Prologue: Premonitions…

Today was a time to relax, and it had been something they admit they all needed for some time. Each of them had chosen a day that they all agreed they would partake in. For Cisco's day, he had dragged his friends to a Star Wars convention after defeating the Reverse Flash, he had figured they all earned a break.

With Team Arrow and ATOM defeating the League of Shadows, they had decided to enjoy one last get together before Oliver and Felicity leave for the suburbs. And since some of them were fans, and the others agreed to go to one event for each of them, they all found themselves wandering around the convention among the many costumed groups wandered and mingled.

"Hey look Oliver," Barry joked, "So many other 'Hoods' you could ask for fashion advice!" earning a giggle from the others minus the Emerald Archer.

"I doubt any of them would be able to give me any real advice," Oliver said harshly, earning a look from the others that all said 'Dude Chill.'

Of course it was the nerd squad to first respond to this heretical offense.

"Uh, I'll have you know that Star Wars is not only an incredibly in depth and expanded universe," Ray said with his usual gusto, "But the simple concept and potential of it all inspires people every day!"

"Heck it's why I became a scientist!" he admitted, revealing his nerdy origin.

As they wandered around, they enjoyed the time though some of their number could not help but roll their eyes as the nerdier of their number kept spouting off numerous quotes and nerd facts.

As they nerded out, Cisco was unable to avoid brushing up against an unknown person garbed in a costume. And yet bumping into him was that which would set a course of events none of them could perceive nor prepare for.

[Crisis on Earth-X: The Flag Still Stands]

He was pulled into the middle of a battlefield, the corpses of fully armored warriors, white armored soldiers, robed monks, and light armored militia all fallen atop one another as their blood soaked the muddy ground.

He stumbled and nearly fell as he realized that by some horrific twist he was bearing witness to an intense battle in a Galaxy Far Far Away…

One that had no beauty nor heroics, just carnage and death.

He yelled and screamed as he tried to avoid being hit by multi-colored beams of light zipping passed his form and embedding themselves into their foes. He saw men and women, wrestling in the bloody mud, trying to drive blades and blasters into each other's guts and throats.

And yet above all the carnage, he heard a single voice roar above the carnage. He saw one of those monks, yet beneath the brown robes of a monk, was the armor of a soldier, though his face was veiled in shadow so that none may know his true origin.

A glowing blue blade of light in his right, a blaster in his left, he stood upon the ridge, holding back a foe that only he could see from the angle Cisco watched. And yet as he looked among the soldiers and monks he stood beside, they seemed to be inspired by this single individual who leapt over the edge with a roaring cry of "FOR THE REPUBLIC!"

The war cry seemed to be enough for what seemed to be thousands of his brethren: the bravest, the boldest, the fiercest, to charge and leap over the edge and into the unknown with him, battling the warriors that had appeared from the edge.

Then there was silence…

Whatever chaos and war that was coming for them had been halted by the men and women who had gone over the edge.

The remaining men and women fell to their knees in relief that the battle was finally over. The carnage had been halted by whoever that hero was.

Then they saw it...a hand, grab the top of the ledge and pull it's owner up to the light. At first Cicso took this as a good thing, the hero triumphant.

And yet...the man was different. His robes were now black, as if they had absorbed the darkness of the abyss. He then saw the crimson blade that he now held in his hand. And beside him stood the multitude that joined him, all of their armors now holding the same darkness upon their being.

And now they were the enemys that must be faced. Yet heartbreak, shock, and despair kept most of their remaining number down.

[Arrow OST: Returning Home]

Then the vision shifted.

He now saw himself with his friends along with an unknown number of other heroes. It clearly was several years in the future as many of them they did not know yet. In fact it seemed there was an entire superhero society now. Some in metallic armor, others in uniforms and others in costumes of their own design. He even was on the verge of geeking out from what he saw next: from the Hero of World War II, to a man in Iron Suit, at three men in a glowing green suit with a similar ring upon their fingers, and he even saw Carter and Shayera among the crowd of many more heroes.

They seemed to be a moment of peace, of victory. And it seemed that all was well in the world. Cisco couldn't help but bring himself to smile at the idea of so many heroes fighting side by side against villians, and being able to be friends and colleagues even.

If a day like this were to come to pass, I think

As they partied, all attention was drawn to the main door opened to reveal someone that seemed to cause everyone at the party to grin and cheer at the new arrival.

"There he is!" he heard the Iron Suited man call out, "The man of the hour!"

[Legends OST: Vandal Savage Arrives]

Now Cisco turns to see the new arrival, and upon seeing the cloaked and hooded figure, he felt a sense of dread wash over him...of uncertainty.

And his negative focus on the newcomer led to another vision, this one far worse.

He was back upon the battleground, war and chaos reigned. And yet it was different, where once it was unknown soldiers and warriors in the bloody mud, he now saw many of those heroes, many now dead, with burning holes and gashes on their person.

With only a few still standing among the wreckage.

Among them, there was one who appeared to be a warrior goddess, and the other an armored knight with pointed protrusions atop both sides of his head. Both were struggling to make their way through the rubble. As he looked upon them, Cisco's thoughts were erratic as his mind processed who the man was.

"No way...he's a myth!" he gasped.

He was pulled from that thought as he heard the woman in a foreign accent protest to whatever action the man was planning to take.

"You can't face him alone! Look at what he has done! You think you can face all of them and face him!?" she cried, Cisco walked around to see her face, she was truly beautiful, among the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

And yet her beautiful face was marred in dirt, scratches, blood, and mascara tears. Her eyes were filled with horror at whatever he was preparing to do, "Even if you get close, he will kill you!"

The Dark Knight spoke with a voice clearly altered, "Only if he sees me coming…"

That only caused the woman to grab him firmly and force him to face her, "And you think he won't!? You weren't there! You didn't see his truth, you didn't see his life!"

"What he overcame, what he endured, the terrible things he is capable of and the lengths he will go for what he believes in!"

Cisco was getting nervous as he thought about what they were saying...someone was big and bad enough that even the potential army of heroes was no match. That's not someone he EVER wanted to meet.

And yet even with the fear in her voice, he could still hear the admiration in them.

Then he heard her scream the truth, "You don't realize this, but he's you!"

"You have Robin, Batgirl, or any of us to pull you from the black! But if you lost that?! If your life had been nothing but conflict, chaos, and death! The only love you ever knew lost so long ago you don't even remember what it feels like!"

That made the knight pause as she continued, "He's the man you would have become had you gone to war!"

Both stopped speaking as a bright light illuminates their position, casting everything else in a silhouette. Soldiers appeared in similar white armor landing in the cleared area of debris by wire lines, jetpacks, or their black armored counterparts simply materializing from the darkness, yelling orders and shouting to the remaining heroes to surrender.

Refusing to go down, they went back to back to face the hidden soldiers as too did their own allies. However all looked up as the leader of this unknown force called out.

His was was amplified, metallic, and far more menacing than the Reverse-Flash, Merlyn, or even Deathstroke. Where their voice was filled with a personal hatred for their foils, this voice held a conviction that did not come with blind rage. Rather it was calculated, filled with intent and the conviction that what he was doing was cruel, but necessary to see his vision through.

It echoed and resonated with a mechanical, guttural snarl to it.

"This is my final offer…" the man boomed out for them to hear, "Join me alongside your brothers and sisters, or fall like the rest!"

And with that, he ignited a crimson blade before dropping down upon them with his blade crashing down.

[End OST]

Cisco jumps out of his skin with a scream as the unknown man was going through him. The sudden shock caused him to snap out of his vision, and the others to jump and to look at him in shock then concern.

Barry rushed over to his friend, "Cisco what's wrong? You look like the Hulk just crashed in the middle of the hall."

"Thank God he's off somewhere on the other side of the world…" muttered Felicity, the others simply chalking that to the fact that she was the ulimate hacker...barring a red-headed rival in Gotham with similar skills who claimed the same.

Cisco could only try to shake his head of the images, "I dunno."

He looks back to the try and see which costumed fan he had hit that caused the daydream...or was it a vibe?

But that was impossible, the Sith, the Jedi, all of it was just fiction...right?

And that vision...that crimson blade...that terrifying darkness hiding his face…

Shaking himself from his thoughts, he put on a brave face and chose to move on, "Just got the case of the jitters. Oh crap the cast Q&A is coming on soon we need to go!"

And so the nightmare was thrust from his mind...not realizing that those attuned to the energies of the multiverse had also been held as a witness as to what would soon come to Earth-Prime.