joe to order everyone except for the crew to go below deck and the ship was to return to the castle immediately. It was only after making sure that Henry and Wally were safe with the others that Joe realized Iris was missing.

"Iris? Iris!" cried Joe.

When one of the ship's crewman spotted Iris with his telescope, Joe looked over the ship's rail and saw his daughter rowing away.

Iris had tossed aside her wedding dress in favor of a shirt, trousers and boots and had armed herself before swiping one of the lifeboats. She was headed to Barry's position, determined to rescue the one she loved from the monster who'd stolen him.

"Iris, what're you doing?" yelled Joe.

"Dad, I lost him once! I'm not going to lose him again!" yelled Iris.

Voice or voice, merman or human, Iris loved Barry and she wasn't about to lose him.

XXX

The transmutation spell turning Barry into a polyp was nearly complete.

Eobard grasped the contract with one of his tentacles and held it within a tantalizing reach of Harrison. Judging from the look on Eobard's face, the Sea Warlock was becoming irritated by Harrison's lack of a reply.

"I'm losing my patience, brother. Answer me, once and for all. Do we have a deal or not?" asked Eobard. "Make your choice."

Harrison looked once more at Barry's shrinking form and made his choice. He closed his eyes and blasted the contract, removing Barry's name and replacing it with Harrison's own.

"Finally! The oceans belong to me!" cried Eobard, in delight.

And now, you poor unfortunate soul!
Time's up! You're through!
Now the power of Poseidon's back where it belongs
The magic of the trident is mine, as it should've been all along!
And now dark shall reign forever over ocean, sea and shore!
Now see for yourself how banishment feels! You poor unfortunate soul!

Eobard grinned a sickening grin and laughed as the transmutation spell on Barry was immediately reversed and then transferred to Harrison, who was transformed into a polyp in the blink of an eye.

Hartley looked at Harrison with sadness in his eyes. "Your Majesty."

"Grandfather?" gasped Barry, horrified. This couldn't be happening! How could Harrison have sacrificed everything just for Barry's sake?

Eobard grabbed Harrison's crown off the seafloor and placed it on his own head before grabbing the trident. "At last, it's mine! It's all mine!"

Unable to contain his anger anymore, Barry launched himself at Eobard. "You won't get away with this, you—!"

Eobard grabbed Barry and pinned him to a rock, pressing the tip of the trident against Barry's chest as he glared at the little merman.

"Don't think you can toy with me, you pathetic imbecilic brat! Contract or no contract, I'll—ah!"

Eobard clutched his arm in agony as he was suddenly cut by a human's spear. Up above was Iris, glaring at the Sea Warlock and attempting to defend the one she loved.

"Why you little—! Zolomon, Zoom, after her!" barked Eobard.

"Iris, look out!" yelled Barry, as he fought to get free of Eobard's grip yet again. "Get out of here!"

Iris quickly swam to the surface, only to be pulled down again by Zoom and Zolomon, who attempted to drown her.

Linda and Hartley acted fast. Hartley pinched the living daylights out of Zoom, causing him to release Iris and Zolomon did the same after Linda smacked him so hard in the face with her tail that he saw stars.

Eobard aimed the trident at Iris. "Say good-bye to your little princess!"

Free of Eobard's grip, Barry sank his fingernails into Eobard's shoulders and yanked hard on the Sea Warlock's body, causing Eobard to jerk back in pain and accidentally blast Zoom and Zolomon instead of Iris, destroying them.

"My boys!" shrieked Eobard, horrified.

Eobard's grief was shoved aside when he spotted Iris and Barry making their way to the surface. Fuming with anger, Eobard cast one of his greatest spells yet. One way or another, this was going to end tonight.

XXX

Up on the surface, the storm had gotten worse and the waves were churning like crazy.

Instead of making her way to her boat and then to shore, Iris swam towards Barry, who swept her into his arms.

"Iris, you need to get away from here! It's not safe! Take the boat and get as far away from here as you can!" said Barry, urgently.

Iris stubbornly shook her head. "I'm not leaving you!"

"Iris, please!" begged Barry.

They didn't have time to argue. Eobard was going to show up any second and Barry needed to know that Iris was safe from his destructive wrath.

"Listen to me!" said Iris, as she gripped Barry's shoulders. "Ever since I first heard your voice, I've been under your spell. All I wanted was to find the owner of that voice because I'd fallen in love with him. Then you came into my life, mute, and suddenly I couldn't stop thinking about you and the way you made me feel. At first it drove me mad, because I thought I was being unfair to the one who saved my life, but then I realized that the reason I couldn't stop thinking about you was because I didn't want to. And I realized that it never mattered if you had a voice or not or had fins or feet, I love you, Barry. I love you for you and I won't lose you again!"

Barry's heart leapt and his eyes filled with happy tears. She loves me. Iris loved Barry for who he was, not just because he had an enchanting voice. He'd been longing to hear those words for so long and to finally know that Iris truly loved him brought joy such as Barry had never known before to his heart.

"I love you too, Iris," he choked out. "I love you so much." And Iris had no idea how glad Barry was to finally be able to tell her that.

The moment between Iris and Barry was interrupted when the sea rumbled and bubbled and then suddenly they found themselves atop of Eobard's head. The Sea Warlock had made himself grow into an unfathomable size.

"Jump!" yelled Barry.

Iris grabbed Barry's hand and then they leapt down and into the sea before clinging to each other as they watch in terror as Eobard continued to grow until he finally stopped then then he turned his terrifying gaze towards Barry and Iris.

"YOU PATHETIC INSIGNIFICANT FOOLS!" said Eobard.

"Look out!" cried Barry.

They narrowed dodged one of Eobard's giant tentacles as it came crashing down onto the water.

Eobard turned the trident to the heavens and caused the storm to worsen. "NOW I AM THE RULER OF ALL THE OCEANS! THE WAVES OBEY MY EVERY WHIM! THE SEA AND ALL ITS SPOILS, BOW TO MY POWER!"

Thunder rumbled, lightning split the sky, rain came down in sheets, the waves grew and crashed down around Barry and Iris, almost causing them to separate. Barry held onto Iris's hand for dear life and did his best to keep her on the surface so she could breathe before he got them both onto a large rock, which they both clung to as Eobard continued to wreck his horrible vengeance.

"We've got to stop Eobard. If we don't, he won't just destroy the sea, he'll destroy all life as we know it," said Iris. "What do we do?"

For a moment, Barry didn't have the slight clue, but then suddenly it came to him. "I've got an idea. There's a graveyard of ships I used to explore. One of the ships has a broken mast, like a harpoon. Theoretically, if I could create a whirlpool strong enough to lift it from the sea—"

"I could get onboard and use it to end this!" interrupted Iris. There was no fear in her voice nor any hesitation, only determination and courage. "Let's do it."

Barry nodded and placed a kiss on Iris's cheek before diving into the sea. Everyone always said Barry was the fastest merman alive, and now he had to prove it. Barry swam to the graveyard of ships and began swimming as fast as he could, faster than he'd ever swum before. Slowly but surely, the whirlpool began to form and despite Barry's growing exhaustion, the speed and force he exerted caused a whirlpool of enough magnitude to lift up the sunken ships to the surface. Barry continued swimming until he was certain the ships were on the surface and he saw Iris dive into the sea and board the ship with the broken mast.

Once she was onboard, Barry could deny his exhaustion no longer and he clung to a rock as he struggled to catch his breath. He was now at Eobard's mercy or lack thereof but felt no fear for his own well-being. Barry's only thoughts were of Iris and everyone else he loved.

Despite the difficulties she faced, such as the slippery wet rope that was hard to grip and threatened to cut into Iris's hands, Iris climbed up the rope and onto the deck of the ship Barry had caused to rise to the surface. She then made her way to the helm, despite how slick and old the wooden floor was and then she steered the ship in Eobard's direction. The Sea Warlock took no notice of Iris, his attention was focused solely on Barry as he prepared to end the merman's life.

"SO MUCH FOR TRUE LOVE!"

Just as Eobard was about to strike, Iris drove the ship's broken mast into Eobard.

There was a great explosion of light and Eobard let out an ear-splitting roar of pain as he grabbed the ship with his tentacles. Iris jumped off the ship just in time as Eobard pulled the ship down with him and turned into bubbling seafoam.

Just like that, the storm ceased and Eobard was gone. The monster had lost his war.

Exhausted beyond belief, Iris collapsed onto the seashore and fell into unconsciousness.