A/N: Back with another chapter.

Response to reviews:

spiderman1fan: Thank you. No, I'm not gonna have Barry go to that point in time during the MCU. I'm gonna have him go to the MCU a few days before Age of Ultron. You're right, it would be interesting but I'm not really into having Barry that early in the MCU. I don't really see the point of it.

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." - Nelson Mandela

Elsewhere

Afternoon

Barry landed hard on the ground before groaning in pain as Oliver stood over him. He and Oliver had been training and camping off-grid for the past few hours at some abandoned building in a forest in the middle of nowhere. As of now, however, Barry was just laying on the ground, practically drenched in sweat as he laid defeated until Oliver called out to him.

"On your feet!" Oliver yelled. "Can't slack off now."

Barry got onto his feet as he held up his fists in a sparring position, bouncing on his feet as Oliver had taught him.

"What's the point of all of this?" Barry wondered. "I thought we had to go to this 'Nyssa Al Ghul' figure in order for me to train."

"We do." Oliver said as he and Barry continued bouncing, moving around in circles. "This is just to get you ready for the League. You can't go there unprepared. You have to be prepared for every possibility, you have to think before you act. You can't always be reactive. Now, shut up and fight."

At that point, Barry threw himself forward, swinging a punch at Oliver. Oliver, however, was quicker as he simply skid to the right and kneed Barry in the stomach causing the young speedster to fall onto ground by his back. Much to Oliver's surprise, Barry quickly got back onto his feet and shook off his paining injuries as if nothing happened.

"You know, you're not always, the strongest, the fastest or the smartest." Oliver pointed as he and Barry continued bouncing. "But you do have one thing."

"Which is?" Barry asked, readying himself for Oliver's attacks.

"You never give up." Oliver replied and that's when it happened.

Oliver then made a jump sidekick at Barry but this time, the speedster was ready. Barry front rolled to his left to avoid Oliver's kick as he got onto his feet, Oliver staring at him with a smile. The kid was learning quickly. Barry and Oliver then exchanged punches, Barry was mainly taking some of Oliver's blows while Oliver dodged Barry's. Then, Barry tried throw a front kick at Oliver pushed down Barry's knee before throwing a right hook to his jaw as Barry fell down on the ground. At that point, Barry felt his blood boil, rage building up in him, the same kind of rage he had back in his argument with the team. Barry immediately got onto his feet as he angrily yelled, throwing a punch at Oliver. Oliver barely avoided it as Barry repeatedly kept punching Oliver, who had his guard up, defending Barry's savage punches before he acted. He grabbed one of Barry's hands and swung it forward, causing Barry to lose balance as Oliver trapped him in a choke-hold position.

"Never lose your cool, it'll get you killed or worse." Oliver said before forcefully letting him go.

Barry then turned around to face Oliver as the two continued bouncing, getting ready to attack one another. This time, it was Barry who attacked first as he jumped in the air and attempted to kick Oliver while falling onto his feet. Oliver skid to his right, dodging Barry's flying kick as he threw a punch at him but this time, Barry was ready. Barry turned his body to dodge Oliver's punch as he pushed his body against Oliver's, causing Oliver to stumble back. Barry wore a smile on his face as he and Oliver kept bouncing, Barry was learning and he was learning fast. Barry and Oliver once again engaged in a fight, trading punches, kicks and all sorts of hits from one another. Barry, of course, was much more tired during the fight than Oliver was, he wasn't used to fighting for so long without his speed but nevertheless, he persisted, pushing beyond his limit. Barry could already feel the effects of exhaustion during his fight with Oliver, his heart pumping and pumping, sweat trickling down his body, his oxygen supply being limited due to his fight.

Barry kept up in his fight with Oliver, ignoring his limits or his body's pain, begging for a break. Barry and Oliver kept on sparring as they now had been for the past five minutes but at the rate they were going, even Olympic-level athletes would need at least a full minute break. Nevertheless, both Barry and Oliver persisted, each of them fighting til the other dropped. Oliver did a 360-degree hook kick but Barry ducked under as he immediately got back up and kicked Oliver in the stomach, causing Oliver to stumble back. Barry lunged at Oliver for a punch only for Oliver to do a front flip over Barry as the archer landed behind Barry before grabbing his neck and throwing him hard on the ground. Barry, having been completely exhausted, decided to stay down and concede.

"Honestly, compared to all the people I've taught..." Oliver said before taking a deep sigh, having been as exhausted as Barry was. "...you learn much quicker."

"Yeah, I get that a lot." Barry said as he accepted Oliver's hand up before getting onto his feet. "What next, teach?"

"Hunting." Oliver said calmly, having already gotten his breath back together. "No speed, no powers, you're on your own."

Oliver then tossed Barry some a quiver full of arrows and a bow as Barry looked at the equipment in surprise before looking back at Oliver.

"I don't know how to shoot a bow and arrow, Ollie!" Barry yelled. "I'm not you."

"Well, you better get started sooner, shouldn't you?" Oliver said, putting his quiver and holding onto his bow.

"Ollie, tell me you're joking." Barry begged. Oliver didn't reply.

Oliver ignored Barry as he walked out the building and stood over the edge of a cliff in the forest, Oliver jumped off the edge, landing lower and lower in the forest as Barry merely watched while Oliver easily made his way through the forest. Barry put the quiver over his shoulder and on his back as he held the bow with his non dominant hand.

"Great. Just great." Barry said sarcastically. He was in for a long ride.

Central City

S.T.A.R. Labs

Same Time

"Anything?" Iris asked, sitting on the edge of a table as Cisco sighed.

"No, Iris. My answer hasn't changed since you asked me literally 10 seconds ago." Cisco said, sounding irritated. "And if you ask one more time, I will breach you to the pipeline."

"Oh, like it's my fault Barry's gone." Iris said sarcastically.

"He's not gone, Iris. He left us." Cisco argued. "There's a difference."

"Well, he wouldn't have left in the first place if it hadn't been for you and Caitlin." Iris spat.

"What were we supposed to do?" Cisco asked. "Hold Barry's hands, dance in circles and sing 'Kumbaya'?"

"Cisco, I know you and Caitlin are angry at Barry for Flashpoint..." Iris said. "...but you didn't have to shove it in Barry's face. There were a whole lot of other ways you could've dealt with the situation and you and Caitlin chose the worst out of all of them."

"Well maybe, I'm glad I did." Cisco spat. "And just so you know, I'm only doing this because Central City needs The Flash not because you want Barry back."

Iris scoffed in disbelief as if Cisco had walked up to her and slapped her. She angrily stormed out of the room, towards the entrance, where she immediately ran into Caitlin. Iris stared in anger at the scientist, part of her just wanted to beat her to the ground and choke her with her bare hands. She could've but she didn't, it wasn't what Barry would've wanted.

"If something happens to Barry, it's your fault. Yours and his." Iris sneered, eyeing both Caitlin and Cisco before storming out of the cortex.

Caitlin then turned to face Cisco as she walked up to him.

"Nothing?" Caitlin asked.

"No, the satellite's tracking Barry's Speed Force signature but it isn't getting anything." Cisco replied. "He must be dampening his powers or somehow manipulating the frequency of his signature to be undetectable or untraceable by our satellites but I'm willing to go with the former."

"Do you think it was worth it?" Caitlin bluntly asked. "What we said to Barry? About Flashpoint? Was it worth it?"

Cisco opened his mouth to speak but was cut off as rapid beeping came from Caitlin's meta-cuffs. Caitlin looked down in horror.

"I have to go and get the cuffs recharged." Caitlin said quickly before leaving the room.

Cisco stared at the computer with a blank look on his face. He pondered to himself, asking Caitlin's question to himself. Was it really worth it? All the anger? All the ill treatment he had been showing Barry the past few months? Was it really worth it? Cisco then spoke, to no one in particular, in the empty room.

"No." Cisco whispered. "It wasn't worth it all."

Unknown to Cisco, Caitlin was at the corner behind the entrance, where she hid as she overheard Cisco's words. She obviously disagreed with him as anger filled inside her. How was it not worth it? After everything Barry did? After all the things he had done? Didn't they deserve vengeance or at least some form of clarity? Suddenly, Caitlin's eyes glowed with icy color as she felt Killer Frost taking over.

"No, no, no." Caitlin begged as she closed her eyes. She tried to fight it back until she couldn't as she gave in to her alter ago before speaking in her icy, Killer Frost tone. "You will pay for what you did, Barry Allen."

Caitlin then returned to normal and instead of panicking, she breathed a deep sigh, feeling relieved. She felt free, like she was no longer being restrained, like she was no longer trapped, like she was a god. And she didn't just enjoy it, she loved it. Caitlin then froze her cuffs as she threw them away before walking down the halls of S.T.A.R. Labs.

Meanwhile, Iris was waiting in the Speed Lab as she leaned against the railing, waiting impatiently when suddenly, two flashes of yellow lightning arrived in the room as Jesse and Wally stood tall, dressed in both their suits. Cisco had given Wally a suit and initially Wally would'v been excited but with Barry having been gone, Wally was too occupied with finding Barry. Jesse and Harry offered to help and the team eagerly accepted. Iris rushed over to Wally and Jesse.

"Anything?" Iris pleaded.

"No." Wally said disappointingly as Iris frowned in disappointment.

"We searched the entire city five times." Jesse stated. "We got nothing. Wherever Barry is, he isn't in the city."

"He wouldn't have left Central City unprotected." Wally pointed out.

"It isn't." Harry Wells said as he entered the Speed Lab, making Wally, Iris and Jesse turn to face him. "It has both of you."

"But Dad, I'm still beginning as a speedster and Wally's no better. No offense." Jesse said.

"Hey, I'm with you." Wally replied.

"The city also has Vibe." Harry pointed out. "It isn't unprotected and West, you're right, Barry wouldn't leave Central City unprotected but that's my point. The city is protected."

"Onto more important matters..." Iris said. "We have to find Barry."

"Are you sure you wanna do that?" Harry asked.

"Dad, of course we do." Jesse said.

"Have any of you considered the possibility that he, I don't know, doesn't want to be found?" Harry asked as Iris looked at him suspiciously.

"Did Barry say something to you?" Iris asked as she, Wally and Jesse all turned to face Harry.

"We spoke." Harry confessed. "He told me that he felt the team was being torn apart, that he was angry. I told him to learn to control his anger, to control his rage and to learn to tune it."

"Why would you tell him that?!" Iris yelled, sounding outraged.

"I didn't know he was gonna leave." Harry said, trying to defend himself.

"So you just what, told him to leave?" Iris yelled.

"Hey, Iris, Harry didn't know what Barry was gonna do. You can't blame him." Wally said, defending Barry. "Why don't we just find Barry and we'll sort this all out later?"

"Sounds good to me." Harry said before turning around and leaving the Speed Lab as Iris glared him, watching the alternate Wells leave.

"I'm gonna go see if Cisco found anything." Jesse said before leaving the Speed Lab as she headed down the halls of S.T.A.R. Labs before spotting Caitlin. "Hey Caitlin."

"Hey Jesse." Caitlin said calmly as Jesse noticed something off about Caitlin. "Where're your meta-cuffs?"

"Don't need 'em." Caitlin replied, much to Jesse's confusion. "Caitlin Snow is officially home free from Killer Frost."

"I don't understand." Jesse said, sounding dumbfounded.

"I can control my powers." Caitlin said simply.

"Wow!" Jesse said, sounding surprised. "That's nice. Anyways, I've gotta go see if Cisco's got anything on Barry."

"Yeah." Caitlin said as she and Jesse parted ways.

Unknown to Jesse, Caitlin kept walking down the halls, her eyes glowed icily as an evil smile formed on her face. Caitlin then returned to normal as she kept walking down the thin halls of S.T.A.R. Labs.

A Few Hours Later

Night

Elsewhere

Oliver was at a campfire in a random place in the forest, he sat cross-legged behind the fire as he continued cooking his final dead rabbit out of the many, many ones he had caught. He was still waiting for Barry as he had expected that he would be late, speed or no speed, it was Barry's nature to be late. At this point, given how late Barry always was, Oliver was used to it. Oliver pulled out his dead, cooked rabbit from the fire when suddenly, he heard branches and leaves rustling against each other, indicating the presence of a man. Oliver quickly got onto his feet, loading his bow with an arrow as he pulled back the bowstring, ready to fire. He aimed his arrow at a dark part of the forest when suddenly, a man in blue jeans, a blue t-shirt and a black hoodie fell onto the ground. Oliver immediately recognized him.

"You're late." Oliver said.

"Yeah." the man replied as he took off his hood, revealing the face of Barry Allen. "Thought you be used to that by now."

"Still getting used to it." Oliver admitted. "How many d'you get?"

Barry then dumped many dead animals on the ground. Among the dead animals were: two rabbit and couple of small birds. Oliver was impressed, for a beginner, Barry was certainly experienced enough.

"Not bad." Oliver said.

"My dad and I used to go camping." Barry explained. "We always hunt birds, take down a deer with his crossbow. For a doctor, he sure like hunting a lot."

"Well, for a person just starting out, you've gone beyond normal expectations." Oliver pointed out.

"Thanks, teach." Barry joked as he sat down and began cooking the birds with the fire. "What's next?"

"Tomorrow, we meet with Nyssa and her faction of the League." Oliver explained. "Remember, Barry, when you get there, you're going to be tested in every way beyond humanly possible. You have to push yourself above and beyond, the only way to do that is keep testing your limits."

"Keep testing my limits, got it." Barry said.

"Good, now eat quickly and get some sleep." Oliver ordered. "We're leaving at 5 am tomorrow morning."

"You brought a watch?" Barry asked.

"You don't always need a watch to tell time." Oliver said, much to Barry's confusion as the young speedster continued cooking his dead birds and rabbits.

Next Day

Barry stood in the middle of a deserted area, he looked around in confusion. It was as if, he was in a desert, only there were no hills and instead, there were flat-lands. Barry didn't know what was going on, the last thing he remembered was going to sleep after talking with Oliver back in the forest. He looked around, hoping to find someone, anyone with him when suddenly, he stared at the ground in horror. He saw dead bodies but not just random people's dead bodies, it was Cisco's, Caitlin's, Iris', Joe's, Oliver's, Diggle's, Felicity and some other people he didn't recognize.

"Guys." Barry called out, hoping that one of them would wake up. "Guys?"

Barry panicked as he didn't know what to do, he kneeled beside Caitlin when suddenly, she lunged forward, forcefully grabbing Barry's hand in pain. Barry stared in horror as Caitlin spoke in a raspy voice.

"Barry." Caitlin gasped.

"Hey, hey, hey, Cait." Barry panicked. "It's okay, you're gonna be okay. I promise."

"You...you..." Caitlin rasped as she tried to speak. "...you could've saved us...why? Why didn't you do it? Why weren't there?"

Barry looked at Caitlin, being completely speechless as he stared at Caitlin in horror. Caitlin then fell on her back, losing consciousness as she breathed her final breath.

"Cait, no, no, no." Barry called out. "Cait, come on, stay with me."

Barry's efforts were in vain as Caitlin just wasn't getting up, this forced Barry to believe something unbelievable: Caitlin was dead and so was Iris, Joe, Cisco, Caitlin, Diggle, Felicity, Oliver and all the other people in front of him. Then, Barry noticed a large ship in the air. On the top of the ship, Barry saw an eight-foot-tall, grey-skinned and muscular alien standing over the edge of the top of the ship. The alien had orange glowing eyes as he stared down at Barry, who gulped with fear. Then, on the ground, Barry noticed another alien, covered in metal armor, which was covered in many, small metal spikes. This alien was less muscular and more skinnier than the other alien. He held a large axe, which had orange and white energy surging through it.

The skinnier alien stared at Barry with rage before smiling evilly as he tightened his grip on the axe.

"For Darkseid!" the skinnier alien yelled.

Suddenly, the skinnier alien swung his axe on the ground as energy burst from it. The energy was dome-shaped and it kept expanding at an impossible speed. Soon, it reached Barry as everything went black.

Barry woke up with a start he jumped onto his feet. He looked around him and was surprised to find that he was still in the forest as a realization came to him, it was just a nightmare. Barry looked around to find that it was morning but he was surprised to see that Oliver was gone, his bed was gone, the fire had been put out and it was as if he vanished and was just gone. Barry looked around the forest, turning round and round.

"Oliver?" Barry called out. "Oliver?"

Suddenly, with no warning a man emerged behind Barry as he kicked Barry's back, causing to fall off his feet and face-flat onto the ground. Barry looked up to see Oliver standing over him.

"Ollie?" Barry said in shock. "What the hell are you doing?"

Oliver didn't answer, he then threw kick to Barry's face but this time Barry was ready as he rolled on his back to avoid the kick. Barry then kicked Oliver in the stomach with both his feet, causing Oliver to stumble back. Oliver was partially distracted by the hit, allowing Barry to get enough time to get back onto his feet. Barry knew he didn't have his speed, the meta-dampening bracelet he was wearing on his left wrist took care of that. Barry and Oliver were both ready as they charged at one another as they proceeded to spar with one another. Oliver swung his left fist at Barry, who ducked under before lifting his head back up and double punching Oliver's side. Barry then threw a turning hook kick but Oliver skidded back to avoid it before throwing a jump front kick at Barry. Barry fell on his back but creatively, he did a back roll to quickly get back onto his feet. Oliver was impressed by Barry's skill. Barry and Oliver ran at one another as they both threw sidekicks, their feet met in mid air as the force from each other's kicks sent the other stumbling backward but they were able to stay on their feet.

Barry and Oliver then charged at one another as Oliver swung his right fist at Barry. Barry ducked as he slid on his knees before sliding his left leg, knocking Oliver off his feet. Barry then jumped onto his feet before throwing a punch at Oliver's back, causing the archer to tumble forward before landing on his back. Barry looked down at Oliver before releasing himself from his sparring position, which proved to be a blunder. Oliver sneakily swung his right foot at Barry's ankles, knocking Barry off his feet before throwing a couple of hard punches on his stomach, making Barry stay down as Oliver got onto his feet, looking down at the exhausted Barry.

"Never stop fighting until your opponent is down." Oliver said before giving Barry a hand up.

Barry accepted Oliver's hand up as he got onto his feet, breathing heavily from his exhaustion.

"What was that all about?" Barry asked.

"A lesson." Oliver replied, much to Barry's confusion. "You need to learn to fight all kinds of opponents, especially the ones have an advantage over. Specifically, the ones who have the element of surprise."

"I didn't beat you." Barry stated.

"Maybe, but you're improving. Plus, this will help by improving your senses." Oliver pointed out. "Something you'll need when you're fighting. Plus, there's good news."

"Which is?" Barry asked hopefully.

"You're up early." Oliver said as Barry sighed disappointingly. "Which means we won't be late for our meeting with Nyssa."

"And that's a good thing, how?" Barry wondered.

"Because..." Oliver stated. "...Nyssa doesn't tolerate students who are late."

"Oh." Barry realized. "Well, we better get going."

"Yeah." Oliver said before patting Barry on the shoulder. "Good work, you're improving and you're learning fast."

Barry nodded as he and Oliver packed their bags before continuing on their journey to Nanda Parbat.

A/N: Hope you liked the fight scenes for this chapter. Let me know if there is anything I can do to improve them. I know most of you are just wondering when Barry is gonna go to the MCU. Don't worry, it'll be soon. It'll be in either chapter four or five, I guarantee it. Promise. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review and tell me what you think.