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So, things in this chapter are crazy. and I'm not really sure if I transcribed it all as I wanted it. I'll probably be going back to this chapter and fiddle with it before I finish the next one. Also I hope everyone enjoys Premiere Week this week. Supergirl, Flash, Legends and Arrow are all returning this week! I am nervous, excited and apprehensive. But I'll Also give you all fair warning I plan to return to Middle-Earth as Shadow of War is coming out The same day Flash returns and I know I'll be playing the hell out of it.

Either way I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Tell me what you think.

The Flash: Survival of the Fastest

Chapter 23: No Sacrifice, No Victory

Central City

One Hour Ago

Jason McGrath and his wife Miranda McGrath happily drove through Central City. They had just gotten married about a month ago and were currently embarking on a cross country road trip, hitting every major city and land mark. They were in Central City hoping to catch a glimpse of The Flash.

"So, we're half way through out trip and have seen everything west of the Mississippi River." Miranda said as she crossed their latest landmark off of her phone's list.

"All we need to do here is see the Flash and then we're off." Jason replied.

It was in this moment that Lightspeed's message was sent out to the whole city, including to Miranda's phone. The McGraths watched the message as Lightspeed challenged the Flash to a fight before cutting out.

They exchanged looks. "Looks like we'll have work to do." Jason said

Miranda sighed. "Good thing I always bring by bag."

Jason leaned over and kissed her. He was so lucky to have met her that faithful day.

They had met three years ago in Happy Harbor Rhode Island. Jason was, and still is, a firefighter while Miranda was a paramedic. Jason had just jumped out of the window of a burning building with a little girl no older than seven clinging onto him for dead life. They had landed safely on the tarp the other fire fighters were holding onto to break their fall. Almost immediately after Miranda was practically pushing him out of the way so she could look over the little girl.

"What're you doing?" Jason had asked since Miranda wasn't exactly in a paramedic's uniform.

"Don't worry, I'm a paramedic." She didn't even spare him a second look instead retaining her focus on the little girl. She didn't even hear him say thanks. "We need to get her to an ambulance!" She called out to two other paramedics that had just arrived on the scene.

Once the little girl was safely on her way to the hospital Miranda approached Jason. "Now, it's your turn."

"I'm fine."

"You were in that building for ten minutes without your mask." She had replied professionally. "I know you gave it so the little girl wouldn't breathe in the smoke." Her tone demolished any potential for an argument.

While she checked him over the two of them talked for a bit which resulted in them learning that they had gone to the same elementary, middle and high schools and had been in many of the same classes yet they never actually met each other until today. Soon they found themselves seeing a lot of each other almost at every dispatch and John eventually asked her to lunch and that evolved into dinner, spotting events or even Netflix and chill moments when they weren't on duty.

A year ago, John popped the question, it might not have been the most romantic but to be fair he almost died and right then. When he woke up with her by his side John took her hands in his own and asked her. He always knew the dangers of his job but now he was afraid of what it would do to Miranda. She didn't even hesitate for a moment before saying yes.

Eight months later they were married and off on their cross-country road trip.

As Jason and Miranda arrived at the scene where Lightspeed was fighting the Flash, or rather Flashes and several other heroes, they stopped and helped out anyone they could who was injured in the crossfire. Nothing was going to stop them from helping these people not even when they were hit with and explosion and their car was turned over, nor when the speedster known as Godspeed pulled them from the wreckage and seemed to stare at them with recognition.

Present Time

Ben was left stunned as he recognized Jason and Miranda McGrath. In the future, they were the ones to gut Caitlin, leave her bleeding in the street and then they killed Barry in a fight several years later. Ben had been very young when it happened, so young that he was taken in by Iris. There were parts of his life he refused to share with anyone from this time period because it threatened the delicate balance of the Space-Time Continuum. There was no rhyme or reason behind John and Miranda's butchering of Caitlin nor their murder of Barry. They were just a couple of psychopaths. The world was better off without them.

He grabbed Jason and threw him into a nearby lamp post. Miranda screamed but before she could crawl away Ben grabbed her by the leg and dragged her over to her husband.

"Wait! Please!" She pleaded with him but he swiftly kicked her across her face cutting open her bottom lip.

"You're not going to kill them." Ben said savagely.

"Kill?" Miranda was confused and frightened. "What are you talking ab-" she was cut off by Ben punching her.

The Flash's son was determined to make their deaths slow and painful, just like they had done to his parents.

With Lightspeed vs The Flashes

Lightspeed raced through the air feeling a sense of euphoria he hadn't felt in a long time. He felt free as he rained destruction down below him. These Heathens and Blasphemers were not worthy to receive his blessings nor those of Godspeed. They multiverse was better off without them. He caught the kryptonian girl flying towards him while her eyes glowed blue for her signature heat vision. Lightspeed smirked and raced towards her just as she unleased her eye-beams.

They passed harmlessly though his body thanks to phasing so Supergirl readied a punch. The two flyers flew at high speeds and in the last millisecond Lightspeed twisted his body and flipped over delivering an overhead kick to Supergirl's collar. Normally such a move would result in the attacker being considerably hurt but thanks to physics Lightspeed's kick was as strong, if not more so, as one of Supergirl's punches.

The Girl of Steel was sent rocketing into the earth while Lightspeed floated effortlessly in the air.

Kara knocked some rubble off of her while one of the Flashes stopped nearby. "You OK?" He asked

Kara felt liquid touch her lip. She raised her hand to it and followed it up to her nose. When she pulled her hand away she saw blood on her finger. "How can he hit so hard?" Kara asked turning to the Flash closest to her. "I thought he was supposed to be a speedster just like you guys?"

"Basic physics." The Flash replied "Force equals mass times acceleration. He hits at the speed of light so the force of his strikes is massive I'd argue they might have a relativistic mass of a white dwarf star."

Kara gave him a confused look. "That sounds like a load of gibberish."

"It's science."

"You are such a dork." Kara said rolling her eyes. "How're we supposed to beat him then?"

An Idea seemed to instantly creep into the Flash's mind. "We use his own trick against him!"

"How?" Kara asked. "Last I checked none of us can move at the speed of light."

"That's just it Kara. Even if he can move at Lightspeed it takes him a while to get there!" The Flash said excitedly. "which means we need everyone to run together and sync up."

"Sync up? What will that do?"

"Ben told me that when multiple speedsters run together their speed adds up and multiplies by the number of runners. If we all move together we might be able to catch Lightspeed at his weakest moment."

Kara seemed to understand where The Flash was going with his idea. "What do you need me to do?"

As Lightspeed soared through the air he heard the sound barrier break several times. He looked over his shoulder to see the four remaining Flashes and Supergirl running side by side, building up their speed.

Earth-777

Two Years Ago

In the wreckage of the explosion people were gathering to see what became of Cassiel and the nameless speedster.

The rubble shook and everyone watched as Cassiel was the one to stand up clutching the nameless speedsters broken helmet. As soon as he did many of the people who weren't following him already fell to their knees weeping in terror.

"You are all now free of his influence." Cassiel said to the people as he threw the helmet to the ground. "Come, join me in paradise!"

Nobody moved not even when the rubble shifted again and the nameless speedster stood up. For the most part his suit was intact aside from the entire right sleeve being incinerated and the tanks on his back having been dislodged along with a large hole burned in the back.

The Nameless Speedster was breathing heavily and while Lucien's demands of how he survived fell on deaf ears he couldn't help but think back to the day the particle Accelerator Exploded eighteen years ago. The explosion claimed the life of his father leaving his mother a twenty six year old widow to raise an eight year old boy. His parents had been high school sweethearts and he was conceived when they were eighteen year old seniors. Despite the death of his father he never let his sadness or fear show, especially not when he decided to follow his father's footsteps to become a firefighter. It was during this time he discovered his gift of speed. And as his career progressed people gave him the nickname Lightspeed Rescue. He didn't care much for nicknames at all, and he liked to think that his father Barry Allen was watching him from the afterlife proud of what he was doing. It was this fearlessness and courage in the face of danger that got him recognized, and not by the people of Earth. He remembered the words so well.

-Carter Allen of Earth, You have the Ability to Overcome Great Fear. Welcome to The Green Lantern Core.-

After that day Carter wore his ring everywhere he went and only used it when he absolutely had to, and this looked to be the proper situation to use his ring. "You asked me my name before. I'll tell you. My name is Carter Allen, and I'm not only a speedster but I am also a proud member of the Green Lantern Corps." The ring on Carter's right hand flared to life with a roar like a rocket engine. The tattered remains of Carter's uniform were overcome with emerald flames that replaced it with a green and black suit. In the center was a green emblem resembling a lantern with a lightning bolt running across it. He charged Cassiel at top speed forming two Fire Engines out of green light which collided with Lucien and broke apart as if they struck a brick wall.

The Golden light and green light continued to crash into each other at high speed. Each time they broke apart Lucien and Carter charged as fast as they could go. They reared their fists. From the ground, it was just streaks of yellow and green light repetitively clashing against each other. Each clash delivered a bigger concussive blast as they got faster and faster, one thing was for certain, the gold light was trying to escape from the green light.

Gold and Green light crisscrossed the sky in a beautiful display. Their battle eventually moved to even Central Heaven's floating streets. Lucien and Carter charged yet again and this time charged at top speed. Despite being Yellow and Green the world around them began to blueshift as their perspectives of light wavelengths increased exponentially.

There wwas a mighty boom as their fists collided. Lucien felt each bone from his hand to his shoulder shatter. Harold's entire left arm, which was made of green light shattered like glass. The two light based speedster rocketed to the floating ground of. By now both speedsters were done, but Cassiel watched as Harold's arm reformed effortlessly.

"Do you give up yet?" Carter said

"Never…" Cassiel breathed heavily

Up in the sky above them at the point their fists connected something began to form. There was an intense gravitational pull coming from that point in space. Buildings of Central Heaven began to lean towards the point in space before stretching and breaking apart as they flew into a forming abyss. The impact of two lightspeed projectiles colliding resulted in the creation of a Black Hole. Immediately Carter dove into action forming three colossal Fire Fighter constructs that grabbed a hold of the entire floating City desperately trying to hold it in place while Carter himself raced around the city like a green blur gathering up everyone he could to try and save them. green constructs began to spring up everywhere tethering buildings and people doing whatever they could to hold the city together.

Unfortunately Lucien was none too pleased that Carter was getting to be the hero. That was Cassiel's job. He fired a beam of golden light at Cater which nearly broke his concentration.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Carter yelled over the roaring winds and crumbling buildings.

"THESE ARE MY PEOPLE! I WILL NOT HAVE YOU CORRUPT THEM!" Lucien grabbed Carter and ran him to the highest building in Central Heaven fully intent on throwing the heroic Lightspeed into the abyss.

Carter struggled in Lucien's grip before looking at the people in distress. He headbutted Lucien making him let go of Carter. Carter then kicked Lucien to get him airborne and trapped in the black hole's gravitational pull, unfortunately Carter was also caught in the pull so he created a new ax construct and buried it into the ground and held on as tightly as he could. Lucien in a desperate attempt to save himself reached out and grabbed onto Harold's foot slowly climbing up his leg to avoid being sucked into the black hole.

"You did this!" Godspeed's servant yelled angrily. "Because of you my city is gone!"

"You did that yourself when you attacked us!" Carter fired back trying to kick Lucien off of him. "YOU CANNOT SEE THAT YOUR PEOPLE NEED HELP! YOU REFUSE TO LET THEM GET IT!" Carter looked from Lucien to the encroaching Black Hole and back to his ax before looking Lucien in his eyes. Cassiel realized immediately what Carter was planning.

"NO!" But it was too late. Harold closed his eyes, smiled and dispelled his ax construct leaving both himself and Lucien at the mercy of the black hole.

It's a surreal thing, knowing of your imminent death that is. While Lucien flailed about like a fish out of water Carter calmly accepted his fate as he knew what he needed to do. At the same time, Time slowed down to nearly a complete halt. Lucien, Harold, people and debris were left suspended in reality as a Speedster clad in white entered the looked towards Lucien and shook his head disapprovingly. He had such high hopes that he could not allow the servant of god to end inside a Black Hole. He casually made his way over to Cassiel and pulled him away from Earth-777, leaving Carter Allen, also known as Lightspeed at the mercy of the Black Hole.

Unknown Time and Place

Everything returned to Lucien a moment later only for him to find himself in a completely unknown world. One of the few things he noticed was that his speed was gone as was his glowing form. He felt completely human. "Where am I?" He asked.

"Ah, Lucien." He turned to see Godspeed slowly making his way towards him. "Good to see you have recovered."

"What happened? Where are we my lord?"

"Patience my friend. First, allow me to welcome you to the source of our powers. Welcome to the Speed Force! As for your world, I'm sorry but the Black Hole destroyed your city."

"No" Lucien collapsed to his knees. He had failed. "My people are gone, your followers are all dead."

Godspeed seemed to offer a smile beneath his mask. "All is not lost." He offered his hand. "There are an infinite amount of worlds out there for you to rebuild on. And even more still where you can save the people."

Lucien thought for a moment. "If I am to do this, I cannot use the name Cassiel, for I am not worthy to be called that any more. Instead I shall take the name Lightspeed and make every world tremble and despise the name of the man from my world!"

Godspeed nodded. "Well then, Lightspeed, Let us get started shall we?"

From there Lucien traveled the Multiverse and Infinite Time Lines on behalf of Godspeed, spreading his message recruiting any speedster who would listen and eliminate any and all who would oppose them.

Earth-Prime

Present Day

The lead Flash felt the speed of the others coursing into him. Slowly he felt himself getting faster with each step, but it never felt like it would be enough to catch Lightspeed. From behind him, everyone could see clearly as the lead Flash's yellow lightning changed from its usual yellow to jet black.

"Barry?" The third Flash asked.

The true Flash, which was the one in the lead didn't seem to register his name being called.

Lightspeed adjusted his attack and flew towards the Flashes firing off lasers as he did. As Fast as the speedsters were, they were not fast enough to avoid the incoming lasers. Three of the four Flashes were struck and their disguises were broken revealing them to be Cobalt Blue, Kid Flash and The Flash of Earth-3.

Lightspeed recognized the three imposter Flashes and immediately turned his attention to the last Flash. "FLASH!"

Barry was momentarily caught off guard when Lightspeed closed the distance between them with a kick already coming around to strike Barry. Lucien's kick struck true as he caught Barry in the ribs and sent him hurtling into the side of a building.

"BARRY!" Caitlin's voice carried through the comms in a desperate hope her fiancé heard her.

With Ben and the McGraths

Ben readied his vibrating left hand to run it through Miranda McGrath's heart. He was going to end it right here and now.

"JASON!" Miranda screamed through her tears.

"RAAAAAAAHH!" Jason came out of nowhere and decked Ben in the face launching him into a wall.

"What?" Ben was confused as he struggled to get himself out of the crater. He didn't get a chance to react as Jason McGrath grabbed the remnants of a nearby SUV and slammed it onto Ben. Ben Barely phased out of the way.

He saw Jason McGrath lift his wife into his arm. He sent a death glare Ben's direction that sent shivers down Ben's spine. The Young speedster watched as every wound on Jason McGrath's body healed in an instant.

"Jason… no…" Miranda said weakly. "Don't…"

Jason looked from Ben and then back to his wife. "You will not come for us. You will not touch her."

Ben, having freed himself from his concrete imprisonment, felt the lightning charge through his body. He raced forward. He had to kill these two, otherwise they would kill Barry and Caitlin.

Suddenly something searing hot wrapped around wrist and yanked him away from Jason. Ben yelled in pain and looked at his wrist which was now covered in third degree burns. The sound of metal chains and the crackling of fire drew his attention from the McGraths to his assailant.

He turned and came face to face with someone he never thought he'd see again, someone he recognized all too well despite their pale skin.

"Y-you!?" Ben stuttered feeling an uneven wave of dread wash over him. "You're dead! I saw you die!"

"What do you think you're doing?" The man demanded angrily as his eyes began to glow a fiery red.

Ben glared at him from behind his mask. "Changing my future!" He began to run in a circle building up his speed force until he unleashed a white lightning bolt at the man.

It struck him square in the chest and knocked him to the ground with a smoldering burn in the center of his chest. Satisfied Ben turned his attention back to the McGraths who were embracing each other.

A hand grabbed Ben's right arm tightly. Ben turned to see the man once more standing up looking more pissed off than injured. The burn on his chest was gone and his body was giving off a ridiculous amount of heat.

"What the hell are you?!" Ben demanded. The man said nothing, instead he grabbed Ben by the throat and lifted him up.

"Now you've really crossed the line Godspeed." The man said. He winced in pain as his body vibrated and began to smoke before he was engulfed in fire. His flesh burned away yet he still seemed to be alive as black lightning coiled around him like a snake forming a familiar black suit.

Jason cradled his bleeding wife and watched on with indifference. Miranda was barely holding onto consciousness and he could barely believe what he was seeing. Jason and Miranda didn't completely understand what was happening but they felt something coming off the flaming devil speedster, a warmth, a strange reassuring warmth.

"Who are you?" Jason asked.

Speed Demon said nothing but he turned his attention to the McGraths. But his look told Jason to get his wife out of there.

Ben realized what was happening, Speed Demon finally had him in his clutches, and this time there was no way for him to escape.

With Barry and Lightspeed

First thing Barry realized was that he wasn't dead from Lightspeed's kick, heck he didn't even feel a thing. He felt perfectly fine. He got back up and gave himself a once over to make sure everything was good to go, which it was.

A smirk crossed onto the Flash's face before he ran out of the debris towards Lightspeed. Black lightning danced all around Barry as he closed the distance between Lightspeed and himself. IN the next moment he drove his shoulder into Lightspeed's exposed back knocking him away from the rest of his friends.

"I think I've figured out your powers." Barry said as Lightspeed pushed himself back to his feet. His voice vibrated deeply. "You can move at the speed of light, but only in straight lines. Your reactions are impressive but if you cannot see it coming you cannot dodge."

Lightspeed fired off another laser from his palm only for Barry to dodge effortlessly by leaning his head out of the way. It was kind of strange it was almost like he was now seeing things happen before they actually happened. "Too slow."

Lucien flinched just before he readied to fire more beams. Barry, with the help of his newfound speed was able to keep up with Lightspeed's attacks. He zigged and zagged avoiding every single beam as he closed the distance in a heartbeat. Once he was close enough Barry grabbed a hold of Lightspeed's out stretched wrist and violently twisted it before striking Lightspeed in the center of his chest.

The moment he struck Lightspeed there was a clap of thunder and an explosion of golden light. When it died down and the smoke cleared Lightspeed, or rather Lucien had stumbled slightly, but he was no longer glowing and his armor weighed heavily on him.

The Flash wrapped his arms around Lightspeed's torso and drove him into the ground.

Lucien was slightly dazed but he could see The Flash crouching over him. "You're done." He growled before he began to pummel Lightspeed's face with a flurry of hands and black lightning.

Barry was deaf to the outside world as he continued to mercilessly beat Lightspeed. Vaguely he could hear the voices of Wally, Jay, Eddie Iris and Felicity but something inside him made him completely ignore what little noise he was hearing

"BARRY STOP!" The sound of Caitlin's voice echoed in Barry's ears and he finally stopped. Lightspeed's body was laid out flat with his face bloodied and beaten barely breathing.

Reality slowly set in for Barry when he looked at how badly he beat Lightspeed. "What… What did I just do?" Barry asked himself as he stepped back. He looked at his hands to see the black lightning fade back to yellow.

"…cough…cough…" Blood escaped from Lightspeed's mouth as he rolled over. He felt different for the first time in two decades. He felt normal. "This… this is impossible… My speed… it's gone!?" He began to crawl away from Barry in fear. "How could I… a servant of Godspeed be beaten like this…"

Barry snapped out of his trance, along with "Godspeed?" What was Lightspeed talking about? Was it August or Ben? What would either of them have to do with this?

Lucien looked at the Flash and a wicked bloody smile spread on his face. "…Ha… That's right… you don't know… Olvida proved her usefulness."

"What do you have to do with Ben and August?" Barry demanded.

"I'll never tell." Lightspeed said.

Barry was about to grab Lightspeed one more time and take him to the pipeline when something rushed through him. Whatever it was it was humanoid in shape but seemingly made entirely of black smoke. It was ruthlessly efficient. It slammed a heavy foot onto Lucien's chin and shifted its surprisingly weighted body to brutally snap Lightspeed's neck.

"NO!" Barry yelled out as the figure disappeared in wisps of black lightning.

"DAD!" Barry whirled around following the black lightning to see them returning to a sight eerily familiar, but infinitely more horrifying. Speed Demon was standing not too far from Barry, the Flashes and Supergirl. In his left hand he held Ben off the ground.

Ben looked horrible. His mas had been torn off exposing his face to everyone, though the amount of blood would make it difficult for bystanders to recognize him. His legs looked broken, due to the left leg bending in the wrong direction and one of his bones sticking out of his right leg. Ben's right arm was completely gone and he was bleeding profusely from the shoulder. The Son of the Flash was on death's door, and the devil had him in his grasp.

STAR Labs

Caitlin instinctively stood up clutching her stomach protectively. "BEN!" Feelings she had never felt crashed into her at the sight of Ben's predicament.

"Oh my god…" Iris covered her mouth to stifle a gasp.

Iris and Felicity were equally horrified and worried at the sight of Caitlin and Barry's future son. There really was no telling what Caitlin was going through since neither of them had ever experienced watching their child hurt so badly.

With Barry, Ben and Speed Demon

"Wait!" Barry pleaded. "Please! Let him go!" Speed Demon looked at Barry and made no response. "Take me!" Barry refused to stop pleading. "Please… that's my son… please don't…"

The black speedster turned from Barry back to the broken speedster barely squirming in his grasp. Instead He readied his free hand to run through Ben. The other speedsters, and Supergirl immediately were on top of him but Speed Demon was too strong. With one hand he effortlessly threw Wally, Eddie, Jay and Kara off of him effortlessly. He then repositioned himself so that Barry had a clear view as he readied his hand once more.

"Barry, look at me." Ben said. He tried to put on a brave face but his lip quivered and his eyes watered with tears. "I just want you and mom to know… I love you guys"

"DON'T SAY THAT!" Barry cried at his son. Those words were eerily similar to when he accidentally saw Savitar murder Iris in that alternate future that never happened. "NO!" Barry screamed out as he ran forward towards Speed Demon desperate to save his son.

The same emotions swelled through his as Speed Demon's hand inched closer and closer to Ben's back threatening to tear through him and out of his chest. The world had long since slowed to a near halt and nothing else mattered. Barry was moving faster than he had ever gone before. Despite that he didn't seem to get any closer to Speed Demon.

Caitlin watched the events unfold through Barry's chest cam. Her heart froze in terror as she found herself unable to breath. It was beautiful, the way both Barry and Caitlin were crying out for their son despite being in separate locations yet still viewing the same event.

Barry's focus was completely on Ben. And a millisecond later it was all over. Barry was still midstride with his right arm extended in a futile attempt to pull his son away from the devil but it was all for nothing. Speed Demon's black hand pierced a hole through Ben's torso.

This is the end of the chapter

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