The Watcher saw that the time of the Reverse Flash was coming to an end. But how it was going to end is what's going to change.
Barry had to have a talk with Thawne he has been waiting to have for years. After all this time and everything that he had put them and his entire family through.
"What? No Big Belly Burger?" Thawne wonders. "One of the few benefits of living in this time. There are no more cows where I come from."
"Why did you kill my mother?" Barry asks him and waits for the response.
"Because I hate you. Not you from now, the you years from now." Thawne explains to him.
"In the future?" Barry asks.
"We're enemies, rivals, opposites, reverses of one another."
"Why? Why were we enemies?" Barry wonders.
"It doesn't matter, not... doesn't matter anymore. What matters was that neither of us was strong enough to beat the other. Until I learned your secret. I learned your name. Barry Allen. And finally, I knew how to defeat you once and for all. Travel back in time, kill you as a child. Wipe the Flash from the face of the Earth. Except you, the future you, followed me back, and we fought." Thawne goes on and only confirms what they discovered themselves. "We both landed some pretty solid shots. And then the future you got your younger self out of there. I was so mad. But then I thought... what if you were to suffer a tragedy? What if you were to suffer something so horrible, so traumatic that your child self could never recover? Then you would not become the Flash. Now... my first thought was the baby boy just a stairway away."
Barry then marched forward, almost up to the glass, and was almost ready to punch him.
"Don't worry. I might be evil, but even I wouldn't harm a baby." Thawne assured him. "But without that, I did the only thing left, so I stabbed your mother in the heart. And I was free. Free to return to a future without the Flash. Only to realize that in traveling back, changing the timeline, I lost my way home. And without it, I was stuck here. Stranded in this time, unable to return to my own. And the only way back was the Flash. But the Flash didn't exist anymore, so I created him."
But Barry only gained more questions than he did answers from that statement. "Why train me? Why help me save so many people?"
"Because I needed you to go faster," Thawne explains his plan and why he turned the accelerator back on. "Fast enough to break the time barrier and create a stable wormhole so that I can finally go back home."
Barry scoffed at that idea, unsure exactly why Thawne thinks he would ever do that. "And why on earth would I want to do that for you?"
"Because, Barry, you give me what I want...I'll give you what you want," Thawne stated in that menacing tone he loves to use. "You can go back to that night. And save your mother. You can prevent your father from going to prison. Prevent your brother from going into adoption. You can reunite the Allen family."
Barry however didn't believe this and slammed his hand against the glass. "I want to kill you right now."
"I know that rage," Thawne admitted. "That's how I felt when I used to look at you. But now I'm giving you a chance. A chance to fix what I have done. To erase all of the evil that I have done."
"No. I don't believe you." Barry stated as he marched off and walked out and closed the doors.
Barry went back to the cortex, and they overheard everything that they said over the computers. The entire room had mixed opinions about the idea of time travel. The idea of it even existed, and the other half had mixed thoughts about what it could mean if he were to go back and change things.
"The rare opportunity to go back in time and right a wrong. And save your mother's life...quite the paradox Harrison has presented to you, Mr. Allen." Stein commented on the phenomenon.
"The chance to be with someone you love?" Caitlin wondered as she eyed Barry. "Seems pretty cut and dry to me."
"At first blush, Dr. Snow, it would appear so, but this gift has an unparalleled risk." Stein was sorry to say it wasn't as cut and dry as it appeared. "Barry, the night your mother died, the night you saved your younger self from being killed, that event altered the timeline you were already on and changed the course of history."
"So... you're saying that the entire world has been living in a parallel universe?" Cisco asked in shock.
"Like Terminator?" Mary Jane asks.
Then the nerds hesitate on that statement and mutter back around.
"Well, more like during Genisys." Peter corrected his girlfriend. "Remember when Arnold went back and fought against the other Arnold?"
"Sure." Mary Jane guessed.
"Think of that moment like the...nexus event, I guess." Peter guess that was the easiest way to explain it. "Everything happened the way it was supposed to until that moment. After Thawne killed our mom, then he changed the timeline."
"My god, you're all nerds," Ava commented in a creeped-out voice.
"You haven't seen anything," Lana commented with a chuckle.
"Okay, so what would going back to fix that moment do?" Mary Jane wonders.
"There truly is no telling." Stein was sorry to say.
"But didn't Barry already time travel before?" Bobby asks them.
"Yeah, but I only changed one day," Barry added.
"Yes, now imagine fifteen years of compound experiences and decisions that millions of people have made. One small decision no matter how big or small impacts everything that follows. Moments upon moments, choices upon choices..." Stein said as he tried to explain time travel. "The truth is, there is truly no telling how different things will turn out. And you would be the only one who remembered it."
"So, if I go back to save my mom, my dad doesn't go to prison," Barry took a positive. "My brother and I won't be separated. I never live with Joe and Iris."
"I never go live with the Parkers. I'd never meet Ben or May." Peter commented, bringing in the negatives on his side of the story. "I might never meet Bobby; I certainly won't be able to meet MJ. I might not even become Spider-Man."
"Neither of you guys would meet me," Cisco added on his side. "Or Caitlin or Ronnie."
There were pros and negatives on each side of the table. It was a tough decision for the group to try and figure out. Their lives have become so intertwined with everyone else around them, but they couldn't imagine their lives without the people already in them.
"The choice here is obvious, Barry. You have to do it." Joe stated as if it was an obvious decision.
Barry and Peter shared a look of confusion, both of them wondering how he could be so blunt about the statement. Barry walked off to try and catch up with Joe to talk to him about it while Peter had to talk to someone about this with an outsider.
"Time travel?" Harry asked in shock.
After the battle with Goblin, Harry was informed of what happened with his father and actually took it better than Peter expected. Harry already believed that his father was too far gone after the attack on May and knew that Peter did all he could to save him. There was nothing anyone could have done to save Norman. Breaking the news to his mother was a bit difficult as she was still out of the city when she was told about Norman.
"Like...Back to the Future, time travel?" Harry wanted to be clarified.
"It would seem that way," Peter confirmed with a sigh. "I don't know what to think of it. If he does this, then I am never separated from my family. I'd be able to grow up with a mother, a father, and a brother."
"And what about this family of yours?" Harry wonders. "MJ, Bobby, May, they're all here."
"I know." Peter groaned as he took a seat, rubbing his face to try and think of what to do. "I don't want to lose them from my life, but I also don't want to just throw away the chance. To get to know my family. To get to know the woman who birthed me."
"And you'd be willing to throw away everything that you have here for that chance?" Harry wonders. "You won't even remember any of this life you managed to live out because it never happened. You'd forget everything, everything you had done will be undone. The lives you saved as Spider-Man. The people you helped a Peter Parker."
Peter then stood up and walked around the room, trying to think of the right choice. "I don't know. I just..." He is not used to not having the answers to something. He could come up with some form of an answer in some way shape or form. Be it asking someone to get a thought to or just knowing it.
Harry sighed as he saw he had made his friend question a lot of stuff and stood up. "Just think about it." He then started to take a walk himself to find his mom. "Is regaining one family you already lost worth it to lose the family you have?"
Barry was standing on the outside of the pipeline, looking back to the doorway and wondering if there was a right answer to this question.
Does he want to save his mom? Change the timeline to bring his family back? Yes.
Does he want to change his relationships with the people he knows and loved to do it? No.
"I thought I might find you here," Caitlin said as she came up and sighed as she sat down next to him. "We should think about putting some pillows or a couch down here."
Barry couldn't help but laugh at that and knew this is becoming the spot for people to think. "I needed to get out of the lab. I thought this would be a good place to think."
"It's becoming just that. A place for us to think." Caitlin agreed as she placed a hand on his knee. "So... are you gonna do it?"
"It's just so... huge." Barry looked so lost at that moment. Alone in the world with the weight of it crushing his shoulders. She leaned her cheek against his shoulder, letting him know she was there. "It's the biggest decision of my life. And if I'm wrong... I can't undo it."
That might have been the scariest part. That and the fact that she would remember nothing of this. None of them would remember any of the events that they have gone through either separately or together.
"Why would you want to?" Caitlin asked quietly. "I mean, you'd get to see your mom again, your dad, have a great career, even get married." He glanced at her with wide eyes. "I know that there might not be a chance that we could still be together, but I think there's a chance that we could still be together."
"Or you and Ronnie finally get the life that you wanted." Barry saw that was at least an upside. Caitlin would be happy. That was something that he would be okay with.
"That's an upside, I guess." Caitlin shrugged
"But... being that Flash... that brought us together. If I lose that, I might lose you too." Barry said as he looked into her eyes and noticed they started to fill up with tears, and there was nothing she could do about it. "Having this with you- I've had a great life, Caitlin."
"Come here, Barry," Caitlin whispered, holding out her arms.
He curled into them, like so many times before. Except this time, it was different. This time, there was the thought in both their minds that this might all be gone for good.
"What do you think I should do?" Barry asked quietly, his voice thick with tears. "I need someone to tell me."
She pulled back enough to look him in the eyes, still with her hands around his back. "I think, Barry Allen, for once in your life, you should stop thinking about other people. I think you should do what's in your heart. Do what you need to do. For yourself."
Barry leaned against the wall again, staring over the city. "I don't know if I can do it. Leave my life. Leave you."
"Barry, don't let me stop you from doing something that you have wanted to do for your whole life." Caitlin breathed, fingers ghosting over his shoulders. "I want you to be happy. That's all I want."
He kissed her then, running his fingers through her soft hair. But the kiss was painful.
It was almost like they were saying goodbye.
But he wanted the okay from the one person that mattered.
Peter was currently sitting down next to his sleeping aunt May. She was just given some pills for the injuries and was going to be out for the rest of the day, meaning he wasn't going to be able to talk about the events with her.
But as he reached to hold her hand, the thought reminded him that staying in this timeline, May's life, Bobby's life, and MJ's life could actually be better without him in it. They wouldn't constantly be in danger because of his actions and would never truly be safe if they are in his life.
And then a gust of wind came in and he didn't need to look to know Barry had just arrived. "Hey."
"Hey," Barry said as he took a seat next to Barry. "She okay?"
"As good as she can be." Peter sighed as the two then sat in silence. "Ever notice how awkward the two of us are when we're alone?"
"Yeah, I kinda did." Barry agreed with a chuckle. "The two of us just don't know how to act around one another."
"Guess it comes from the fact we grew up without siblings." Peter had to guess why they couldn't act right alone. "We've just been alone for too long we don't know how to act like siblings."
"Yeah, and we haven't really made much of an attempt to try and work on that," Barry added on, blaming himself for their off relationship.
"Guess we've just been too busy." Peter shrugged, seeing Barry was dealing with Thawne while Peter was dealing with Goblin. "But that can change."
"Yeah, what do you think about it?" Barry wonders.
"I never got to meet our mom," Peter said as he lets go of May's hand. "I never got to truly know our father. And I guess I haven't really gotten to know you."
"Yeah," Barry was sad at how right Peter is right now. "That's true."
"Do this, I won't have the same relationships that I have now...but there might be a chance." Peter looked on the bright side, feeling there was a chance he can still have his friends.
"I'll still remember them." Barry compromised with him. "What if I made sure that you still met your friends?"
"Then there's the thought of if they want to be my friends in that new timeline." Peter sighed. "But if not, then they'd be safe. If I'm Spider-Man, then all of them would be safe from my enemies." Then he looked to Barry and decided it was at least something to consider. "I say do it."
The team wasn't much surprised when they learned Barry and Peter both decided to go with it. Thawne explains to them that to do this, they need to turn on the particle accelerator. Except Thawne redesigned the accelerator to work as it should have the first time. Except Barry has to inject one particle and collide with it while he goes at the right speed to go back. Doing so will create a wormhole that'll connect each timeline from the past to the future. Except if anything goes wrong, Barry will die. Along with all of existence.
"According to Wells' calculations, Barry super speeds inside the accelerator ring. Once Barry reaches optimum speed, we then launch a hydrogen proton into the accelerator." Stein explains going over the calculations himself and shows a presentation to explain his point. "So once the collision happens, a wormhole will be created, and it will create a gateway in time."
"You mean sorta like the Star Trek reboot?" Mary Jane asks, getting a surprised look from the group. "What? I actually like those movies."
"I have mixed feelings about that statement," Cisco said in surprise.
"It's at that moment I plan on shouting something along the lines of "eureka" or possibly "excelsior". I'm uncommitted," Stein admitted to the group.
"What do you think?" Barry asks, looking at Cisco.
"I mean, on the one hand, it does make the kind of sense," Cisco tells him. "On the other hand, why? Why are we considering this?"
"You know why," Barry informs him.
"For this to even work, how fast would Barry need to be going?" Caitlin asks Stein, hoping for some good news.
"By my calculations, Mach 2 at a minimum," Stein answers her and they know Barry has never gone that fast before.
"You've never gone that fast." Caitlin's fear started to grow.
"So, what happens if Barry doesn't reach that in time?" Joe wonders. "I'm imagining a bug on a windshield. How far off am I?"
"Not that far off, I'm afraid." Stein was sorry to say.
"I'll worry about the speed, but I need something else," Barry tells them as he looked at Cisco.
"Really? And what's that?" Cisco asks since he has shown no interest in this project. "Because I'm not interested in helping to get yourself killed."
"I need you to build a time machine," Barry tells him and Cisco suddenly becomes very interested.
"I'm listening."
"So, if Wells is as fast as Barry, what does he need a time machine for?" Ronnie asks them as he decides to help his friend on building the machine.
"Apparently, when he changed the timeline, and unsurprisingly, it changed him, and he lost his speed and only gets it back sometimes," Peter explains as he was sticking with them, wanting to see the time machine. "It's like when the Wi-Fi signal starts to get interrupted."
"Which means I was right about the wheelchair. He was using it to charge himself." Cisco states to them happy he was right.
"And that just means that after Barry opens a wormhole, he's gonna need a ship to send him back to the future. He's been hiding the parts around the labs, and it just needs to be put together." Barry confirmed.
As they started to collect the pieces, Ronnie caught something that could jeopardize the whole thing. Peter decided to take the specs and pieces to Thawne himself so they can get to work on finding the rest of the time machine.
"So. Where'd you end up going?" Mary Jane asked Bobby.
She and the other kid heroes were kinda left with nothing to do for now as there wasn't much to do. There was no crime for them to take down whilst the other heroes were working on building a time machine, so they decided to just sit and talk.
"Oh, Crystal took me to her home to help me with Chameleon," Bobby answered her. "It was a nice place. Though the thought of living on a floating rock in space was too much for me to take in at first."
"Bobby...we literally live on a floating rock in space." Lana was sorry to inform him.
"I mean like a city living on a small, condensed rock." Bobby corrected himself. "But I also got to meet Crystal's family. Her brother-in-law can kill someone with a word. And I mean literally!"
"That would either be the coolest power to have or the scariest," Ava commented on the thought. "Does that mean he can't talk?"
"Nope," Bobby confirmed.
"What about sneezing?" Lana wonders. "Could you imagine that?"
"How about talking in his sleep?" Mary Jane added on, getting the group to laugh.
"So...how are you doing? With all of this?" Bobby asks MJ. "I mean, they do this, there's a chance that you and Peter never end up together.
Mary Jane then became a bit upset as she quickly fixed a bit of her hair. "I know, and... well, I know how rough Peter's had it over the years. I just...I think he shouldn't be worried about how this will affect us and focus on himself for once."
"Damn. And he's willing to give you up?" Ava asked in surprise.
Back with Peter, he was watching Thawne go over the notes and realize his mistake. But he also noticed the battle that was going on with Peter in his head.
"Something on your mind, Peter?" Thawne asks him.
Peter decided to just admit it and ask. "What was I like? In your timeline? The future you chanced?"
Thawne seemed to have not seen that question coming and decided he could answer it. "You were a scientist. Ironically, it was here." He gestured to STAR Labs. "Handpicked personality by Harrison Wells, you became his star pupil. In fact, you end up running the place."
"Me?" Peter was shocked to hear.
"Making scientific achievement after scientific achievement," Thawne confirmed with a chuckle. "The Missus was more than thrilled."
"Wait, I had a wife?" Peter was shocked to hear this, wondering if he and Mary Jane might be together.
"And a daughter," Thawne confirmed. "Liz Allen."
"Liz?" Peter was shocked to hear that's who he marries.
"The high school cheer captain and the king of the nerds," Thawne confirmed it was odd even in his time. "What started as a torturing gig turned into dating, which eventually turned into love."
Peter was at least happy to say that he'd at least still have someone. Not the person he wanted, but at least she would most definitely find someone. She's smart, beautiful, and funny, Mary Jane would more than likely find someone to love her. This made him feel a little better about this whole idea, not knowing that Thawne left out an important detail about his death.
Finally, they have everything ready for Barry to go back. Barry is just saying his goodbyes to his friends, and they know that everything changes when he saves his mom.
Barry took Caitlin's hand and squeezed it tightly. "Thank you." He whispered, just loud enough for her to hear.
"I'm always here for you." She breathed. "No matter what earth."
Cisco sighed but approached Barry. "Alright. There will be 3 you's there." He counted them off on his fingers. "The you from the future, who saved younger you from the Reverse Flash, and now younger you." Barry nodded. "Wait until the future you get younger you out of there. And then you can go save your mom."
If it had been any other situation, Caitlin would have smiled. Right now, her face with stiff, and her whole body was cold.
"Piece of cake." Barry joked.
Cisco grasped his arms. "May the Speedforce be with you."
Barry turned to Joe and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Goodbye, dad."
Joe grabbed him in a fierce hug. "Goodbye, son."
He hugged Iris almost tighter. "Live your life." He whispered and clapped Eddie on the shoulder. "Take care of her."
Eddie hugged him, too. "You know I will."
Barry sighed as he looked down the hall, seeing Peter say goodbye to his friends. Even though he wasn't going with Barry, this was technically the only time he'd get to give them a proper goodbye.
After saying his farewells, Peter walked over to Barry and he knew, even though Peter had a straight face, saying goodbye to his friends was hard. "You know..."
"No." Peter stopped him. "We already agreed to this. No turning back now."
Barry had to agree with him there and hugged him. "I promise, I'll fix this."
"You better," Peter said as he hugged his brother. "Good luck. Don't die. Because if you do, I'll kill you."
Barry chuckled and knew Peter was just trying to lighten the mood. "Deal."
Barry came to her last. The tears started to flow as it was like the day she lost Ronnie. It was even in this same predicament. Except even worse as this time, she wouldn't even remember any of this if it worked.
"Caitlin..."
She didn't let him finish. She couldn't hear him say goodbye to her. That would make it too real. Instead, she grabbed the front of his suit and crushed their lips together. Her back ended up against the wall, her hands knotted in his hair, his cradling her face like it was the most precious thing in the world.
Barry forced himself to pull back and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. He pressed his face into her hair, breathing her in one more time. "Caitlin." He whispered again. "Whatever happens, I'm going to find you again. I love you."
That was the first time he said it to her, and he had to admit, it was like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. Tears formed in both of their eyes, seeing it as if they could never be together after this. Ronnie would never turn into Firestorm, and they'd have their happy ending.
Barry remembers that Thawne said he has one minute and thirty seconds before a wormhole opens and destroys the universe, so he has to move fast.
He starts reaching Mach speed and Thawne tells him to remember that night, the night his mother was murdered. A portal is opened and Barry vanishes.
While Barry was running through the Speedforce, he started to look around and noticed moments of time like Thawne had said. Moments from possible futures, moments from the present, and a few from the past.
He looked and saw what looked to be a redhead wearing an all-yellow suit with red gloves shooting fire from her hands. "Firestar!"
He saw the day he was sent to live with Joe after his mother was killed. "Looks like Barry's gonna be staying with us for a while."
He then kept running and came across one that looked like some Egyptian temple. "Then rise. Rise and live again!"
"Peter." He noticed it was Mary and Richard when they met Peter. "He's such a handsome little boy."
Then he started to focus on an important moment, the one that he was here for. The day that their mother was taken from them.
NEXUS MOMENT:
Barry exited the Speedforce and ended up in his childhood bedroom. Looking around, he saw things were exactly how he remembered them to be. A telescope against the wall; planets hanging from the ceiling. His bed, unmade, was empty. So, his younger self must already be downstairs. Then he heard the screams and cries from downstairs, knowing that he arrived just in time to save her.
Making his way down the stairs slowly, he sneaked into the conjoining room. He knew that he needed to wait for the right moment to get his mother to safety. It was all just like he remembered, with the red and yellow blurs of light, now so familiar. The two of them fighting around his mom, his mom! was on the floor, reaching out toward her son.
"Barry!" Nora cried in terror.
"Nora!" Henry cried as he ran downstairs to see the chaos.
And then, out of nowhere, his future self, the one sent to fight the Reverse Flash, stopped the fighting. He turned to look at him, and held out a hand, wordlessly shaking his head. Barry was shocked when he saw this Barry somehow knew about his mission.
Did he possibly live through this?
No, that couldn't be. Thawne wouldn't have killed Nora if there wasn't some effect on the timeline. Did...did he want his mother to die?
"Run, Barry, run!" Henry cried to Barry when the future Flash came in and sped him off.
The Reverse Flash then stopped and walked over to his mother, and Barry felt tears streaming down his cheeks as he picked up a knife. He closed the door, trying to block out the sound of her screaming.
Barry heard the sound of the knife impaling his mother, and the Reverse Flash speeding away. Knowing that they were alone, he hesitantly opened the door. His heart felt like it was being ripped in two, but he felt strangely calm. He knew that he had made the right choice.
Henry was on the floor, unconscious, and Nora was moaning on the carpet. Her blouse was stained red. He knelt beside her, grasping her arms. "Please... my husband and my sons-"
"They're okay," Barry whispered. "It's okay. They're safe. I promise."
Nora nodded before becoming confused. "Who are you?"
"I'm-" He choked on his tears for a moment, and couldn't get the words out. "I'm the Flash."
"I don't understand."
He reached up and pulled off his cowl, trying not to break down.
"You look just like my father," Nora said.
Barry smiled through his tears. "This won't make any sense." He croaked. "But it's me, mom."
"What?" She was fading, and it hurt like a knife had been stabbed into his heart, instead of hers.
"It's Barry."
"Barry?" She reached up to touch his face. "Oh, my beautiful boy." She started to wheeze, and he lost it, leaning into her hands and letting himself sob.
"I was given a second chance. To come back here. To tell you that I'm okay." Nora nodded. "Dad and Peter are both okay. And we love you, mom. I love you."
Nora stroked his face, touching his hair, wiping away his tears. "Goodbye. Goodbye, Barry." Her hands fell from his face, and she closed her eyes.
He stayed in that room for a long time.
But then he heard the cries upstairs of the baby brother he will never see for years. Speeding his way up to the bedroom, Barry almost had forgotten how small Peter used to be.
"Hey, buddy," Barry said, forgetting how to talk to his brother. Reaching into the crib, he picked him up and started to rock him to help calm the child. "It's okay. I'm right here. I'm always going to be here." Seemingly recognizing his brother, the baby curled up in his arms and calmed down. "You and I aren't gonna see each other for a while. But that's okay." He was then startled to tear up at the reminder. "Because when we see each other again, we're gonna work together. We're gonna save a lot of people. And yes, we still need to work on our relationship...but I should have focused on us. Rather than allowing our mother's killer dictate my life."
Peter was always a sleepy child and had already fallen asleep, probably only hearing half of what Barry had just said.
Barry chuckled and knew this was for the best. "And you're gonna make a lot of friends. Have an amazing girlfriend. And save a lot of people. And have an amazing guardian."
Then he placed Peter back down in his crib when he heard the sirens outside. Getting one last look at Peter, he knew that baby was gonna have a rough life. But it wasn't anything he couldn't take.
Speeding off, he left him there for when the officers arrived on the scene. After some time, two officers arrived and were nonother than Ben Parker and his partner at the time, George Stacy.
George reported the body and immediately arrested Henry for the crime whilst Ben kept the baby boy close to him. He was happy to get the boy away from all the blood and death and kept him close.
Setting both Barry and Peter on their journey.
PRESENT DAY:
At 52 seconds, Stein spoke up. "I believe it's time to say goodbye to Harrison Wells."
Joe, Peter, and Cisco went down, and everyone left crowded around Cisco's computer to watch the exchange. Thawne, dressed in his suit, was inspecting the time machine (the time machine), that Cisco had built.
"It's beautiful. Rip Hunter would be impressed. He built the first one of these." Thawne tells them, leaving them to wonder who he's talking about. "Interesting man."
Everything went white with light for a moment, and a silver hat came flying through the portal, seemingly out of nowhere. It was all silver with metal wings on the side, and none of them had any idea what it was. Peter acted quickly and caught it, ending up cutting his finger due to the torn suit.
"Ow!" Peter yipped at the injury.
"You okay?" Cisco asks him.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a paper cut." Peter assured him, shaking his hand and a few drops of blood falling from his hand.
"What the heck is that?" Joe asked, staring at the helmet.
For the first time in their lives, Thawne looked a little scared. "That's my cue to leave." He moved over to Cisco, and Joe raised his gun for safety. But all Thawne said was, "Thank you, Cisco."
"Never come back," Cisco responded, not meeting his eyes.
His face hardened, and he climbed into the time machine. The glass closed around him and the whole thing began to turn.
"Thirty seconds," Stein reported.
Before Thawne could go anywhere, an even more blinding flash of light lit up the room, and none other than Barry Allen flew out. He came speeding in through the portal and rammed straight into the time machine, shattering the whole thing on impact.
Caitlin covered her mouth with her hand, and Ronnie grabbed her by the shoulders to keep her upright. "Barry..." She breathed.
He slammed into the time machine, shattering it and sending everyone flying backward. "We have to close down the wormhole!" Stein yelled. "Quickly!"
Peter quickly ran over to his brother and helped him stand up. "What happened?"
"You didn't save her?" Thawne asked in shock. "Why?" He then got up to his feet, throwing a piece of the time machine in anger. "Why!? You could have everything you could have ever wanted!"
"I already do," Barry stated as he looked at Peter.
Thawne then placed his cowl back on, ready to finish his mission. "Not for long!"
Barry and Thawne then start to speed around the pipeline, and Peter's head started to buzz. But not like his senses are alerting him of something. Something is calling to him.
Peter looked over to the time portal, wondering what the buzzing is going on. The entire world started to become numb as he tried to focus on the buzzing.
"Worlds await. The timeline is malleable. They're in danger."
Barry was pinned to the wall as he was wondering what was going on with Peter. He tried to call out to him, but it was impossible with his neck being choked out.
"Just so that we're clear after I kill you, I'm going to kill them, even your father," Thawne informs Barry, ready to send his fist into Barry's chest. "I always win, Flash."
That's when a gunshot is heard, breaking Peter out of his concentration, and sees Eddie had shot himself to stop the Reverse Flash. As soon as he pulled the trigger, it was like Thawne has felt the shot in himself as he backed away.
"Eddie!" Iris cried as she ran inside and over to him.
"Eddie!" Joe cried as he ran to his partner. "What did you do?!"
"No such thing as a coincidence," Eddie stated.
"What's happening?" Barry asked in confusion.
"Cisco...help me," Thawne asked as he stumbled to stand.
"Eddie's his ancestor." Cisco was starting to put it together. "If he dies, then Thawne will never be born, and... he's being erased from existence."
They'd watched as Thawne fell to his knees, watching as his true face was starting to show through. His face became similar to Eddie's, and his hair turned blonde.
"Looks like...I'm a hero after all." Eddie slurred out as he dies.
Thawne started to disintegrate as he looked over to Barry. "I've controlled your life for so long, Barry. How will you get along without me?"
That's when his hands started to vanish, and he lets out a bloodcurdling scream before he finally vanished from existence.
Peter then walked over and helped his brother stand up, quickly giving him a hug, which Barry returned. "You didn't do it?"
"No." Barry was sorry to say as he caressed his brother's head. "I couldn't do it."
"Maybe it's for the best." Peter guessed.
But then his senses went off and he knew something big was coming. The ground started to shake, and a swirling blue hole appeared. The walls around them started to crumble and everything around them started to become sucked into the vortex.
"Guys, that's not good!" Cisco yelled in fear.
"Professor, I shut down the wormhole!" Caitlin cried in confusion. "What's happening?"
"I don't know. But it seems to be reopening." Stein said as he was just as lost.
Everyone stumbled to their feet, and Iris screams that she wouldn't leave Eddie. But Barry grabbed her hand and followed the others out of the room as fast as they could go.
They all raced outside where they saw that the vortex has grown and see it was getting worse. A dark, spiraling mass was hovering outside of STAR Labs.
"So that's what we didn't want to happen." Bobby took a guess.
"What is it doing?!" Mary Jane asked.
"Feeding." Stein stared up at it in horror. "The singularity won't stop. Not even after the earth is gone."
All around the city, everyone was looking up at the singularity that has formed and all of them were shocked at the sight. None of them knew how to react, but the majority of people decided the best decision was to run.
"I'm afraid that the accretion disk has already assembled," Stein said in worry.
"What the hell does that even mean?" Lana asks in confusion.
"The fuse material that's in orbit around the singularity is already in motion," Stein stated.
"What does that mean?" Ava yelled. "In English!"
"We have to disrupt the motion!" Barry realized. "Basically, it's just like the tornado- only upside down. And bigger. And scarier."
"Barry." Stein approached him. "That even has an energy level of 600.7 terra electron volts. It cannot be stopped!"
Barry turned to him. "I have to try." He pulled Caitlin into his side and kissed her, then pulled up his cowl.
Barry looked over to Peter who gave a nod, knowing they need to stop this. Seeing he had his brother's approval (that feels stupid to say out loud), he flashed off down the street and up the buildings to reach the singularity.
Caitlin moved forward a few steps, but Cisco grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "He has to, Caitlin!" He shouted. The wind was getting louder, and she could barely hear him out. "He's got to try and stop this."
Peter was worried for his brother as he watched him run up the side of the building when Mary Jane came up and held his hand. But then Peter felt the cries and terror of the people who were being pulled in.
"Oh, god," Peter said as he looked at his friends. "The people..."
"Let's go." Ava seemed to hear them as well as the kids all raced off to help the people.
They watched as Barry became a yellow circle in the mass of black clouds. Caitlin stared at the sky, hoping with all her heart that he was going to come back alive.
A lot of people were stuck in the singularity and were trying to hold onto anything they could to stop themselves from being sucked off.
Peter came swinging in as fast as he could, shooting several, webs and attaching them to solid objects to keep them on the ground. A couple was being dragged off when Ava came leaping off a wall and grabbing the two. Using her claws to keep herself on the ground, she tried to keep the couple on the ground. Lana did her best to use her powers to blast the rubble and everything off and away from everyone to keep them alive. Bobby shot ice at a car that was about to ram into another couple.
Peter then saw that the roof of Daily Bugle was started to be pulled into the singularity and knew the office was open today. Racing through the streets, he used the gravity well of the singularity to make it over to his place of work.
Inside the building, most of the people managed to get out except for a handful of others who were trapped when the elevators and doorway were destroyed. Betty Brant was hiding underneath her receptionist's desk, trying to not be pulled in by the singularity. J. Jonah Jameson was in his office, holding the door with his son in the office.
"Hang on, John!" Jameson cried, trying to save his son.
"Dad!" John was being dragged in by the singularity and slipped.
"NO!" Jameson screamed as his door came off, causing him to be pulled into it as well.
Betty and Robbie Robertson were also being pulled in as the force was getting stronger. But that's when Spider-Man came swinging in and shot webs onto all of them. Grabbing all of his coworkers, Peter quickly dragged them down and out of the pull of the singularity. When they got far enough away, he lets them all go and knew what was coming.
Jameson's rant.
"You Web-Headed, Wall Crawling menace! You caused all of this, didn't you?" Jameson asked as he marched up to Spider-Man, who had a blank stare and let him go off. "I want you prosecuted for the damage to this city!"
"Dad. Dad!" John went over and grabbed his father by the shoulder. "He saved our lives."
Jameson looked back to Peter in the same anger, but it slowly started to cool down. He looked around and saw there was an entire city in danger and needed help. Looking over to Spider-Man, who still hasn't moved, he sighed and knew he just saved their lives.
"Go. The city needs you." Jameson finally decided.
Peter was shocked to hear that from his number one hater but knew that the city needed him right now. Not sticking around to temp Jameson, he raced off and shot out a web to swing back into the city.
Barry was still running around the vortex of the singularity to try and keep it contained.
"Brilliant" Stein exclaimed in excitement. "He's containing the singularity by adding to its angular momentum!"
Caitlin had no idea what that meant, but Cisco seemed to get it. He held his phone up to his mouth with the comm uploaded. "Barry! It's stabilizing! Keep doing what you're doing!"
"I'm not sure how much longer I can." Barry's voice sounded faint, but she closed her eyes, listening to it. "Cisco!"
"Now what?" Joe asked.
"We have to merge the inner and outer event horizons," Stein informed him.
"How will we do that?" Ronnie rested his hand on Caitlin's shoulder.
Stein paused for a moment, and when he spoke, his voice was considerably less excited than before. "By separating in the eye of it. The amount of energy from the fissure should do the trick."
Caitlin grabbed her ex-fiancé's hand, wordlessly pleading with him not to leave her.
"It's our only hope, Ronald," Stein said quietly.
"Ronnie, no!" Caitlin hated herself for being selfish, but she had already lost him once. She couldn't do it again. "It's too dangerous. What if you can't escape the in-rush?"
"Cait." He murmured, squeezing her shoulders. "We have to try."
Those words would be the death of her, Caitlin knew that for sure. Ronnie grabbed her in a tight hug and kissed her forehead. Then he and Stein merged into Firestorm. He flew off, and Caitlin was left feeling cold and alone.
Barry was running when he noticed Firestorm flying up and stopping in the middle of the portal. "Ronnie...Professor Stein!"
And then it was over. A blinding flash and the swirling stopped, leaving a dark mass of clouds hovering over the collapsing city. A streak of something that could only have been Barry ran down a building and disappeared. Caitlin lurched forward, and followed the others, running around the corner.
There was no Ronnie. Stein was up against the wall, and Joe ran over to his side, checking on him. Caitlin's eyes filled with tears and Barry shook his head and held out his arms. "I'm so sorry."
She fell into them, burying her face in his shoulder as her cheeks became wet with tears.
The Watcher sighed as he saw that the darkest hour in their life has just ended with the loss of two of their friends. "Eddie Thawne and Ronnie Raymond." He monologued. "The unsung heroes of the universe. Every universe. In one timeline...Ronnie Raymond was destined to become Deathstorm, who was rescued by the Ghost Rider and freed. But in this universe...there was no Deathstorm. There is only one of him. Ronnie Raymond is truly gone." But then something caught him off guard as he looked away from everyone. "Wait...what?"
The Watcher then vanished out of that BRANCH of reality, quickly looking around his home dimension. His home is the Nexus of all Realities. A cross-dimensional gateway that allows him to look into every BRANCH of reality, and even peek into the Main Continuity of the What If Universe.
"What happened?" The Watcher wonders as he started to look around, trying to see what had happened.
Then as he started to look into the other BRANCHES, he noticed something troubling in each of the realities. The singularity wasn't contained to their BRANCH of reality. It was opened throughout all of reality.
"Oh my god... I can't see what's coming..." The Watcher said in fear.
ACROSS THE BRANCHES:
In a strange world, there were chunks of an alternate version of New York floating around as two figures were running to escape something. One of them was a woman wearing a black bodysuit with white areas that form a spider design, a white hood with the interior lining magenta with cyan web patterns, matching magenta-and-cyan designs on her upper arms, and cyan soles to her boots.
The man to her left is wearing a similar outfit to Peter Allen, but he was wearing the Cloak of Levitation and was without his mask. The spider insignia on his chest was bigger than Peter Allen's and had a more technical look to it.
They were being chased by some monster that looked like a man but was nothing like any normal man. He wore a suit with a long jacket over it and had two glowing red eyes. He was chasing after the two Spiders as they tried their best to outrun him.
The two ran as fast as they could, trying to keep as much distance between themselves and the Monster as possible. Spider Supreme saw a giant gap and nowhere left to go, so he shot the Ruby Rings of Raggadorr so that the girl could run across the gap.
"This is just impossible," The girl commented with every step that they took. "How is this possible?"
"Magic." Spider Supreme recapped it as simply as he could. "We need to get through there!"
"Where?" The girl asks.
Spider Supreme then raised his hand, doing a few movements with his fingers, which then caused what looked to be a shattered version of his portal. The portal had orange sparks circling it, but inside of it wasn't something they could see. It looked like a bunch of broken glass that was pieced together to form the portal.
"What is that?" The girl asks him.
"Our ticket out of here." Spider Supreme declared as he and the girl tried to race to it.
But the moment that they got too close, the Monster leaped into the air, smashing into the building they were running up, causing Spider Supreme to stumble and break the connection with the portal. The said portal fades, and the building starts to bend, causing the two to fall through the skies and for Spider Supreme to grab onto the girl.
When the two touched the solid ground (or solid something or another. The place was becoming one big puzzle) the two ran away when they saw the Monster make a giant leap. He was catching up fast and Spider Supreme needed more time to activate the rest of the portal.
Shooting a blast of mist, it immediately froze the ground and the Monster, causing him to slip and fall. Working fast this time, Spider Supreme activated the portal and managed to finish this time.
"We can't let him absorb our powers!" Spider Supreme tells the girl, the two racing off to the portal. But the closer they got, there was a gap that formed between them and the portal. "We can't let him get in contact with you or me. Get to the portal!"
"How do we get across that?" The girl asks, wondering where to go.
"Jump!" Spider Supreme tells her, and she did just that.
As they jumped, another piece of a building came down and they managed to use it as a slide. As they were Sliding down the building, the Monster broke out of the ice and went back into the chase.
The two of them were inches away from the portal when the Monster burst out of the building and leaped to attack. Since he didn't set off either of their senses, they missed when he went in for a swing and cut Spider Supreme's leg. Crying out in pain, he held onto his leg for a moment before seeing the Monster coming in for another swing.
Working through the pain, he worked fast and casts a spell with some mist forming around them. The girl watched as the smoke started to circle and surround the Monster.
"Vapors of Valtorr!" Spider Supreme cried out, sending a spell out that encased the Monster in stone. "That should-"
Spider Supreme was about to take a minute of relief, but it was met with the Monster breaking out of the spell already. Seeing he needed more time to work it out, he cast another spell to stop him.
"I summon forth the shielding powers of the Vishanti." Spider Supreme cried out and a forcefield was formed around the Monster. "He's too strong. I can't hold it." Keeping him back, he was able to come up with an idea and looked at the girl with a sorry look. "I'm sorry."
"What?" The girl asks, getting only more lost by the minute.
Spider Supreme then raised his fingers, and he emitted a white aurora that started to absorb part of the girl's body. She then started to float as the aurora was starting to enter the tip of Spider Supreme's fingers.
"What the hell?!" The girl asked as she realizes that she was stuck. "What are you doing?"
"I can't let him get ahold of you, but if we do this, it's a one-way ticket." Spider Supreme did his best to explain. "But if I cast this spell, you'll-"
Then while he was distracted, he was stabbed in the leg causing him to cry in pain.
"Finally," the Monster said as he started to suck the life force out of the two of them. "With your power, I will rule all realities!"
But before he had a chance to complete the incantation, Spider Supreme lifted his hand and pulled the portal over the three of them. Both of them were dragged out of the Mirror Dimension and sent across the BRANCHES whilst the Monster jumped after the two trying to follow.
THEY WILL RETURN IN...
ACROSS THE BRANCHES
Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye
Jennifer Lawrence as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow