Hi everybody. Hope you've been having a good time. School has been pretty stressful for me this past week, but I'm keeping up with my schedule. I'd say we have about 3-5 chapters left for season 3 and then it's on to season 4. I'm going to need a serious break, both to relax and plan out season 4 more. Season for was a mess and the endgame just didn't make sense to me, so I'm completely changing that. Devoe is still the main villain, but just better. In my opinion at least. I'm getting off track. My co-authors are Brightburn1985 and ThomasMarieAmell2.0.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Flash

"Are you sure that's what you saw? It wasn't some hidden message?" Cisco asked after Barry explained what the Philosopher's Stone had shown him.

"There was no hidden meaning. Savitar kills all of us. Slaughters us all. I don't know how it happens, but that's what I saw," Barry responded.

"How are you even sure that what you saw was the future? Maybe you were just hallucinating?" Caitlin suggested.

"Maybe, but it seemed so real. Everything I was shown is burned into my mind. What I saw, I have this feeling that it's going to happen." Barry insisted.

"So what you're saying is that Savitar escapes from wherever he is and kills us. How are we going to prevent that?" Cisco asked.

"We need to make sure Savitar stays where he is. If he gets out, we are all dead. Savitar somehow knew that would happen, that we would all fall before him," Barry said.

"Well we've confirmed Savitar isn't as connected to the stone as we thought, but we can still use it to our advantage. Maybe it'll show you something else?" Cisco suggested.

"I don't know," Barry shook his head.

"If you're right, and The Philosopher's Stone can show the future, we can prevent that future from ever happening. Even little glimpses can help us prepare for what's to come," Caitlin encouraged him.

"But would that be messing with the timeline? Being told of the future, and changing what we do according to that." Barry said.

"This isn't time travelling though. This is just, getting some warning for what's to come," Cisco said.

"I for one don't think this is such a good idea," HR piped up, raising a hand into the air.

"You've got an opinion on this? Let's hear it, please," Barry said.

"In my time as an author, I've come across two theories that fans have come up with on the timeline that I particularly like. The first is that the timeline is already fixed. There is nothing you can do to change it, as everything has already been predetermined. You can do anything you want, and it'll always come back as the same result," HR said.

"And the second?" Barry asked, as that one didn't exactly sound helpful considering the future he'd just seen.

"The other is the theory that the timeline is not set in stone. The future is ever-changing. That there are infinite amounts of possibilities that are taking place, depending on which paths you take to get there, and you can make of the future anything you wish."

"And where do you stand?" Caitlin asked.

"In my personal opinion, the timeline is fixed." HR said.

"But I have changed the timeline before. I went back in time to save my parents, and I did. They were alive in Flashpoint," Barry said.

"And how did that end?" HR asked.

"... They were killed," Barry reluctantly admitted.

Caitlin wrapped herself around Barry's arm in support and comfort as he was forced to admit the painful truth.

"See? Even though BA had managed to prevent his parents' death, they were inevitably killed again. Thus the same result was achieved, no matter what was done to prevent it." HR said.

"So you're saying we're all doomed," Cisco said dejectedly.

"Well these are just theories. Who knows what the future actually has to hold. We could prevent our deaths in this event, but we would still inevitably be killed at a later time, or an earlier time. It depends on what events we alter to provide the path we walk on."

"So the timeline can be changed?" Cisco asked to clarify.

"Well if I were to give a broader definition, the timeline is fixed in that there are certain events that are supposed to happen. Events so fundamental that they cannot be changed no matter what. There are events that can be changed. That can take alternate paths, but inevitably end up at core events that cannot be changed." HR said.

"So the future I saw, it doesn't necessarily have to come true?" Barry asks.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. You don't know if this future you saw is meant to happen, or if it can be avoided and would take you to some other event that cannot be changed."

Wally's first taste as a hero came in the form of Decay. Another meta that was a result of Alchemy. Decay, or Clive Yorkin, had the ability of cellular degeneration, as in that everything he touched would seem to rapidly age.

In the new year, Barry had finally agreed to have Wally tail him in everyday crime in the suit Cisco had gifted Wally for Christmas.

Wally wasn't at the point where Barry felt completely comfortable letting him deal with things on his own, but he was at a better skill level than Barry was at this point.

They first had heard of Decay when seemingly random people had dropped dead. Mummified as if they'd been aged thousands of years in a matter of seconds.

When they couldn't find anything, they consulted the Transcendent Registry for the list of metas from Flashpoint, and they came across the name of Clive Yorkin, who had the power of disintegration.

Well that crossed off one more unknown husk. But there was still one more out there.

Getting back on topic, Julian was a big help in finding a weakness. The husk that was in CCPD lockup was analyzed and studied for it's meta gene. It didn't contain the gene itself, but it held traces that would determine how it would work, so it was safe for examination.

In essence, Yorkin's powers worked in opposition to The Speed Force. Where the Speed Force would increase the rate of regeneration, Yorkin's disintegration increased the rate of degeneration. In theory, the two should cancel each other out, meaning both Wally and Barry were safe from his powers. At least for a short term. If they were exposed to his powers long-term, they might begin to experience some form of decay.

That led to a confrontation between Wally and Yorkin. Whilst Barry was otherwise preoccupied with a runaway train, Wally was left to deal with Yorkin. Which proved troublesome. Even when Wally would just barely graze against Yorkin, even his clothes, Wally's hand seemed to have aged decades before his healing would kick in. Wally's clothes were not spared. There were holes all over, and they seemed to be getting larger.

"So how am I supposed to do this?" Wally asked into his earpiece for Barry. The moment Wally touched Decay, his body was getting weaker. Wally couldn't get close if everytime he did, Wally ran the risk of withering away. If Wally weren't a speedster, he'd already be dead.

"Listen to me, our powers neutralize Decay's. If you can get your blood into him, he'll be powerless, at least for a short time. Then you can take him. Just phase your blood into him," Barry replied. He was out of breath after having to phase an entire train through a large pile of rubble so it wouldn't crash.

"I don't know how," Wally said.

"Listen to me, you need to relax. Stop thinking so hard. These powers, they're not just something for you to be constantly monitoring. They're something for you to know. They are a part of you. Get out of your head. Everything I've taught you, forget about it for a second, and feel the power within you." Barry advised him.

"I can't. I don't have the connection to the Speed Force like you do. You're The Flash. I'm never going to be like you, able to do these incredible things."

"Then I failed you, because everything I've been teaching you has been wrong. You are not me, and you will never be me. You are what you make of yourself. You decide who you become. Who are you?"

"I'm Kid Flash," Wally whispered to himself. His confidence renewed once he'd stopped unconsciously comparing himself to Barry. He was right. Wally had his own connection to the Speed Force. He couldn't constantly be holding himself to the standard that Barry had set. Wally had to make his own path. He would make his own name for himself eventually and get out of Barry's shadow. He wasn't a reflection of Barry.

For the first time, Wally really felt his speed instead of just acknowledging it was there. Wally embraced who he was and ran, and actually feeling his speed had made so much of a difference. There were things he'd never noticed before when he ran, but Wally focused on what was ahead.

Yorkin was smirking, with his hand raised ready to grasp onto any part of Wally he could get his hands on, but Wally continued forward. Focusing on every molecule of his body, Wally resonated with the air around him and moved through Yorkin's body, pausing just a split second for tiny trace amounts of his blood to be left behind in Yorkin's body.

Sliding to a stop, Wally laughed and silently congratulated himself on a job well done for accomplishing his new skill.

A hand gripped Wally's wrist from behind. "Goodbye Kid Flash," Yorkin had an arrogant smirk. The Kid had gotten sloppy and let himself be caught off guard. Soon he'd be nothing but ashes on the ground.

When nothing happened, Yorkin looked in confusion. Even though Kid Flash had healing powers, they shouldn't be able to do this much. At the very least, Kid Flash should be looking a little wrinkled.

"Well look at that. My blood is doing its work. Your powers have been negated Decay. It's over," Wally smirked.

With Decay in lockup, Wally was feeling really good about himself. He'd proven he was ready for the real world of being a superhero. Of kicking ass and taking names.

Of course Joe was protesting every step of the way, but that was just expected of being the parent of not one, but two superheroes. It was extremely worrisome to have his sons constantly putting their lives on the line as if they didn't have anyone to come home to.

Barry was currently training Wally in the STAR Labs field where they had first tested Barry's powers.

A drone was firing bullets at the lightning figure of Wally. To add in some sense of danger, there were cardboard cutouts of all of them spread across the field that Wally was supposed to imagine were civilians.

Something that apparently completely flew over Wally's head as not a single one didn't have a bullet hole in them.

"Should I stop? I mean all of them are dead," Cisco asked as he was controlling the drone.

"We'll see how Wally intends to end this. Might as well see this through," Barry responded.

Cisco nodded his head and continued flying the drone after Wally.

Wally's way to end this was rapidly bombarding the drone with a shower of pebbles with his speed at the drone until the drone would crash.

When it finally did, Wally came over with a proud smile on his face. "So how did I do?" he asked.

"How did you do? For starters, you completely ignored the point of this exercise. You weren't supposed to just avoid the drone, you were supposed to protect the civilians. In this case, the cutouts. And you tell me, do you see a single survivor in this onslaught?" Barry asked, gesturing to all the cutouts on the field.

"Well they're just paper. They're not actual people." Wally waved his hand off.

"But you were supposed to pretend they are. People freeze when they're confronted with danger. It happens. They don't just run away. It's our job to make sure they don't get hurt because of it." Barry scolded him.

"Okay, for reference, what should I have done instead?" Wally asked.

"You should have moved them out of the way. You have the time to get them all out of danger. You could avoid all the bullets through phasing, but that runs the risk of having the bullets hit the person behind you. You were creative in taking down the drone. I'll give you that. You don't know how to throw lightning like I do, so you improvised. That was well done. Something else you could have done was rotate your arms to create a wind tunnel. That would have disrupted the drone's flight, causing it to crash. In addition, the wind may have caught or slowed down the trajectory of the bullets it was firing, resulting in less casualties." Barry listed off.

"Alright, I get it. I have a lot I need to improve on," Wally said, rolling his eyes.

"You just need to think things through a little more. Our brains run faster than any others on the planet. That is the greatest lesson I can impart on you, always think of every potentiality. Analyze your surroundings for the greatest threat and for an escape route. That's how you take down the bad guy. But our greatest priority as heroes, is to protect the innocent. More than catching bad guys. More than preventing destruction. It's to always save the people,"

"That's a lot of responsibility," Wally said.

"Are you ready for that? Because when you put on that suit, that is all that should matter to you," Barry asked.

Wally contemplated for a brief second before nodding his head. "I want to help people. I do. And I promise to keep working hard,"

"Alright. We'll take a break for now. After that we'll work on fine tuning how to phase. It's all well and good to know how to phase your entire body, but that consumes a lot of energy. We'll work on your arms and your head while you're running so you don't bump into things at high speeds. Trust me, it's not pleasant,"

There was a disturbance in the Speed Force. Barry could feel it. A strange crawling sensation spreading through his body.

Barry knew Savitar was on the verge of escaping. He was coming here, and he was going to lay siege against them.

A particularly strong feeling appeared one night. One that he was sure was felt all across the multiverse by every speedster in existence.

That same feeling brought Barry to an abandoned street. One where he could feel the power emanating. Sure enough, a small hole ripped open in the air. A portal that connected to the Speed Force.

It was getting larger, and larger, and Barry was helpless as he watched a metal claw surge through the gap, as if grasping for the very air itself.

Finally the hole was big enough for Savitar to pull himself out. As soon as Savitar was out of the hole, the portal to the Speed Force vanished.

"Solid ground. The air. I can breathe again." Savitar gasped, having actual feeling again after centuries.

"Congratulations. You got out of there. Now go home," Barry demanded.

"Home? This is home. You think just because I've escaped means I've forgotten everything you've done to me? You aren't that lucky," Savitar growled.

"I'm going to stop you," Barry declared.

"You can try. You won't succeed. I know you've been shown the future. You know what is to come. You can't escape destiny Flash. For it is your destiny to die beneath my feet,"

Savitar turned and prepared to run away to implement his plans now that he was free.

Barry charged at him, desperate to stop whatever he had planned. This was the time to stop him as he was still fresh from his Speed Force hell. This would be when Savitar is at his weakest.

But even so, Savitar had disappeared in a crack of light before Barry could even put one foot forward, and the next thing Barry knew, something had wrapped itself around one of his legs and he had been picked up and hurled through the air, crashing into a street lamp.

Barry groaned in pain and staggered to his feet. Savitar was right in front of him, just waiting for Barry to do something.

Barry rushed forward. The element of surprise was gone, but maybe he could still play to Savitar's ego. Savitar was faster, but if he underestimates Barry too much, Barry might stand a chance.

Savitar didn't even move as Barry ran at him. It was only at the last second as Barry was almost upon him that Savitar finally reacted and extended his arm to grab Barry's throat, crushing his windpipe.

Barry was helpless as Savitar lifted Barry into the air so they could be face to face. Everything Barry did, Savitar could see from a mile away. He was just too fast.

Barry tried everything to get Savitar to loosen his grip, but that just encouraged the speed god to increase the pressure. Barry was losing oxygen and black spots were appearing in his vision.

"So weak. So helpless. You think you can stand beside a god? You think you can challenge me? You're a waste of Speed Force energy." Savitar lightly shook Barry in his hand.

Barry couldn't breathe. His vision was going black. Soon he would pass out from the lack of oxygen and be at the mercy of Savitar.

As Barry was slipping, Savitar leaned forward and muttered, "Not yet. You know what is to come Flash, and you're time is not now, but know it is only because I decide it so that you live till that day,"

With that, Barry's eyes rolled back into his head as he entered unconsciousness.

Barry's dreams were plagued with lightning. Sparks flying everywhere in every direction. The most prominent however was a large streak of white lightning that blazed across his vision.

Barry knew he should feel fear, for this was Savitar coming for him, but somehow Barry could feel a sense of familiarity. As if he'd known this thing his entire life.

And suddenly he woke up. His body was in pain, especially around his throat that Barry felt he couldn't breathe properly without pain. Even his torso was sore from where he'd crashed into the lamppost.

"Careful. Your injuries are still healing. You'll have to stay for the rest of the night," Caitlin came over once she saw Barry had awoken.

"What happened?" Barry groaned in pain.

"Wally said he felt a surge of energy calling to him. When he arrived on the scene, he found your beaten body and brought you here as quickly as he could." Caitlin told him. "So you tell us what happened,"

Barry sighed. "Savitar is free,"

"Savitar? As in the guy who ran circles around you? The guy who you saw murder all of us?" Wally asked.

"That's the one," Barry tried to nod, but the bruises around his neck made it difficult to move.

"Careful. You're lucky all you have is bruises. It'll take some time to heal properly," Caitlin lightly pushed him onto the bed.

"How is it possible that Savitar is free? I thought Jay said it would take thousands of years before he could escape," Cisco asked.

"I guess it didn't take quite as long as he'd hoped," Julian commented.

"So what do we do now?" Joe asked.

"We train. We prepare. No matter what, we are going to stop Savitar. He has a weakness, we just need to find it and exploit it,"

"Now that Savitar is out, maybe we can make better use out of the Philosopher's Stone now." Cisco suggested.

"I don't know…" Julian said, still slightly hesitant on using the cursed stone at all.

"It showed Barry the future! Maybe it can help us again by warning us of other future events," Cisco shouted.

"In my travels, it's never a good idea to mess with the future. Knowing too much can lead to disastrous results. What's meant to be is meant to be," HR voiced his displeasure of interfering with the timeline.

"We might not have a choice in the matter. Savitar is going to kill all of us. We need to do everything possible to avoid that happening and stop him,"

"We don't even know if that's how it works. What's to say the stone will even work again now that Savitar is out of the Speed Force?"

"BA, what do you say?" HR asked to interrupt any further discussion since Barry would be the one seeing into the Philosopher's Stone.

Barry shook his head. "We don't use it unless we have to. There's no skipping to the end. We do this the right way. We train and we research. Find out who Savitar is. We use that against him,"

Everyone nodded in agreement, some more reluctantly than others, but they all agreed.

"Where do we start?" Joe asked.

"Savitar has been using the metas from Flashpoint. Maybe he's just been doing so to taunt me for my mistake, but maybe it means he was also one in the timeline. Look for speedsters on the registry. He might be one of the names there," Barry instructed.

"And if he isn't?" Cisco asked.

"We'll look through history. The Philosopher's Stone has a long legend. There should be some mention of those it's given powers to. Maybe there's a speedster in that group,"

"Alright, get out of here. Barry is still injured and needs lots of rest to heal properly, and he can't do that if you all are bugging him for instructions like sheep," Caitlin shooed them away from her boyfriend.

The team left, leaving only Caitlin and Barry in the room. Caitlin checked over Barry's injuries to see that the bruises were already beginning to fade.

"So…?" Barry asked.

"So what?" Caitlin raised an eyebrow.

"How's your day been?"

"Really?"

"Just trying to pass the time. Seriously though, how are you?"

"Well my boyfriend got beat up by a myth. We're all fated to die soon and we have no idea how to stop it. How do you think my day's been?" Caitlin asked sarcastically.

"I'm sorry," Barry apologized. "Sometimes I think-"

"Don't go there. I wouldn't change anything so don't think about changing at all. You hear me?" Caitlin's lips twitched a little.

"I love you so much Ms. Frosty," Barry said.

"I love you more Fleet Feet," Caitlin responded.

"I love you most," Barry smirked.

Caitlin dropped her head. "Always have to win, don't you?"

"Not going to let you walk all over me,"

Caitlin dipped her head to give him a kiss, but leaned a little too much.

"Ow! Ow!" Barry exclaimed.

"Sorry. I'm so sorry,"

"Just be a little more gentle next time,"

Caitlin carefully leaned down and captured his lips once more in a loving gesture, which Barry whole-heartedly returned.

Barry and Caitlin were snuggled up on the couch of Barry's home, watching the musical 'Singin' in the Rain'.

"You used to watch this with your mom?" Caitlin asked when Barry told her.

"It was our favourite. She always put this on whenever I was feeling down. 'Everything is better in song', she said."

"How are you feeling?" Caitlin asked, because while Barry's body had healed, his spirit wasn't as intact.

"When Savitar was released, he was in the weakest state he could possibly be. He's only going to get stronger from here. I couldn't do anything. He was too fast for me. I can't stop him,"

"Well you won't have to face him alone. I'll be there with you. Cisco and Wally. You told us Oliver and Kara were there too, so you know they'll stand by you as well." Caitlin assured him.

"Yeah, they were there, and they were dead. Meaning they died for me. Meaning I got them killed. Because I'm a failure."

"Don't think like that Barry. Savitar is not a god. He's just a man in a suit. We'll get him just like all the others. We'll stop him,"

"I'm not so sure about that. I don't know if we can do it this time, and that's what scares me."

"Look, even if it turns out we can't stop Savitar, that doesn't mean we have to stop living our lives. We're heroes. We knew this could happen someday, we're just going to have to accept it. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you,"

Barry took a deep breath and kissed the top of her head. "You're right. I shouldn't worry so much. And I don't care if we have the rest of time to spend together or just until the end of this movie, because that's what I want. I want that time with you. I want each and every second with you, because I love you too."

So incase you couldn't tell, next week will be the musical. It's going to be about a chapter and a half with 4 songs. The plot of it will be completely different since it's going to be a Snowbarry Musical. I tried to make it more similar to canon, but it just didn't fit. None of the songs from the show will appear. I loved it, but it just didn't fit into what I wanted in the end.

Savitar has escaped, hence the title. As promised, Savitar is still insanely fast. Another hint, a bit obvious in my opinion, but let's see how many of you caught it.

I would have gladly completely skipped over Decay, but it was Wally's first take down as a hero. I couldn't just leave it out. Barry's little speech though didn't come from me. I wonder if anybody does know where I got that. Barry's taken a more active role in training Wally, so I hope that was all good.

And yeah, I am helping ki58ran out with their story, 'The Reboot'. It's pretty good and I recommend giving it a read. I'll see you all next week.