Disclaimer: All rights go to the respective owners of DC Comics and Nickelodeon/Butch Hartman. The author of this story owns nothing; this story is for fun, not money or profit of any kind.
Author's note: Since it has been a while, I apologize for any mistakes or for being rusty. Sorry for the very long wait. Life comes first. No, I have not given up on this story, though I admit that I have grown a bit burnt out writing super hero stories.
Please know that on those times where I step away from writing and there is a stretch in between updates, I have no intention on abandoning my stories. Just know the passion never fades, but I do.
Chapter 24: Paradox
Danny Fenton and Barry Allen were still on the rooftop they had battled on earlier. Danny had just revealed his identity to Barry, who in turn agreed to help Danny fix the timeline. It hadn't been an easy decision for the speedster, but he hadn't had much choice.
"If we're going to find Clockwork," Danny said before sighing. "We would have to re-create the portal to the Ghost Zone. And since I don't know the exact science behind how my folks originally built it, I don't think that's really an option."
"So, what do you suggest?" Barry asked.
Danny looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, we could search for a natural portal, like the Bermuda Triangle. Or something similar."
"The Bermuda Triangle?" Barry repeated, surprised.
"Oh, yeah," Danny nodded. "It's a natural portal to the Ghost Zone. See, they sprout up randomly, from time to time. Unfortunately, we don't exactly have any ghost tech in this timeline. It's going to be next to impossible to find one."
A light bulb suddenly went off in Danny's mind. "Wait, I just realized- Barry, we need to get to Wisconsin!"
Soon, Barry Allen; the fastest man alive; found himself standing in front of a run down castle-like mansion in the middle of the Wisconsin countryside. The place looked like something out of a scary movie. The lawn was overgrown, and many of the windows were shattered.
He had just ran both himself and Danny out here at the half-ghost's insistence. And the place gave him the creeps.
"Danny, what are we doing here?" he asked as Danny phased them through the front door. The place was filled with several coats of dust and the furniture was covered in tarps. Their flashlights only added to the creepy atmosphere.
"My arch-enemy, Vlad Plasmius; remember him?" Danny explained as they made their way through the spooky halls of the mansion. "Well, he lived here. Long story, but he's dead, in this timeline. One of the few positives in this timeline. Anyway, if I'm right, than his old ghost equipment might still be salvageable. I might be able to make his portal to the Ghost Zone work again."
They went downstairs into the basement, and found a laboratory-looking room. It was completely trashed; burn marks all over the walls and ceiling. The damage to the walls and floors were all evidence to an explosion that took place long ago. As Danny and Barry looked around, they saw that what was left of any equipment was long past working.
"I'm sorry, Danny," Barry sighed. "This stuff looks trashed; I think it's just junk."
"No," Danny shook his head. Barry was confused to see a grin on the teen's face. "No, this wasn't Vlad's main laboratory. He had a secret lab beneath this one."
"But, I don't see any other door," Barry glanced around, confused.
"That's because there isn't one," Danny clarified. "The only way to access it is with ghost powers."
Danny grabbed Flash's shoulder and phased them both through the old basement's floor. They arrived in a very dark room, filled with pristine, albeit dusty, equipment. Danny's glowing green eyes pierced the darkness, along with their flashlights. The half-ghost quickly found the light switch on the wall.
Sparks crackled and showered out of the light switch before fizzling out with an electric hiss before the lights in the room began to flicker to life once more. Machines began to light up after years of not being used. Danny ignored everything and headed over to Vlad's ghost portal, which took up most of the far wall.
"Wow," Barry murmured as he took in the massive industrial sealed metal door.
Danny was looking over the various parts of the portal to make sure it was still functional. Several of the monitors sputtered to life for a few seconds, before spewing a shower of sparks! Phantom and Flash both jumped in surprise, and after the sparks stopped, the monitors and equipment blinked out permanently.
The lights, too, went out, leaving the pair in darkness while Flash fumbled for his flashlight. Danny's eyes and the faint glow his ghost form naturally emitted cast a very faint, eerie glow near him.
"No, no, no, no," Danny began stammering in fear and worry. He began pressing every button he could find, but to no avail.
"What's wrong?" Flash asked. He was normally good with computers, but he wasn't familiar with this equipment.
"It's fried!" Danny rasped, slamming his fist on the console in front of him in irritation and defeat. "It's all toast! None of this junk works, anymore! It's been sitting for so long that it just can't cut it."
Flash could see in Danny's eyes that the young ghost's heart dropped and felt utterly defeated.
"Danny, I'm sorry," he said. Barry couldn't think of the right words to try and comfort his friend. He, too, felt a twinge of bitter disappointment. "This is all my fault."
"No," Danny interrupted. "Blame Vlad for his less-than perfect equipment." The attempt at levity did nothing to help either of their moods.
"Listen, Barry," he continued, sighing. "Let's get out of here. I- I think I need to clear my head."
"Are you headed back to Amity Park?" Flash asked.
"Yeah," Danny rasped. "I-, uh- My mom is probably worried about where I've been. I... need to get home."
'Not that it really feels like home, anymore,' Danny thought. 'What am I going to do, now?'
Barry could see Danny was barely containing his emotions. He wished he could think of something to help. "Danny, I'm sure we'll think of something. We can't give up."
After leaving Vlad's basement lab, Barry ran Danny back to Amity Park. Upon arriving back in Central City, Barry skidded to a stop. This whole experience reminded him of the time when he failed to save Plastique from General Wade Eiling. At the time, Doctor Wells had told him-
Suddenly, a wave of nausea and a splitting headache caused the speedster to gasp for the briefest of seconds. And as quickly as it appeared, the feeling vanished. Barry shook his head. He suddenly couldn't remember what he had just been thinking of just a moment before.
Confused, the speedster just chalked it up to being exhausted. His stomach also reminded him of being hungry. Barry made his way home, for some rest and a meal. Maybe he would be able to think of some solution to Flashpoint in the morning.
The following days had resulted in more of the same incidents for Barry. Something would remind him of the events of the pre-Flashpoint timeline, and he would almost black out for several seconds from a splitting headache that would vanish just as quickly and the memory would vanish as though it had never happened.
Barry could no longer ignore this as a symptom of fatigue, but as a real problem.
He was outside the empty warehouse that housed Reverse Flash in his makeshift cell. Barry wasted no time marching up to the cell door, slamming the sliding door behind them.
"And here I was beginning to think you had forgotten all about little old me," Thawne huffed from his cell, sitting against the far wall. The dim lighting in the building cast harsh shadows across the evil speedster's face, his blonde scruff turning into a full beard.
"But I am forgetting," Barry replied. "What's happening to me?"
"I was wondering when you'd notice."
"It's like I'll be remembering an old memory, and then it's just gone," Barry continued, as Thawne nodded knowingly. "Why?"
"Flashpoint," Thawne explained, not moving from his spot on the floor. He radiated calm indifference and slight annoyance, but Barry could see the hate in the man's eyes every time he looked at him.
That said, Thawne never turned down an opportunity to educate others on the finer points of time travel, and much as Barry loathed to admit it, very few knew more about time travel and it's effects quite like the Reverse Flash. It was a shame that such a brilliant mind was so twisted by evil. "It's a side effect. See, I told you two before you just don't know what you're doing. This new reality you've created is starting to override the reality that the three of us know.
"Your original lives, your friends, your family- Pretty soon, all of that will just... fade away." Thawne spread his hands in a wispy manner to emphasize that point.
"Has this been happening to you?" Barry questioned. Thawne shook his head.
"Why not?"
"Not sure," Thawne shrugged. "Unless..." He began to slowly look around his cell, his keen eyes scientifically observing every facet of the structure that contained him. His brilliant mind dissecting every minute detail he could see, as he seemed to be calculating theory after theory.
Barry noticed this and demanded, "What?"
A grin crossed the villains lips, and he broke down into a hoarse, deranged laugh.
"What!?" Barry shouted.
"Your speed!" Thawne shouted between laughs. "The more you use it; the faster you loose your memories!"
"No, no you're lying," Barry shook his head, unwilling to accept the lunatic's explanation.
Thawne rose to his feet and sighed, his amusement turning to frustration. "You know, the you I know," he said. "The you from the future? He's not this stupid. Pretty soon, you won't even remember that you're the Flash. And when that happens, this world will become permanent. Time will set like concrete and nothing will be able to change it back to the way it was.
"You know what you have to do," he told Flash. "You have to take me back to that night, and let me finish what I started!"
"You go to hell!" Barry shouted.
Thawne grasped the bars of his cell and screamed after Barry, who was storming towards the exit. "Now who's the villain, Flash!?
"Now who's the villain!?"
Barry was so distraught as he slammed the warehouse door behind him that he almost broke into a speedster run, but stopped himself, rubbing his face in frustration. Like Thawne said, he would loose more of his old memories if he kept using his speed.
He made his way home on foot at a normal pace, which, for a speedster, felt like a snail's crawl. His every cell sparked with the need to run. To move, to do anything fast. But he was so lost in thought that he barely noticed as the rain began to pour. The longer he spent in this timeline, the more he was starting to agree with Danny. None of this was real.
Well, it actually was, but it just didn't feel right.
'My skin just crawls knowing that Thawne is right,' he mused in anger. But it was true; Thawne was right. Danny was right, too. This timeline was fractured. Broken, and headed for a chaotic destruction. War, famine, violence... It was all magnified to a degree he couldn't have calculated.
As he walked down a busy street downtown, with the intent of heading to Jitters Cafe, he passed a news window with a headline that caught his eye. He noticed it was being reported as the event was happening, and his eyes widened.
A speedster was rampaging through the financial district. Barry's eyebrows furrowed. He knew there was a different Flash in this timeline, but he wasn't dangerous. The camera struggled to keep up with the flashes of lightning that zoomed to and fro across the streets and buildings.
A loud crash down the block caused Barry and the gathered crowd to jump, and people started screaming. The fight between the speedsters roared across the street as Barry watched, ready to jump into action if he needed to, albeit discreetly.
Being a speedster, Barry could see two different streaks of lightning; one yellow, and one white. That was different. He had never seen a speedster with pure white lightning, before. He could also see that the white speedster was easily outpacing the yellow.
The white speedster sped down the street with such velocity that a car was flipped and thrown in it's wake. The yellow speedster was struggling to catch up. Glancing around, the crowd had dispersed and people were taking cover. Soaked by the rain, Barry quickly changed into the his Flash suit, which he kept folded up in his gym bag and ran after the speedsters, hoping to catch up and lend help.
The slower of the speedsters, the yellow one, didn't notice Barry behind them, as he purposefully was staying holding back. Barry surmised this was the new Flash in this timeline, judging from other media clippings he had seen. This Flash wasn't as skilled as Barry, and it showed. He was almost clumsy in his movements, like he had never chased another speedster, and had little practice beyond the basics.
The other speedster, on the other hand, was deadly sharp. His glaring white lightning sparked viciously as he moved with reckless abandon, clearly causing as much havoc as he could with violent consequence. The two rounded a corner and came to a stop in an empty parking lot, and Barry kept behind a nearby building to observe.
No one in this timeline knew he was a speedster, and he hoped to keep it that way, if he could. He would step in, however if this new Flash couldn't handle himself.
"Who the hell are you?" the new Flash demanded panting.
Rain pelted them both and Barry peered around the corner of the building to finally get a good look at the white speedster. He was clad head to toe in white, with gold accents. Not an inch of bare skin was visible. The white speedster cocked his head slightly.
"Godspeed," came the deep raspy voice, distorted by the vibration of his speed. "And you're in my way."
Moving with speed that surprised even Barry, this white-clad speedster closed the gap between the two and Barry gasped as he grabbed the yellow Flash before the other could respond! Yellow lighting began draining out of the yellow speedster, moving up the Godspeeds arms and into his chest as though he was pulling the very speedforce out of his victim.
On instinct Barry dashed forward at top speed, yelling in anger as the white speedster dropped the other Flash's corpse.
Barry's sudden appearance caught the white speedster off guard and Flash tackled the other to the ground with a grunt. Punching the white speedster in the face with the hopes of knocking the killer unconscious, Barry was surprised when Godspeed caught his fist and threw him off.
As Flash rolled back to his feet, Godspeed was already on him, grabbing Barry by the throat, his gloves covered in the blood of the other Flash. His grip felt like like a vice, and Barry felt like his neck was about to collapse under the pressure.
"Thought I smelled another speedster in this city," the harsh voice reverberated, his blank white cowl, inches from Barry's face. "You're a fast one. Full of speedforce." The killer then glanced to the side, as though briefly distracted, before turning his attention back to the Flash.
"But you might prove more use to me alive."
He dropped the Flash, and was gone faster than a bolt of lightning. Barry fell to the pavement, coughing hard. He quickly crawled his way over to the fallen speedster to check on them. Rolling them over, he checked for any signs of life, but found none. He noticed the blood on the front of the yellow uniform and saw to deep wounds, caused by the grasp of the mysterious speedster that called himself Godspeed. He had never seen wounds inflicted like this by a speedster.
But that wasn't what made Barry nearly sick to his stomach.
Barry recognized this new Flash. It was someone he knew far too well.
He pulled back the speedsters cowl to reveal-
"Wally?!"
Barry spun around, using his speed to blur his features. Even under his cowl, he still didn't want anyone to catch a glimpse of his him. He saw Joe West and two other cops running up to the scene, a look of horror and shock on the man's face. Barry didn't know Joe too well in this timeline, other than from work at the station. Joe looked back and forth between the red-clad speedster and Wally's corpse before leveling his gun at Barry.
"Freeze!" he yelled, but Barry zoomed off before things escalated further, leaving Joe to rush to his son's side. Blocks away, Barry had ran home. He pulled off his cowl and leaned on the kitchen counter in shock and grief. Wally was dead. He may not have been the Wally West he had known, but it still hurt.
How could he face Iris now? How could he look her in the eye knowing that he had failed to save her brother? He wondered if the Iris in this timeline knew her brother was a speedster; a hero? All Barry knew was that he had failed to save a friend, and that tore at his soul. He thought back to-
Another blistering headache tore through his head, worse than before. He had been thinking of when he had first met Iris as a child, back in the original timeline, and now suddenly, it was gone!
Gasping, his emotions mixed with shock, grief and fear, he ran once more. Out of Central City, straight to Amity Park.
Danny woke from his restless sleep to the sound of his phone buzzing. Wincing at the glare of his screen he was surprised to see it was Barry.
"Uh, Barry, what's up?" he answered the phone in a sleepy haze.
"Danny, we need to talk," came Barry's reply. Danny could tell he sounded extremely upset.
Soon, Danny, now in his ghost form, met Barry in the park. Danny noticed Barry was still in his Flash suit and was visibly distressed. "Dude, what happened to you?" he questioned.
Flash told Danny what happened to Wally, the killer speedster named Godspeed, and his vanishing memories. "Danny, we have to fix this," Barry said. "You were right; Thawne was right."
"We will," Danny said, trying to calm his friend down. "But I'm still stumped on how we do it. Until we find a way into the Ghost Zone-"
"Or... we just ask Thawne to -" Barry interrupted, his voice catching in his throat.
"No way, dude," Danny shook his head. "you can't give into him. I'm sorry about your friend. I really am. But Thawne can't be trusted; you know that!"
"I know!" Barry pulled back his cowl and ran his gloved hands through his matted hair, pacing back and forth. "I know. It's just- Danny, we have no other options. It's ask Thawne, or just forget it."
Danny crossed his arms in thought. Barry was right. But it just didn't sit well with him. He had no way to get into the Ghost Zone, at least reliably. A natural portal like the Bermuda Triangle was too unpredictable. They could end up in who knows where inside the Ghost Zone, and be lost there for years trying to find their way.
But asking Thawne to go back and stand aside while the man committed murder... The thought almost made Danny toss his lunch. And yet, his timeline was worse than any other he had experienced, save the one involving his evil future self. All the suffering in this timeline was inexcusable. And it was getting worse by the day, like reality itself was slowly coming apart.
"Alright," he sighed heavily. "Let's go talk to Thawne."
The Flash raced them both across the country and back through Central City down to the abandoned warehouse that housed quite possibly the most dangerous man in any timeline. Flash collapsed just outside the door, causing both he and Danny Phantom to slam hard into the ground at high speed before rolling to a stop.
They both groaned in pain and Danny slowly sat up and held his head. "Ugh, what the heck?" He winced as he popped his back and looked over at Flash, who looked worse for wear, barely able to rise to his hands and knees.
"Flash, you okay?" he asked placing his hand on Barry's shoulder.
The speedster shook his head. "No, it's getting worse," he muttered, feeling dazed and in pain. His head throbbed, and not just from the impact of hitting the ground. More memories were gone. He could barely think straight. In his haste and panic, he had over-used his powers running across the country to find Danny and bring them both to Central City.
Danny Phantom slung Barry's arm over his shoulder and helped him to his feet as they made their way into the dark warehouse. In his cell, the Reverse Flash sat up from his cot, awoken from his sleep by the commotion outside. He looked amused as he took in the sight of Danny Phantom all but carrying the Flash up to the cell.
"Uh-oh," he smirked, rising to his feet. "It would appear our little Scarlet Speedster is a bit worse for ware. Seems he didn't take my advice about the use of his powers to heart. Typical."
"Cut the crap," Danny said, helping Barry sit down on a nearby spool of cable. Phantom floated right up to the cell door. "I think you know why we're here."
"Yes, I do," Thawne nodded smugly. "It's about time, pardon the pun. You want me to set things right and reset the timeline to how it was; and I will. But!" He pointed at Barry, who was glaring up at his hated enemy.
"I want him to say it."
"Say what?" Danny questioned, his eyebrows lowering.
"I want him to tell me he wants me to kill her," Thawne replied, locking eyes with Barry, a cruel grin pulling at the corner of his mouth.
"You sick son of a-" Danny growled, only to be interrupted by Thawne, who raised his index finger at him.
"Ah-ah-ah, language, young man," Reverse Flash sneered. "I want him to say it, or no deal."
"Alright," Barry's shoulders slumped, his voice pained, both emotionally and physically. He could barely choke out the words as tears filled his eyes. "I- I want you to kill my-"
A loud crash of something breaking the sound barrier roared through the building as the warehouse became lit with white lightning It was as though a malevolent force of nature had entered the building. Before anyone could react, Barry and Danny were thrown to the floor, and Thawne's cell was shattered.
Barry groaned as he, Danny and Reverse Flash all looked up in shock.
Godspeed had arrived.
The killer loomed over the three, his white form crackled and sparked with angry bursts of white electricity. "I knew there was more to you," Godspeed snarled, his voice like a predatory animal. He looked down at Thawne. "And look, you brought me a second speedster to kill."
"I take it this is you're new enemy," Danny muttered to Barry, who nodded.
Flash tried to access his speed, but immediately collapsed back to the ground. The effects of Flashpoint were taking their tole on the speedster, as two separate timelines-worth of memories and experiences for the man known as Barry Allen battled for dominance. Soon, all of his old memories would vanish, and unbeknownst to him, the speedforce in his system in his system would bleed away entirely.
Free of his prison, Reverse Flash once more could feel his speed coursing through his body once more. Red lightning surged around his body, and he rushed for a quick getaway, however faster than even he thought possible, Godspeed grabbed him and threw him back down to the ground and placed his foot on Thawne's neck. Unable to move, he tried phasing, but to no avail. Godspeed was fast enough to match his vibrations.
"You're not going anywhere," Godspeed said.
"That's why you let me go earlier," Flash realized. "You wanted me to lead you to more speedsters."
"And imagine my surprise," Godspeed said. "When I overhear that you're from another timeline. You want to change this world. My world. Not on my watch."
Danny Phantom raised his fist and shot a ghost ray at the speedster who, simply ducked without taking his foot off of Thawne. "No clue what you are," Godspeed said. "Since you're not a speedster, I don't care."
"We'll see about that," Danny huffed.
He launched himself off the ground and flew towards Godspeed, who vibrated his molecules and Danny phased through his torso. Danny planned for this, however, and immediately spun around and grabbed from behind while accessing his ice powers. He wrapped his glowing blue arms around Godspeed's chest. Godspeed knew how to fight other speedsters, but he had no clue how to fight ghosts.
Yelling in shock as the unnatural cold of the ice pierced his suit and began slowing his molecules, causing him great pain in the process Godspeed panicked and removed his foot from Thawne's throat and sped around the warehouse as fast as he could, with Danny Phantom still clutching him.
"Danny!" Flash yelled after them. The white ball of lightning faded raced about, creating an eerie pale strobe light effect. He mustered up what strength he could and rose to his feet, before his whole world spun around him and he collapsed back to the floor, clutching the side of his head.
His vision was blurred and he could barely make out the shape of Eobard Thawne rising to his feet and standing over him. The Reverse Flash bent down on one knee and gripped Barry by the collar of his Flash suit and pulled him close.
"You know Flash," he huffed, looking around at Godspeed continuing to battle Danny Phantom. "I told you I was going to set things right. And I am. For me. I'm going to run back to that night, and I'm going to run that kitchen knife through your mother's heart."
Barry snarled at Thawne and was about to retort, but couldn't. Thawne smirked victoriously. "That's right, Barry. I finally get to be the hero. I'm going make sure Flashpoint never happened. And the best part? You won't be coming with me. I'm going to leave you and your little pal here to fade away as this timeline evaporates. Don't worry, Barry. I'll pay Joe and Iris a visit once all is said and done."
He dropped Flash to the ground and pulled on the yellow cowl of his suit. His eyes glowing red, he said to his rival, "Goodbye Flash."
In a blur of red lightning, Barry yelled weakly in shock and anger as the Reverse Flash ran past the blur of Danny Phantom and Godspeed, leaving the chaos of their battle in the warehouse behind him.
Reverse Flash raced down the streets, gaining speed, as the portal into the speedforce opened, he grinned like a madman, ecstatic; jubilant over his victory. He had done it. He would finally be rid of the Flash once and for all! As he entered the speedforce, he could practically-
"TIME OUT!"
Barry Allen opened his eyes slowly, his vision returning. He jolted straight up with a start and he immediately looked around him. He came face to face with Danny Phantom, who was sitting next to him, evidently just waking up himself. The pair yelled in surprise and jumped to their feet.
"Danny, what happened?!" Barry exclaimed. In his jolt of shock, he barely registered the feeling of weakness and pain he had been experiencing had vanished. "We have to stop Thawne; where are we?"
"I don't know! Last I remember, I was grappling with that white and gold freak!"
The pair glanced around, and Danny immediately recognized where they were. The stone cathedral with an eerie glow, clocks and time pieces of all kinds adorned the walls; he knew immediately they were in the Ghost Zone. He glanced down and saw the time medallion hanging around his neck. He practically leaped for joy. Barry glanced down, confused, and noticed the strange medallion around his own neck. "Danny, what is this?"
"A time medallion," Phantom explained excitedly. He gestured around to the walls around them. "We're in the Ghost Zone! Clockwork's castle! Come on!"
Danny led the pair through the castle to find Clockwork floating in his usual spot, before his viewing orbs. "Clockwork!" Danny exclaimed, elated. "We are in serious-"
"Why do I even bother?" Clockwork sighed, shifting forms from a toddler to an adult.
"Uh, what?" Danny asked, surprised.
Another heavy sigh, this one laced with frustration. "There are moments where I wonder to myself, 'Why do even bother?'," came the raspy voice. Clockwork then turned to cast his harsh gaze upon them. "Moments like this, for example."
"What are you talking about, Clockwork?" Phantom asked, tilting his head.
"Out of all the beings I have encountered, across all of time, the two of you have caused me more headaches than almost any other," came the reply from the Master of Time. Clockwork then shifted his form to that of an elder with a long gray beard. Danny and Flash shared a concerned and guilty glance.
"Uh, yeah, sorry about that," Danny said, sharing a guilty glance with the Flash. "So, about setting things right..."
Clockwork rubbed his eyes, as though tired. "Yes, yes, of course," he sighed, shifting back into a toddler. "I shall reset the timeline back to it's original path. Mostly, that is."
"Uh, say what?" Danny blinked. That last part gave him pause.
"I said I will reset the timeline, but there will be consequences," Clockwork replied. "Like a broken tea cup, it will never be exactly as it was after being put back together. Such is the nature of time."
"But if you really can control all of time," Flash chimed in. "Why didn't you stop us from changing the timeline in the first place? Why not just keep us from even going back in time?" The concept that there was a single being in control of all of time was still fuzzy to Barry. Everything he knew about time travel, temporal mechanics, etc. was thrown into doubt.
"I am the Ghost of Time, not your temporal babysitters," Clockwork answered. "I observe the flow of time, in all it's directions, making adjustments where needed, to ensure time flows properly. It's not up to me to make sure you don't screw up. Some lessons must be learned the hard way, after all."
Clockwork shifted back into an adult, and gestured to his time orb. "And to answer your burning question about your rival," he said, knowing what Flash wanted to know more than anything. "He will be kept busy for some time."
Barry looked at the scene unfolding. The Reverse Flash was running at full speed throughout the speedforce, but behind him, another speedster was in close pursuit. Red lightning flowed off of the new speedster, his black suit torn and ripped.
"Is that-?"
"Your old nemesis, Hunter Zolomon," Clockwork confirmed. "Upon his defeat at your hands, he was pulled into the speedforce by Time Wraiths. After you created Flashpoint, he was turned into the speedforce's watchdog to hunt down speedsters who attempt to alter time. In this case, Eobard Thawne. A fitting punishment for both, wouldn't you say?"
"So, you control the speed force?" Barry asked.
"No, but I have influenced it from time to time, such as the creation of the Time Wraiths to help keep time-obsessed speedsters in check," Clockwork said. "As a result of Flashpoint, I implored it to create something more... Effective.
"But we have wasted enough time, here," he continued. A small knowing smile crept onto Clockwork's face. "I have a schedule to keep, and both of you are more than ready to return to your normal lives. But be warned: Not everything will be as you remembered. Some changes will be small, others... Well, why spoil the surprise?
"TIME IN!"