April 11th, 2014 | Central City, Missouri | S.T.A.R Laboratories | POV: Alexander Morue
After what felt like only a few minutes, Xander began to slowly come to. His eyes slowly opened as he took a deep breath. He could hear two monitoring machines, his breathing, and someone else breathing. Xander slowly sat up, examining his surroundings to find the familiar S.T.A.R Labs Cortex. He could see a bit of his tech around the room, and to his left lay a very unconscious Barry Allen. Xander slowly got off of the hospital bed he had been laying in, before moving around the large semi-circle desk in the center of the room.
He sent a few nanites into the desk before he heard a few footsteps in the distance. At once he cleanly jumped over the desk, backflipping into the air before seamlessly landing back first into the hospital bed where he had woken up. Xander poked the IV bag back into the arm once again, before playing dead. He did so just in time as six individuals entered the room. He had launched a nano-drone and was using his techno-contacts to watch the room through closed eyes.
Six individuals moved into the room. A 'paralyzed' 'Harrison Wells', Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Iris West, and surprisingly, Iris West II. "Their vitals are normal, and their bodies have healed from their injuries, but both seem to be in a state of comatose that we can't get them out of. Mr. Morue's condition stabilized in January, which didn't make sense due to his more extensive injuries. And Mr. Allen stabilized in February. Both were struck by lightning, but only Mr. Allen was doused in chemicals. We've been running tests, but we have yet to uncover how the chemicals have altered Mr. Allen as opposed to Mr. Morue's condition. Based on our tests, it could be another few months before one of them wakes up," Wheelchair-Thawne spoke as the group moved around Xander and Barry.
"I was struck by lightning that night too, but I wasn't affected like they were," Iris II pointed out, motioning towards Barry and Xander. Thawne nodded, seemingly lost in thought before answering. "I believe you are fine because you did not experience a second variable. All three of you were struck. Mr. Allen's second variable was the chemicals, which is changing his body on a cellular level. And Mr. Morue's second variable was the explosion, which might have fused with some of the energy from the lightning. Seeing as you were away from the explosion and Ms. West here was shielded, the two of you were not affected,"
Xander had to concede that that was a fair point. He was also wondering about how Iris II was identifying herself. Had she come up with a new name? Or was she using Iris as Iris' cousin or something? Unfortunately, his omniscience only worked in times when he had either not been born, and when he was conscious. So sleeping, being knocked out, or being in a coma didn't bode well with the power. "So...Barry could be like this for a few months?"
"Or a year...or more," Cisco Ramon replied, before quickly adding. "We're not exactly sure, but from what our tests are saying, Barry could be like this for at least another six months. And for Xander...we're not sure. His body is covered in 36% scar tissue from the explosion but...most of it...34% of it was from before the explosion. While doing scans, we could make out stab wounds, gunshot wounds, what looked like a burned 'X' on his lower back, and it looks like about a third of his lower right leg is completely burned," Cisco explained, going over a small tablet that held a plethora of data.
"What did that to him?" Joe West asked.
"We're not sure. All of the scars are dating back between two to thirteen years. From what has told us, he said his family was murdered when he was fourteen back in '98. That means wherever he went after that, he was either torture or worse. Forced to fight," Thawne explained. Xander, sensing this was as good a time as ever, opened his eyes and sat up, clutching his chest, which was covered by a S.T.A.R Labs sweater. Caitlin Snow and Iris screamed. Joe West pulled out his gun, Thawne rolled back, and Iris II quickly backed into the wall. "What the hell?!" Iris exclaimed.
Xander shook his head, rubbing his eyes before ripping out the cords sticking into his forearms. He stood up, looking confused as he looked around the room. "It was both," He spoke, taking in the seven forms around him. Allen was hooked up to a respirator and was connected to the same cords he had been connected to. "In '01, I was living in Detroit. There, I was approached by a man in a hood, who said he could help me after the deaths of my family. He took me to a palace...a temple of sorts, where I met Ra's al Ghul,"
Thawne's face remained the same, but it seemed that from the widening of his eyes, he was familiar with the name. "I defeated him in battle, and so he named me his heir. He trained me into an assassin, and so I was until two years ago, which is why none of my scars are dated between now and then. I was stabbed at least three dozen times, I've been shot eleven times, I've failed six missions resulting in the burned 'X' on my lower back, and in '11, I was set on fire. I was able to jump into the water in time, but my right leg was exposed enough that it burned the skin," Xander explained.
"You're...an assassin?" Cisco and Iris II asked at the same time.
"Well, not anymore. I kind of retired in 2012 after Ra's came out of stasis. I moved back here to Central City, and returned my focus to my company," Xander replied. "And I never killed innocent people. I only killed those who had served great injustices like corrupt businessmen, murderers, pedophiles, etc, etc," He added, moving across the room and around the desk. "Wow, not gonna lie. I'm surprised you've been able to make this place look futuristic without any of my tech,"
"Well, after you went into a coma, your Board of Governors retracted all of your tech from this building," Thawne explained. Most of this room was made out of your tech, so we had to make some adjustments. I was hoping to speak with you when you woke up about the matter, only I didn't foresee that conversation happening at this very moment," Xander nodded, understanding that fine as he tapped away at the computer. After a moment, he stepped away.
"I'll talk with the Board, and see what I can do," Xander replied, before turning to look at Barry, who seemed rather peaceful. "I'm assuming you'd like to run some tests on me now that I'm awake?" Caitlin Snow nodded, motioning to his right, where a small medical bay sat. "I've gotta head back to the station," Joe West spoke, giving Iris a kiss on the cheek before moving out of the room. Xander followed Caitlin into the med-lab, taking a seat on one of the beds while she removed a tray full of materials from the side. "So, what all have I missed since I've been out of it?"
"Out of it?" Iris asked. "You died, Xander. At least eight times. The first time was in my arms, the other three were in the hospital, and the other four were here. We didn't know and still don't know how you survived," She explained. Xander nodded, not wanting to say something on the off chance he said something stupid. Thawne, seeing the situation, became the bell that saved Xander. "As for what you missed. You didn't miss much. Moira Queen is running for Star City Mayor. The wave of dark matter that was released by the accelerator killed hundreds, and infused itself with others, including yourself and Mr. Allen,"
"Who died?" Xander asked immediately.
"Excuse me?" Thawne asked.
"Who died, in the accelerator detonation. I want names," Xander explained as his Bluebox suddenly went into 'priority' mode. Thawne, Cisco, and Caitlin exchanged looks before Thawne sighed. "Ronald Raymond. Grant Emerson. Will Everett. Bea da Costa. And about 204 others. If you need the casualty catalog, I'll give that to you for you to read. Why do you ask?" Xander, who was listening carefully, quickly opened his Quickware, causing a huff from Caitlin who was drawing his blood. "Because...I've been developing means of resurrection for the past seven years, and it's almost perfected. If I can get abody, I could test it on one of the accelerator's victims. If it doesn't work, oh well. And if it does, then we'll slap the name S.T.A.R Labs on the tech, and pump those babies out,"
"Thus helping heal the company's name," Cisco added.
"You have resurrection tech?" Iris asked. "Is that even possible?"
"Well, normally it wouldn't be. But I'm not exactly possible either, even before the accelerator explosion. As you can see, Ms. Snow is having a lot of difficulty sticking me with a needle," Xander replied, motioning to Caitlin, who had broken two needles trying to draw blood. "My skin is almost impenetrable due to my abilities, and even if you were to draw my blood, it probably wouldn't work seeing as my blood is filled with nanites. However, outer scans should be able to penetrate my skin and show you what you need to see,"
"Abilities? What, like kung-fu?" Cisco joked.
"Or abilities...like the man in yellow that killed Barry's mother," Iris mused. Xander nodded, holding out his hand as a tiny bolt of lightning shot from his fingers into the wall. Everyone stopped at this, all staring at the wall as a smile crept over his face. "You see, there are individuals that are chosen from a higher entity above even God himself named para brahmans. This para brahman is the entity of energy, speed, and physics. The Speed Force. Those chosen to represent it are given extreme abilities above all others. The ability to manipulate energy, run at the speed of light, alter processes, manipulate time, yada yada. I lied before about being approached in 2001, but now that I've told you this much, I might as well tell the truth...I'm a time-traveler,"
Everyone in the room stayed silent, no doubt digesting his words before Iris II spoke. "Is this how you knew about my being...well...you know," She spoke, referring to her being a same-Earth doppelganger from Earth-0. Thawne, for the first time, seemingly recognized Iris II's appearance, his eyes widening as he recognized the original Iris West-Allen. Xander nodded. "My parents were murdered when I was fourteen by the same Man-In-Yellow that killed Barry's mother. I was sent from city to city, before graduating from Coast City High School. I came back to Central City, attended Culinary School, opened a restaurant, and was happy with life. That is until the particle accelerator went boom,"
"Wait...you're from the future?" Caitlin asked.
"Yes...No. I went to the future once, but that was for about seventy seconds. During the explosion, I was hit by lightning, and thrown into the Speed Force. There, I was given a mission, which I kind of botched, lived four years here in Central City before I was thrown into a bunch of trials by the Speed Force. I was almost killed by a giant named Steppenwolf. I was nearly killed in an arena. I met the Man-In-Yellow, I met God, and the Gods birthed this universe and a few others and kidnapped a baby alien egg. Once that happened, I was thrown back into the year 2009 in my own created timeline. I then started a company, lived life with the League of Assassins, and moved back to Central City two years ago. Then the particle accelerator exploded again,"
"If you knew the particle accelerator was going to blow, then why didn't you stop us from activating it?" Caitlin asked.
"Sure, the timeline is malleable enough to alter without major changes, but major events like the particle accelerator explosion cannot be changed without disastrous effects. Sure, I created a new timeline, but most of it I kind of just copy and pasted from the 'original'," Xander explained. "But back to the story. During my trials, I was given two titles. God. And the Lord of the Speed Force. I became a god through the arena battles, letting me alter the very fabric of the universe itself. I created this universe kind of from scratch, and kind of copy and pasted a lot of the details for timeline reasons. And I became the Lord of the Speed Force after finishing my trials, giving me too many abilities to really catalog,"
"So...you're a god," Iris spoke. It wasn't really a question. Xander nodded. "Anyway, during the accelerator explosion, I was carrying a fusion reactor in my pocket, which detonated when I was struck by lightning. The blast obliterated my body into atoms, killing me instantly. However, years ago I developed a special pod coded to my DNA that could recreate my body. This is the tech I was talking about that could revive those killed by the accelerator. I've only used it three times, and all of those three times were just me and my DNA, so I don't know how it would react to others. I ran back in time to the second I exploded, and ran just outside of the blast, which sent me flying into the car,"
"That makes a lot more sense, seeing as you were directly within the blast," Iris pointed out.
"Is anyone else trying to wrap their heads around the fact that there are gods, people with superpowers, and time travel?" Cisco asked incredulously. Caitlin shook her head, still scanning Xander, who spoke. "Oh, you think that's cool? There are other Earth's too. And this Earth isn't even the original. No, that Earth, Earth-0, was destroyed by the Man-In-Yellow when he killed Barry's mother. I got over a dozen readings before the accelerator explosions of doppelgangers that had survived Earth-0 destruction,"
"Me," Iris II spoke. Everyone, including Iris I turned to her, almost demanding an explanation. "On this...Earth-0, where I'm from...it's 2024, not 2014. And before I showed up here, everything was...red. Red skies and everything. The Crisis had come, and everything was...chaos. The Anti-Monitor was the size of a skyscraper...Barry and Thawne were running around everywhere...the Shadow Demons were killing people. And then Thawne just...sped into a breach. Barry followed. After that, the entire city began to just...vanish. Everything went dark, and then...then I was in Jitters, where I bumped into Xander,"
"Wait...are you saying that this Earth-0 was destroyed when Barry and this...Thawne...as in Eddie Thawne?" Iris asked.
"No, his name is - was Eobard Thawne, no doubt this 'Eddie' Thawne's ancestor," Iris II clarified. Iris nodded and continued. "Earth-0 was destroyed when Barry and this Eobard Thawne guy ran back in time. Eobard Thawne then killed Barry's mother and created this...what, a new timeline?" Xander nodded. "And then after your trials, you created a third timeline that we're living in now," Another nod. "So then where's that Barry and that Thawne? And does this mean Barry's a speedster like you?"
"The first Barry's mother was murdered the same night by a burglar, only later, but when Thawne killed Nora ahead of time, he changed the entire timeline, which had disastrous effects that rippled through space and time. The first Barry ran this Barry out of the house, expecting Thawne to follow. Only Thawne didn't. Thawne, knowing the death of Nora would break the eleven-year-old boy, stabbed her in the heart before running off. With Earth-0 destroyed, both Thawne...and the first Barry were erased from existence," Xander explained, his gaze falling on Iris II, whose eyes were filled with tears. The timeline needed to remain intact, which was why a white lie to protect Thawne was necessary.
"This Barry was struck by lightning-like his Earth-0 counterpart, and like his counterpart will come out of it as a speedster. The Flash," Xander added. "Thawne was one of four Reverse-Flashes. And I like to call myself Phantom...a phantom of my past self," Everyone in the room nodded at this in understanding, especially after hearing his 'origin' story. It was Thawne that spoke. "What can you tell us about the first Barry and Thawne?"
"Well, the first Barry was pretty similar to this Barry, only blonde with blue eyes. The universal shift caused by Thawne altered people on a genetic level. He was pretty much the same until 2020 when Earth-0's particle accelerator activated. It didn't blow up, but the energy surge created a lightning storm, which created a lightning bolt that struck him in his lab. He was doused in chemicals, sent into a coma, and woke up four months later. Though I doubt that he'll wake up now without my intervention. He made the Flash suit himself, and started to fight crime as The Flash,"
"We...didn't help him?" Cisco asked.
"You didn't exist the way you exist now. Your doppelgangers weren't you guys, and S.T.A.R Labs was much bigger than it is now, seeing as it had six more years of development. He functioned by himself for a long time, before meeting the people that did work at S.T.A.R Labs. They collaborated for a long time, helping Barry, who ran into more heroes along the way. Then in 2024, the Crisis on Infinite Earths came, where trillions of universes were destroyed by antimatter. Barry was in charge of destroying the antimatter cannon. His time remnant died doing so, saving the surviving universes and everyone else. Thawne, who was working with the Anti-Monitor, was furious with Barry destroying his chance and ran back in time to kill a younger and defenseless Barry. Thus the events of Nora Allen's death,"
"Where were you in this Crisis? Do you know?" Thawne asked.
"I didn't exist on Earth-0. I was created...somewhere along the line," Xander replied, not willing to go any further than that. Thankfully, Caitlin spoke, no doubt having received her results. "You were right. Your skin is nearly impenetrable, but I've received the results from my scans. Your muscle mass is calculated 57.268%, and it seems your skeletal system has been fused with some sort of metal alloy I can't identify. From my cellular scans, it seems that your cells are in a state of accelerated movement. So fast that my scans are having trouble tracking the cells themself. Your left lung appears to have been pierced at one point over the years, and your intestines have a long scar that seems to have been from a long blade that went through your entire abdomen,"
"The lung wound was from Steppenwolf. A piece of shrapnel got shoved into my chest while I didn't have my powers. He pressed his foot against it and shoved the shrapnel deeper into my lung. As for the intestine wound, that one was from the arena. Venom to be specific. He and A.M.A.Z.O tag-teamed me, having good fun slamming my face into the ground. I had a lot of fun blowing the two to hell," Xander explained. Everyone remained silent, not really knowing what to say to that. "As for the metal, that's an alloy I created myself named Vibronium, the strongest metal in the known universe,"
"Aren't superheroes supposed to protect their identities? Why tell us all this?" Iris asked.
"I've only told a select few who I am, and I intend to keep it that way. However, you five all have future experiences with Barry that paves the way for his success. I may be the Lord of the Speed Force, but Barry Allen is The Flash, and always will be. In order for him to succeed. All of you need to know about him and his gifts. And as his potential future mentor, I decided to fill you in before-hand, and tell you that Barry Allen will awaken from his coma on October 7th, 2014, meaning we have 25 weeks and four days until he wakes up, giving us plenty of time to kickstart his legacy,"
"As The Flash," Caitlin murmured.
"Exactly," Xander replied with a smile before standing up from the table. He lowered his sleeves once again, before grabbing the torn jacket that sat on a nearby chair. He put it on, finding that the entire left side had blown all to hell. He reached into the right pocket and found what he was looking for. Three pieces of folded paper. He removed the papers and opened them to find the same list of names Mistress Death had given him four months prior. Xander placed them back in the remaining jacket pocket before repairing said jacket with his nanites.
"What were you holding?" Thawne asked. Xander frowned. Did the man not see the folded pieces of paper? Sighing, Xander turned to Iris. "Do you remember that night, when I told you and Barry that I needed to meet a friend? Well, I wasn't meeting a friend. Instead, I was going to pick up these," He removed the papers once again. "A list of names given to me by Death herself. The list gave me names of people to protect. People to defeat or kill. And a list of names of doppelgangers from Earth-0,"
"So, I'm not the only one," Iris II mused.
"No. From what I could tell, there are twelve other doppelgangers residing on this Earth. And from what I can tell, there are doppelgangers here from other universes as well. But for right now, we need to focus on The Flash. If we prepare for everything now, we'll be able to guide Barry in his journey through heroism," Xander explained, removing a small gold and red ring from his pocket. He tossed it to Cisco, who easily caught it before examining it. "Fourth suit, straight out of 2017. Do what you want with it...only make it more red. It's always been a pet-peeve of mine that most of Barry's suits are reddish-brown,"
Cisco nodded, a smile crossing his face as he took off out of the Cortex, no doubt towards his lab. Caitlin followed soon after, no doubt to talk him out of it. Xander shook it off and activated his Quickware to find roughly three thousand notifications. He sighed, deactivating the device for now before turning to Iris and Iris II. "So, now that I'm awake...what do you say we go out and get coffee?"