Disclaimer: The following is a nonprofit Fan based story; The FLASH and all related characters are owned by DC comics, the CW and anyone I may have missed.

Like I always seem to say to the point of redundancy (doesn't mean it's any less true) I love everyone who Reviews, Favorites and or Follows any of my stories. Again, if I didn't respond I apologize and just let me know.

Reviews: Galpalcj, CallMeMiles, changingdestiny40 and AReiss215

Favorites:PretorianKing, hell suriver203, Yankeegirl244 and truk 201

Followers: hell suriver203 and Yankeegirl244

I don't know where the hell August went and with it all my missed opportunities to get this chapter done and out. I honestly have no way to gauge my schedule in terms of writing so unfortunately I don't know when the next chapter will be coming out. I also know once Season 4 rolls around I might, key word is might, have more motivation to write more frequently. Either way I believe I've finished with most of the set up stuff so starting next chapter we'll be diving into the juicy stuff dealing with the Ben, Godspeed, Barry, Speed Demon and the Mystery Speedster

Also, please share this on any social media platform you see fit, get the word out if you love it so much AReiss215 gave me the idea to get it out there the only problem is I am not that involved with the social medias (no twitter, Insta, facebook, etc.) so it is totally cool for you guys to do that on my behalf if you want because I would love for the whole fandom to read this. Hell, I would love it if the stars, writers and Producers of the shows saw this!

The Flash: Survival of the Fastest

Chapter 20: Race Down Memory Lane

CCPD

The instant the female speedster was gone with Esperanza and Caitlin, Mrs. De Santo began to wail for her little girl. Everyone in The Precinct was in a frenzy trying to figure out what happened and where Dr. Snow and Esperanza disappeared to.

Thankfully Caitlin had moved so fast no one figured she was the other Flash running around the city. Iris and Joe were busy trying to calm down the older woman.

"My baby… where's my baby girl?" Mrs. De Santo demanded.

"Mrs. De Santo, I promise we'll do everything we can to find your daughter." Joe said

"I should have never agreed to this." Mrs. De Santo buried her face into her hands. "Now my baby is gone…"

The Grand Canyon

Caitlin ran hard as she chased after the female speedster, moments after leaving CCPD she had changed into her suit and was hot on the other woman's trail. In mere minutes, the duo had run from Missouri all the way to Arizona. Every step Caitlin took felt hard on her body causing her slight pain not to mention she was still feeling slightly ill from the flue she contracted. In typical speedster fashion, thunder roared as the two speedsters stopped hear the edge of the Grand Canyon with the black and purple speedster dangling the little girl over the ravine.

"DON'T!" Caitlin pleaded.

Esperanza was quite surprised to see her hero, Lady Flash, trying to save her. "Lady Flash?"

"Stay calm Esperanza, I'm going to save you."

"Don't make promises you can't keep Lady Flash." The Other speedster said. Caitlin watched as the other woman's grip loosened and released the little girl.

"NO!" Caitlin screamed in horror as she watched a little girl fall to her death.

Seconds later Caitlin sighed with relief as Ben in his Godspeed suit slid to a stop next to her holding Esperanza tightly in his arms.

"I've got you." Ben reassured the little girl. He turned to Caitlin before handing her off to his mother. "Take her to Star City I deal with this one." He said gesturing to the other female speedster.

"OK I've got her." Caitlin responded as she clutched the little girl.

"Go!" In a heartbeat Caitlin and Esperanza were gone and Ben quickly intercepted the other speedster. "Oh no you don't!"

The other speedster pouted. "Oh, come on Benny, surly you won't hurt little old me."

Hearing his name shocked Ben. Whoever this woman was she knew who he was, and that frightened him.

"You know who I am?"

The female speedster chuckled. "Shame you don't remember me Benny, especially after all of our special time together. We made quite a team." She reached up and removed her cowl revealing what looked to be a much older version of the little girl he just saved. "Sure I had a bit of a name change but that shouldn't change much."

"What? You!? How?"

"I go by Olvida nowadays." Olvida smiled "Long story, don't want to bore you with the details. Actually…Let's have a race." She had said to him. "One thousand laps around the Grand Canyon. You win I'll tell you everything you want to know."

"And if you win?"

Olvida smirked. "That's for me to know and you to find out. Though I don't think you want to find out."

Thunder roared as the two speedsters began to run around the magnificent canyon. They ran neck and neck at Mach 100 just keeping pace with the other. Ben knew if he were to pull ahead it would give this woman the opportunity to draft off him, which would result in his loss in the end and she surely knew the same thing.

Ben had shown his parents he could easily reach speeds of Mach 30,000 but he didn't reveal to them that the faster he went the harder it was for him to process the world around him. Everything would eventually turn into a blur with ben unable to differentiate objects within his limited field of view, its why he would wear goggles specially designed to help him see.

Slowly they pushed harder and crept up their speeds reaching Mach 200, 500, 1000. To the outside world only 1.3 seconds passed as Olvida slid to a stop across the line she had made in the sand. She turned and looked at Ben with a smile. One lap down 999 to go.

Star City, Papp's Jewels

Robin and Bobby arrived at the Jewelry store just as the perpetrators were exiting the building, it was none other than the Royal Flush Gang, except they had the Heart motif instead of the usual Spade suit.

There were five of them coming out of the building each with a duffle bag more likely than not filled with valuables. There seemed to be no firearms on their person which was a good sign.

"Damn it! Who're these guys?" The Man with the King of Hearts mask asked.

"Sonic Boom" Bobby said as he pulled down his scarf unveiling his horrific mouth.

"And I'm The Black Arrow." Robin said as she knocked an arrow in her bow. She quickly drew back and fired five arrows, each one split open unveiling nets.

King and Jack tossed their bags to the ones with a Queen mark and a Ten mark. They each pulled out a deck of cards and some kind of handle. In two fluid motions their flourished their decks and slicked through the nets. King's deck now resembled a scimitar while Jack's resembled a broad axe.

"The Card Weapons are new." Bobby said under his breath so only Robin could hear him. "I could have sworn these thugs were supposed to be just that."

Robin nocked another arrow and drew it back. "Doesn't matter anyway." She fired only for the Royal Flush gang to avoid it as it embedded itself into the wall behind them.

"Ha! You missed!" Queen smirked

"Missed?" Robin questioned. "I never miss." The air was filled with a low humming that grew louder and louder before the arrow detonated unleashing a concussive force that knocked all five members of the Royal Flush Gang off of their feet. c

"That was too easy." She made a move to clasp some cuffs on them but the man with the Ace mark grabbed her wrist.

Sonic Boom closed the distance and grabbed Ace. "RAAAAAAAHHHH!" Bobby screamed uncontrollably into his head. There was something off about Ace, as normal as he looked Bobby could hear the faint pulsing of electricity, the turning of gears and the rush of running of some liquid within him. The pressure of Bobby's scream was so immense it caused Ace's head to cave into his chest. Oil and metal shot out in all directions.

"Damn!" King growled

"ACE!" The one marked 10 cried out. Her voice was distinctly female, possibly early twenties. She Brandished two decks of cards and spread them like fans before flinging them at Sonic Boom like throwing stars.

Bobby replied by moving Ace's robotic body into the path of the projectiles catching them all.

"Neat tech." Bobby said as he released the android to crumple to the ground. "A little too advanced wouldn't you say?" He asked turning to Robin.

The Black Arrow rolled her eyes. "As advanced as my arrows are I made them all myself from scratch." She dodged a swing of King's card sword grabbed his shoulder and kneed him in the crotch. She had been trained to fight by Oliver Queen until she was eighteen after that she decided to throw honor out the window into the river with concrete feet. She drew another arrow and shot it into the down man's back which sent an electrical current through his body.

Bobby shook his head as he stopped Queen's right arm as she tried to stab him with a card knife. Twirling around like a snake he was airborne wrapping his legs around Queen's head in a Headscissors move. Using his superior weight and momentum, he brought the both of them to the ground and yanked on her right arm popping it clean out of its socket. Queen yelled in pain but was silenced by a swift kick to her temple from Bobby.

"How could you do that to her?" Robin asked as Sonic Boom got back to his feet. "She's a woman!"

Bobby looked back at the unconscious woman before turning to his companion. "There's just no pleasing you is there?" Sonic Boom dodged a swing of Jack's card axe before slamming his forearm into his jaw bringing him to the ground. Bobby then proceeded to elbow drop into Jack's chest breaking a few of his ribs. Bobby then grabbed Jack's legs and twisted them into a knot. He stepped over and twisted Jack until he was on his stomach Bobby kept applying the pressure to make Jack scream. When he was satisfied Bobby released his opponent.

"I mean seriously… you get mad when I don't act chivalrous towards ladies but you also get mad when I fight women like I fight men."

Robin rolled her eyes and nocked another arrow and without aiming fired at a fleeing 10. Wires shot out and wrapped around her like a web making her fall to the ground clumsily.

"You're an ass."

"That's why you love me." Bobby teased

"Just because I am obligated to 'love' you, doesn't mean I have to."

Arrow Bunker

Barry and the rest of Team Arrow Waited for Caitlin, Ben, Robin and Bobby to return to the Bunker. Barry had decided that in preparation for Caitlin's arrival with a civilian girl it would be best for everyone to suit up even if they weren't particularly fond of the idea. When Caitlin made the call that she needed some help Barry was about to jump to help her but Ben stepped in and went to help her instead. Not long after Ben had run off after Caitlin, Caitlin returned to the Bunker with the little girl she had been sent to retrieve.

"Cait!" Barry was immediately by her side and embracing his fiancé.

"I'm fine Flash." She said not giving away Barry's identity.

"Uh… who are you people?" Esperanza asked not recognizing anyone in the room.

Barry crouched down to her level. "You see Esperanza The Green Arrow and his team need your help."

"Really?" She turned from the Flash to the confused faces of Heroes she had only heard about. "What can I do?"

"You see, we believe you developed abilities during the Particle Accelerator Explosion five years ago." Caitlin spoke up. Barry gave her a look.

"Five years? That long?"

"It exploded in December of 2013." Caitlin gave the Flash a knowing look. How could he have forgotten the day he was hit by that lightning bolt? "Kind of hard to forget that's when it happened."

"Right sorry." Barry rubbed the back of his cowled head. "Anyway, someone has altered Team Arrow's memories Esperanza. We need you to set them right."

"How can I do that? I can only remember things perfectly. I've never seen other people's memories." The little girl said.

"You can do it." Caitlin put a hand on the little girl's shoulder reassuringly. "We believe in you."

"…OK…" she took Lady Flash's hand so the female speedster could lead her to Team Arrow.

"Who wants a little girl rummaging through their mind first?" Barry asked.

Arizona, The Grand Canyon

About twenty-one minutes after their race had started Olvida and Ben both came to a screeching halt across their hand made finish line, with Olvida being just a nose a head of Ben.

"Looks like I win Godspeed." She said his codename in a mocking tone. "Funny how your name has a double meaning and yet neither helped you out in this race. You're definitely not a speed god nor do you seem to have any good luck.

"How…?" Ben was out of breath, something which was unusual for him. He was lucky their speed hadn't locked together. If it had Ben would be powerless right now. "I'm the fastest speedster…"

Olvida smirked. "Actually, that title belongs to someone dear to me. Someone you know well."

"Who?" Ben demanded.

"I'll never tell." Olvida wagged her finger.

"But then again…" She rushed forward and grabbed a hold of Ben's head allowing her violet lightning to burst out in all directions. "I think it's time you meet him."

Ben screamed in agony as Olvida's lightning overwhelmed him. Images flashed in his mind, he couldn't make sense of any of it until he saw one that stuck with him. Barry and Caitlin's dead bodies with two people standing over them that Ben knew all too well. How could he forget the man and woman who killed his mother and father?

Central City, S.T.A.R. Labs

"Anything?" Iris asked as she entered into the cortex. Cisco turned still sucking on a lollipop.

"Caitlin contacted us, she got Esperanza and took her to Star City. Apparently things are a little more complicated that we thought." Wally spoke up before Cisco could answer.

"How so?"

"There's a new crime fighting duo in Star City, they call themselves The Black Arrow and Sonic Boom." Cisco jumped in. "They're more on the maim side of the vigilante code."

"Honestly everyone they've 'caught' is more likely to end up in a hospital or a morgue rather than prison, if the rumors are to be believed."

"Hey, Oliver started out by killing people." Iris argued. "If these two want to do some good there is no one better to teach them than Oliver."

Wally raised his hands up in defeat. He knew not to argue with his sister. "I am not getting into a morality debate about these new heroes. I'm going out on Patrol. Is Eddie out?"

Iris nodded. "Yeah, he's finishing up his patrol of Keystone City any minute now."

"You seem oddly chipper Iris. What's up?" Cisco asked curiously.

Iris smiled and looked between Wally and Cisco. "Look don't tell anyone yet, but Eddie and I…" Wally's eyes widened with a thought. "We're going to have a baby."

"OH MY GOD!" Both Cisco and Wally rushed her and embraced Iris. "CONGRATULATIONS."

"Uncle Wally is going to be there for you buddy." Wally said into his sister's stomach.

"Yeah, same with Cisco." Vibe added. "I'll be the one to get all of his or her awesome toys."

"Maybe I should have been more specific." Iris mumbled under her breath drawing Cisco and Wally's attention. "I'm not pregnant." She said.

"wait then how are you and Eddie having a baby?" Cisco asked. Wally also seemed to have an equally confused look.

"Have neither of you two heard of adoption?" Iris asked sarcastically prompting two nearly identical 'Oh' faces.

"Does Dad know?" Wally asked

"No he doesn't. Not yet." Iris replied. "Eddie and I are just starting to look into it. There's an awful lot of work to be done, but hopefully in the end Eddie and I will be able to start out little family."

Star City, Oliver's Penthouse

While Bobby and Robin watched over Team Arrow while Esperanza attempted to work her magic in reworking their memories Barry and Caitlin stepped out to get a moment to themselves.

"It sounds like its going smoothly with restoring their memories." Caitlin said to lighten the mood.

"Still nothing from Ben?" Barry asked.

"I'm just as worried as you Barry, but Ben knows how to handle himself." True to her words Caitlin was worried for their son, he had been gone far too long by speedster standards.

"Yeah… our son really is something isn't he?" Barry answered as he leaned against the railing of the balcony

Caitlin smiled as she joined him. "It sounds like we will do a good job with him. Kind of removes any doubts either of us might have about being terrible parents."

"What?" Barry turned to her confused and completely misinterpreting her words. "You're concerned about being a bad parent? Why would you be thinking that? Wait a minute… Cait are you…?"

Caitlin turned to Barry in shock. "Am I preg – No, no, no, no Barry. I'm not pregnant." She laughed taking Barry's hands in her own and watched as Barry's gaze rose from the ring on her finger to her eyes. "We've been careful Barry… and I… I don't think having a baby right now is the best course of action…at least… I think it would be best for us to wait until we're married first…and when this ordeal with Oliver's team and Lightspeed's army of speedsters is over. And after we help Ben stop Speed Demon and get him home." The pair shared a brief moment of silence just smiling at the other. "And besides, don't you think you'd be the first to know if I was pregnant Mr. Allen?" She added.

"I'd be the second to know actually." Barry said "I can't exactly take a pregnancy test, can I?"

"No, you and I would find out together." Caitlin corrected before leaning in to kiss Barry.

Their kiss was meant to be nothing more than a quick peck but soon became heated with passion. Without thinking Caitlin was already removing Barry's sweater while He was attempting to remove her jacket as they made their way to the bedroom.

"Wait… Barry…" Caitlin finally broke the kiss. "We have to stop…"

"Why?" Barry asked.

"Just… not here…I mean… its not appropriate to do it in someone else's home."

"You're right… as usual."

The door clicked and opened allowing Ben to enter the Penthouse. "There you guys are." He said.

"Ben!" Caitlin immediately grabbed her jacket and put it back on quickly fixing her outfit. "You had us worried. What happened?"

"She…" Ben rubbed the back of his head and looked at the floor. "She got away…"

"How?"

"She was too fast. And she did this thing with her lightning." Ben tried to explain. "She tried to blind me and by the time my sight returned she was gone. I'm sorry…I screwed up…"

"It's alright Ben." Barry said placing a hand on Ben's shoulder. "We'll find her and deal with her."

Caitlin offered Ben a smile and opened her arms offering her son a hug. "Come here, you look like you could use a hug."

A smile crept over Ben's face. "I'll always accept a hug." Ben said as he embraced his mother.

That's when Caitlin felt it. a tiny jolt between her and Ben. Not enough to cause her any pain but enough to be noticeable. She pulled back startled.

"What is it?" Ben asked because he hadn't noticed the jolt.

Caitlin was about to say something when Barry grunted. He was holding his head with his right hand and seemed to be wincing in pain.

"Barry…?" Caitlin asked

"Wait… something…" Barry clutched his head. "Something is wrong…get… back…" Crimson lightning built up around Barry before exploding outward.

"BARRY!" Caitlin yelled as she reached out for him but his red lightning arced to her and burned her hand. She yanked her hand away and rubbed it, though she was more concerned for Barry. Ben wrapped his arms around his mother.

"Are you alright?"

"His lightning… it… it burned me…" Caitlin looked down at her slightly burned hand.

Barry found himself standing in the familiar swirling storm that was the Speed Force. "What's going on?" He asked himself hoping the Speed Force would respond. In that moment the world got darker, as if blanketed by a shadow.

"…Barry…" The Flash turned to the sound of his name which was also the direction the shadow was coming from. There Barry noticed something on the 'ground' a body. Barry made his way over to it thinking it was the Speed Force but then he noticed the form it took, Caitlin.

'Caitlin's body was crumpled on the ground pale and lifeless with a river of blood leaving her body. Unable to control himself Barry was cradling 'Caitlin' pleading for her to wake up while also trying to reaffirm that this could not be real. The Speed Force in Caitlin's form weakly opened her eyes and caressed Barry's face with a bloody hand.

"He is coming Barry… there is no longer anything we can do to stop him." She gestured to her freely flowing blood. "He will bathe in the blood of your lover…"

'Caitlin's' blood began to flow a little faster and move as if it had a life of its own. Barry followed it with his eyes and saw another stream of blood, this one coming from a corpse resembling him. The Bloody Barry then opened his eyes and began to speak like a possessed corpse. "He will bathe in your blood…"

This Barry wasn't alone there was a third body, one that bore an uncanny resemblance to Ben. "He won't stop until he bathes in the blood of your children…"

The blood from all three of them flowed as if it were alive forming a circle of crimson liquid. It began to boil and rise. Once it reached a specific height the blood fell away unveiling a figure clad in armor so black it seemed to swallow all the light around them. He reached down into the pool of blood and retracted his hand. Barry watched as he opened his fingers revealing a small golden ring illuminated ever so slightly by a glowing red lightning bolt. The figure promptly placed on his right index finger.

The blue storm around Barry began to change until it resembled Central City and he saw all of his friends around the black armored figure. Black lightning arced all over his body. The small gaps between the black armor began to glow a fiery red his body seemed to be vibrate with such intensity the air began to heat up before a large explosion of fire and black lightning exploded outward.

Barry was thrown from his feet as the wave of fire and lightning incinerating everyone and everything until nothing but ash remained. The Flash pushed himself up from the ground and looked at the desolation before him.

The figure was illuminated by the fire-red markings on his armor in addition to the red flames billowing off of him. This not only made the figure's black armor appear the same red as the Flash's own suit it allowed Barry to see this person's identity as none other than Speed Demon.

He only looked slightly different from when Barry initially saw him. His lightning horns seemed longer and the skull mask was a lot subtler than before, not only that but he was much taller, standing maybe a head and a half taller than Barry. He held black lightning in his ringed right hand as if it were solid. That's when Barry realized the black lightning not only was solid but Speed Demon was using it as chains restraining someone Barry recognized; his Mother.

"MOM!" Barry's mind was on the fritz. Part of him knew this was not real. The Speed Force took the form of his loved ones in order to counsel him when he needed its help.

Each step Speed Demon took towards him seemed to echo as loud as thunder until he was on top of Barry towering over him and casting a dark shadow over the petrified speedster. He reached out and grabbed Barry with his left hand which burned Barry to the touch and lifted him a solid foot off the ground until they were staring eye to eye.

"YOU MUST STOP HIM BARRY!" The Speed Force version of his mother pleaded. "ONLY YOU CAN STOP HIS ASCENT!" The air around Speed Demon ignited with such intense heat everything, including Barry, burned to nothing.

Barry gasped and sat upright taking in as much air as his lungs could.

"BARRY!" Caitlin latched her arms around his neck and held him tight.

"Are you alright Barry?" Ben asked "You had us worried."

Barry was still shell-shocked trying to gauge his surroundings. He seemed to be laying on a bed in what must have been Oliver's penthouse. "Cait…? Ben…? What happened?" That's when Barry noticed Caitlin's bandaged hand. "You're hurt Cait."

"It's fine Barry. Just a slight burn." She caressed Barry's hand with her injured one.

Ben and Caitlin shared a look before Ben spoke. "Something happened when I hugged mom. We're not sure what it was but it threw you for a loop. Knocked you out for exactly twelve hours."

"Twelve hours?" Barry rubbed his head. "It felt like only minutes. What about Oliver and the rest of his team?"

Both Ben and Caitlin smiled. "We're not sure how but Esperanza, with a little guidance from everyone was able to restore everyone's memories."

Barry let out a sigh of relief. "So they are up to speed."

"Yeah, they managed to finally relay that message we wanted to send to the Legends about getting their help dealing with Lightspeed, his army and Speed Demon."

"That's great," Barry turned to Ben. "Ben, when I was unconscious I had some sort of vision."

"What do you mean?" Caitlin asked

"I think my mind was pulled into the Speed Force, it… it was trying to warn me."

"Warn you about what?" Ben asked

"Speed Demon. He's up to something, something big, and the Speed Force says only I can stop his ascent."

Central City, 2044

A figure laid on his bed looking up at the small blueish stone he held in his hand. He had gone through quite the ordeal to retrieve the stone and eliminate its former master. He was close how. So close to achieving his goal. He only needed one more thing to carry out his plan. He closed his eyes and thought of those who were no longer with him and smiled.

He stood up and made his way out of the bedroom sparing one last glance to the photos framed on the nightstand. "We've got to take care of Godspeed's Right Hand." A voice he knew all too well said.

"I know." The man replied. "We'll take care of her and at the same time reveal Godspeed to the Flash.

"Remember, The more we travel back in time the more likely it is that we will erase our world." The man didn't even bother turning around towards the source of the voice.

"Yeah, yeah, I know the risks. It's not like we're changing the past. We're stopping those who are trying to.

"And what of Godspeed?" The voice inquired. "Will you be able to end him if necessary?"

The man stopped in his tracks as he pondered what the voice said. "You've known me for what? Two years? When have I ever not done the right thing?" Behind him, the figure who was always there, yet only he could see, smirked a little with his maimed face before vanishing as if made of lightning.

This is the end of the chapter

Please tell me what you liked, didn't like, look forward to/think will happen, or your general thoughts and comments, this will help me make the story better; I'm a big boy so I can take criticism. And if you Review you get a Shout Out and questions answered either privately or in the next chapter.

Please share this with everyone you can via whatever platform of social media you want. I would love it if the whole fandom got to enjoy this story and not just the one on fanfiction.

Have a Fantastic day