The train rumbled and groaned to a stop as Barry's eyes glazed open. Midoriya stood up, tapping his hand.

"Barry, we're here." said Midoriya.

Barry sighed, blinking a few times before standing up. Following the rest of the team, Barry exited the train, following them down the stairs and into the streets of the city.

"They're in the Kamino Ward?" asked Barry, "Not the worst place to hide, it's pretty populated."

"Where're they exactly?!" said Kirishima, adrenaline now entering his veins, "Let's get Bakugou now!"

"H-Hold up Kirishima!" said Yaoyorozu, "We're near the villains now, we must be subtle."

"Yaoyorozu's right." said Barry, "We've gotta be careful."

In the back of his mind, Barry was mentally preparing himself for his next inevitable face-off with Thawne. Would it be tonight? He didn't know. All he knew was that when the time comes tonight, he has to keep the focus on rescuing Bakugou.

"I suggest disguises." said Yaoyorozu, "There's a shop over there."

Yaoyorozu pointed to a neon-lit corner store with little traffic.

"Alright," said Barry, "then let's get to it."

Ok, this is an odd outfit.

Walking out of the changing room, Barry sported jeans and a denim jacket as well as a pair of goofy star sunglasses. The entire outfit was fairly ugly, but overall it would definitely make people turn away out of disgust. Walking out of the store, Barry spotted the rest of his classmates.

Yaoyorozu wore a pink dress and sunglasses while Todoroki sported an undersuit with a black wig combed over his signature scar. Midoriya, Kirishima, and Iida all wore more casual clothing, though Barry questioned both Iida's slacks and the fake facial hair he and Midoriya were wearing.

"OI!" hollered Midoriya, trying to make his voice deeper.

"Ok, disguises are one thing, but fake voices are a little much." said Barry.

"Oh C'mon!" said Kirishima, "We're trying to be sneaky, what if someone recognizes our voices?"

"People remember faces, not voices." said Barry.

"What if someone asks our names?!" said Kirishima, "How about that huh?"

"Then we'll come up with something on the spot." said Barry.

"Really? Ok, WHAT'S YOUR NAME PAL!" shouted Kirishima.

"Huh?!" said Barry, caught off guard, "Uh-Um, GRANT GUSTIN!"

The rest of the group looked at him in confusion.

"What kind of name is that?" asked Todoroki.

"I dunno, I came up with it on the spot." said Barry, "After fighting the Rogues alliteration tends to stick to your brain."

"Enough talk," said Iida, "We should get on with our goal."

Barry nodded, "Right, Yaoyorozu?"

Yaoyorozu pulled out the scanner, "This way."

Yaoyorozu led the group into an alley, taking them through the backstreets of the city.

Ready or not, here we come.


The van rumbled along the streets of Kamino as Jay, All-Might, Kamui Woods, and Gran Torino sat inside. Jay fiddled with the Tachyon Enhancer, still having doubts about whether the fight ahead would go their way.

"Flash right?"

Jay looked up, noticing that he was being accosted by Gran Torino. He was a short man in a colorful yellow and white outfit, and he appeared to be quite old. Not that Jay was eager to point that out, he was quite old himself.

"Yep, that's the name." said Jay, "You have a question Chum?"

"Chum? HAH!" chuckled Torino, "My grandpappy called people Chum, you must be older than me!"

"Heh," chuckled Jay, "You'd be surprised."

"Hmm," grumbled Torino, "I've met a lot of heroes over the years, but for someone with your abilities I've never heard of you. Where're you from?"

Jay smirked, "I was born in a place called Keystone City. It's part of a duo of cities called the gem cities. The other city is called Central City."

"Hmm, never heard of them." said Gran Torino, "Are they big cites?"

"Medium-sized." said Jay.

"Ah." said Torino, "Got any family, loved ones?"

Jay felt a pang of sadness at the question. It had been so very long since he'd seen his wife, Joan. While he promised the Barry of this universe he would help him control his powers, he knew deep down that at some point, he had to go home.

"Yes," said Jay, "I have a wife."

"Good for you!" said Torino, "I never had the pleasure of getting married, but it's nice to know some of us old heroes can settle down."

"Thank's chum." said Jay, "It means a lot."

"We're here." said All-Might, "It's time to save young Bakugou!"

As the van rolled to a stop, the heroes got out, entering the alley behind a seedy bar. Marching ahead, the heroes met with their other collaborators, Edgeshot, Endeavor, and the police.

"We're locked and loaded," said the police captain, "Just give the word."

Endeavor nodded, turning to the rest of the heroes, "Alright, here's the plan. Edgeshot will create a distraction at the front door, putting the villains off guard. All-Might will break through the wall, followed by Kamui restraining all the villains with the exception of the speed one, that's your job Flash. Torino will use his speed to follow all that up, knocking out the fire-based villains so they can't burn through Kamui's restraints. Edgeshot and I will hang back, providing backup as needed. Any questions?"

Jay raised his hand.

"What?" asked Endeavor, clearly annoyed.

"This isn't going to work." said Jay.

"Excuse me?!" said Endeavor, enraged, "We came up with this plan, taking into account every single variable. It's the best strategy available."

"Not with Thawne in the mix." said Jay, "He's not just a time traveler, but he's also read extensively into the history books. He'll know that this is the plan of attack we use and help the villains counterattack in kind."

Endeavor's expression hardened, "They clearly haven't listened, thermal scopes show that they're inside."

Endeavor gestured towards the bar, which by all accounts was still active.

"Even so, they're prepared to counter that plan of attack," said Jay, "We need to act differently."

"Hmph, then what do you propose we do?" asked Endeavor.

"I'll show you." said Jay, walking over to the nearest police member and holding out his empty hand, "Give me your Flashbang."


Barry treaded the alleys of Kamino carefully, trying not to make too much noise. His classmates followed suit, attempting to keep a low profile as they strayed from the well lit main street and plunged into the city backstreets.

"This whole place is starting to feel shady," said Kirishima.

"Then we're on the right track." said Barry, "I'd assume the villains want a place off the beaten path."

Yaoyorozu held up her hand, motioning for the group to stop, "This is it."

Turning a corner, the group laid eyes on a large seedy warehouse. The backstreets themselves were fairly unpopulated, though a few solicitors did pepper the area.

"Not to many people here," said Todoroki, "but we shouldn't draw attention."

"I'd also like to note that the tracker only kept track of the Nomu in question." said Yaoyorozu, "Bakugou may not be here, same goes for all the villains. The only thing we know is that the particular Nomu we've been tracking is in here."

Barry nodded, "We don't have much to go on, we should check the area."

Todoroki nodded, "We shouldn't all go at once, it would be best to scout ahead a little."

"Agreed, I'll go ahead." said Barry.

As Barry prepared to step out into the street, a hand grabbed his shoulder. Looking back, Kirishima shook his head, "Not alone you aren't."

"If it's just one of us then we're less likely to draw attention." said Barry.

"You need someone to watch your back," said Kirishima, "I'll be that guy!"

Barry sighed, "Fine."

Throwing a thumbs up to the rest of the group, Kirishima led Barry out of the alley and up to the Warehouse wall.

"See anything?" asked Kirishima.

Peeking his head out, Barry surveyed the Warehouse entrance. There was dust on the handle, with moss growing around the bottom.

"The door hasn't been used recently," said Barry, "however they're getting in, it's not through the front."

"Hey man," said Kirishima, "are you ok?"

Barry turned around, looking Kirishima in the eyes, "What do you mean? Of course, I'm ok."

"Not from what I've been seeing." said Kirishima, "There's been a look in your eyes all night like you're scared something bad is gonna happen."

Barry sighed, leaning against the warehouse wall, "With everything going on with Thawne, Bakugou's capture, and everyone getting hurt, I'm just...scared."

Kirishima stood silent for a moment, trying to find the words to comfort his friend, but it was harder this time than it usually was. The situation they were in was dire to say the least and it was getting hard to say positive things.

"Barry…I don't know if things will turn out our way." said Kirishima, "But I do know that as long as we try our hardest, do what we have to do, we at least have a good chance."

Barry felt a little better, though not by much, "Thanks Kirishima, I appreciate it."

"You're welcome buddy!" said Kirishima, looking up, "Hey. there's a window!"

Barry followed Kirishima's gaze, spotting a barred up window, "Nice catch!"

Barry gestured at the rest of the group, ushering them to cross the street. As they walked over, Barry tapped Kirishima's shoulder, "Here, I'll hoist you up."

Kirishima looked concerned, "Are you sure man? You're the one with a messed up spine."

Barry stopped, his dumbfounded expression frozen on his face.

"Uhhhhhhh, good point." said Barry.

Kirishima bent down, allowing Barry to step onto his shoulders and be held up to the window. Barry watched as Iida did the same with Midoriya.

"Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, keep watch." ordered Iida.

Yaoyorozu nodded, "Will do."

Barry gazed into the warehouse, only to be met with pitch-black darkness.

"Can't see a thing in here." said Barry.

"Oh, I have something for that!" said Kirishima.

Reaching into his jacket, Kirishima pulled out a pair of Night vision binoculars to the surprise of the entire group.

"Kirishima, that must have cost a fortune!" said Yaoyorozu, "I could have just made one for you using my quirk!"

"Don't worry about it!" said Kirishima, "Midoriya, take'em and tell us what you see!"

"Right!" said Midoriya, grabbing the tool and looking into the warehouse, "I'm not seeing much, just a few old tools and-GUGH!"

Midoriya gasped, choking on his own words.

"What?!" said Barry, "What do you see?!"

Midoriya silently handed Barry the binoculars, "N-Nomu."

Barry's eyes widened, looking through the night vision to find rows upon rows of vats filled with green liquid. The pinkish brains of Nomu stuck out of the liquid-like sore thumbs, filling Barry with intense fear.

"Oh god, he's right. There must be dozens of them!" said Barry, "It looks like this place is where they store their Nomu, or maybe they make them here."

"Do you see Bakugou?" asked Yaoyorozu, "They might have stored him here."

Bary scanned the warehouse, looking around for any clues, "I don't see anybody, maybe it's just Nomu-"

Barry's heart stopped, spotting something he never thought he would see.

"Barry, what is it?!" asked Kirishima, worried.

"Midoriya, hold this." said Barry, handing him the night vision binoculars.

"Thanks," said Midoriya, "but what are you gonna-"

Without hesitation, Barry vibrated his molecules, jumping through the wall and landing inside the warehouse.

"B-BARRY!" yelped Midoriya, who immediately clamped his hand over his mouth.

"Barry!" screeched Iida, keeping his volume to a vague whisper, "Get back here this instant! Where are you going?!"

Barry ignored them, rapidly sneaking to the object he had seen through the window. Coming upon it, Barry laid eyes on the gadget that had both caused all his pain and his salvation.

Barry was standing in front of the Cosmic Treadmill.

I-It's here.

Barry couldn't believe his eyes, this could help him fix everything!

Thawne must have been using this place as a storeroom for his tools, bet he wasn't expecting me to break in.

Barry ran his hands over the bars, wiping dust off the unpowered screen. Looking at the front, he spotted an engraving, almost like a signature.

"Property and invention of Barry Allen." said Barry, "Heh, It's kinda crazy that I get smart enough to build something like this."

"Barry!" called Kirishima, "What are you doing in there? Did you find something?!"

"Yeah!" said Barry, "I found the thing that's gonna fix everything!"

"Fix everything?" said Midoriya, "What does that mean?"

"It doesn't matter," said Barry, jumping onto the treadmill, "Just give me a sec-"

Barry stopped when he spotted a body lying on the floor a few meters in front of the treadmill. It laid there motionless, filling Bary with dread.

"Barry, what is it?" said an increasingly panicked Midoriya, "Why'd you stop speaking?"

Barry felt the urge to ignore the body and just use the treadmill to travel back to when Thawne attacked the camp, making sure his friends were never hurt, but something stopped him. Maybe it was the sight of someone hurt or helpless in front of him, maybe it was the fact that they looked like his mother the day he found her body. Whatever it was, Barry knew he had to help her first. Hopping off the treadmill, Barry ran over to the body, turning it over.

"I-It's..." stuttered Barry, "It's Ragdoll!"

"W-What?!" said Midoriya, "Is she ok?"

She was stripped down, nude, but Barry quickly checked her over for wounds or bruises. Oddly enough, he couldn't find anything.

"She's breathing, and there don't seem to be any wounds, but she's definitely been through something." said Barry.

"B-Barry, something's happening outside!" said Kirishima, "I can hear big footsteps."

Big footsteps?

In that instant, a massive boot came crashing through the side of the warehouse, sending debris everywhere. Barry panicked, using his speed to keep himself and Ragdoll out of harm's way. As the walls crumbled and the debris plopped to the ground, Barry slowed down, catching his breath.

"W-What was that?!" said Barry.

"Young man, what are you doing here."

Barry turned towards the now giant opening in the warehouse, spotting a collection of heroes making their way in. Best Jeanist, Mt. Lady, Gang Orca, and Tiger walked inside, with Mt. Lady grabbing the battered Nomu scattered about and crushing their brains.

"I-Uh!" said Barry.

Jeanist acted immediately, sending out his fabric quickly wrapping Barry up. He fell on his side, dropping Ragdoll in the process. Tiger jumped in, catching her in her arms.

"Explain yourself!" said Jeanist, "Now!"


"I'm telling ya, he's a waste of your time." said Thawne.

The league of villains gathered in the bar, overseeing Bakugou's restrained form. He writhed, struggling against his chains while strapped to the wall. Trickster and Heatwave sat in the back, dejected.

"He'll come around." said Shigaraki, "I'm sure of it."

"Damnit, the heroes will be here any second." said Thawne, "Why won't you listen?!"

"Hey, pipe down speedy!" said Twice, "It's not like you're the leader."

"Shut it," said Shigaraki, "the runt's trying to say something."

Bakugou's muffled growls filled the room as he struggled against his chains more violently, trying in vain to break free.

"He's not going to join you," said Thawne, "he's set on becoming a hero, whatever that means to him."

"Forget all that," said Heatwave, "we lost our crew. When are we gonna stage a rescue?"

"The answer's gonna be never if you keep yappin!" said Shigaraki, "Besides, didn't you fail in your goal?"

"We did," said Trickster, "but that doesn't stop us from caring about our fellow Rogues."

"Ooh, camaraderie!" said Twice, "I love it!"

Thawne checked the time, "This is it, this is when they attack."

Nodding to the rest of the villains, Thawne got into a defensive position with everyone standing their ground, poised to attack when their enemies burst through the wall.

"Alright, in 5 seconds they'll ring the door, then we'll have a fight on our hands." said Thawne, "5...4..3-"

"Hey! It's a hand in the ceiling!" erupted Twice.

"What?" said Thawne, looking up. Low and behold, a hand was reaching down through the ceiling. In addition, the hand was holding something. Just as everyone laid eyes on the hand, dropped the object, pulling up and out of the ceiling. As the villain's eyes tracked the object as it fell, only Thawne managed to recognize it in time. With wide eyes, Thawne shouted, "SHIELD YOUR EYES!"

The flashbang bounced on the floor one before detonating, blinding the entire room except for Thawne, who acted in time.

Can't let them get the kid=!

As Thawne broke into a run, he heard the door slam behind him as another speedster raced into the bar. Thawne turned around, barely able to take in Jay's face before he's pinned to the ground. Jay dug his feet into the back of Thawne's knees while placing his arms against his back, restraining him.

"Don't bother trying to faze out of my grip Thawne." said Jay, "Whichever frequency you vibrate to, I can follow."

Thawne was flabbergasted, "Who the hell are you?!"

*SHOOM*

All-Might burst through the wall, sending bricks everywhere and deafening the already blind villains. Kamui Woods followed, using his quirk to restrain the entire room.

"What's goin on?!" yelped Heatwave.

"I swear," said Dabi, "I'm gonna burn the lot of ya-"

Gran Torino rocketed in using his quirk, bouncing off of and kicking Heatwave and Dabi in the space of a second. The two swayed, out like lights.

"Can't have you youngsters burning Kamui," said Torino, "I don't think his limbs grow back."

All Might surveyed the surroundings, making sure all the villains were caught before confronting the captured Shigaraki.

"You thought you could escape the jaws of justice," said All-Might, "Yet here we are!"


"She's still breathing," said Tiger, "But I'm unsure as to why she's in such a catatonic state."

"They may have used a mental quirk on her," said Gang Orca, his fins flapping, "be careful."

Barry laid on the ground as the pro heroes milled about, making sure to check if any Nomu were missing. Mt. Lady grabbed the Nomu still visible, popping their heads off with her thumb.

Barry glanced around, hoping his friends had made it out of sight before the heroes broke in.

"Hey kid!" said Best Jeanist, "What's up with you?"

"I...I came here to see if I could help!" said Barry.

"How do we know you aren't lying?" asked Best Jeanist, "That you aren't working for the villains?"

"He isn't!" said Tiger, piping up, "I know that kid, he's a U.A. student. He's probably sniffing around trying to find the Bakugou."

"Hmm, I'll take your word for it Tiger, I trust you." said Jeanist.

Barry felt Jeanists grip loosen as the fibers released him, allowing him to get up on his knees. He whipped around, trying to find his friends. Noting that they were nowhere to be seen, Barry breathed a sigh of relief before his eyes widened.

The Cosmic Treadmill.

Barry began to hyperventilate, whirling around trying to find out where the gadget went. After a few seconds of searching he found it upturned on its side amidst the rubble.

"If this were any other night I'd have you arrested," said Jeanist, "but tonight is important, so run home kid, your teacher will sort you out."

"I-I can't." said Barry, running over to the cosmic treadmill and turning it on its proper side, "I need to use this first."

Jeanists eyes narrowed, "What is that? Why do you know about a gadget sitting in a villain's lair?"

"It's a long story," said Barry, jumping on the treadmill, "but all you need to know is that I'm about to make everyone's lives easier!"

"What?" said Jeanist, "What could you possibly mean by tha-"

"How interesting." said a chillingly ominous voice, "You hold knowledge of this device?"

The pro heroes turned back towards the shadows of the deeper warehouse, making out the shadow of a man.

"Who are you?!" said Jeanist, getting into a battle stance, "Identify yourself!"

The shadow raised its hand, "The device itself seems arbitrary, given its owner hasn't used it in some time, but now I'm quite interested in who you are boy."

Jeanist's eyebrows furrowed, "What do you want with this bo-"

What happened next was too fast for anyone but Barry to process, but even for him it happened lightning quick. In the span of a millisecond, a quiet wave of energy was unleashed from the shadow, absolutely decimating the cityscape in front of him. Barry flew back, his feet leaving the treadmill as it was completely obliterated by the attack. Within a second, Barry was on the barren ground, caked in dust and bruised all over.

*Kaff!*

Barry struggled to breathe, trying not to inhale too much dust as he stumbled onto his knees. Looking around, Barry spotted the other pro heroes, all laid flat and defeated by the attack.

Oh no.

Then Barry saw it.

The Cosmic Treadmill laid decimated in front of him, it's treads and screen shattered and in pieces. His chance to prevent the pain his classmates felt from ever happening was gone. The chance for Mina to keep her horns was gone. The chance to go back and save his mother was gone. These realizations filled Barry with unending despair.

They also filled him with anger.

"Y-You." said Barry, his fists tightening, "YOU BASTARD!"

Completely forgoing the covert approach from earlier, Barry charged the shadow, now revealed to be a masked man in a suit. Raising his fist, Barry vibrated it at super-speed as he blitzed towards the villain. Letting out a defiant roar, Barry slammed his fist into the man.

*CRACK*

"Gugk!" grunted Barry, stepping back as the man stood by, completely unfazed by the impact. Barry raised his hand, wincing at the sight of all his broken fingers.

W-Who is this?

"Heh heh heh." said the menacing man, grabbing Barry by the shirt and lifting him up. His sheer size and height dwarfed Barry in a way only All-Might could do. However, All-Might used that kind of presence to make people safe, this man seemed to do it to fill people with dread. Barry stared the villain in the face, noting the massive breathing apparatus surrounding his mask. It added to the intimidation factor greatly.

Being able to completely shrug off a hit that would demolish a brick wall made Barry feel small in comparison. Whoever this man was, he was just as if not more dangerous than Thawne. Little did Barry know that he was face to face with the most powerful villain on the planet, the ruthless All for One.

"I wonder..." said All for One, "what kind of power do you possess?"

As the chilling words reached his ears, Barry knew that his gut feeling had been right. He was in trouble, and there was nothing he could do to get out of it.


OOH! It's about to go DOWN!

On another note, I'll point out DCNext is a great place again. My first issue of Cyborg is up now, so if you want to give it a read head to the DCNext subreddit!

Reviews:

DCDGojira: I enjoyed the Omake! The quote is from Star Wars obviously! You'll have to see when it comes to the Rogues and the costume. I don't know much about the fic you're suggesting and I have a lot on my plate in terms of writing, but I'll give it a read at some point!

Thanks for the feedback as always! :)

Jp721: It's one of those ;)

Thanks for the feedback as always! :)

Deadcool14: I do already have plans for Zoom/Savitar, and Zoom's coming sooner than you think! ;)

Thanks for the feedback as always! :)

Jose Ramiro: Thanks for the feedback as always! :)

Aztec 13: Thanks for the feedback as always! :)

Next Chapter: Impossible Odds