Barry Allen made his way through the halls of McKinley High School, trying to avoid Marley as much as possible before he ran into Finn. "Hey, dude. Where have you been? I had to finish Britney week by myself, man," Finn said as the two of them walked into the choir room, which was still empty. "Marley's been asking about you all of last week, and Jake said you kicked his ass at Breadstix?"
"Yeah...drama happened," Barry said.
"What happened?"
"Barry Allen? Where have you been?" Blaine asked as he, Tina, Artie, Unique, Sugar, Joe, and Brittany entered the room. "We haven't seen you in a week,"
"I had to take some time off to help my girlfriend," Barry said.
"Marley didn't say anything about needing help," Tina said. Barry grimaced, his hands balling up in anger as everyone caught on. "Oh my...what happened?"
"She stood me up," Barry said. "I found her and Jake at Breadstix, so...I kicked his ass,"
"She stood you up?!" Unique exclaimed as Marley, Jake, and Sam entered the room. Marley froze, staring at Barry as he sat down, rubbing his forehead as he tried to control himself. "You stood him up?!" Tina asked Marley, who merely stood there.
"Ok, Mr. Schue left the other day, so -" Finn was interrupted by a knock on the doorframe, which drew everyone's attention to Courtney, who was standing in said doorway. "Umm...sorry to interrupt, but I'm Courtney Whitmore...I was wondering if I could audition for the New Directions,"
"You can sing Courtney?" Barry asked, receiving a nod from the girl.
"Wait, you know her?" Tina asked. Barry stood up, and made his way over to Courtney, pulling her close. "This is the girlfriend I was talking about. Courtney, that's Artie Abrams, Brittany Pierce, Tina Cohen-Chang, Unique Adams, Blaine Anderson, Sugar Motta, Joe Hart, Sam Evans, Jake Puckerman, and Marley Rose," Barry said, the disdain for Jake and Marley apparent in his voice, which shocking the glee kids. "And this is Finn Hudson, co-captain of the New Directions,"
"So...can I audition?" Courtney asked Finn, who looked at Barry.
"I'll sit this one out," Barry said. "Don't want to seem like I'm showing favoritism," He sat down, sighing as he leaned back. "Ok...what are you going to sing?" Finn asked. Courtney grinned, whispering something to Brad the piano guy before music started to play.
(Courtney, New Directions)
I sit and wait
Does an angel contemplate my fate (fate)
And do they know
The places where we go (go)
When we're grey and old
'Cause I have been told
That salvation lets their wings unfold
So when I'm lying in my bed
Thoughts running through my head (through my head)
And I feel the love is dead
I'm loving angels instead
And through it all she offers me protection
A lot of love and affection (love and affection)
Whether I'm right or wrong
And down the waterfall
Wherever it may take me
I know that life won't break me (break me)
When I come to call, she won't forsake me
I'm loving angels instead
When I'm feeling weak
And my pain walks down a one way street
I look above (above)
And I know I'll always be blessed with love
And as the feeling grows
She breathes flesh to my bones (flesh to my bones)
And when love is dead
I'm loving angels instead
And through it all she offers me protection
A lot of love and affection (love and affection)
Whether I'm right or wrong
And down the waterfall
Wherever it may take me
I know that life won't break me
When I come to call, she won't forsake me
I'm loving angels instead
And through it all she offers me protection
A lot of love and affection
Whether I'm right or wrong
And down the waterfall
Wherever it may take me
I know that life won't break me
When I come to call, she won't forsake me
I'm loving angels instead
Courtney finished the song with loud applause and cheers as the New Directions kids bounced in the air excitedly, except for Jake and Marley. She grinned excitedly as Finn asked for the vote. Everyone but Jake and Marley raised their hands, making Courtney's addition to the New Directions official.
"Ok, now that that's settled, let's start with the lesson of the week...nothing. Seeing as the presidential election is on friday, no clubs are aloud to function during elections, we'll be taking the next two weeks off," Barry said.
"What?! Sectionals are in a few weeks! We need to prepare!" Tina exclaimed.
"Sure, sure, I get that. But seeing as Brittany's running for re-election, as well as Blaine, this place is going to be the equivalent of a pool party on karaoke night when it comes to drama," Barry said. "So, we're taking the next two weeks off. No questions. Work on your vocals. Finn and I will work with Brittany regarding choreography, and...yeah,"
"Choreography? For what? We don't have a set list," Blaine said.
"Or do we?" Barry asked as he pulled out eleven pieces of paper. "On this list is a wide selection of songs that Finn and I deemed...appropriate for this group," Barry said. "Pick your four favorites, we'll put them in a hat, and draw out four songs,"
Everyone did as instructed...except Jake, who said. "So this is your way of being lazy? Having us do the work?"
"First of all, I'm involving the entire group, something Mr. Schue didn't do till I showed up. And second, shut the hell up," Barry hissed, the venom in his voice startling Finn and a few others. He pulled off Marley's flat cap, and collected all of the songs, before shaking it up, and holding it out to Finn.
He dipped his hand in, and drew out the first song. "American Pie by Don McLean," Finn said as the group grinned excitedly. Barry reached in. "Original Song," Marley and Blaine smiled. "Piano Man by Billy Joel," said Finn. "Ok...last one is...Yellow by Coldplay,"
"Those are all really depressing," Tina said. "Like...slow depressing,"
"Great. You know what that means?" Finn asked.
"We don't sing them?" Jake asked.
"Not so good guess Jake!" Barry said 'enthusiastically'. "Nope, since these are 'slow depressing', we're gonna have to sing some happy-go-lucky songs to not only boost our clearly depressed mood, but to bring in more people. Cause we only have twelve, which means we're eligible for Sectionals, but I want us to have a few extra people to avoid a Jacob Ben Israel incident," Barry said.
"So...what song do we sing?" Blaine asked.
Barry grinned. "One word...Footloose,"
STAR LABS FACILITY IN METROPOLIS, DELAWARE
Not to long after school ended, Barry entered his own makeshift prison to find three prisoners. Ricky Groom, Gorilla Grodd, and The Turtle. He approached Ricky, who was casually bouncing a ball against the wall of the cell. "So...Ricky Groom. Who sent you? Thawne? Zoom? Savitar? Abra Kadabra? Cicada? Who?"
"Someone you've never encountered. A being beyond the Source itself. Their name...Evig," Ricky said. "You can't beat her,"
"Why is she sending people?" Barry asked.
"She wants you dead Flash. Your presence as a higher being makes her plans much more...difficult," Ricky said. "You think these cells will hold us? Pathetic. Evig will release us, and when she does...we will wipe you off the surface of the Multiverse,"
"Good luck with that Ricky," Barry said as he turned to the Turtle, who was silently leaning against the door of his cell. "Hey Turtle, who is this Evig chick?"
"Evig? The goddess of all goddesses? That Evig?" The Turtle asked as he continued to stare at the wall. "So...you think you can beat -"
"Her? Yeah. Look dude, I've been doing this for a long time. Like, a really long time. Eobard said the same thing. So did Harry. And Abra Kadabra. And even the Monitor. And look...they lost, and I won. So, tell me who the hell she is,"
"So naive," The Turtle said. "You think because you've beaten a few lousy speedsters and a few giant monsters you can defeat the almighty power above all power? Even you will not use your high power. You choose to silence your greater being. She will hunt you down. She will kill your friends. Your family. The ones you love most. And when those who are left will give you the courage to continue, she will kill them too. And when ALL hope is lost, she will tear you apart limb from limb, until there is NOTHING left,"
"Great, nothing but bullshit from you either," Barry said before taking off at just under the speed of light, coming to a stop in the middle of the choir room, where Marley was crying. He took a seat next to her, staring at the white board as she wiped her eyes.
"What are you doing here?" Marley asked. "Come to gloat?"
"Jake dump you? Let me guess, for that Bree girl?" Barry asked, receiving a nod from Marley. "I'm not gonna say I told you so, cause I did," Barry laughed, placing a comforting hand on her knee. "I guess I'm just...sad. Sad you were hurt by that jackass,"
"How did you know my secret? My...extraterrestrial...secret," Marley asked.
"Well...I know Kal-El," Barry said, not quite ready to tell her his secret. "I met 'Clark Kent' in Metropolis a few months back while searching for a property up there. Well, certain circumstances occurred, and I discovered his secret. It didn't take me long to connect the dots between the Kents, Danvers, and the Rose's,"
"Why haven't you told anyone?" Kara asked.
"Because I thought I loved you," Barry said, staring at the floor in tiredness.
"T-Thought?"
"Thought," Barry said, removing his hand from her knee before moving it through his hair. "What happened...between you and me, and the night of our date…" He trailed off, the memory of his first day with his Kara coming back to him.
"I'm really sorry Barry," Kara cried, her hand resting on her shoulder. "I...I thought I could save him...he told me how he thought about himself. How he thought he was useless, and -"
"Of course he would say that," Barry said as he stood up. "He wanted to push the envelope of your emotions, to break you to his will so he could add you to the list of girls he's fucked at this school," Barry said.
"Why is everyone saying that?!" Kara exclaimed.
"BECAUSE YOU CAN'T SEE IT!" Barry shouted, taking a deep breath before sitting back down. "Look...you see the best in everyone, however small that part may be. But…" Barry trailed off.
"But what?"
"But...I figured it out," Barry said as he got out of his seat. "Call me later, and I'll explain everything," He took off through the door, charging down the hallway before speeding out of the school, and into his year 4 suit.
"Call Justice League," Barry told Gideon as eight contacts appeared over his HUD. "Guys, I figured out who Evig is, or...at least where she's hiding. Which is good, because I really don't want another drawn out identity reveal," He said as he ran into the Hall of Justice.
"What's the problem Barry?" Clark asked as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Stargirl, Jesse Quick, Doctor Fate, Hal Jordan sat down at the Round Table. Barry sat down, and began. "It all started six weeks ago, or three to four months ago for you guys...when my trials started,"
"What about 'em?" Hal asked.
"Evig, the 'higher being' that is sending these metas from the future, is hiding somewhere in the Multiverse. And I figured out where," said Barry.
"How?" Clark asked.
"Kara. But that's not important," Barry said. "The point is, Evig is hiding in New Genesis. Ever since my last trial, I've been asking myself why the New Gods sent me to capture and bring in Darkseid. And then, Highfather seemed to think of me like...like some prodigy, or something. He saw the best in me,"
"The point to this story is…" Wonder Woman asked.
"The point Diana, is that the Highfather wanted to test me, but not because of the task, but because of what would happen after. My abilities. He wants to use mine and Darkseid's to somehow open the gates of the Source...where Evig is exiled,"
"How do you know?" Oliver asked.
"I foresee this as well," Doctor Fate said. "I believe Mr. Allen is using his 'godlike' abilities to predict possible futures that may arise,"
"Umm...cool?" Hal asked.
"Sure. Anyway, the point is that the New Gods are either frauds or being controlled by someone very powerful...like...like the Overmonitor," Barry said. Very good Mr. Allen
"What the hell was that?" Jesse asked as everyone looked around the room.
"Why are you controlling the New Gods? And why are you trying to bring Evig into the Multiverse?" Barry asked. Because Mr. Allen, you have been granted extraordinary abilities, and you waste them by refusing to use them. You must be taught a lesson. You all need a lesson.
"So, you're forming another Crisis like Nash Wells and the Monitor did?" Oliver asked.
A Crisis? No. This is much more than a crisis. This is going to be a Multiversal Catastrophe. A fate for the Multiverse far worse than the Crisis of Infinite Earths.
"Worse? How can anything be worse than that?" Oliver asked.
Mr. Queen. Your sacrifice brought forth an entirely new Multiverse. But that Multiverse is gone, due to Mr. Allen's actions. Now you have the chance to make a betterment of a situation to far to stop.
"Wait, what do you mean?" Courtney asked.
As of right now...the Catastrophe of Infinite Multiverses has already begun.