Chaos on Earth-2

by TrueHorror88

He did it to save his new home. His family, to save his daughter and the woman he loves. But instead Seth Fury was flung into Earth-2 and became Zoom's prisoner. Now aiming to use everything in his powers to find his way back to his Earth and reunite with the ones he loves, he fights. But it won't be easy. How will Earth-2 fare against a true demon? A mutant? A Lethal Protector.

36. Chapter 36: Returning Protecetors

And now another bedtime story for you wonderful people in the world.

Once again, I hope you all are safe and healthy wherever you might be in the wide world, and place be cautious with human contact.

Thanks to all the great messages and wonderful reviews, means a lot to me and keeps me going.

Also, did you guys see the first episodes of the new Flash Season? Freaking superb and absolutely loved the latest episode and Killer Frost's role in it!

Plus Seth's gonna be in this chapter of course, but it's to a smaller degree, just for suspence

Now to answer some reviews:

Ryu Otsutsuki: Glad you enjoyed it, buddy.

Zero: Something's gonna happen to Zoom soon enough, I promise you that.

Guest: Maybe something's gonna happen to young Frankie now or in a possible future season… You'll have to wait and see.

Ultimatrix bearer: You're gonna get the same answer. You'll have to wait and see, my friend.

Starpottergeek: Sorry I never contacted you, mate. After last chapter, I immediately went to work on this one. Took a bit of time. But if you have any ideas, please contact me and share your ideas. Can't promise that I'll use them for the future of this story, but I can guarantee you that I will listen to them and keep close.

…

…

So, without further ado…

ENJOY!

Chapter 36: Returning Protectors

Evelyn raised her right foot and placed it on the bench in front of her, and then used both hands to tighten the shoelaces on her combat boot. It was an old pair of boots that Killer Frost used, which she retrieved them and gave them to the younger metahuman.

It was a bit weird and awkward since it was a gift from someone with her mother's face… But wasn't really her mother.

While in the process of tying the laces on her other boot, the door to the room opened and Seth entered. He looked to his daughter and saw her equipping the combat boots that the icy metahuman used. "Nice boots."

"Thanks, Dad." Evelyn told her father. When facing him to express her gratitude, she noticed him holding his crystal sword tightly in his right hand.

"You ready for this, sweetie?" Seth asked his daughter.

"What do you mean?" Evelyn asked, her eyes returning to the crystal sword repeatedly.

Seth took a seat on the bench, sitting in front of his child while answering. "We're gonna go back to that asylum again, Saint Perez Mental Asylum for the Criminally Insane or whatnot, and go back to Earth-1, save your mother."

"I know, Dad." Evelyn smiled, but her eyes kept returning to the sword.

"What's wrong with her?" Venom asked.

"What do you mean?" Seth asked his other while schooling his expression, making sure that his child wouldn't notice anything suspicious.

Venom sighed in frustration. "Use your eyes, moron."

Taking heed of his partner's words, Seth examined Evelyn's behavior. Finally noticing his daughter's lingering look on his weapon, the mutant asked her. "What's wrong, honey?"

Evelyn sheepishly pointed a finger to the weapon in his hand. "That sword, Dad… You… Are you sure you want to keep using that thing?"

"Why not?" Seth asked with a tilted head.

Sighing, she took a seat on the bench beside her father and continued. "You lost your eyesight because of Dr. Light's attack and then… That thing just gave it back. Isn't that suspicious?"

"… I mean it's weird, sure… But so far it's been doing good for me." Seth admitted. "I mean, I did learn how to destroy breaches, thankfully." He found it odd that his child would begin questioning his weaponry now after so long. "What's wrong, honey?"

"Feels like… You're trusting that sword a lot, and you don't even know that much about it at all, you know." Evelyn told her father. "It suddenly brought back your vision and then suddenly you made a deal with someone, who knows about this thing, and you can now destroy breaches with Blackfire's flames…"

"You're scared because you don't know much about it, right?" Seth connected the dots. Evelyn nodded. "I know it's scary… Not knowing everything… But I'm fine, honey." He cupped her hand. "I promise you that. Trust me…"

She trusts her father, the man who adopted her from another universe, the man who showed a life where she wasn't hunted or shunned anymore… She didn't doubt that for a second.

"I trust you, Dad." Evelyn assured her father. "… Things are just weird being back here and without the family."

"We're gonna go back to Earth-1… reunite our family." Seth promised her.

Evelyn nodded to the exit. "Think Eye Sight and the others are ready for a fight?"

"Depends on their weaponry right now and their skills." Seth bluntly said. "But the deciding factor is gonna be if they're really ready for this fight, ready to use their powers to fight against the tyrant of Central City." He chuckled, surprising his daughter. "But honestly? After all the hurry they've been put through by both Zoom and Blackfire, they're ready to deliver some pain themselves."

"I know that feeling." Evelyn perked her head up. "Think the others back home are safe?"

"Let's hope so, but with them… they're bound to have a crisis of sorts even on the best of days." Seth quipped.

But for some reason… at his own words… he had a disturbing feeling inside of his core… like the core of his entire being itself was shaking due to the disturbance he was feeling.

And he hoped he was wrong and that it was nothing more than a dumb feeling.

"Dad?" Evelyn snapped him out of his trance. "You could like… burst elements out of you like explosions, right?"

"Not anymore, no. Why honey?" Seth asked.

Inhaling deeply, Evelyn determinedly asked her father. "Can you teach me to do the same… so I can use that massive arrow attack I used before against Black Siren."

"…I will…" Seth knew he couldn't say to her request. It was too big, and she could really use it. Especially in future fights.

X

Everyone was shellshocked… by what just happened before their eyes. In front of their very eyes, they saw Barry Allen… The Flash… Disintegrate in front of their eyes.

Their experiment went wrong… The dark matter released from the particle collision was too much and overwhelmed Barry's body, degenerating his body into nothingness. After that… Zoom ran into the facility and boasted and mocked their attempt to give back Barry's speed. Even holding up the roasted remains of the Flash suit for their eyes.

Pouring more salt into their fresh wound.

"Holy crap…" Matt paled in fear and slight disgust at himself. "He…" The nanite mutant bit his tongue, stopping himself from continuing as he saw Henry, Joe and Iris grieving.

While she was expelling tears, Iris croaked. "Barry… He's gone."

"What…" Ruby didn't know how to feel about this development. She didn't have the best feelings for the speedster, but she didn't want him to die or anything like this.

"Come here, kiddo." Olivia kissed her niece's head after embracing her. "It's okay." She didn't know what to do now, except for comforting her family right now.

"This wasn't su… I didn't…" Harry stuttered in shock. He finally found the words he'd be able to say. "I'm so sorry." He told the entire team, but it was more directed to the Wests and the single Allen father. All three of them… They were in tears and in pain.

"We lost him." Henry said, a voice seething with both hurt and pain.

Whether it was hope or something else in Cisco's core, he didn't know but he refused to believe that. "No, no, no, no, he…" He walked up to the platform. "He could've got knocked somewhere or maybe even run there." The viber rushed to the panel nearby, initiating a search.

"Cisco…" Olivia didn't know how to finish her sentence. The death of a teammate, a friend sparked different feelings and coping mechanisms in various people. Some would hold onto hope, some would cry out their eyeballs, others would… punch a granite wall till they bleed or their bones shatter.

In Cisco's case, he was holding onto the first option desperately.

"Nothing on the GPS." Cisco said after getting results from his search.

Realizing what his machine did, Harry walked to the adjacent panel. "There were strikes all over the building." He connected to the comms. "Jesse, come down here, please."

Pulling out of her aunt's hug, Ruby looked around in search. Olivia saw her eyes roam their surroundings. "What's wrong, Rubs?"

"Frankie's not here… Where is she? She went to check on Jesse and Wally, but she's not back." Ruby answered in growing fear and concern. "Where is she?"

"Jesse?" Harry asked with the same emotions in his voice. No response. "Wally?"

"Jarvis, scan the damn facility, find my sister and the others!" Ruby shouted to the AI.

When no response came their way, Matt equipped his helmet and tried to connect to Jarvis via his armor. "Damn!" He released in anger. "Jarvis is short-circuited out again."

"Seriously?" The psychic asked her husband in shock. "Ruby, go with the Wests and Wells, check on the others and find your sister. Matt, you go with them." He nodded his agreement and rushed after Harry and the two West members.

X

They ran through the corridors. "Oh, God, Wally!" Joe screamed when he saw his son down on the ground.

"No, no!" Harry shouted when seeing his daughter in the same state. Both fathers rushed down to the sides of their respective children.

"Frankie!" Ruby shouted as she continued swinging her head around for her sister. She rounded a corner and came to a stop when seeing the magnekinetic in the same state as the other unconscious people. "Sis!"

Matt saw Ruby slide down to her sister's side. He rushed down to join her side. "Frankie, wake up!" He shook her unconscious body, trying to wake her up.

"Wally! Wally, wake up!" Joe tried the same tactic on his son.

"No!" Harry tried to shake his daughter awake.

"Can you hear me?" Joe continued to shake his son awake.

"Wally!" Iris shouted to get her brother to wake up.

"Jesse! Jesse!" Harry performed CPR on his unconscious and unresponsive daughter.

"Frankie, wake up, please!" Matt shouted, shaking his niece awake.

Ruby gritted her teeth, drawing in a sharp intake of air. Unbeknownst to her, she instinctively clenched her hands and gravitational waves channeled into her fists. She barely felt the power in her hands increase, the bones inside of her flesh shaking even, but it went completely unnoticed by the gravity manipulator.

"Frankie… Wake up!" She punched the floor, the power of her gravity channeling from her hands and into the ground, releasing a mini earthquake around them. The entire floor shook violently. Matt, Joe, Iris and Harry looked to Ruby and saw the ground cracking around the area he punched.

Releasing a gasp, Frankie, much to everyone's shock, sat up and panted heavily. "What the hell happened?!"

"Frankie!" Ruby surprised her sister with a bearhug. Matt was just as shocked at the sight. Joe and Iris barely had time to react themselves when they saw that Ruby's small quake also woke Wally up again.

"Stop yelling and the shaking, please." Wally begged of his father and whatever was making the shaking.

"Wally!" Iris hugged her brother's head. "Don't scare me like that."

"I might do it again if you keep hugging me like this, feels like my head's being pulled off." Her brother pleaded.

"Yeah, did I, like, lose nine months of my life or something, because I don't remember my sister being this nice." Frankie sheepishly pointed to her sister who refused to let go of her.

"Shut up, asshat. You were down for the count and didn't wake up!" Ruby countered while tightening the hug.

"Sis, you're killing me! Stop it!" Frankie whined, complained, and pleaded honestly.

"Okay, okay, okay, enough with the Hug of Doom." The nanite mutant pulled the sisters apart. Before Frankie could even relax, Matt hugged her. "Sorry, had to hug you myself, and all."

"Thanks, Uncle Matt." Frankie smiled.

"God you scared the living hell out of me!" Magenta complained to her host with a mental sobbing voice.

"Love you too, Magenta." Frankie thought back with a quip.

"Her heart stopped." Harry's words drew their attention. As he checked his daughter's pulse, checking for a heartbeat he spoke dreadfully. "Her… Heart stopped." He continued to perform CPR on his daughter. "Jesse…"

"Don't tell me Whiney kicked the bucket?" Ruby complained with worry in her voice.

"Are you okay?" Joe asked when his daughter finally released her brother from a hug.

Harrison desperately called out. "Jesse!" He pressed his hands harder down on her chest, trying to restart her heart. Suddenly his daughter opened her mouth, exhaling sharply. Checking her pulse again, he said in relief. "It's beating. Her heart's beating."

Iris got an idea and stated. "Henry's a doctor. He should see her."

"Good idea." Matt nodded.

Joe agreed with a nod. "I'm so glad you're okay." He told his son. Before getting up, he quickly gave his nieces a hug. "Same to you two." Returning to his feet, he rushed towards the Breach Room.

"Girls, come with me, we're going back to the Breach Room." The nanite mutant told his nieces while getting to his feet and ran towards the Breach Room.

"You good?" Ruby asked her sister.

"I am, yeah." Frankie patted her sister's shoulder. "Love you for it, sis. But what happened down there?"

"Come and I'll give you the run-down." Ruby waved her sister after her.

"Hey, what's with him?" Wally directed to his sister.

Tearfully she replied. "It's Barry. Barry's gone." Wally didn't understand her words. She distracted herself by asking her brother. "Are you good, Wally. Okay, we should get you home, get some rest, okay?"

"I don't understand." Wally said as they got stood up.

"No, it's okay. Let's go." She walked her brother over to another room.

The Earth-2 people stayed behind in the lobby.

X

(?)

Eyes snapping wide open, Barry Allen woke up in a startle…. In a bed?

Shifting and turning around in the bed, he couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity. His eyes shifted around, taking in his surroundings. His eyes almost popped out of his head at the sight of the fish tank which was similar to the one he had as a kid in his old home.

No…

Getting out of the bed, he examined his surroundings thoroughly, taking in all the familiar items and posters, toys and whatnot and came to a single conclusion:

This was his own room… from when he was a kid in his old home before his mother was killed.

Placed on a shelf nearby he even noticed the book that his parents read to him as a kid. "The Runaway Dinosaur." Shaking his head, he walked towards the door and walked into the hallway. Barry walked down the stairs, seeing that it was exactly the same house as his from his time as a child.

His confusion was intensified even more, climbing at an extraordinary rate and reaching the skies in record time. One second, he was strapped to Harry's machine, allowing another wave of dark matter and another lightning strike to him, recreating what happened last year to him, for him to regain his speed. But things turned grim, and the dark matter overwhelmed his body, disintegrating his body. And the next second, he found himself in his old home, alive and well.

But it felt off… like it wasn't right.

Barry reached the living room, exactly like it was when he was a child. Walking deeper into the household, he couldn't help but smile at the familiarity even though it wasn't right. His smile fell when he walked closer to the dining room and found it closed off with yellow police tape.

Everything behind the tape was scattered on the floor, like it was when her mother was killed by the Reverse-Flash. And crouching behind it was… Detective Joseph West.

Joe was holding a notepad and he remained on the floor, Barry asked in shock. "Joe?"

The detective turned his eyes to him. "Good to see you, Barry." He said with a smile, returning to his full height. Placing his notepad in his inner jacket pocket, he took his coffee cup before correcting him. "But I'm not Joe."

That single statement confused Barry. "You're not?"

"No." "Joe" said.

Barry, with his eyes, gestured to their surroundings. "And all of this? It's not real?"

"Joe" asked. "How do you feel, being back here?"

Tears wettening the surfaces of his eyes as he answered with a hand over his chest. "I feel awful."

"We thought you'd be more comfortable talking to someone who looked familiar and in a place you knew." Explained "Joe," gesturing to themselves and their surroundings.

""We"?" Barry inquired confusedly. "Who's "we," exactly?"

"That's a little hard to explain." "Joe" sheepishly said. Barry was willing to hear it and the strange entity in the form of his foster father gestured to an empty seat. "Sit, Barry. Sit." He told him and Barry sat down on the coffee table while the entity took a seat in a recliner. "How much do you know about the Speed Force?"

"It's the source of my power. It's what makes me a speedster." Barry answered.

"Yes…" The entity smiled. "…and no." Another statement that confused the former speedster. "When the first subatomic particle sprang forth from the Big Bang to form reality as you know it, we were there." They gestured to themselves. "When the last proton decays, stops vibrating, and plunges the universe into heat death, we'll be there too."

"I'm talking to the Speed Force?" Barry said in disbelief. "Joe" showed a wide smile. "Isn't that like saying I'm having a conversation with gravity or light or…" The entity continued to smile, and Barry stood up.

"You need a minute." The Speed Force entity realized. "It's okay if you do. It's a lot to take in."

"So, you're saying I'm- I'm talking to the source of my power, which just so happens to look like…" Barry gestured to the entity in front of him. "My adoptive dad? That's trippy."

The entity chortled, just like the real Joe West. "We pretty much invented trippy here."

Shaking his head of the numerous thoughts in his mind, Barry stated. "Look, I'm… I'm not sure why you brought me here, but you need to send me back. My friends are in danger from Zoom."

"Hmmm… Maybe Seth's got that handled." The entity hummed.

Barry was surprised by that, that the Speed Force itself knew of the elemental's name. But his surprise faded when a shadow came over him in a flash, making him snap his eyes in the direction of it. "Did you see that?"

The shadow passed by the window again.

The former speedster looked back to the entity. "You're not going back. Not until…" The shadow passed by them again.

"Till what?" Barry asked.

The entity got up from the chair and stood close to the former speedster, both facing the direction of the shadow. "Until you catch that." "Joe" pointed at the shadow.

Barry walked to the front door, opening it and looked out. He saw the shadow run across the lanes. Seeing the shadow blur, the former speedster rushed out of the household and ran after it.

Inside of the house, "Joe" showed a smile on his face.

X

(Earth-1, S.T.A.R. Labs)

"Wells, I know you have to check on Jesse, but can you check on Frankie, too?" Ruby asked Harrison Wells as they stood in the medbay. The Earth-2 scientist was checking on his unconscious daughter after Matt moved her into the medbay.

After she had been moved to the medbay, and his nieces took a seat on a gurney in the same room, Matt returned to the Breach Room to fetch his wife and the others down there.

And Ruby spent the last few minutes trying to convince Harry to check up on her sister.

Harry glanced at her. "Soon, Ruby. I promise."

"Rubs, I'm really fine, don't worry about me." Frankie told her with a groan of annoyance.

"Let him check on you." Magenta argued with her host. Before Frankie could counter, the symbiote added. "Don't! You were hit by a dark matter wave for the second time in your lifetime, Frankie. Let someone check on you, please!"

Ruby faced her sister. "Sis, I love you and know you're tough as nails and all, but you were hit by another wave of dark matter. Metahuman or not, no one can handle a second dosage of dark matter from a particle accelerator injection. Please let Wells check on you."

"Don't know what I can do for her, Fury." The Earth-2 scientist shocked her with his words. Taking off his glasses, he gestured to Frankie. "Your sister is indeed a metahuman, but her physiology is also affected by an Earth-616 alien species which I am unfamiliar with. If your father or mother was here, then they could offer a much better treatment."

"Besides, Rubs." Frankie tapped the back of her sister's thigh, getting her attention. "You just said I'm already a metahuman. Maybe because I have both dark matter and a Klyntar in my body, I am resistant against dark matter attacks."

"That's a stretch, Frankie and we don't know if that's even true." Ruby countered. "I just want… Just want you to be safe."

"I know, and I love you for that." Frankie got off the bed and hugged her sister. "But seriously, I'm fine. Right now, Jesse's the one who needs a hand."

"… Fine… and honestly I wish Mom or Dad was here." Ruby said while reciprocating the hug. "They would know what to do."

"Don't worry about that, they… They'll come back and we'll be a family again." Frankie said with a smile.

"They'll be back again." Harry told them while placing his glasses over his eyes again. "Doubt Snow and Fury are the types of parents who'd leave their kids. Don't worry about them. They'll be back soon."

"Thanks for it, Wells." The magnekinetic smiled with a nod.

"Thanks." Ruby nodded.

"Guys." Matt shouted and got them their attention, as he, Cisco, Joe and Henry rushed into the Cortex. The nanite mutant was holding his wife close. "We got some news."

Before the two girls could ask their uncle if it was about their aunt and their cousins growing in her, Henry stated. "Cisco says Barry's still alive."

"What?" Ruby asked.

Frankie walked over to her aunt and uncle, helping her uncle walk the psychic to the gurney. While taking a seat on the bed, Olivia answered. "Cisco vibed Barry's suit and he saw him, alive and well… Well, not here anyway."

"But he's alive?" Ruby scoffed. "Guy survives a dark matter wave point-blank like that, and he's still kicking. How the hell?"

"But he's alive and that's all that matters." Henry firmly said. "Where is he?" He directed to the Earth-2 scientist.

"I don't know." Harrison answered, his focus on his own child.

"Harry, I vibed him in the center of a storm." Cisco told him. "It was, like, in, like, a vortex or something."

Blankly Matt asked. "There any vortexes in Central City?"

"He's-" Harry snapped around; realization plastered on his face. "He's in the Speed Force."

"I'm sorry what?" Olivia asked in shock and both clarification.

"He's in the Speed Force?" Matt asked.

"Well, get him out, damn it!" Henry angrily demanded of the Earth-2 scientist, walking determinedly to Harry who struggled to find an answer. "You can get him out, can't you?"

"I don't know if I can!" Harry shouted.

"Calm down, Doctor Allen." Matt stated.

Joe jumped in. "Henry, come here." The detective waved him over and Henry reluctantly agreed. Henry stood before him with a tired and worried face. "Listen, you are the only one that can help Jesse." Pointing to Harry and his daughter in the medbay, he continued. "Let me sit on Wells till he figures out what the hell he did to Barry. I think we can get him back."

"Joe, I know you love Barry, okay?" Henry said. "But you have Iris, and you have Wally… Barry's all I have left."

Understanding his feelings, Joe nodded. "I promise. We'll find him."

Matt bit his lower lip in thought and uncertainty. Recognizing that look on his face, Olivia asked. "What's wrong? What's on your mind?"

The nanite mutant lowered his mouth to her ear. "Maybe, we should tell Henry and ask him to check on you." The psychic groaned at his words, but he cut her off. "I know we said we wouldn't tell anyone, but you were hit by a dark matter wave and almost hurled into a wall."

"But Ruby saved me." Olivia cupped his hand. "I love that you want to help me and keep me safe, but I'm okay… and I don't feel comfortable about telling others that aren't my brother. The girls and Caity are the exception, because they figured it out for themselves and all, they're in the gray area. Henry and the others…. I don't want them to know before Seth."

"Alright." Matt understood her feelings, he agreed to his wife's conditions regarding their children during their honeymoon. But it's at these times, where she could have gotten hurt or worse, that he had to question their agreement. However… this was her choice and he'd respect it no matter what. "If that's your choice, then yeah, we'll keep it under wraps."

"Thanks." Olivia smiled. "But how about…" She nodded to the magnekinetic on the other gurney. "Is Frankie all right?"

"She's fine even after another dark matter wave. Maybe metahumans do have some dark matter resistance after first exposure. Or at least, to a limit." Matt peered to Jesse. "But she's the one in the sour state."

"We're gonna help her out somehow." Olivia rubbed his hand. "But… Don't worry. We're gonna get Caity back and have her help us out. In every possible way."

"Good…" Matt nodded.

But what he and his wife failed to see, or rather what they didn't see was their nieces' eyes meeting and sharing a wordless conversation.

X

After a moment of retrieving beverages for her family, Ruby returned to the Cortex and walked into the medbay. She saw her sister on the ceiling, crouching on it as usual. Iris and Cisco are on the ground, watching Henry tend to the unconscious Jesse.

Whistling to get her sister's attention, the former assassin waved an iced chocolate mocha with whipped cream on top, drizzled with chocolate syrup and cookie crunch. "Bought you your favorite."

"Thanks, Rubs." A tendril shot out of Frankie's wrist and wrapped around the beverage, pulling it into her hand.

"Think you can drink like that?" Ruby commented on her crouched position on the ceiling. "You'll spill."

"I got a straw, dummy." The magnekinetic reminded her with a wave of the object before plunging it into the open hole in her lid.

"Cool." Ruby sarcastically said. Turning her eyes to the former doctor, she said. "How's Jesse doing?"

"That's a good question." Henry answered vaguely while checking her pulse and making sure the flow from the IV bag is still flowing correctly.

Cisco said in relief. "Thank God you're here. Caitlin's usually the one doing this, Seth pitches in, but…"

"Heart rate's normal." Henry informed. "Reflexes and breathing are fine. She should be waking up." He placed a hand on Jesse's shoulder. "She's just not."

"It was the same with Barry." Iris recalled.

"It was?" Ruby asked, unfamiliar with the events following the speedster's first accident. Henry too was unfamiliar with those events and faced Cisco and Iris for answers.

Iris nodded and explained. "After the first accident, he was in a coma that no one could explain."

"What did you do with him?" Henry wondered.

Cisco continued. "So, they brought him here… Well, Wells brought him here." He clarified.

"The other Wells." Iris corrected him.

That confused Henry, making him narrow his eyes. Frankie knew the story and waited for this conversation to be over. Ruby rubbed her temples, anticipating a massive headache by the end of this explanation.

"Right, the Wells who was actually Thawne." The viber explained.

"Eobard, not Eddie." Iris stated as to not confuse Henry.

"Right." Cisco nodded.

"It's complicated." Iris continued. "Anyway, we took care of Barry while Wells… Thawne… treated him."

"Glad I wasn't here for the first round of Earth-1 madness." Ruby muttered to herself, rubbing her head to rid herself of the headache she was fighting off.

"Oh yeah, that was hell." Frankie nodded her agreement.

Intrigued by this first when S.T.A.R. Labs treated his son, Henry asked. "Are there any records of that treatment? We might find clues on how to help Jesse."

Cisco nodded. "Yeah, they'd be downstairs in the storage room, in the morgue."

Iris snapped to the viber. "Eww! You guys have a morgue?"

"You didn't know that, Iris?" Frankie asked after detaching from the ceiling.

"You guys did?" The reporter asked in shock.

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, Dad, even Mom sometimes, brought us down there to help us out with biology. They made it fun."

"In a morgue?" Iris questioned.

"That was Dad's idea." Frankie sheepishly said. Her answer did not surprise Iris in the least.

"And don't worry, it's not like a morgue morgue. It's not… it's like a poor man's morgue, really. Morgue-ish." Cisco stated.

"Would one of you go get them, please?" Henry politely asked.

"Okay, well, I'm not going alone." Cisco shakily declared.

Iris looked to the girls but both of them shook their heads. "Sorry, have to get Frankie back to the house, have her lie down and all." Ruby explained.

The reporter accepted that and walked away with Cisco who expressed. "Thank you."

Frankie leant closer to her sister's ear. "You ready for this?"

"More than ever." Ruby determinedly agreed.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs, The Morgue)

"Okay, so it's a morgue morgue." Cisco confessed as he and Iris stepped inside of the creepy morgue. With this place being darkened due to the nighttime and lack of light, except from their flashlights, this place could very well be straight out of a horror movie. "But, you know, we had to keep the dead metahumans somewhere."

Iris shivered at the sight of the slightly bloodied sharp bone saw and the rib shears. Shakily she picked up a nearby needle. "Yeah, looks like you did a lot more than just store them."

"What, you heard Frankie and Ruby say they were brought down here before. Caitlin and Seth messed them up probably with live autopsies." The viber explained but Iris looked at him inquiringly with suspicion mixed in her gaze. "Okay! Fake Wells might've done a few dissections for study purposes." Cisco shined light over the table, trying to find the right files.

"And this didn't tip any of you off that he might be secretly evil?" Iris asked him.

"It was a crazy time, okay?" Cisco felt like it was the appropriate response. "We had a lot going on." Iris chuckled as the viber went to a computer and started searching through the hard drive. "I'll tell you what… It's a good thing Thawne was so organized."

"Yeah… Is something else on your mind, Cisco?" Iris asked.

"What do you mean?" Cisco asked while searching the computer.

"I don't know… You seem… I don't know." Iris unsurely said.

Cisco sighed; he couldn't hide the truth from a reporter after all. "First we lost Caitlin because of Zoom… Then Seth goes off to Earth-2 with Evelyn… and now we lost Barry… I hate that they're all gone."

"Don't like that, Cisco. They might not be here, but they're alive… we're gonna get them back. They're gonna come back, somehow… and Barry's gonna be the first one we get back, I promise." Iris assured the metahuman.

Smiling widely, comforted by her words, Cisco said. "Thanks, Iris."

A small rumbling spread through the morgue and a bone saw fell to the floor, clattering loudly.

Glancing at Cisco, the reporter stated. "Would you stop knocking stuff over?"

Clicking the roof of his mouth, Cisco countered. "You stop. I didn't touch anything."

She chuckled. "Okay, whatever you say."

"Okay, this is it." Cisco pulled out a flash drive. "This is Barry's ex-file." Iris nodded her acceptance-

ROAR

SMASH

Everything came to an abrupt stop when the cooler door broke down, falling to the floor and…

… Someone they thought was dead… a metahuman… Tony Woodward… Girder roared and got their attention. Iris and Cisco made eye contact with the soulless glazed eyes in the dead metahuman's head. Growling angrily like an animal, his arms returned from metallic to normal.

All this time Cisco kept flashing light in the undead metahuman's face, yet no response whatsoever. But the viber had an appreciative response in store.

"A zombie? For real?"

With a roar Girder flipped a metal shelf with ease, despite being dead. His action made Cisco run closer to Iris.

"Tony?" Iris exclaimed in shock.

"Nope, not Tony… not anymore." Cisco declared. "Remember, Seth went all Percy Jackson on him last time. Get behind me." He pushed Iris behind him.

"You get behind me!" Iris pushed the viber behind her, the metahuman grabbing hold of the nearest tool. Girder moved around, accidently walking into a table and flipped it around. The tools scattering on the floor. "Tony!" She shouted, aiming her flashlight in Tony's face.

Tony looked away, covering his eyes with his old and slightly decayed arm. But his eyes looked up at a lamp, seeing his reflection in its reflective surface. He looked around, examining his reflection. Not liking what he saw, he growled in frustration and punched the lamp into pieces. He ran away.

Both Iris and Cisco turned their eyes at the same time in the direction of him. Cisco exhaled sharply in shock and fear. "Didn't see that one coming."

"No." Iris agreed with a gasp.

Cisco couldn't stop a smile from forming. "Zombie Girder. This…"

This was a whole lot worse…

X

(?)

Barry bent over, placing his hands on his knees and panted. He panted in exhaustion. Sweat pouring down his forehead from the scorching hot sun shining over him. He's been chasing the shadowy blur for what felt like forever but was still unable to catch up to it without the Speed Force in his system.

He really, really, really missed his speed.

Looking up, the former speedster saw that he found himself on the Waterfront close to Central City. He couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity at this particular location again. Not being able to place the feeling, he sighed and turned around, finding a bench…

… and Iris to his surprise.

"Iris." Barry said in relief and smiled happily at her presence. He walked closer to the bench and to her.

"Iris" showed a passive look. "We're glad you made it, Barry."

Those words made the former speedster realize who he was talking to. "Not Iris. It's just you again."

Briefly smiling, the Speed Force in the form of the love of his life gestured to the bench. "Sit, Barry. Sit." Barry watched "Iris" walk around the bench and take a seat themselves. "You're always on your feet." Groaning and sniffing, the former speedster took a seat before the Speed Force spoke. "You remember this place, where we first kissed? Where I first learnt of you and the others' secrets?"

"Yeah, of course, except that wasn't you." Barry said with disdain in his voice.

Noting the contempt in his voice, "Iris" stated. "We thought you'd find this place and our appearance less upsetting." Barry scoffed. "Yet you seem upset." They noted.

"My friends, my city…" Barry made eye contact with the entity. "My whole world is in danger. Zoom is on a rampage with the power that he stole from me, and you are keeping me here."

Passively and emotionlessly "Iris" said. "You were given a rare and precious gift, and you rejected it."

Barry shook his head, denying the entity's words. "No, I did not reject it. I gave up my powers to save someone's life… To be a hero. I nearly killed myself trying to get them back, when you brought me here, wherever here is!"

"That's not what we meant." "Iris" corrected.

"Okay." Barry accepted. "If you would rather have given these powers to somebody else, why did you give them to me?"

"Because you're The Flash, Barry." The entity answered immediately and without hesitation.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

While Joe was focusing on his coffee, Henry shifted his eyes to the two mutants who're at the other gurney. "You two doing okay?"

"We're fine, Henry." Olivia answered before her husband could open his mouth, worried that he might spill the beans about her pregnancy. "How's Jesse?" She changed the subject.

"Still in a strange state of a coma." Henry gestured to the comatose girl. "I'm worried since she's like this and Wally's fine despite being hit by the same dark matter wave as Jesse. Hope Iris and Cisco come back with Barry's files soon."

"They'll be back soon." Matt confidently assured the former doctor. Briefly looking around in search, the mutant asked. "Where are Frankie and Ruby?"

"Yeah, Ruby said she'd go and check on Frankie after buying drinks from Jitters." Olivia recalled.

"Ruby said she'd take Frankie home, apparently. Real sweet of her." Henry informed the two mutants.

Olivia raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Really? Ruby said that? Our niece? Former HYDRA assassin, sadistic tendencies hidden in a small body, said that and was sweet about it?"

"Is that so hard to believe?" Henry inquired.

"For our Ruby… Yeah." Matt nodded to him before turning to his wife and shared a deep look with her. "I'll check on-"

"We got a new problem." Cisco exclaimed as he and Iris rushed into the Cortex.

"What happened?" Matt asked.

Cisco answered hastily. "Our accelerator experiment seems to have reanimated one of the dead metas in the morgue."

""Reanimated," like brought back to life?" Joe asked for clarification in a shaky voice.

"Life-ish." Cisco corrected the detective. "You ever seen "The Walking Dead"? It's "The Walking Dead," but without higher brain function and with major rage issues. Still unsure if our brains are on the menu, though."

"Wait a sec, you said it was one of the metas, right? Which one?" Matt rapidly asked, last thing he'd ever want to face is a zombie. Although that particular thing might just be on Cisco's bucket list.

"And before you answer, does this undead metahuman still have their powers after reanimation?" Olivia followed up.

"Tony Woodward." Iris answered.

Joe turned appalled. "The bully from school who turned into the metal man?"

"And still a metal man even after death?" Olivia asked.

Cisco and Iris nodded their confirmation to both questions. Joe faced the viber. "That's not good, Cisco."

"History repeats itself." Harry said, probably the first sentence he spoke for a while now. "First as tragedy and then as farce." He continued as he sat beside his comatose child.

Joe walked closer to the Earth-2 scientist. "Wells, as a parent, believe me, I have nothing but sympathy for what you're going through." Harry faced the detective. "Listen to me closely when I say to you, we got a lot of fires burning at the same time, and if we all work together, we just might be able to put them out. Let Henry and Liv take care of your daughter. Me and Iris will handle this Girder situation, but you, Matt and Cisco are the scientists. You're the only one who can bring Barry back from wherever the hell he is right now."

Inspiration and determination hit Harry's mind. "Ramon… Give those medical records to Henry. Stark, suit up in case we get unwanted company, then the two of you meet me in the Breach Room in five minutes." He put his glasses on whilst Matt equipped his suit and Cisco gave the files to Henry. "We've got work to do."

"Awesome, I'm a nurse." Olivia groaned in dismay.

Matt briefly… imagined his wife in a nurse's outfit and… he didn't dislike the mental image of that.

Olivia narrowed her eyes at his facial expression, seeing his cheeks turn bright red to the point where his face resembled a tomato. "Cheeky bastard…" She smirked knowingly; she knew what was going through his head without her telepathy.

While the nanite mutant moved away with the other scientists, Joe shared a glance with his daughter. "Now we just need to find Tony."

"Yeah, hopefully before he kills someone." Iris added.

Joe looked to Olivia, his hand holding his phone. "Gonna call Frankie and Ruby, could use the extra backup."

"Doubt they'll come through; Ruby's concerned for her sister right now. Let's see if we can handle this one without them." Olivia said and the detective understood and placed the phone back in his pocket.

Although… Her nieces are gonna do something way more dangerous for sure.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs, Breach Room)

"So how do we know this is safe?" Cisco asked the mutant and the Earth-2 scientist after he was strapped into the machine used to give Barry his speed back but ultimately killed him.

"Last question you should ever ask us, Cisco." Matt said. Gesturing to Harry's machine, the mutant said. "I mean, you're hooked up to the same thing that disintegrated Barry and sent him into the Speed Force somehow."

Harry chuckled. "Well, define "safe.""

"Safe, as in my brain's not gonna melt." Cisco said while holding onto the charred remains of the Flash suit that's placed on the machine.

Matt checked the monitor that showed a virtual image of Cisco's brain. "Well, if it's any help, dude, your brain looks fine, right now. A nice, hard brain."

"No, that's not right. If anything, a brain should be soft and wet." Harrison told the nanite mutant who rolled his eyes. "And no Ramon." He locked eyes with the viber. "It's a simple feedback loop, all right?" He placed the headband over his head. "When you vibe on Barry, your brain waves send me necessary data to pinpoint whatever dimensional pocket or corner of the universe that Barry is stuck in."

Harry moved to the computer and Matt theorized. "Then we're gonna electrically stimulate Cisco's brain while he's opening a breach, right?"

"Specifically, his prefrontal cortex, yes, and opening a breach will give Ramon physical access to Barry and lets him be the beacon to guide him home. Simple feedback loop." Harry finished off.

"I'm sorry." Cisco stopped the other scientists. "Did you two just calmly admit to electrically stimulate my soft and wet brain?"

"Yup. I mean I was just hit by a lightning strike, so you might as well take one to the brain, right?" Matt mused.

"Ramon," Harry got his attention. "do you want to bring Barry back or not?"

Immediately Cisco lowered himself and took hold of the suit. "Okay." Holding it in his hands.

"Go for it, Vibe. Bring back that annoying Speed-Freak." Matt told him.

Vibe nodded and vibed the suit with a pained expression, the machine causing him distress in waves.

And at the same time, Harry got a beep on his screen. "And we have a lock." He pressed a key on the computer.

X

(?)

"I don't understand." Barry started, facing the entity in the form of Iris Ann West. "If I'm The Flash, then why are you doing this to me? Why do I have to catch this… this thing before you let me go back?" His words didn't even seem to faze the Speed Force entity. "Please, look, I will do whatever you want. Just let me go back right now, so I can help my friends."

"Barry, turn around!" Barry turned his head around when hearing the echoing voice of Cisco Ramon. "Barry!" He looked into the far end of the ocean, seeing…

Lightning crackling and rising into the air and forming a vortex with the water underneath it. As it spiraled around and reached unbelievable heights, Barry asked astonishedly. "What is that?" He faced "Iris." "What is that?"

Getting up from the bench, "Iris" walked closer to him. "Those are your friends. They want you to come back."

Longingly looking at that vortex that his friends conjured to call him, Barry asked for permission. "Can I?"

Chuckling at that absurd question, the entity said. "Of course." Barry locked eyes with her. "But if you do, it'll be without your powers." They informed the former conduit of their power.

Barry turned around…

And the moment he faced the vortex, he found himself within it and looking at Cisco. The viber held out his hand for the former speedster. "Take my hand!" Barry looked hesitantly. "Do it. Take my hand."

Barry's attention was diverted when he saw the shadowy blur move run away behind him. The entity told him. "The choice is yours, Barry."

What choice did he have, actually? Return to his world without catching the shadow, return without his powers and powerless to stop Zoom…

Or catch the shadow, somehow and hopefully get his powers back and return to his world… as The Flash.

He locked eyes with Cisco again in the vortex again… but instead of reaching and taking his best friend's hand, he turned his back to him. "Barry!" Cisco called out to him again, but he didn't respond to it and turned away from the vortex.

It dispersed and fell into the water again. And Barry… resumed his chase and ran after the shadow again.

X

(Caitlin's Loft)

"UNCLE JOE IS CALLING." The notification read on Frankie's mobile phone. For the fifth time now, she declined the call. "My phone's been blowing up."

"Uncle Joe, right?" Ruby asked while looking out the open window in their living room.

Both sisters are clad in their suits. Frankie nodded. "Yead, he is. Think something happened back at S.T.A.R. Labs?"

Ruby chortled. "When doesn't something happen back there?"

"Good point." Frankie said and walked around in their apartment. She came to a stop when she saw an old photo and held it in her hand. "Feels like back when Mom and I thought Dad was dead." Ruby knew what she was talking about.

Her and Evelyn had been told how life was for Caitlin and Frankie without Seth. Back then, both would feel an overwhelming feeling of emptiness come over them when stepping into the warehouse loft. Both of them would feel empty.

Those feelings though… They must have been amplified because it wasn't their Dad that was gone now. This time, it was their father, their mother and their sister who were away. And it was only the two of them now… It wouldn't be like this forever, but it sure felt like forever.

This place… barely felt like a home without them all here.

But Ruby saw hope at the end of their tunnel of despair. She and her sister would take care of this issue and rescue one of their parents… the one that is local.

"First thing we do when we get Mom back and Dad and Evie come back…" Frankie placed the family photo on the table again. "We gotta take a new family photo."

"Definitely." Ruby nodded and stepped onto the ledge of the window. "Let's go." She put her mask on and pulled her hood over her head.

"Ready." Frankie's voice morphed when the symbiotic mass fully enveloped her head.

First Destroyer jumped out of the window, lashing out her hand and shot out a grappling hook from her gauntlet. Magenta followed, jumping out of the window with ease and shot out a tendril.

Both sisters swinging in one direction… CCPD.

X

(?)

Barry came to a stop out of exhaustion again, his lungs and heart hurting after running hastily after the blur. But it ran away from him, out of sight and he had to come to a stop and catch his breath. "Seriously, how long does this game of catch have to go on?"

"That's funny, coming from the Speed-Freak."

The former speedster snapped his head up and swung it around, so quick it almost cracked, and saw, to his surprise, Seth Fury leaning against a staircase railing. He stood with crossed arms and looked down at Barry from his elevated position.

"Seth?" Barry asked in shock of the mutant appearing in the Speed Force.

"Seth" clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Guess again."

Sighing in realization, he said. "And you're appearing as Seth, even mimicked his personality."

"Walk, Barry. Walk." "Seth" turned around and walked. Barry scoffed and followed the entity in the form of the elemental mutant. "Remember this place?"

Barry watched the entity gesture to their surroundings. The former speedster mentally berated himself for not recognizing it sooner. "S.T.A.R. Labs." It was in front of the facility.

"True, but not quite that…" The entity continued. "This is the spot where Seth made the decision to jump into the Singularity, in front of you all and his family, to save you all, to save the universe. Even if it meant his own demise and that of Ronald Raymond as well." "Seth" looked into the blue skies over them.

Following their gaze, Barry looked into the skies as well. "Why'd you bring me here? To make me relive the time two friends of mine had to clean up my mistake."

"… How'd you feel when you saw Seth jump into the Singularity? That he was willing to sacrifice himself for your world?" The entity inquired him emotionlessly.

"Regret… Pain… Self-hate… I had this great power in me, used to right the past… and it ended up with two of my friends dying." Barry said. "Is this really why you wanted me here? To remind me of a time that Seth's family hated me?"

"Nah, that's not the only reason why we're here." The Speed Force stated and gestured to the facility. "This is also the place where Seth fought The Reverse-Flash and won, but ultimately led to his death… but you prevented that when you traveled back in time."

"I did…" Barry felt good about that. His first attempt at time travel saved Seth, Cisco, his captain and the entire city. "But what's the point about this? Do more accidental travels or something, cause they actually work."

"Seth" asked him. "… What was the consequence of you travelling back to the night of your mother's murder, Barry?"

"The Singularity, Ronnie and Seth's sacrifices to clean up my mess." Barry immediately responded. The missing pieces fell into place and he snapped to the entity again. "You want me to accept the consequences of my actions? Is this why you came to me as Seth?! Cause you want me to see the one person on my team whose life I probably screwed up the most?! His family's life, too?!"

"No, Barry. That's not what we want to tell you." The Speed Force entity shook his head and spoke calmly, completely unfazed by the former speedster who got up close to their face. "What we want you to tell you, what we want you to know… Is that there are consequences for your actions and others… Intentionally or not, might suffer from them."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Barry asked in confusion.

What Barry didn't understand was that the entity before him wasn't Seth Fury, his friend. What he was speaking to is a multiversal element that is stretched across time and space itself and is now standing in front of him in the form as the elemental mutant he knows. He was speaking to an endless void of time and energy…

An inter-dimensional source of dark matter energy… that provided him with the Speed Force…

A source that not only contained energy but also knowledge from the past, the present… even the future itself that has yet to be written and experienced.

"Sure you should be asking all these questions, Barry." "Seth" nodded to the side and Barry followed the direction of his eyes. They saw the shadow blur running through the streets. As Barry sighed, the entity chuckled. "Looks like that one's not waiting around."

"When does it ever?" Barry sarcastically said before chasing the blur.

"Seth" looked at the former speedster with a chuckle. But the Speed Force hoped the real Seth would keep up his end of their deal.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

The others were overwhelmingly confused by what happened in the Breach Room. Cisco returned from the breach he opened into the Speed Force after Harry shut off the machine and the viber told them that he did indeed see Barry inside of an extra-dimensional energy source.

He told the team that he did get the CSI scientist to face him, but he unfortunately lost him. News which brought a new level of despair and hopelessness to both Iris and Henry.

Now they focused on Zombie Girder, who's still roaming around in the city and destroying everything in his path.

Together with Iris, Olivia read the uploads and the social media posts on Cisco's metahuman alert app. "Dear Lord, Cisco's metahuman alert app is blowing up."

Iris nodded agreeingly with the psychic. "Yeah, it's going crazy." She saw the latest video post. "Oh, Tony just trashed the hell out of Jitters."

"So first, a Singularity tearing it up, then Rupture and Zoom attacking the place, and now a zombie metahuman breaking the place…" Olivia felt like there was a pattern to the events related to CC Jitters. "Place might just need to shut down completely."

"Now, that is strange." Joe turned his face and looked at the monitor with the sites of Girder's attacks. "He knocks over a hydrant on 4th and Stevenson, doesn't go in the building, then smashes a Humvee in front of the Big Belly Burger, but doesn't go in the building. Gets to CC Jitters… He actually goes in."

"What was so special about Jitters?" Olivia mused.

"Must be something, yeah… It's like Jitters was his target, but why?" Iris said.

Thoughtfully tapping the console railing, Olivia called out to the AI. "Jarvis, check everything about Jitters from Girder's showings when he was alive. Maybe we can find something in them that we can use."

"Anything particular you'd like me to find, Mrs. Fury-Stark?" Jarvis asked.

"Search through everything, okay? Anything at all." The psychic informed.

"As you wish, ma'am." The AI obliged.

Henry pitched in, getting everyone's attention. "When I was in Iron Heights awaiting trial, I had a cellmate who always swore he was gonna break out. At a pre-trial hearing, he stole a deputy's gun and escaped in a police cruiser. There's a point to this, Joe, I promise." He told the detective who frowned at his words. "Now, the poor, dumb bastard could have gone anywhere, right? But he was apprehended two hours later. Do you know why?"

"Hope you're gonna fill the blanks, Henry." Olivia quipped.

Henry chuckled. "Cause he went to his old girlfriend's house looking for her."

"So, you think that's what Tony's doing, even in the state he's in now?" Joe inquired.

"I mean people are creatures of habit, sometimes a level stronger than conscious thought, sometimes at a level stronger than conscious thought." Henry voiced his thoughts.

"No, I don't think that Tony had a girlfriend." Iris voiced.

"I believe that there is someone else who might have his interest, Ms. West."

Iris still wasn't used to the AI speaking. Olivia narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean, J?"

Instead of replying with words, Jarvis brought up security footage from CC Jitters from last year. Everyone looked at the monitor and saw the footage play. Iris was confused when she saw herself on the screen, stocking up cookies and cakes by the counter. It was back when she was working at Jitters. She remembered that day because she was working with Stacy, her old co-worker… and it was also the day that Tony showed himself.

"That's from Jitters…" Iris trailed off.

"During this day, whilst you were working your shift, Ms. West, Mr. Woodward, during his livelier days, showed up in CC Jitters and engaged in a conversation with you." The AI narrated as the video footage showed Tony working through the door and talking to Iris. "Upon same day, he also destroyed your phone." He added when the

"Hope you remembered to save your selfies to the cloud." Olivia joked.

"Don't worry about that." Iris quipped. Turning serious, she returned to the matter at hand. "But yeah, Tony was hitting on me back then a lot, even kidnapped me and confessed he liked me…" Realization dawned on her. "He's after me, again."

"Not to be that girl, Iris, but you sure do attract the craziest guys." Inwardly Olivia did include the fact that her adopted brother is pining after her. Clearing her throat, she asked. "So, when Girder here saw better days, after he showed up in Jitters, where'd you see him next, Iris?"

She thought back to the events of that day last year, trying to recall the events after the Jitters visit with Girder.

Joe remembered quicker than his daughter. "Home." He clapped a hand over his mouth in realization. Iris, Henry and Olivia faced the detective who faced his child with a pointed finger. "He came to our house when he took you. Wally's there now."

"No offense, Joe, but you might wanna add security to that house. You did have both your kids kidnapped from that place, after all." Olivia quipped.

"Noted." Joe nodded and moved towards the exit.

"No, no, Dad, this is good." Iris grabbed her father's forearm, stopping him. "We know where he is, and we know what he wants. That means we know how to beat him."

"How do you propose we do that?" Joe asked his daughter skeptically.

"We use me as bait to lure him back to S.T.A.R. Labs, where Matt, Cisco and Wells can kill him… Again." She added sheepishly at the end.

"Lovely idea, Iris." Olivia said agreeingly. But she did hope Jarvis relayed her plan to her husband, seeing as a substantial amount of firepower is needed for this fight against a zombie metahuman.

X

(?)

After running around in the Speed Force for so long now, Barry came to another stop, breathing heavily once more. The CSI scientist examined his surroundings and saw that he found himself in a cemetery. While looking around and taking in his environment, he took notice of another person standing in front of a gravestone, his back facing him.

Or rather, their back facing him.

"Who are you pretending to be now?" Barry groaned with annoyance in his words. The Speed Force entity turned around, showing that they are now in the form of Henry Allen. Scoffing at their new appearance, the former metahuman says. "I don't have time for this."

"Yes, you do, Barry." The entity argued. "You have all the time in the universe… Literally."

"No, I don't." Barry stomped towards the entity in the form of his father. "And how can you stand there in judgement and accuse me of rejecting my gift and not knowing the consequences of my actions? Do you have any idea how much I've done since I was first struck by lightning, how many people I've helped with the power that you gave me…? What I've sacrificed?"

"Henry" nodded. "Of course, we do. You've saved countless lives." Barry watched the entity walk further into the cemetery. "And now you're the only thing standing in between your world and unspeakable evil." He followed the entity who stopped in front of a grave. "And yet, for all of that, you've never been here."

Barry turned his eyes downwards…. And saw it… and it made the former speedster crouch with a hand over his mouth… tears wettening his eyes.

He read the words on the gravestone at his feet.

Beloved Wife and Mother

Nora Allen: 1959 - 2000

Barry couldn't believe that he was standing in front of his mother's grave right now… even though he knew that it wasn't the real one. This was the mere manifestation that the Speed Force constructed to speak to the former speedster.

But it was the one and only time Barry ever visited his mother's gravesite.

"Why did you bring me here?" He asked the entity beside him.

Emotionlessly they answered. "Your mother's death happened to you, Barry. It made you who you are, but have you accepted it, really accepted losing her?" Barry didn't respond. "Maybe that's why you couldn't come here… Cause that would make it real."

Tears fell from Barry's eyes. "I know it's real. Every day I know it. I had a chance to save her." He'd remember that day when he chose not to save his mother for all eternity. "You saw what I chose."

"And you're at peace with that decision?" "Henry" inquired.

""At peace?"" Barry wiped off tears. "How could someone ever be at peace with letting his mother die… Deciding that his life was more valuable than hers?"

Crouching down beside him, the entity asked. "Do you really think your mother would've wanted you to die for her? And out of all the people the Flash saved as a result of that decision, what about them? Do their lives have value too?"

Barry's eyes raised his eyes and saw the shadowy blur standing in the cemetery, looking right back at them before running away again. "I don't' have to listen to this." Barry returned to his feet. "I have to get home." He pursued the blur once more, intending on catching it to get home again.

X

Flying over the darkened streets in his suit, Iron Knight looked down on the street under him. A blue scope appeared in his HUD, zooming in on Iris running away from Zombie Girder and heading towards S.T.A.R. Labs. "Run, Iris. Run." He mused.

The nanite mutant's been following the reporter lead the undead metahuman towards the facility from the sky. He heard of her plan from his wife and didn't know what to feel about it to be honest. But she had already begun the plan and he couldn't stop it.

"Matty?"

Hearing his wife's voice in his earpiece he replied. "I'm here. What's up?"

"You got Iris and Girder in your sights?" The psychic asked.

Matt turned down and saw Iris get closer and closer to the facility. Girder chased her and for some reason ran into a fire hydrant, tripping down and landing on his face. "Got them both in sights, yeah."

"… What about Ruby and Frankie? You've seen them?" Olivia asked as she hoped her husband looked for their nieces while flying over the city.

"They're being smart about this. Frankie and Ruby left their phones behind, staying out of camera sights or staying above them, and I'm pretty sure they're hiding underground so my scanners can't pick up their signatures." The nanite mutant stated. "They know how to stay hidden from us."

"And with me on bedrest like this, I… I can't do anything." Olivia groaned.

Matt gulped behind his mask. "Are you… Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Matty. I promise." Olivia said. "Just… Our nieces are out again, and I don't know what to do right now, except for just looking from the sidelines like I'm benched." She gave a chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Matt asked when he heard her chuckle.

"Just that I sound like a broken record right now… I repeat the same over and over again, and it's… Pissing me off a lot. I hate it. I feel useless."

"Babe, you're carrying two twins, both who're probably gonna be mutants when puberty strikes. You're not useless in any way, I promise you that." Matt assured her.

"Matt!" Iris screamed into the earpiece. "I'm getting close to S.T.A.R. Labs, mind tagging in for a bit? Think Cisco needs more time."

"On it!" Matt said, quickly telling goodbyes to his wife before descending. He gave a thumbs up to the reporter before spinning in the air. Both of his feet outstretched, aiming at the undead metahuman, before nanites swarmed over them and combined them into one giant battering ram. The wings on his bar blazed with repulsor energy, propelling him faster forward and into Zombie Girder.

His feet slammed into the metahuman, hurling him off his feet and sent him rolling on the ground. Spiraling in the air, he landed down and sent a look to Iris. "Go! I'll hold him off!"

Iris nodded and ran towards the facility.

Matt twisted his head and saw the metahuman staggeringly return to his feet. "Good luck trying to gnaw through my suit, Girdy." He formed blades on his arms. "Let's go iZombie!" He launched himself off the ground and swung his blades.

The undead metahuman charged like a crazy person, swinging his metal arms as though they're mallets. Iron Knight used his swords to block the frantic attacks. His blades swung for his throat, yet only collided with metallic decayed flesh.

Growling hungrily and ferociously Zombie Girder punched the nanite mutant's mask, pushing him back.

Iron Knight groaned in pain and formed cannons around his arms. "I'm gonna shot you into pieces, you stupid damn thing!" He shouted as he unleashed an array of repulsor blasts.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

Cisco worked frantically on the machines in his workshop. He knew that Matt was already out there and holding off the undead metahuman in his armor. He hoped that was enough though.

"Cisco!"

Snapping his head around, he saw both Iris and Joe rushing into the workshop. "Is Matt still dealing with that zombie?"

Joe came to a stop. "Good news is Matt's holding Tony off for now and we lured him back to S.T.A.R. Labs."

Iris continued. "Bad news is we lured Tony back to S.T.A.R. Labs."

"No, no. This is good. Okay, sidenote…" Cisco sheepishly pointed behind him to the platform. "You both might want to be on this side of the room, especially if you're wearing any jewelry or you have any metal plates in your body, or if you're anything like Matt."

"Excuse me?" Joe asked.

"The stray energy from the accelerator reactivated Girder's brain… Well, parts of it, anyway." Cisco waved his hands around. "So, I disassembled our MRI machine to set up these… Electromagnets." He patted the machines. Joe and Iris walked to the platform and the engineer explained. "So, when Girder walks through that door and gets caught in the field that they generate, it should disrupt the energy wave that turned him Abby Normal."

"Like wiping a hard drive." Iris deduced.

"Exactly!" Cisco gave a big thumbs up. "Although again if Matt does walk in here, chances are he'll be turned into a ball of scrap metal with a face."

"Don't say that to him." Joe warned the viber.

Cisco nodded agreeingly.

X

In the corridors of S.T.A.R. Labs, Iron Knight flew through the halls, the undead metahuman following him crazily in an attempt to catch him and devour him.

Coming to a stop, Matt aimed his repulsors at Zombie Girder and fired off another wave of blasts at him. Each blast barely flinched the undead metahuman, but it did push him back a bit and he growled in rage at the tedious laser attacks. The most damage the energy attacks did was burn holes in his ragged tank top.

"Damn metallic bastard!" Matt flew backwards. The metahuman ran after him. Landing on the ground, in front of the workshop entrance, he unleashed an array of energy blasts at Zombie Girder. While these blasts only served as a way to provoke him, they didn't do anything to the undead being.

"Fuck!" Matt flew into the workshop. "He's here!" He flew over the magnets and landed on the platform.

"There he is. Hi!" Cisco called out to get the undead metahuman's attention. As soon as he got it, he pulled down the levers and turned on the machines. Electromagnetic waves projected out of the magnets and connected with Tony's body. It was like an itch and he tried to tear it out with his bare hands, clawing at his clothed chest.

But unfortunately, Cisco warned the Wests that the machines would only be able to maintain full power for a few short seconds… and that happened.

Matt saw the machines flickering before they shut off. "What's happening?"

"Why don't it look like it's working?" Joe asked.

"Because it's not." Cisco confirmed. "Let's get out of here. Matt, you're up!"

"Course I am." Matt rolled his eyes. His wings flared with repulsor energy, propelling him from the platform and thrusted a power mallet, slamming it into the side of Zombie Girder's face and shooting him into the wall. Before he could get out of the wall, Iron Knight formed another mallet on his other hand, and together with the first one, he slammed them both into the undead metahuman's body.

Coming to a stop, Cisco winced at the sight of the wall cracking from the nanite mutant's strike. "Matt, don't destroy my workshop!"

"No promises!" Matt shouted over the sound of his mallets smashing down on the undead foe for another wave of strikes. "Just go!"

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs, Breach Room)

Together with Henry, Olivia rolled the gurney that Jesse is occupying into the Breach Room. Harry watched them roll his daughter in here. The psychic spoke. "Think this is a good idea, Wells? Not the best place for a coma girl." She quipped while hearing the sound of hammers striking something. Knowing full well it was her husband doing the attacking, she was happy and smiled in response to that.

"That is true, but this is the safest place for her for now." Henry said while carefully placing the gurney against the wall.

"Not safe enough." Harry said when hearing the sound of clattering footsteps.

"Plans A through G did not work." Cisco announced as he and the Wests entered the Breach Room. The detective closed the door behind him as soon as he passed the threshold.

"Do we have anything in here that can stop him?" Joe asked while placing his back against the door.

"In here, no. But my husband's out there and shooting that thing." Olivia said.

"His attacks just pissed him off." Iris announced.

Joe asked the psychic mutant. "Think we need to go with Plan D and M."

"Passed by D already, Joe, haven't gotten close to M, yet." Cisco reminded him.

"I meant D for Destroyer and M for Magenta." Joe clarified.

"Not possible." Olivia shook her head, confusing the others in the Breach Room. "… They're not home and they don't have their phones on them. We can't call them, unfortunately."

"Where would they be?" Henry asked.

"No idea. Matty's gonna handle this one unfortunately." The mutant explained. ¨

"What about you, Fury-Stark?" Harry asked, garnering her attention. "You could pin him down without moving a muscle, why don't you?"

"I can't." Olivia immediately stated.

"What? Why not?" Cisco asked.

"I just… Can't!" The psychic replied frustratingly.

"Why not?"

"Fury-Stark, what's the problem?"

"You can tear this guy to pieces with your mind alone?"

"Liv, come on!"

Henry, Harry, Cisco and Joe hurled their words of confusion at the mutant who clenched her hands as those four continued to throw more words at them. Those words continued in a wave… and Olivia couldn't handle it anymore.

"I can't fight because I'm pregnant!" Olivia blurted out without thinking.

Eyes grew to the sizes of planets in the Breach Room when they heard the mutant's confession. The only eyes that didn't expand in shock are those of the comatose Jesse Wells. Olivia groaned and hung her head down as she inwardly berated herself. "Goddamn it…"

Iris stutteringly said. "You- You're pregnant?"

Nodding her head, Olivia continued. "With twins. That's why I haven't been in the field ever since I came back from my honeymoon, I'm focusing on my goobers." She rubbed her stomach to empathize.

"That explains a lot actually, you've been nicer than ever." Joe realized.

Throwing her hands up in the air, Olivia exclaimed. "Seriously? Is it really that surprising for me to be nice?"

"Yes." Harrison bluntly answered.

"Wells, I hate you." Olivia stated in retaliation. "Don't tell my brother, he doesn't know yet."

"What? He doesn't?" The detective asked.

"No, he doesn't. Caity and her girls know, and now you guys too." Olivia clarified.

"Wow." Iris let out in surprise. Surprised that her brother, a doctor with a deep understanding of mutant physiology, doesn't know about her pregnancy.

"But if Olivia or her nieces are unable to help us, then Barry could stop him, if we could bring him back." Henry said.

"Gee thanks, Allen, writing off my husband like that." Olivia said while the recurring sound of loud banging travelled through the facility. Her husband wasn't letting up, and the undead metahuman was proving himself to be an immense challenge.

"Fury-Stark listen to him, your husband's not faring any better against that thing for some reason. And, Dr. Allen, we already tried getting your son back." Harry reminded him.

"Matt's fighting a zombie right now, and not doing it good enough, so we need to try it again." Joe stated.

"Somebody needs to try something." Cisco shouted over a nearby explosion. "Pretty sure S.T.A.R. Labs can't handle Matt blasting everything around him with tank missiles."

X

Zombie Girder groaned in pain and frustration when he was slammed into the floor. The nanite mutant forced his foot down on the undead metahuman's stomach. His thruster blazed, projecting repulsor energy on his stomach and pinning him to the ground.

Forming a hammer on his right arm, he punched Tony's head. "Jarvis, figure out why I can't tear this thing's head off!" He shouted to the AI while unleashing a storm of punches at his foe's metal head.

While the punches rained down on the metahuman's face, a blue scan shined over him and showed a virtual DNA sequence in the mutant's HUD. "It would appear Mr. Woodward's metallic skin has been reinforced upon the dark matter-infused reanimation, thus granting him greater endurance and resistance." Jarvis informed.

Matt scoffed his annoyance. "Course, even the dead ones get a power-up in this place." He spiraled into the air before panels opened up on his shoulders. "So, everything we throw at him now…" Small missiles formed on his shoulders before launching them at the undead metahuman. "Just gonna tickle him?"

Each one of the projectiles connected with the zombie's form, exploding against his form. But none of his attacks broke his skin, not even burning it. They only made him growl in anger. "That would be accurate, sir." The AI agreed. Tony growled, lasing his metallic arms out in the air. "Perhaps it would be good for you to change into Frost-Flame for this fight, sir?"

"No!" Matt shook his head and flew out of the workshop, that he more or less destroyed with his attacks, and took a stance on the ground. Forming long cannons on both arms, he aimed them at the metahuman who staggered out of the room, slamming into a wall. "That suit's gonna be a last resort, in case this thing or something else comes along and attacks the team."

The nanite mutant fired two long repulsor beams, aiming them at the zombie's knees and forced him to trip. Nanites swarmed the palms of his hands, forming into metallic balls. He threw the two balls at Tony's arms. Both balls expanded and formed locks, latching onto his forearms and anchored him to the ground.

"I'm gonna stop you… Even if it takes eternity." Matt gritted his teeth.

X

(?)

Seeing the shadowy blur turn down a corner, Barry followed the direction of it. But what surprised him was that the blur turned down a street… and he was met with his house when he was a child… before his mother was murdered.

And that wasn't all.

When he entered the house, without hesitation… he was met with the Speed Force again in the dining room… in their latest form… as his late mother, Nora Allen.

Even though it wasn't his mother… He couldn't stop tears from wettening his eyes.

At the sight of his mother again, albeit a mere manifestation, Barry couldn't stop confessing to them. They were right all along. The former speedster never accepted his mother's death, not for a second. And he didn't know if he'd ever be able to if he'd ever be able to find a way to do so.

But "Nora" told him honestly, telling him that even The Flash can't outrun the tragedies the universe is gonna keep sending his way. That was a fact that he had to accept. Only then could he truly run free.

Barry knew that… But he just misses his mother so much that he broke down in tears and the entity hugged him. And they stayed like that for what was an eternity…

After which they moved to the couch in the living room and "Nora" showed Barry the book that the real Nora Allen used to read to him as a kid. "The Runaway Dinosaur" is the name of the book. "Do you remember this book? It was always your favorite."

Barry chuckle with a smile and "Nora" opened the book, starting to read out loud.

"Once there was a little dinosaur called a Maiasaur, who lived with his mother. One day, he told his mother: "I wish I were special like the other dinosaurs. If I were a T. Rex, I could chomp with my ferocious teeth!""

Remembering his childhood favorite book, he continued, speaking as the mother in the story. ""But if you were a T. Rex," said the mother, "how would you hug me with your tiny little arms?"" The entity flipped to the next page and he spoke again. ""I wish I were an Apatosaurus," said the little dinosaur, "so with my long neck I could see high above the treetops. But if you were an Apatosaurus," said his mother, "how would you hear me in the treetops when I told you I love you?""

The entity turned to the next page. Barry continued and the Speed Force being listened. ""What makes you so special, little Maiasaur?" said his mother. "Is it your ferocious teeth or long neck or pointy beak? What makes you special is out of all of the different dinosaurs in the big, wide world, you have the mother who is just right for you… and who will always…""

""Love you/ Love you."" Both Barry and "Nora" unitedly said.

"Nora" smiled and nodded approvingly with a determinant and assured expression. "You're ready."

Barry knew what that meant, somehow. He stood back up on his feet, his eyes closing. The front door opened up by a gust of wind… Then…

WHOOSH

The shadowy blur appeared; Barry grabbed it by the shoulder. The blur continued to vibrate… and Barry opened his eyes…

And it was The Flash, Barry Allen looking back at him. The two Barrys shared a look, but it was The Flash that smiled and when he turned around. Barry stood as The Flash once more.

"Barry"

Hearing the familiar and echoing voice of Iris, Barry turned his eyes to the side and saw the vortex of lightning from before in the dining room. Looking into it, he could see Iris stretching out her hand for him. "Barry, come home to me." She calls out to him.

Turning to the Speed Force manifestation of his mother, wordlessly asking for their permission. "Nora" gave it. "Run, Barry. Run."

Smiling at his mother's words, he stepped forward and entered the vortex with his own hand outstretched. And within that vortex… He grabbed Iris's hand.

And Iris smiled happily… Now she'd be able to bring him home.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs, The Breach Room)

The vortex breach that enveloped both Iris and Cisco sparked and everyone in the Breach Room saw Barry Allen speed out of it.

Inwardly surprised by the speedster's sudden appearance, the psychic quipped sarcastically. "Oh, you're back again."

"Barry!" Henry hugged his son tightly.

"Barry!" Iris quickly pulled him into an embrace after he was released by his father. Henry and Joe shared a tight embrace.

After Barry was pulled out of the hug with Iris, Cisco confessed with a wide smile on his face. "I'm so glad you're back, cause Matt's about to die."

"Wait. What?" Barry asked the viber in confusion and shock.

Olivia threw her hands in the air. "Feel like you guys don't give my husband enough credit here, guys."

Barry heard a nearby explosion, and he faced that direction. Question marks practically appeared over his head, and he looked to Cisco and Harry for answers.

"So…" The viber struggled to find a start.

"Girder." Harry helped him.

"Girder came back to life, and he's all Young Frankenstein now, and he only recognizes Iris, and she and Matt lured him to my workshop so we could demagnetize him, but the machine shorted out, and Matt's holding him off now but doesn't sound like he's getting anywhere right now against Zombie Girder, so chances are he's gonna come through that door and smush us all into chunky salsa and possibly eat our brains out. I don't know. Jury's still out on that." Cisco quickly and rapidly explained.

"All right, I got it." Barry nodded. He turned to Olivia. "Liv, is Matty still out there?"

Hearing another close explosion, Olivia pointed in that direction and spoke. "You know anyone else who can make an explosion like that?"

"You and your brother, basically everyone in your family is capable of making explosions." Barry bluntly answered. Olivia narrowed her eyes in thought but then nodded her agreement. "But… Matt and I-I will lure him to your workshop, and we figure out a way to turn the power back on, okay?"

Harry and Cisco faced each other. ""Plan H/ Plan H""

"Jarvis, patch to Matt's comms." Olivia ordered the AI who obliged and secured a line of communication between the husband and wife. "Honey, you busy?"

"Just fighting off an undead metahuman, because nothing stays dead in this awful building!" Matt shouted his response to his wife.

"Sounds like a busy day, for sure, honey." Olivia chuckled.

"Matt, it's me, Barry." Barry spoke out loud.

"Took your sweet damn time, didn't you, Allen?" Matt replied coldly.

"Wow you two aren't happy I'm back." Barry noted. Returning to the matter, he said. "Matt, I'm gonna take Iris out there and together, you and I are gonna lure him into Cisco's workshop again."

"You didn't wreck it, did you?" Cisco asked.

"The magnets are fine! Everything around them, not so much!" Matt answered.

"Awesome. Just awesome." Cisco said with a sharp intake of air before sighing.

Barry wrapped an arm around Iris's stomach. "Let's go!"

WHOOSH

A long lost feeling returned as the speedster sped out of the Breach Room with Iris close by.

X

Matt grunted as he swung blade after blades at the undead metahuman but not a single one did any damage whatsoever. "Where's Seth when you actually need that annoying bastard?!" The nanite mutant shouted, crossing his arms and blasting Tony with an unibeam, pushing him back on the ground.

WHOOSH

Barry sped behind the mutant with Iris close by. "How about a Barry? That work for you?"

"No, not really." Matt told the speedster while arming himself with ion cannons on his arms. Like wielding a pair of miniguns he fired a rapid series of repulsor blasts at the zombie, trying to keep it from getting up again. "We got another plan for this thing? Right now, my next plan is to shove a grenade down his throat and wait for it to explode."

"No. Just lure him back to the workshop." Iris said while the zombie got back on his feet.

Matt looked at them. "You're gonna recycle Cisco's magnets?"

"Wells and Cisco are in there, trying to make it work." Barry pulled Iris close. "In the meantime, I'm gonna distract him with Iris. You go help Cisco and Wells."

Iris locked eyes with Tony. "Hey, Tony!" She got his attention.

WHOOSH

Barry ran the opposite end and Tony chased him. "Awesome, now he's your problem." As it was close by, Matt flew towards the workshop. Entering the workshop, he landed on the ground and opened his helmet, facing Harry and Cisco working the magnets.

"Barry and Iris are taking the long way. How's it looking?"

"Not good." Harrison answered.

"Wells, do you ever have any good news?" Matt groaned.

"Not now, no." Harry pulled out the cords from the right magnet.

Connecting to the speakers with his HUD so Iris and Barry could listen in, Matt asked. "What's the issue?"

"Power needs at least two electromagnets… Too much for this wiring to handle." Harry declared-

Cisco added. "We're gonna need a really big extension cord!"

"You hear that, Barry?" Matt asked the speedster.

WHOOSH

Barry and Iris sped into the workshop. "I did, yeah, I'll… I'll see what I can do." The speedster announced.

"Matt get on the platform; your body will turn into scrap if you're in front of these magnets when they turn on." Cisco instructed him.

Nodding to him, Matt faced the other metahuman. "Barr, you need to take care of this one by yourself. I'll provide long support."

"Thanks, I'll take care of this." Barry said as the nanite mutant escorts the reporter to the platform. Turning around, he was met with the decaying form of Girder who staggeringly entered the workshop. Facing the Scarlet Speedster, the undead metahuman turned his arms into metal and swung his left arm.

Using his speed to cloak his form with lightning, Barry dodged the incoming strike. He dodged the attack that followed up. In that short opening, Matt fired a wave of repulsor blasts at the zombie, making him angrier than he already was.

Barry sped behind him and slammed his shoulder into his back, pushing the undead metahuman closer to the magnets. But in retaliation, Girder hurled his fist and launched the speedster into a wall.

"Barry!" Iris screamed in fear when she saw him fall to the ground.

"Hey, Girdy!" Matt got his attention. "Say cheese!" He blasted him with another unibeam, forcing him down to a crouch.

"Tony, Tony…" Barry got up on his feet. "Look, you were never my favorite person, but let's end this… so you can finally rest." The speedster ran around the undead metahuman in a circle, lightning sparking and trailing behind him.

Zombie Girder tried to punch him, swinging his arms but none of them connected with the Scarlet Speedster. The lightning that Barry was emitting as he ran around affected the magnets, making them each release an electromagnetic wave from the end of them again.

Harry took off his glasses at that sight and Cisco deduced in shock. "He's using spin to charge the magnets."

"Like an electric turbine." Harrison added.

"Nice job, Flash." Matt chuckled as the lightning vortex intensified and Girder's entire body turned into metal. Tony groaned and stopped trying to attack The Flash now. Instead, he grasped his torn tank top, clutching it tightly.

Finally… He released one final loud scream of pain.

Barry came to a stop and so did the magnets… Tony gave Iris a final glance and he then fell to the ground.

"Sorry… I got lost." Barry confessed tiredly.

"It's okay." Iris laughed happily. "We found you."

"Yeah, we did." Realization hit Cisco's face, making him snap to the nanite mutant. "Oh yeah, congrats with the twins, bro."

"Thank-" Matt froze, snapping to the viber so quickly his bones creaked under his skin. "You know Livia's pregnant?!"

X

"Dude, why didn't you guys tell us about you and Liv being pregnant?" Cisco asked the nanite mutant as the entire team got out of the workshop and the Breach Room and walked into the Cortex. "I mean, we're all friends here."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry, Cisco." Matt chantingly told the viber whilst escorting his wife to an empty gurney, although she complained the entire way which he had to ignore for now. "But it's what Livia and I agreed to."

"For Christ's sake, man, stop treating me like I'm a porcelain vase or something. I can walk on my own!" Olivia exclaimed in his face.

"Honey, I'm sorry but this time, I will treat you like I'm back in SHIELD'S EOD division." Matt quipped.

Olivia frowned and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Did you seriously call me a bomb?" Matt nodded with a cheeky smile. Shifting her eyes around in her head, she shrugged. "Thanks."

"But Seth doesn't know?" Iris asked the psychic.

Shaking her head, she answered. "No. His daughters and his girlfriend know about it, but he's still in the dark."

"Wow." Henry chuckled in surprise. "That must be hard… Want me to give you a once-over? Check if those kids are okay? You were almost hurled through air after that particle accelerator mess downstairs."

"…Fine…" Olivia nodded to Harry who's holding his comatose daughter's hand. "But help Jesse first, please."

Before Henry could reply and agree to her request, Barry patted his father's shoulder. "Don't worry, Dad. I got this." He confidently said.

Harry looked to the speedster and got up to his feet. "Barry. You should rest. You don't need to be here."

The speedster walked around the gurney, peering down at Jesse. "No, that's just it. I think I do."

"What does that mean?" Matt inquired.

Barry didn't respond to the question, letting his actions answer for him. He took hold of Jesse's fingers and yellow lightning coursed down his arm, coursing into the comatose girl. Strangely enough Jesse stirred in the bed, waking up and opening her eyes. "Hi." She greeted the speedster in front of her. Eyes widened in the medbay at that sight.

"What kind of Kool-Aid did you pour down your gullet to that trick?" Olivia asked in shock.

Jesse heard the psychic's voice of shock and looked around, taking in her surroundings. "How did I get here?"

The Earth-2 scientist gave Barry an appreciative look before facing his daughter with a smile. He quickly pulled his daughter into an embrace.

Confused at his son's new ability, Henry asked him. "How did you do that?"

"Are you, like, magic now?" Cisco asked.

Iris followed up. "Did you know that was gonna happen?"

Unsurely he explained. "Maybe. It's hard to explain. It's…"

Harry knew the answer to it. "It's the Speed Force."

No one knew what that meant… But it looked like Barry was more than okay with that answer.

X

After a while, Matt stood alone in the Cortex, tapping the floor incessantly with his foot. While covering his mouth with his hand, he turned his eyes to the medbay and saw his wife being examined by Henry on a gurney.

"Yo." Cisco got his attention, but the mutant kept tapping the floor and instead of covering his mouth he began gnawing at his fingernails. "Wowzah, you're really nervous."

"My pregnant wife's in there and I'm not just worried about her, but also worried about my children growing in her." Matt said between bites. "And she was blasted away by a dark matter wave, while I wasn't there, Cisco!" He whispered loudly. "Last time, I'm leaving her side."

"Dude, she's fine." Cisco gently tapped his forearm.

Matt faced her with a stern look. "Cisco, she could have died by that dark matter wave when the machine exploded, or Girder could have stormed in and… God knows that I don't wanna imagine the worst, but I kept seeing that when I saw my wife on the floor." He ran his hands through his hair. "Everything in this awful place always backfires in humongous ways."

"No, I think you're being harsh." Cisco noted.

"Cisco, Wells' machine killed Barry, put Jesse in a coma, brought back Girder as a goddamn zombie that went on a rampage through the city and the facility itself, not to mention that dark matter wave could have cost me and my wife our unborn children." Matt listed bluntly with a sharp tone. "Livia and my children are top priority in this facility. That's not gonna change any time soon."

"Well, damn, man…" Cisco let out, shocked at how serious Matt is now.

"Well, Mr. Stark, you got nothing to worry about." Henry announced, walking out of the medbay. "Your wife's completely safe and so are your children."

"Oh, thank goodness." Matt bent over, sighing in relief.

Cisco chortled. "Told ya she'd be fine, girl's built like a damn bulldozer."

"Yeah, you're right about that." Matt bit his lip and looked at the viber. "Sorry for biting your head off before, Cisco. Just worried about my wife."

"That's normal for anyone who's in a marriage, Matt." Henry told the nanite mutant. "Liv's fine, thankfully, but I… I don't really understand what to look for, in her case, at least."

"What do you mean?" Cisco wondered.

Matt knew the answer to that question. "Because while she's not a metahuman, she's a mutant. The X-Gene in her system affected her entire biology, not just her mind. And it's not like with Barry, who got his powers last year, his body is sorta still the same after dark matter exposure. But Olivia's got her powers, her X-Gene from a young age and it's been evolving with the years that followed."

"Exactly." Henry nodded. "But do you maybe have any files on Jarvis' software that could help me out?"

"I'll look through his database now, take a look." Matt walked to the computer. "Otherwise, if there's nothing… Then we have to wait for either Seth or Caitlin to get back… They're only ones who can help us out here."

He hopes the two of them are okay.

X

(CCPD)

Shaking like a leaf in the middle of CCPD's CSI lab, Caitlin didn't know what to do or say in her position. While seated in an old and ragged chair, she was still a prisoner in Zoom's claws and couldn't escape… Not alone… anyway.

And she was all alone right now…

But even though she kept thinking along those lines… The only thoughts in her despair-filled mind… Caitlin couldn't help but feel like that was wrong, like she was mistaken to think that. Like she wasn't alone right now. In all honesty, it is true.

She's currently not alone in the CSI lab, but she's with the worst company imaginable.

"Cait, please." Hunter almost pleadingly told the defiant doctor as he walked around her.

Caitlin snapped. "I asked you not to call me that."

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Cait-lin…" He corrected himself mockingly. "We've been through this again and again, and we've gotten nowhere." Standing in front of her, he continued. "Now, I have to know… are you with me, or against me?"

Caitlin started. "What-"

"Don't answer that yet." Hunter interrupted his prisoner, crouching down before her. "I'm gonna go out there, spend a moment speaking to my friends, and when I come back, you'll give me your answer. If you're still here, I'll know you've chosen to stay with me, and let your darkness grow in a… nurturing environment. But if you're not here… I'll know that you've chosen your friends… that you've chosen Seth's darkness instead."

She hated that he kept saying Seth had a darkness in him. While he did come with his fair share of bad experiences from his past, she didn't see it as a darkness that she needed. She saw it… as something in him that he overcame, something that made her love him.

"And I will…" Hunter got her attention. "I will show you exactly as much mercy as I will show them when we next see each other. And yeah, that includes your daughters." He added when seeing the fear spread over her face. "So, there you have it." Returning to his full height, he stated. "I need to go." He walked towards the exit, taking his cowl before exiting the lab.

Caitlin saw him leave the exit open for some reason… and curiosity got the best of her and she walked out of it… and crouched around the corner, looking ahead of her to see Zoom take his place on the upper floor of CCPD.

Zoom looked down at the lobby. "My brothers and sisters…" He addresses a group, to Caitlin's surprise and she faces the same direction… fear expanding in her eyes and forcing her to cover her mouth, fearing that a single intake of air would give away her location.

"My friends… I've brought us to this new world which lay before us, defenseless, ours for the taking. The humans think that this planet belongs to them… Whose world is this?!"

"Our world! Our world! Our world! Our world!"

Caitlin couldn't take her eyes off the immense group of evil Earth-2 metahumans in the lobby, the group that Zoom's addressing. Some of the metahumans hold themselves up via projecting energy or elements from their hands and feet. Others raise their clawed or gauntleted fists into the air in tandem with their chants. Others thrust their weapons into the air as they chanted.

Zoom smiled as some of his metahuman goons displayed their powers, destroying random objects around them or just projecting them into the air. His smile widened when he drifted his left eye to the side… and saw Caitlin.

WHOOSH

He sped towards her, picking her up in a blue and black blur.

X

"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" Caitlin screamed in fear when she suddenly found herself on the ledge of CCPD's rooftop, Zoom's right hand holding onto the front of her blouse. The doctor grabbed the evil speedster's arm, trying to desperately hold on so she wouldn't fall to her death. Massive gusts of air blew over her face, and she struggled to breathe due to their high position.

Chuckling at her efforts, Zoom used his left hand to pull off his cowl. "I knew you wouldn't choose my side, Caitlin. That's not the darkness you need." He calmly told her.

"What are you talking about?!" Caitlin screamed.

Hunter laughed at her ignorance and pulled her closer, temporarily removing her from the ledge so he could directly into her ear. "The real reason why you're with someone like Seth… Why would perfect Dr. Caitlin Snow be drawn to a man with so much darkness? Someone with hands so drenched in blood, it might as well be his skin itself?"

Despite the fact that she was literally on the ledge of her death, she listened to his words carefully. She knew that those words, even coming from a metahuman maniac, would be etched into her heart for a very long time.

But even though her heart would be branded with those words, she knew that the love for Seth Fury is real and that it'd burn away those words with ease. Like his elements would be wielded to shield her from anything hurting her, her love for him would always prevail and be true.

"Cause something inside of her…" He chuckled darkly in her ear. "Liked his darkness…. Craved it… Needed it…"

"You're wrong!" Caitlin snapped at him, shocking the evil speedster into narrowing his eyes. "I love Seth… Because he helped me in every imaginable way possible. I'm not attracted to his darkness, I'm not craving it, I'm not in need of it… I accepted that Seth is a mix of darkness and light. He's not one of them, he's both! And I accepted that… and I love him for that."

Hunter looked into her eyes and saw a fierce trust and love in her eyes, like a blizzard that was capable of ice and shatter any and all doubts that's in her mind. The origins of that powerful and overwhelming natural disaster was clear as day: her life with Seth and their daughters… Her love for her family.

It was impressive to see the eyes that once looked at him with concern now peer at him with hate and an unbending iron will.

"Maybe…" Hunter smirked, pushing her back to stand on the ledge with only his hand keeping him from impending death. "But that love of his... is gonna turn to hate when you di-"

"LET HER GO!"

Zoom's words were cut short when Destroyer of all people appeared behind him, her right fist raised high up in the air before swinging it down on his back. Gravitational power had already converged into her hand before and condensed inside of it.

"AAARGG!" Zoom screamed in pain when the fist smashed into his back, making him fall to the ground and release Caitlin.

Unfortunately, that meant Caitlin fell over the ledge. "MOM!" Destroyer screamed when seeing her mother fall over the ledge. She jumped after her mother and used her gravity powers to propel herself after her.

"Ruby?!" Caitlin shouted in shock.

"Got you!" Magenta announced, slamming into the side of the precinct building. As the glass under her feet cracked and shattered, she lashed out her arms and split them into tendrils. She wrapped them around her mother and pulled her close. "Hi, Mom. How's it hanging?"

"Frankie?" Caitlin asked in belief. "Ruby?" She added when the former assassin floated towards her. "What are you doing here?"

"You were kidnapped, Mom, remember?" Ruby chuckled, but behind her mask she was really, really happy to see her mother again. "Couldn't just let you stay here."

"Yeah, she's right!" Frankie agreed, hugging her mother tightly. "Missed you, Mom."

"Missed you both, too." Caitlin admitted. "Thanks… But what about the others?"

"They're not here, it's just us here." Ruby answered.

WHOOSH

None of them got to continue their conversation when the evil speedster tackled both Magenta and Caitlin, making them both separate and descend again. "No!" Ruby shouted, but Zoom punched her in the stomach with a fist, launching down in the same direction as her family.

Before Frankie could react, Ruby's body was slammed into her body and they both went down at a faster pace. "No, girls!" Caitlin shouted while falling… and hated that she couldn't do anything to save her daughters from plummeting to their death.

Thankfully… They're not alone in this.

A smog of shadows appeared behind Frankie and Ruby, making them turn their eyes in that direction and saw… Eclipse placing a hand on both their shoulders. "Hiya guys!" Evelyn greeted her sisters before disappearing again with them.

Reappearing on the ground, Evelyn released her sisters. The magnekinetic's mask slithered off and gasped at her metahuman sister. "Evie, you're back!"

Pulling off her mask, the gravity manipulator faced her. "Thanks for the invite."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Evelyn said.

Frankie swung her head towards their mother still falling to the ground. "Mom?!"

"Don't" Evelyn stopped both her sisters from moving. "Mom's gonna be fine."

"What do you…" Ruby stopped in realization.

Seeing the realization dawn on her sister's face, Evelyn nodded. "He's back, too."

ROAR

X

Even though she was falling right now… Caitlin heard that roar… and she couldn't stop smiling.

Venom ran along the side of the building, each step cracking the bricks that his feet touched. The elemental jumped off the wall, shooting out tendrils and hooking into the nearest building. Using them as anchors, he slingshot him towards the evil speedster.

Before Zoom could realize what was coming towards him, Venom slammed a pair of adamantium feet down on his body and sent him through a window. But before he fell through the shattered window, the mutant used him as a springboard and catapulted himself towards his mate.

Caitlin spiraled around just in time to see Venom wrap an arm around her form, pulling her close. "Hey you." She greeted her mate lovingly.

"Hey…" Seth greeted back while turning his free arm into adamantium before driving it into the wall under him, using it to slow their descent. All the time they descended, he watched Caitlin, looking deeply in her eyes through the crimson red eyes of his symbiotic form.

Seeing their descent have slowed down enough, Seth jumped off the side of the building and landed on the ground. The symbiotic mass retracted into him, but he kept his arm tight around Caitlin, which was joined by his other arm a second later.

Seth showed a heartwarming smile. "Hey, beautiful." He said while brushing some of her hair away.

"You're back!" Caitlin wrapped her arms around his form, pulling him close to her body. "You came back… You came to Earth-2."

Pulling out of the hug, he cupped her face and confessed wholeheartedly. "Earth-1, Earth-2, heck even 616… I'd travel through the entire multiverse, just for you, Cait. Always and forever." Caitlin pulled his face closer to hers, smashing her lips into his and kissing him deeply.

He accepted it and deepened the kiss with his mate.

They missed this feeling. A single kiss between them can evaporate the tension or stress and everything negative the two of them face. Even though they have just reunited with one another again, even though they are close to a serial killer with metahuman powers…

They'd enjoy this moment together.

"You guys done?" Caitlin and Seth detached from each other and saw their daughters looking at them with crossed arms, except for Ruby who's standing in front of her sisters while holding the side of her stomach. "Not to be a dick, but we are in front of the lion's den right now, and Dad just pissed off the biggest and meanest lion in the pack."

"Honey, I've been doing that since Earth-2, no surprise there." Seth quipped. His quip fell when he saw his daughter holding her stomach. "Rubs, what happened to your stomach?"

WHOOSH

Hearing that crackling of lightning behind him, Seth got his answer and all life disappeared from his face. Pushing Caitlin behind him and standing in front of his family, the elemental emotionlessly glared at the evil speedster before him.

"You… You don't give up." Hunter sneered in anger. "Do you, Venom?!"

"You hurt my daughters… You kidnap the love of my life… and you expect me to stand down, give up?!" Seth roared in rage. "I'd hunt you through the entire damn multiverse, Hunter and nothing will stop me from stopping you."

"Barry tried to stop me, even if that meant getting his powers back by drastic measures. But he died trying to." Hunter cackled.

"Is that so?" Seth mused. "Don't know about that, Barry's a moron and a stubborn one at that. He's hard to kill."

"Seth, we have to get out of here." Caitlin shook his arm.

"Why? What's wrong, Mom?" Evelyn asked her mother.

She didn't have to answer her daughter as a wave of metahumans stormed out of the precinct, flying in the air or taking a stance behind Zoom who smirked as his eyes turned black. "Scared, Venom?"

"Dream on…" Symbiotic mass slithered over the mutant's form, enlarging him till he stood as Venom once more. "Zoom." His red eyes glaring daggers at the evil metahuman, not showing an ounce of fear at the army behind him. The white skeletal extensions spiraled around his arms and covered his face like an additional mask. The handle of his sword stuck out of his chest and he grabbed hold of it, tearing the crystal sword out of his pocket dimension.

"He's not alone." Ruby said, pulling her mask over her head again and jumped into the air, using her powers to hold her up.

"Not by a long shot!" Evelyn said, pulling back an arrow on her bow while her marks appeared around her head and a mix of both light and darkness emanated from her entire body.

"Bring it on!" Frankie challenged, her left arm forming a large halberd. Clenching her right hand, she forced nearby metallic pieces to gather around her in a storm. Lashing out her right arm, the metal wrapped around her arm, bending and twisting to outfit her with a gauntlet with spikes.

"Seth?" Caitlin worriedly asked.

Venom answered by wrapping his hand around her form and placing her on his back, making sure to use tendrils to secure her to his back while she took hold of the spine extensions like handlebars. "We're getting you out of here, now!"

"We're gonna run?" Magenta questioned in shock.

"Your mother isn't gonna get dragged into this." Venom sneered. "But we're gonna fight our way out of this mess, taking down a few of theirs. And get back home again!"

"Never gonna happen, Venom!" Together with his army, Zoom charged the family of five.

Unleashing a challenging roar, Venom and his daughters jumped forward to meet their charge.

A hell of a battle is about to be unleashed… A war even.

To be continued…

And that's a chapter, peeps!

Like with the last chapter, there's not gonna be a recap paragraph anymore.

Stay tuned and find out what happens next!

Until next time, peeps!